What is Digg?39 Comments
- sinfree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15I do a lot of work with terrains, and Google earth is a great tool for reference if nothing else. I don't have to go buy thousands of dollars worth of terrain to get a rough idea of the features in some remote area.
- IHatePants, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15It isn't just changing science, it's changing any kind of geography based research, such as real estate. I've been looking into buying some land lately, and I've been able to rule out some of the properties just by looking at them on Google Earth. I haven't bothered to add up the driving time it has saved me, but I would guess it is at least 10 hours so far.
I wouldn't recommend using it for any final decisions, but for example when a property is advertised as being "waterfront" or having "paved road access" you can tell pretty quickly by looking on Google Earth. On top of that, it lets you know what the property will border. Sometimes when you look at a property in person, you don't see what is 100 yards or more past the property line, and this can have an impact on whether or not you buy.
For what it's worth, I'm not some real estate mogul, I just have my one current home, and am looking to buy another piece of property to build on before I sell my own. Google Earth has been very helpful in this so far. - lukeev, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12i use it to locate and hunt crazy elk-hunters
- flyingm00c0w, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Absolutely. Even a basic copy of Arcview GIS costs hundreds of dollars, and the total price of a package can easily spiral into the thousands.
- majordanger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I believe it was here on Digg I read about some amateur geologist that read an article on how to identify ancient impact craters on the surface of the earth. Five minutes of Google Earth and he had two craters named after him. That's gotta frost some geology PhDs.
- Mrkamikaze, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9I use it to pick out prime Elk hunting sites that otherwise are obscured from the road.
- NikZ, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Google Earth *is* Keyhole. Just a guess, but you'll probably find the "pro" features of Keyhole in the "pro" (ie: not free) version of Google Earth.
- ScottMitchell, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6To be fair, though, how often is the satellite data updated? That is, if the property claims to have paved road access, might such roads been added after the latest Google Earth satellite update? Or are these images updated like monthly?
- terinjokes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I used Google Earth for geography class. We had to make up our own country, and I used it. Had to bring my computer from home. Apparently the EULA disallows it from being installed on school machines
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Google Earth is great. When I find a house on a real estate website in my search for foreclosed homes, I always look at the area and check how steep the hills are, how updated the streets look, the neighbors, etc. If only the satellites were a little more clear, then I could find out how good the roof is too!
- scott1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I don't rember that but I do rember about some guy in Itally was looking around his town and he found a Roman Villa with google earth.
- eyecantremember, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5A bit odd that the first picture, captioned "Maps with information about groundwater distribution in Seattle. Google Earth makes it possible.", is clearly a screenshot from ArcGIS Explorer.
- tommasig, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I use it to locate sites suitable for building asylums for crazy people.
In a recent study i found out that they usually wander near elk-hunting sites, so I'm going to have a pretty good business there. ;)
I will release a map overlay of those sites soon... lol - majordanger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Here is the article I read concerning someone finding impact craters using Google Earth. I just can't seem to find it on Digg.
http://www.astroseti.org/impacts.php - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It is a revolution because the average consumer can use it. Hell, Everyone can use it.
- SmeRndmGy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The point is that is is free, easy, and practically idiot proof. My 82 year old grandmother uses it. Sure you can study the vegetation on the hills in northern Guatemala better with commercial GIS software, but most people don't use Google Earth for serious research. The people at Area 51 must really hate google for this though. People don't even have to know where to look, all they need is a simple google search that takes them right to it. Makes it difficult for them to claim that it doesn't exist.
- korteenea, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Also keep in mind that in areas that are away from major cities, the address search doesn't always place you on the exact spot of the property. When I enter the address to my college, for example, it places me about a half-mile down the road... even though the road layer seems to be aligned fairly well with the imagery.
- goman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5This is nothing new.. This is GIS. Just because Google is doing it too, doesn't make it their revolution.
- SmeRndmGy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Google Earth makes me feel like God.
- JoeyDeacon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Hey guys, the world is round!
- jefu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I read an article somewhere on an archeological dig in Syria and went looking for it on Google Earth. I don't know if I found that site or another site, but I sure found a couple of places that looked like the outlines of ancient cities or whatever. Wasn't sure what to do then though and since then I can't find the bookmark. Sigh.
- IHatePants, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@ScottMitchell
"To be fair, though, how often is the satellite data updated?"
As always, it requires some previous knowledge of the area to begin with. But I'm mainly looking at things that would exclude a property, which would have already been there. I'm a recluse once I get home from work, and they don't magically remove huge subdivisions overnight. That's one example.
You're right, though. That's why I said you shouldn't decide to buy based on the images alone. In my case, I'm mainly worried about things that are near the property that I would not like. If they are already on Google Earth, then I can write that property off my list. If not, I go take a look. - kyleajohnson, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I am a GIS professional in a local government setting that uses the powerful yet sometimes cumbersome ArcGIS. I have recently started exporting some of our GIS information into Google Earth format because it is easier for many people to use. It has been an extremely successful process. It has become just another tool for us to help people make better informed decisions.
- mlerner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not in Google Earth.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This may make me look uninformed but what happened to keyhole? Did google just decide to drop the idea of charging for its globe service or is it still around at some level?
- IHatePants, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@korteenea
"Also keep in mind that in areas that are away from major cities, the address search doesn't always place you on the exact spot of the property."
Yeah, I've seen that too. That's why I use the road overlay to get a feel for the actual street layout (which is usually more recent than the satellite) then compare it with an actual map to get a feel for where the property actually is. - tunac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1google maps are really genius!
i wish it only had better road map of some other parts of world :) - jabelar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm not sure, but expect that Google's more interested in the mapping and mapped advertising (like location based ads) as the revenue generators.
- hipstershaun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't recall where, but I recently heard something about police using Google Earth to locate pot farms. Even without great resolution, they can see the difference from surrounding vegetation and go check it out.
Watch for your neighbors trying to steal your power so they can grow indoors. Or are you stealing power? - mlerner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Google Earth is Keyhole but now that Google bought it there is a free basic version. The more advanced features can be found in Google Earth Pro which is not free.
- secretsara, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I find that very hard to believe.. Do you have a link to back that up?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3http://digg.com/political_opinion/Michellemalkin_com_spams_Digg_Political_News_with_Digg_this
Someone noticed a few days ago as well. - Tbobx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Google bought Keyhole in 2003 or so.
- goman, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1It is a poorly written and researched article.
From GIS experts.
http://ccablog.blogspot.com/2006/08/gis-shortcomings.html - Mrkamikaze, on 10/12/2007, -14/+6Wow this is the wrong place to complain about DIGG try DIGG customer support!
- Otto, on 10/12/2007, -14/+2>>>"I got 33 diggs in one hour and then the article was removed from the queue."
I saw your article. I marked it as lame.
Nobody gives a ***** about diggs being faked or not. If the articles are good, then I'd like to see them. If they're not, I'll mark them as lame and help recycle the bits.
Let the digg crew deal with the fraud. I marked your article as lame because you're bitching about how digg works, and you're not the digg crew. QED.
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