Where in the world is...
After rediscovering Google Earth due to that post about the naked sunbather, I've been playing with it a little bit. I forgot how much fun this program is.
But what really strikes me is how odd things appear when you look at them in satellite view. In some instances, you can immediately tell what something is. However, sometimes, the overhead view makes you lose that ability to recognize it.
So I decided to make a game out of it. I have, below, seven screen captures taken from Google Earth. In the vein of my beloved, and unfortunately forgotten, Mystery Photo ID game, can you ID these satellite images? If a photo appears cluttered, it should still be pretty obvious what it is I am trying to focus on for the ID.
Give it a whirl in the extended post...
I dedicate this one to Jacquie.
This was fun. I may have to try it more often. In the meantime, though, feel free to check out some cool Google Earth sights on Google Sightseeing.
1. Petronas Towers in Malaysia
2. Sears Tower in Chicago
3. Peral Harbor? nah...
Not sure about the rest but curious to find out! :)
Posted by: kilax | Thursday, 28 September 2006 at 02:33 PM
I'm just glad you missed the one of me sunbathing naked.
Posted by: sandra | Thursday, 28 September 2006 at 03:43 PM
6 The Kremlin
7 Niagra Falls
4 and 5 are a total mystery
Posted by: Bec | Thursday, 28 September 2006 at 04:13 PM
Kilax and Bec beat me to those. I think #5 is the restaurant at LAX. #4 will come to me in a minute.
Posted by: Brandon | Thursday, 28 September 2006 at 06:10 PM
I don't know, I don't know, the Indiana (Indianpolis?) I don't know, I don't know....
And now I'm dizzy and must go lie down.
Posted by: tiff | Thursday, 28 September 2006 at 06:29 PM
Very cool!
The only one I can't figure out is #4. It's not the Playboy Mansion or Hearst Castle, so I'm lost.
Oddly enough, I've been to 1,2,3,5, and 7. I'd certainly like to add Red Square to the list. :-)
Posted by: Dave2 | Thursday, 28 September 2006 at 08:22 PM
Ah... it's the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. I haven't been inside, but I've walked along the exterior and seen the gardens! :-)
Posted by: Dave2 | Thursday, 28 September 2006 at 09:26 PM
1. Petronas Twin Towers, Malaysia
2. Ground Zero, NYC
3. USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor
4. unknown
5. Space Needle?
6. St. Basil's, Moscow
7. Niagra Falls
Those were my guesses before I read everyone else's. I'm embarrassed to say that my eye went straight to the park areas in #2, and I didn't even notice Sears Tower or the river. Can we say "d'oh!!!"?
Posted by: SJ | Thursday, 28 September 2006 at 09:53 PM
Since, in some way, shape, or form, they've all been correctly guessed, here are the answers...
1. Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2. Sears Tower, Chicago, Illinois, USA
3. USS Arizona Memorial, Oahu, Hawaii, USA (stick to your gut, Kilax)
4. Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan (nice catch, Dave)
5. Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Los Angeles, California, USA (good eye, Brandon)
6. Red Square (or the Kremlin as it's in the lower right), Moscow, Russian Federation (nice one, Bec) - I'd be inclined to say that SJ is also right with St. Basil's if I knew where that was.
7. Niagara Falls, New York, USA, or Ontario, Canada (you pick)
I wish I could say I've been to more than just 2, 3, 5, and 7, but I have not.
Sandra, that picture is being saved for round two.
Tiff, yeah, they can make one dizzy, can't they?
Posted by: kapgar | Friday, 29 September 2006 at 12:35 PM
I guess I need to get to Moscow soon so I can finish your list! :-)
Posted by: Dave2 | Friday, 29 September 2006 at 12:47 PM
Well, actually, that IS St. Basil's in the lower right corner. The Kremlin is a huge complex of buildings, dominated by a big rectangular building (part of it is seen in the lower LEFT of your photo). St. Basil's is the famous multicolored "onion domes" structure, and is in a triangularish park just outside the Kremlin walls. There are some onion-domed buildings inside the Kremlin walls, but they are painted solid gold.
See related email I'm sending.
I hope this compensates for my moronity about photo #2!
Posted by: SJ | Friday, 29 September 2006 at 01:44 PM
Oh, I am so looking up Disneyland and Disneyworld on this thing. I can't believe I didn't know about it until now! Bless you for finding me another time waster.
Posted by: Carly | Friday, 29 September 2006 at 01:56 PM
Dave, got room for one more traveler on that flight?
SJ, whoops. My bad. See what happens when you've never visited Mother Russia? I gotta get over there.
Carly, those would be fun! I think I may have to do a round where I pick a bunch of theme parks and see if people can tell them apart. Hmmm...
Posted by: kapgar | Friday, 29 September 2006 at 03:09 PM
aawwwwww, my ex-office building is the first picture you have!! cooool!!! :-) Of the rest, I only recognised the Sears Tower and Niagra Falls. Cool pix tho :-)
Posted by: *lynne* | Friday, 29 September 2006 at 03:40 PM
This was a splendid work-avoidance thing at work today... No one got LAX but our smart arse director got the other six straight away. We growled at him and sent him on his way.
Posted by: Bec | Friday, 29 September 2006 at 05:45 PM
Hey, maybe we can organize a field trip to Russia! I've always wanted to go. Wait ... do they have Starbucks over there?
You should definitely do more of these, it was fun. Bret says he might actually get a few on the amusement park one.
Posted by: SJ | Friday, 29 September 2006 at 05:47 PM
lynne, you used to work in the Petronas Towers? Oh wait, I did know that. My bad. Still very cool.
Bec, happy to help. Also reassuring to know your boss partakes in the fun.
SJ, knowing Starbucks, I'm sure it's there. Wow, you read all the comments, too?
Posted by: kapgar | Friday, 29 September 2006 at 05:55 PM
Heyya Kev,
LOL, I'm not sure if I've ever gone out and *said*/typed that I worked at the Petronas Twin Towers [mainly because there are not that many tenants in the building, so it's not too difficult to figure out my ex-employer, and I don't want to be "caught" criticising them *too* much... heeheee!].
Then again, when I was back in KL for 5 months, and I kept blogging about meeting up with my ex-colleagues at KLCC, it's not much of a leap to figure out I used to be based there too. So no worries, no "bad" on your part :-)
Posted by: *lynne* | Friday, 29 September 2006 at 09:52 PM
You didn't type about working in the Petronas Towers specifically. You were talking about having been evacuated after 9/11 as I recall. And you said it was because they feared that, being the biggest building down there, they feared it being a target. I put two and two together and got five and figured you must've worked in Petronas. How's that for intuitiveness? Yeah, I'm good, aren't I?
Posted by: kapgar | Saturday, 30 September 2006 at 06:04 PM
oooh, thanks for the dedication, sweetness!
I love Niagra. Those are so awesome. I will have to reload Google Earth. I have an idea but I'm probably way off on most of them. That was a really great idea for a post!
Posted by: jacquie | Saturday, 30 September 2006 at 09:11 PM
Jacquie, actually it was your comment about Niagara that gave me the idea for this post. Hence the dedication. And I think I'll keep doing it on a semi-regular basis, too.
Posted by: kapgar | Monday, 02 October 2006 at 06:46 AM