Along with the custom maps, the update brings more languages and better performance. Anyone managed to get the update yet? [Google Lat Long Blog]

One day Larry and Sergey bought Android, and I didn’t even notice. Think about the strategic opportunities that has created. Sergey found Google Earth one day while he was surfing on the Web. And then he walked into my office and told me he bought them. “And I said, “for how much,” Sergey?” And it turned out to be a few million.

Think about it: Google goes around buying companies, and the CEO doesn’t even know about it. Now carry that forward to its logical conclusion.

Man, who would’ve thought Fake Steve nailed it that hard? [Media Memo via Alley Insider]

This is one of the awesomest and scariest technology demonstrations I’ve seen in a long while: Georgia Institute of Technology’s students are using CCTV video to map actual vehicles and people into Google Earth. Why is this scary?

Right now, all the data displayed is anonymous, which makes up for a cool looking technology. You can see a football game in real time, the actual traffic in your route to work, and eventually see weather and even birds move in real time. Now put on your tin foil hat and imagine.

Imagine that someone is able to tag someone in some way. In theory, it could be as easy as having access to one of the CCTV cameras and this system. You mark a car on the screen and, provided that you have enough cameras along the way, the technology would be able to follow the vehicle wherever it goes. In England, for example, this will be really easy to do, knowing there are CCTV cameras absolutely everywhere. Not to talk about RFID tags.

Of course, I’m sure that no government agency will be interested in using this for controlling someone’s movements. Why would they? Now, excuse me while I go pack and move to an island in the Maldives. [PopSci]

According to the lighthouse of journalism and one of its experts—reader and security guard Jason Cooke, 25, of Nottingham—this is it. The real monster. Jason’s scientific description leaves no room for doubt:

I couldn’t believe it. It’s just like the descriptions of Nessie.

But if that white thing is the Loch Ness monster, what are the blue thingies next to it? The top one seems like a giant snake. The lower one… I think the lower one may be a Loch Ness monster’s monster poop. And the snake is pissed off because it hates floaters, so it’s running away. For shame! [The Sun]

I can’t count how many times I’ve been been through the Apollo 11 mission—in movies, books, documentaries and elsewhere—but I still found the Google Earth reenactment, with its Sketchup-modeled spacecraft and informative voiceover, completely engaging. Historical image data, Street-View-like landing site exploration and Google Earth’s requisite zooming and swooshing are enough for anyone to get lost in for a few minutes, and for NASA nerds to get sucked in for an entire afternoon. [Google]

Inspired by all of the classy art on Google Maps, 18-year old Rory McInnes decided to create a 20 metre phallic masterpiece on the roof of his parents’ stately English manor.

The painting stood for almost a year until a helicopter noticed it and contacted the Sun newspaper. The Sun followed up by contacting the owner who thought the whole thing must be some sort of joke:

He said: “It’s an April Fool’s joke, right? There’s no way there’s a 60ft phallus on top of my house.”

Oh yes, Mr. McInnes, there is definitely a 60-foot wang on top of your house. Now what are you going to do about it? Does it involve a belt? A lifetime grounding perhaps?

The boy’s father appeared to take the prank in good humour.

But he said: “When Rory gets home he will be given a scrubbing brush and white spirit and he can go and scrub it off.”

Oh yeah, that will teach him. Rory did get his comeuppance…in a way. Despite his prank, the house roof remains penis-free according to Google. [Telegraph]

Conclusion 1: This Is Atlantis, Dammit!

The enigmatic lines were found under the sea off the north-western coast of Africa. This location is awfully close to one of the spots Plato, Legendary Smart Dude, had pinpointed as a possible resting place of Atlantis. In addition, the site is about the same size as Plato described. And if we accept Google’s explanation, why is this the first such grid we’ve seen, in this very suspicious location?

Conclusion 2: It’s Not Atlantis, Dammit!

Google claims that the lines are remnants of the sonar traces left by boats as they surveyed the area. Plus, Plato described Atlantis as being designed as a series of concentric circles, not a grid. Sub-argument: Plato’s description of Atlantis was fictional, and the entire internet is really bored.

I think the arguments speak for themselves. ATLANTIS IS OBVIOUSLY REAL! [CNET, Google]

Hanke is the guy directly in charge of both Google Earth and Google Maps, and he’s not at a loss for words when defending his product with all the ferocity of a proud little league parent. From The Sydney Morning Herald:

“The evilness is in the philosophies and the desires of those that want to do evil. They will use the tools at hand to do that, whether it’s throwing a Molotov cocktail, or shooting a rifle or using some piece of technology as part of the process.”
…

“If Google Earth didn’t exist, would they have used a tourist map they could have bought or was the real intelligence actually coming from an on-the-ground informant who was working in the hotel and drawing layouts of everything on a napkin?”

The basic argument seems to be, do you blame the gun, the gun owner or the gun manufacturer when some innocent civilian gets shot? And in Google’s case, they are even another step beyond this greyness, maybe the publisher of a general interest book on ballistics—I don’t know, this metaphor is going down in flames quickly.

Read a lot more from Hanke at this link: [SMH]

It looks really incredible, and we’re totally installing it right now. Can’t wait to see what the historical imagery turns up! [Google Earth via Twitter/Harry McCracken]