Tag Archives | Google

Google Earth Begins Mapping Amazon Rainforest

By on August 22, 2011 in News 15
Photo: Alex Guerrero (CC)

Photo: Alex Guerrero (CC)

Not sure if ‘street view’ is the right term for it, but Google has begun mapping the Amazon much like it does streets in cities and towns. Via The Australian:

Two women washed clothes in the dark water of the Rio Negro as a boat glided past with a camera-laden Google tricycle strapped to the roof, destined to give the world a window into the Amazon rainforest.

A “trike” typically used to capture street scenes for Google’s free online mapping service launched last Thursday from the village of Tumbira in a first-ever project to let web users virtually explore the world’s largest river, its wildlife and its communities.

The project was the brainchild of Amazonas Sustainable Foundation (FAS), which two years ago went to Google Earth with a vision of turning “Street View” into a river view in the lush and precious Amazon Basin.

[Continues at The Australian]… Read the rest

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Is The Internet Polluting The Planet?

By on July 22, 2011 in News 13

indexIs your constant craving for coneing clips hastening the destruction of the world? People tend to think of internet usage as “virtual” or “magic” but, it isn’t so.

YouTube viewing alone pumps thousands of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every day. Computer servers add to worldwide carbon emissions at the same rate as the aviation industry, and Facebook and Apple are powered largely by coal. In fact, I better stop typing right now. Via Hungry Beast:

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Anonymous Launches Social Networking Site: AnonPlus

By on July 19, 2011 in News 16

anonymouslogo0207211AnonPlus is to be a new social networking site without censorship, but how different is it from other social networks? The Raw Story reports:

Infamous hacker group Anonymous launched Monday its own social network after being rejected by Google’s freshly-launched online community.

“Today we welcome you to begin anew,” the hacker alliance said at the website anonplus.com, which it described as a platform to distribute information.

“Welcome to the Revolution – a new social network where there is no fear…of censorship…of blackout…nor of holding back.”

The drive to build a social network came after the Anonymous account was suspended at the Google+ online community, which was launched last month by the Internet giant as a challenge to Facebook.

A message on the anonplus.com website promised that the Anonymous social network would be for everyone and listed online monikers of developers taking part in the project.

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Google Is Ruining Your Memory

By on July 15, 2011 in News 18

Columbia University Professor Betsy Sparrow says we just don’t bother remembering anything anymore. From Columbia News:

The rise of Internet search engines like Google has changed the way our brain remembers information, according to research by Columbia University psychologist Betsy Sparrow published July 14 in Science.

“Since the advent of search engines, we are reorganizing the way we remember things,” said Sparrow. “Our brains rely on the Internet for memory in much the same way they rely on the memory of a friend, family member or co-worker. We remember less through knowing information itself than by knowing where the information can be found.”…

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Google Launches Latest Social Network: Google+

By on June 29, 2011 in News 12

google-plus-360It seems when you get tired of one social networking site another appears. Google+ is the new answer for those of you who are tired of Facebook, or just enjoy creating new online profiles of yourself. Via Mashable:

Google has finally unveiled Google+, the company’s top secret social layer that turns all of the search engine into one giant social network.

Google+, which begins rolling out a very limited field test on Tuesday, is the culmination of a year-long project led by Vic Gundotra, Google’s senior vice president of social. The project, which has been delayed several times, constitutes Google’s answer to Facebook.

The search giant’s new social project will be omnipresent on its products, thanks to a complete redesign of the navigation bar. The familiar gray strip at the top of every Google page will turn black, and come with several new options for accessing your Google+ profile, viewing notifications and instantly sharing content.

… Read the rest

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Why Google Earth Can’t Show You Israel

By on June 16, 2011 in News 12

IsraelHamed Aleaziz writes in Mother Jones:

Since Google launched its Google Earth feature in 2005, the company has become a worldwide leader in providing high-resolution satellite imagery. In 2010, Google Earth allowed the world to see the extent of the destruction in post-earthquake Haiti. This year, Google released similar images after Japan’s deadly tsunami and earthquake. With just one click, Google can bring the world—and a better understanding of far-away events—to your computer.

There is one entire country, however, that Google Earth won’t show you: Israel.

That’s because, in 1997, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act, one section of which is titled, “Prohibition on collection and release of detailed satellite imagery relating to Israel.” The amendment, known as the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment, calls for a federal agency, the NOAA’s Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs, to regulate the dissemination of zoomed-in images of Israel.

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Amateur Astronomer Claims ‘Bio Station Alpha’ Is Proof Of Life, Or Past Life on Mars … (Video)

By on June 7, 2011 in News 16

Mars BuildingVia News.Au.com:

An American armchair astronomer claims he has found evidence of, well, something on Mars. David Martines’ YouTube video is heading for viral status after he uploaded a flyby of Google Earth’s Mars explorer zooming in on a white, cylindrical shaped object.

He’s calling it “Bio Station Alpha, because I’m just assuming that something lives in it or has lived in it”.

“It’s very unusual in that it’s quite large, it’s over 700 feet long and 150 feet wide, it looks like it’s a cylinder or made up of cylinders,” he says, “It could be a power station or it could be a biological containment or it could be a glorified garage — hope it’s not a weapon. Whoever put it up there had a purpose I’m sure. I couldn’t imagine what the purpose was. I couldn’t imagine why anybody would want to live on Mars.”

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Facebook And Google Team Up To Oppose Privacy Legislation

By on May 19, 2011 in News 16

largeThere may be bad blood after last week’s revelation that Facebook has been trying secretly to inject smear stories about Google into the media, but the two internet giants can join together on the most important issues, writes the Atlantic Wire:

Facebook, Google, Twitter, Skype and others cosigned a letter “strongly opposing” a bill introduced by California State Senator Ellen Corbett that would force sites to explain privacy settings in “plain language.”

Her recently introduced Social Networking Privacy Act (SB 242) would require a notice before users hand over their personal information to a site. In Sen. Corbett’s own words, “You shouldn’t have to sign in and give up your personal information before you get to the part where you say, ‘Please don’t share my personal information.” The bill would also grant parents the right to request photos or text be removed from any of their children’s social networking pages within 48 hours.

… Read the rest

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Google Lobbies Nevada to Allow Self-Driving Cars

By on May 15, 2011 in News 6

Google Self Driving CarJohn Markoff writes in the NY Times:

Google, a pioneer of self-driving cars, is quietly lobbying for legislation that would make Nevada the first state where they could be legally operated on public roads.

The cars, hybrids, have a laser range finder on the roof, as well as radar and camera sensors and more equipment in the trunk.

And yes, the proposed legislation would include an exemption from the ban on distracted driving to allow occupants to send text messages while sitting behind the wheel.

The two bills, which have received little attention outside Nevada’s Capitol, are being introduced less than a year after the giant search engine company acknowledged that it was developing cars that could be safely driven without human intervention.

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