terra non firma

I always feel like somebody's watching me...

I know this is, like, SO june '05, but I finally got around to downloading google earth after aram showed it to me. aram and I have been playing around with new technologies for a long, long time and its been ages since a new consumer app literally made my jaw drop. but google earth did. its amazing. download it now. its not perfect - it seems to have a hard time locating landmarks outside the US but that's a small complaint next to its awesomeness. this post explains its features and has some great screenshots. what aram and I noticed yesterday (ok, aram did) was the app treats you as if you're a physical object in space. so if your elevation is lower than say, a moutain top, and you try to pan past it, you can't unless you climb to a higher elevation.

and in somewhat related news, you're being watched. not just by google earth, but by Metro Rail, private security systems and building surveillance. apparently, LA is far behind London. the question is, do cameras deter crime? do they simply push crime beyond the borders of the camera's gaze? or are they irrelevant (as was the case in london)? as one police spokesperson puts it: "A well planned terrorist attack is probably going to be pulled off with or without cameras."

posted by marissa @ 9:26 AM