Power Kite Forum - Google Maps creeps me out

Google Maps creeps me out

Kamikuza - 1-2-2010 at 05:55 AM

Somewhat OT I know but, I'm sending the GoPro to stetson and his automated paypal invoice thing didn't include a country (Amerocentric!) so I thought I'd do a quick google of his address to make sure, which had the info up to the state and zip code ... so I copied and pasted into the search bar, clicked the first link without looking at it and boom! I'm in google maps - looking at the roof of his house :lol:

I feel like a stalker :ninja:

Ok so you don't feel so bad, here's the house I grew up in, although it's actually the back section ... the marker is on 4A. Yes I spent summers walking down to spend all day at the beach, I flew single line kites in the school yard but this is before I knew about real kites! Some 20 years ago ...!

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&...

Kamikuza - 1-2-2010 at 05:55 AM

I see the new owners cut down Mum's gum tree ... was the biggest tree in the area

heliboy50 - 1-2-2010 at 06:09 AM

What if you were listening to The Police "Every breath you take" just by happenstance when you clicked the link? I always thought that was the best stalker song ever.

bobalooie57 - 1-2-2010 at 07:03 AM

Great looking beach, though. :yes:

Drewculous - 1-2-2010 at 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by heliboy50
What if you were listening to The Police "Every breath you take" just by happenstance when you clicked the link? I always thought that was the best stalker song ever.

LMAO!!!

PHREERIDER - 1-2-2010 at 08:50 AM

drop down to "street level" function.

I'm at your door.

indigo_wolf - 1-2-2010 at 10:22 AM

Street Level = Peoples' 15 minutes of fame, while walking their dog :o

Next step: virtual car jacking :ninja:

ATB,
Sam

heliboy50 - 1-2-2010 at 02:27 PM

Great. I'll bet I'm on there walking out the front door of my house mining nose gold.

Bladerunner - 1-2-2010 at 03:43 PM

When I 1st downloaded google earth I thought the satalite shot was recent.

I phoned my Sister in Calgary and asked who was driving that Red pick-up in front of here house. To look out her window. I know it's NOT Her husband !

Just by fluke the red truck was there again and she was totally freaked out even though it was someone visiting the neighbor. :singing:

indigo_wolf - 1-2-2010 at 03:56 PM

I first download Google Earth a few years ago, and it was nice but nothing to write home about.

Then I downloaded it last year and it was an entirely different critter. Intellisense and being able to zoom, rotate, and shift your perspective with the mouse scroller and CTRL/SHIFT keys just brought to mind all the cool map gymnastics they used to do in spy movies.

It's like someone finally kept a promise that had been implicity made to me while I was growing up. Being able to scope out possible fields at your desktop as fast as you can scroll and mark things still blows me away.

ATB,
Sam

rocfighter - 1-2-2010 at 04:19 PM

The last time I logged onto the site it still showed my sailboat in my old mooring place. I moved it 3 years ago!!
Also I'm glad I have so many trees around my house. No one can see me hanging my swim suit on the line when I get back from the river!!

Kamikuza - 1-2-2010 at 06:44 PM

The Google Map Fail pics are always good value ... guys getting recognized walking into brothels, car crashes, naked people, the chick with the massive dildo in her window etc etc. My fav though is the French guy following the van doing wheelies on his R1 or something :lol:

Japan has pretty limited coverage THIS should be our house in Japan but you'll have to zoom out a long way to get the photo view but there'll be no detail ... "my" beach is about a ten minute drive north, HERE

Quote:

Originally posted by bobalooie57
Great looking beach, though. :yes:

Had my first days landboarding on that beach ... ZERO tuition, no internet learning; had to figure it all out by myself. Took a couple of hours but I got moving in the end! Rocked on down the beach for a couple of kilometers till I thought I should go back ... then realized I couldn't ride goofy :ticking:

heliboy50 - 1-2-2010 at 06:54 PM

I actually found a place to go fly on a road trip. Google earthed the town, found a field, noted the gps coordinates, and drove out and found it. Good time to be alive, I think.

Kamikuza - 1-2-2010 at 08:33 PM

A better time to be alive will be when I can jump in my nuclear powered flying car and be 1,000 km away in 10 minutes :lol:

say, it IS the 21st century already - where the hell is my flying car? :spin:

stetson05 - 1-2-2010 at 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kamikuza
Somewhat OT I know but, I'm sending the GoPro to stetson and his automated paypal invoice thing didn't include a country (Amerocentric!) so I thought I'd do a quick google of his address to make sure, which had the info up to the state and zip code ... so I copied and pasted into the search bar, clicked the first link without looking at it and boom! I'm in google maps - looking at the roof of his house :lol:

I feel like a stalker :ninja:

Sorry, I didn't mean to be ameriocentric but I was at work and in a hurry. I figured you knew I was from the US cause That is what I asked about. I know you are shipping from Japan. I know you lived in New Zealand so otherwise I wouldn't have assumed you automatically know I was in the U.S.A. So anyway, since you are stalking me you know exactly where I live. I just wish that park accross the street was a better place to fly.

BTW, I have watched you kitesurf, Does that freak you out? :spin:

indigo_wolf - 1-2-2010 at 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kamikuza
Took a couple of hours but I got moving in the end! Rocked on down the beach for a couple of kilometers till I thought I should go back ... then realized I couldn't ride goofy

Classic

Luckily I believe all evidence of me doing things in that vein have been eradicated... or at least all the appropriate bribes have been applied.

ATB,
Sam

Kamikuza - 1-2-2010 at 09:13 PM

No it's cool, stetson ... was just making 100% sure :D not that I'm paranoid or anything :lol:

got it in the post first thing this morning, should be there in about a week

I put the 4 pack of AAA NiMH batteries I was using for you ... when the PO saw it was a camera they asked "What kind of batteries are in the box cos we can't send them airmail" :ticking: nearly threw a tantrum at that till they told me they can't airmail Li-Ion batteries :puzzled: Wonder how my GoPro HD is going to get here :lol:

iWolf, I actually got back ok and I guess it's due to the non-directionality of the board, unlike snowboard or skateboard. Nowadays I have a hard time remember which direction is actually goofy for me :puzzled:

stetson05 - 2-2-2010 at 12:26 AM

thanks for the batteries!

I have specificly tried to practice going each direction too. I was never really much of a skateboarder so it isn't too hard. If I am riding on the street though I can only balance if I am kicking with my right foot. :puzzled: Not sure why but I stopped trying with my left foot due to the face plants.

I can spend hours using google to search for places to ride. Crazy thought, I can see the 10ft x10ft tent I lived in in Baghdad. Scary. Mortars are not your friend.:o

Kamikuza - 2-2-2010 at 01:00 AM

Link to that dude! That's kinda cool :thumbup:

I bought myself a $50 longboard at Costco last month, and tried riding it when we were in Hamamatsu ... couldn't remember which foot I pushed with :ticking: equally bad with both :lol:

Kamikuza - 2-2-2010 at 06:30 PM

Ok just to clear up a point - by Amerocentric, I was assuming that it was Paypal assuming that anyone who received a PP invoice in English must be American ... actually, it was stetson assuming I would be awake and functioning pre-coffee at 9 in the morning when I went to the post office :P :lol:

stetson05 - 2-2-2010 at 07:06 PM

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=33.2986...

Doesn't look like this anymore. The pic is from the fall 2004 so I don't feel like I am exposing any troops. No surprise to local Iraqi's that there are troops there

Kamikuza - 2-2-2010 at 11:10 PM

Yeah, after I clicked "post reply" I suddenly thought oh whoops might be classified :shocked2:

Read a great book called Sniper One about some UK troops who were stationed at Al Amarah in 2003 maybe? This is the place where the story takes place ... just down the road as it were ...
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll...

The world is getting smaller and smaller ... but I still can't buy an English version of Windows 7 from the US and get it shipped to Japan :lol: