darkoshi | Entries tagged with maps

Looking up a TA location (where they supposedly sell the Grape Chia flavor of Synergy kombucha drinks, which is my favorite flavor but I never see it anymore at the usual places I shop) on Google Streetview, I see a sign on the neighboring building which says GOASS.

I think to myself, they wouldn't really have named a business that, would they?

Nope, it is really GOASIS. The view of the "I" was blocked by a support column from the previous position.

Driving to work today, a car with a pole-mounted camera contraption mounted on top of it turned onto the street in front of me. I wasn't close enough to see a logo on it, but thought it might be a Google Maps Street-view car. I snapped a couple of quick photos of it before it took another turn away from me.

If the car was taking photos, I wondered if I'd eventually see my own car on the street when browsing Google maps.

Doing some searches this evening, it appears to instead have been an Apple Maps vehicle.

The car and camera looked exactly like the one shown on this page:
https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-new-apple-maps-subaru-cars-spotted-in-los-angeles-2018-10

It even had a California license plate like that one, starting with 8DJJ.

Apple calls their street-view-like feature "Look Around":
https://9to5mac.com/2019/06/06/street-view-look-around-apple-maps/
https://www.idropnews.com/gallery/ios-13-is-finally-here-with-these-14-new-features/107325/10/

Apparently Apple Maps can't be browsed on a webpage like Google Maps.

Per this page, the Look Around feature is only available on iOS 13.
https://www.idropnews.com/gallery/ios-13-is-finally-here-with-these-14-new-features/107325/10/

Our iPad (which was given to Qiao as a gift 7 years ago) has iOS9 and us not being big Apple fans, we have no intention of upgrading it. So, oh well. Guess I won't be able to try out Apple Maps and its Look-Around.

The Google maps Street View car drove through this intersection after an accident had occurred in November 2018. It shows the damaged cars, police, and firetruck.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0705297,-80.9588718,3a,75y,175.75h,80.76t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sUerT-OTn4vjBmgI5g8uBWw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Translated video description: Flen in Sörmland has long had a hidden existence. In the summer of 2019, the residents gathered to change this with the help of GB Glace, which has its ice cream factory in the middle of Flen. Over one night, together and with joy, they managed to create a whole new image of Flen in Google Street View, visible worldwide. This is the video that shows how it went.

"När Flen tog Google Street View i egna händer" (Watch on YouTube)

Video title: När Flen tog Google Street View i egna händer
Posted by: GB Glace
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzABuiImLXk
Date posted: Jul 19, 2019

I'm sure they're visible somewhere, but I wasn't able to find the people shown in the video, in the actual Google Maps Streetview. In many places, the streetview doesn't even seem to work right as I can advance to an intersection, but then it doesn't let me go anywhere from there.

But I did find this which amused me:

https://www.google.com/maps/@59.0568429,16.571043,3a,75y,161.84h,81.16t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAF1QipP4eySlGmhTyGvgKecMO3C3de970JzG_RyGgRW-!2e10!7i7680!8i3840

https://www.google.com/maps/@59.0568422,16.5711295,3a,75y,211.41h,87.79t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAF1QipOCQXskx8--pijMmURkW16KOX7dvAQXtSYQ6wVv!2e10!7i7680!8i3840

Woman and 2 children: Yay, the Streetview car is passing by, let's hold up signs!
Man: Let me quickly vacuum the yard so it looks good!

Pink house, with some kind of tiny house beside it.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.5799623,-84.1272199,3a,51.6y,213.13h,79.45t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1scjf8cOIopcKJ_Nsnoclu1A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

I took a photo of that house a couple years ago while we were driving by, on a road trip. At the time, it no longer had those signs on front. I didn't have the address, but with a few other clues, I was able to find it using Google Street View.

This page has a great "prove you're human / not a spammer" test thingy at the bottom, although I fear it may be too difficult or confusing for some people, especially if they're from someplace without much public transportation. But maybe that's on purpose, as they only want locals to post comments.

https://ggwash.org/view/65334/topic-of-the-week-what-does-trick-or-treating-look-like-in-your-building-or-neighborhood

The question, and sometimes the map, changes each time you reload the page.
Even I'm not certain about some things (one question mentioned the "full time" yellow line; not sure what that means, or how one can see that on the map).

Things I learned about okra from its Wikipedia page:
There's a red variety, which tastes the same as the green one.
The leaves can be cooked and eaten like other greens.
"Okra seeds may be roasted and ground to form a caffeine-free substitute for coffee."
An oil can be pressed from the seeds.

In case you're bored, here's a funny little story (not at all about okra) I came across after reading one about okra:
Mr. Mathrubootham is exasperated with national stupidity
(In sharing that story, I don't mean to make fun of India, as I think just as many people here in the U.S. and elsewhere are fascinated by those kind of videos.)

.

Lately Google Maps shows location balloons for hotels when I search on places, so that I can hardly find what I'm looking for, because of the balloons and hotel text covering the map. Does anyone know if there's a way to disable that layer in the options somewhere? I'm viewing it on a computer, not on a phone.

This is so cute.

Very good dog crashes every street view shot of this South Korean island

If you explore the map, the island itself is lovely too, beautiful ocean views, fields, a wooded path with interesting things along the way... there's a cool silvery monument in one spot along the path. I haven't found a way to link directly to that location. But (looking at the overview map), it is right near where the path along the east side of the island forks in the middle.

The island is called Jukdo.

(After more wandering along the map-path) This island is like a video game! One page I read said the island has only 3 families; another page said it had 2 inhabitants. And that the island has no running water, that rainwater must be collected, or it must be brought over from the nearby larger island of Ulleung.

But judging by the map-photos, it must be a somewhat popular tourist destination. There is a small building at the southern loop of the path, which appears to have bathrooms. There's a wood fence along the path, with many little rest/overlook areas and picnic tables/benches. There's another building with signs in front, which may be a restaurant. There are signs/markers along the path (in Korean, so I don't know what they say).

Ah, now I feel I must post some screenshots after all.

Cricket Wireless appears to have a pretty good deal: $35 (when using auto-pay) for unlimited voice, text, and data, of which 1GB is high-speed.

They even appear to have good coverage in most areas. Actually, Cricket was bought by AT&T earlier this year, and I think that means they have the same coverage area now as AT&T.

However, Cricket's coverage map isn't very clear. The colors in the map don't match the colors in the key. The key has 2 shades of green, while the map has several shades of green, none of which look exactly like the colors in the key(*). (AT&T's coverage map is easier to understand, by the way - their orange map colors match up to their key colors much better.)

And by the way, what are those little circles on the national map? (When I suggested to my mom that she switch to Cricket as she's planning to get a new phone anyway, she told me those circles are towers, and that Cricket's coverage is no good, as they've only got 8 towers in SC. I argued with her assumption, but I'm not sure I was able to convince her otherwise.)

So I took advantage of their online chat feature to ask. (Their "Contact Us" page says that they are only available to chat between 7am and 7pm EST, but they were actually still available after 9pm when I tried.)

L***: Thank you for contacting Cricket were we go the extra mile to make you smile :) how can I help you today?
[me]: I'd like you to explain the colors on your Coverage Map. The colors on the map don't match the colors in the key.
L***: Hello !! ^^__^^ How are you today ? Hope your doing great :)
L***: yes sure :)
L***: provide me your zip code please !!
[me]: #####
L***: Allow me a moment to work on this please :)
L***: Thank you for you patience and understanding, waiting for me
L***: Okay , the Deep Green Mean's : LTE Coverage .
L***: The light Green Mean's 4G
L***: The Yellow mean's 3G
L***: and the blue means 2G
[me]: But in the key they show a deep green and a bright green and a bright yellow, while the map shows greyish green and greyish yellow and only a few small areas of bright yellow. So it seems the greyish areas must be an overlap of 2 colors, but of which ones?
L***: well right now I was checking your area ,and on your area you have LTE Coverage
L***: that mean's that you will receive perfect signal.
[me]: That is good. But looking at the map, if you look to the right of Columbia, there is a large greyish yellow area which includes Sumter. Is that color supposed to be 3G?
L***: That's correct,meaning that in Columbia your going to receive LTE Coverage and in Sumter you will receive 3G
L***: well basically it would be like mix, between 4G and 3G at the time.
L***: basing on Sumter .
[me]: ok, so that greyish yellow is a mix of 3G and 4G. does that mean that a mix of 2G (blue) and 3G (yellow) is also shown as a shade of green?
[me]: I don't see any areas on the map that are plain blue.
L***: dont worry ,you will receive good coverage.
[me]: Well, thank you for your assistance, L***. I think it would be good if Cricket were to make their map colors easier to understand in the future.
L***: Thank you for contacting cricket wireless support, have a great day and remember you can always visit us at www.cricketwireless.com
[me]: Thank you. Have a good day!

S***: Welcome to Cricket Wireless! How can I serve you today?
[me]: Hello. I have a question about the Coverage map of the United States. What do the little circles represent?
S***: Can you please provide me more details about it?
S***: Can you please tell me the color of the circles?
[me]: when I open this page: https://www.cricketwireless.com/map.html
[me]: it shows little circles. They are yellow in the center, surrounded by white, and black around them. For instance, in South Carolina there are about 10 of these circles.
[me]: Are they towers? Surely there are more than 10 towers in South Carolina, right?
[me]: or are they stores?
S***: I will check it right now! :)
S***: Please provide me more minutes.
[me]: ok
S***: The little circle are the towers.
S***: The white circles, the areas in which we do not have coverage.
[me]: If they are towers, how can it be that most of South Carolina has coverage, when there are only 10 towers?
[me]: and why do the circles disappear when I zoom into the map?
S***: I will double check this for you
S***: Please allow me more minutes.
[several minutes passed]
Thank you for using Live Help. You may now close this window.
Your session has ended. You may now close this window.

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(*) - Coincidentally, a radio show mentioned yesterday that women are on average better at perceiving differences in color, especially for greens and yellows, than men. I wonder if the person who made that map can't even tell that the map colors don't match the key.

Crossposts: http://darkoshi.livejournal.com/585126.html

RAIDS Online - crime maps of various U.S. localities.

They have data for part of Columbia, but not for my neighborhood. I suppose that the city police department participates in the program, but that Richland County doesn't.

Then again, Richland County has its own nifty mapping system, which also includes crime information. But as far as I can tell, it doesn't let you specify a time range like the RAIDS one does.

Crossposts: http://darkoshi.livejournal.com/502005.html

Qiao just called me to say he saw the Google street-view car with the 6-foot high tripod with cameras on the end. It passed him while he was driving on Pine Belt Rd. He said it was a small white funny-looking car with stripes on it.... must have been like this one.

I checked Google maps, and the area between Pine Belt Rd, Two Notch Rd, and Beltline Blvd doesn't have street-view available yet, so the car might have been doing imaging of that area. I'm curious whether Qiao's car got into any of the images. We will check Google maps in the future to find out.

Crossposts: http://darkoshi.livejournal.com/418303.html

Go to maps.google.com.
Enter your address (only U.S. addresses so far, from what I can tell)
When the map comes up, click the "Street View" link that displays underneath the small photo. (If there's no photo or link, they must not have gotten your area yet - try a different address in a different part of town or the country).

It brings up a 360 degree street-level photographic view of the location. And you can click the white arrows to move forward and back along the streets. Like in a VR game, but of the real world!