igh-resolution satellite pictures of the States have been available for quite a few months. These have now been extended, by Google Maps, to including other major cities, London and Manchetser included. I took screenshots of places that are familiar to me and marked up my home among other key locations. It now seems obvious how close I live to most places, with the longest walk — to the health club — which takes only 15 minutes.

Click map to enlarge

ry comparing news feeds from CNN against those from the BBC. I am subscribed to various feeds from both and in CNN no descriptions are bound to the titles. Why even syndicate if the subscriber gets 2-word provocative titles? The BBC is different, possibly because it has no commercial interests. It also opened its news API to the public recently, which was inarguably a wise step.

The ‘greedy feed’ attitude will possibly change due to Google’s embedment of adverts in feeds. This, in turn, is likely to set a precedent and motivate competitors (e.g. Overture) to do likewise. The official Google Factory Tour includes a preview of AdSense in feeds; see the picture at the bottom-right corner of the page.

There has recently been some gossip about Google’s project which involves 3D maps of San Francisco, as well as other cities. More details have been disclosed today (Kudos to Slashdot) including some pictures and related research papers (PDF).

An example of output maps, which can be generated by trucks with laser tracers

CNN have published an insightful article on the rebound of big dot-com Web sites. Although their arguments seem convincing, many will remain skeptical. Scott Kessler is among the skeptics:

I’d hesitate to characterize this is as comparable to what was going on in the late 1990s,” said Scott Kessler, an equity analyst with Standard & Poor’s. “Not every Internet stock is doing well.

Picture from CNN

Have you ever carefully thought about your Google cookie? It can perpetually keep information about:

• Your address/es
• When you are logged on if you Google frequently enough
• What you search the Web for
• Which sites you enter (from SERP‘s)

That is an excess of information, so where has privacy gone? I used to block the Google Cookie, but it resulted in inconveniences when using AdSense. The blocking was matter of principle; there was nothing particular to disguise.

Google co-founder was once asked about the information bound to each cookie identifier. The answer is still unknown. Microsoft are doing something evil by sharing the information listed above across their empire (see related item).

Many on-line mapping systems exist, but Google Maps is by far more impressive than most when judged by its speed and ease of use. One can scroll/drag the map in real-time (the page is Java-reliant), search by location reliably and expect a short response time. There are no advertisements either so the screen is used to its full capacity (see below, click to enlarge)

The down-side: only northern America is included, as in the case with Google Local (also in its Beta phase).

A recent item from the BBC reports on the severity of global warming. Although it means that our children can enjoy bathing in the sea, the consequences world-wide are devastating as ice continues to thaw.

…Unless we know what we’re dealing with, I think it’s going to be pretty hard to fix it…
 
    Dr. Tim Barnett, Scripps Institution of Oceanography