Google Sightseeing

In a recent post about Google's new Keystone-based satellite photo server I mentioned that we now all have the capability to get limited visual details from above with our maps. Not surprisingly, people have been testing it like crazy to get the overlook on their favorite places, so naturally, now there is a blog about it: Google Sightseeing that is gradually accumulating images submitted by various contributors, grouping them by category, and then, the comments begin.

Some entries are just beautiful, others are of historic interest, others are "twisted" showing anomalies produced by the process of stitching together the satellite images.

As well as submitting the coordinates of the map area to view, submitters can add descriptive text, it is up to the owners of the blog to decide what gets in the blog and what remains, of course.

Here's an example of a submission I did. Perhaps it will be accepted.


Chicago's Navy Pier & The Chicago River

"Chicago's Navy Pier was just that. Rather than try to do an accurate history from those days to the modern entertainment complex it is today, I just mention that it is a fascinating read. Today the pier hosts an I-max theatre, a large Ferris wheel, the Chicago's Children's museum, a Shakespeare theatre, and countless other attractions including fireworks on weekend nights.

Just north of the pier is the Milton J. Olive Water Filtration Plant which cleans a couple of million gallons of water a day. Olive was a local Vietnam hero who saved his friends by jumping on a hand grenade to smother the blast.

Just south of the pier are the docks that control entry for boat traffic into and out of the Chicago River. They are also quietly one of the engineering wonders of the modern world because the locks were built to have reverse the course of the Chicago River to keep the City's water supply clean.

Visitors from Ireland are often startled to find that on the weekend of the St. Patrick's day parade that Chicagoans are crazy enough to dye their own river green (with environmentally safe dye.) "

Here's another Chicago image without the text since I forgot to save it after submitting it.

Chicago's Buckingham Fountain

Peter

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