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Underground > Head Shop >

"My beautiful bonsai planet"

18:51 / 30.10.05

If you don't know what Google Earth is, you've been missing out on one of the coolest pieces of software known to man (basically it generates a scalable three-dimensional globe mapped with satelite photos). I love this program so much it makes me want to cry, when I grow up and become a pirate I've decided that I will use Google Earth for all my navigation.

Anyway a few months ago I read an article in New Scientist called
"Will Google Earth save the planet?" the article got me thinking about how revolutionary this kind of software could be. In nice contrast to this optimistic view, I found another article called "Google Earth threatens democracy" that discusses how South Korean military bases can be observed using Google Earth.

Google Earth seems to offer a unique new perspective for viewing the planet, allowing users to clearly see the growth of massive cities as well as the steady shrinkage of the polar ice caps and rainforests. Do you think this new perspective might increase people's awareness of the world as a interdependant system? Do you think by being able to view accurate satelite photos of places we might never visit will make those places seem more real than they appear on a television screen? Does this make geography sexy?

18:52 / 30.10.05

A few weeks ago I was working at a primary school, so I installed the software on several of the interactive wipeboard's for use as a teaching aid. I can't wait to bring an Ecosphere into lessons (see below) and use it in conjunction with Google Earth to teach kids about the global warming.

All Acting Regiment

23:05 / 30.10.05

Soon, we should be able to stream complete detail on the gobe surface with no delay or blurring. I think that will probably make what is already a great peice of software- a great human acheivement, if we're going to get ostentatious- perfectly suited to what the poster starter is saying. You can see that from outside, things like borders are basically nothing.

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

18:06 / 03.11.05

it's also been used locally to bring to people's attention the extent of the clearcutting of ancient forests.

don't believe it? look at the swathes of destruction on google earth.

It's the latest step in the globalisation of our awareness -

ta
tenix

09:54 / 04.11.05

No need to thank us, tenix.

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

18:12 / 21.11.05

but I'll thank us anyway.

thanks.
>tenix

19:17 / 21.11.05

i've got a mac

...but i did see it on a chum's 'puter at his place. nice that the missile path leading to my city from anywhere else on the globe fires into a point in our federal department of foreign affairs - where my best friend works! if the pirates strike using g.e as missile navigation...

(btw looking at the definition of the ocean floor in the marianas trench - whooa!!)

07:32 / 22.11.05

So, I'm wondering. Now that we can all (except us unfortunate mac users) see every part of the planet, how long before people start doing art projects that can be seen by sattelite?

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

14:48 / 22.11.05

there's a long tradition of art visible from Space.

the Great Wall of China,
Western Cities at Night,
those animals carved into the hillsides of Peru,
and crop circles.

I think some cities (NYC for one) are also having their buildings added to the database.

where does that bring us? We can explore the entire globe, travel to New York without living the comfort of our minds.

who needs three ships and a monarch's fortune to explore the world? (well, maybe Google).

can't wait until the Mac version's sorted out.

ta
tenix

15:26 / 22.11.05

*pedant hat on* I don't think any of those are visible from space per se. Crop circles definitely aren't.
Art visible from the air, that's something slightly different.

16:24 / 22.11.05

actually the question was "seen by sattalite". Crop circles and other such pieces could be seen from them. In fact many 'earthwork' artists such as Smithson and Terrel (sp?) have pieces that could be seen by sattalite. also there are already modern vesions of the crop circles and the large figures inscribed into the earth in South America. Most of these pieces date back to the 60's and 70's.

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

17:34 / 23.11.05

Phantastic Phox,

we're talking about Google Earth, so please allow me some poetic leeway in the assessment of what I mean by "space"

it's visible from a digitised perspective representing an aerospacial point-of-view, per se.

everybody happy?

>P
tenix