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June 11, 2009
Notes from Twitter
Here's a couple of notes from my twitter feed (follow my twitter) with further elaboration:
Tweet1: Found location of Street View bike trail in Monterey, CA..
Explanation: The USA Today published a story about how Google is now taking Street View photos of bike trails and paths with the Google Trike. The article indicated only one bike path has been mapped so far. So, I went hunting in Google Earth and found the trail. Here is the location:
View Larger Map
I'm a little disappointed because much of the bike trail is along a road which also has Street View. So, you don't get a very unique experience for much of the trail. But, maybe this isn't the only trail. The Google Trike is actually a 3-wheeled vehicle of substantial size. I don't think they'll be taking it on the more rugged mountain bike trails.
Tweet2: Finally released my Google Earth file & photos of Arizona vacation.
Explanation: About a month ago I went on a vacation to Arizona. This was the last chance for a big backpacking trip with my buddies before leaving on the five year sailing circumnavigation - the Tahina Expedition. You can view a Google Earth travelogue of the trip including GPS tracks, photos, and placemarks and a description of the trip in this post.
Posted by FrankTaylor at June 11, 2009 8:15 AM
Comments
Posted by: Chris at June 11, 2009 4:49 PM
It seems like the shadows confirm it :) The shadow from the bike and camera drops in north-east direction.
Posted by: Peter Brodersen at June 12, 2009 4:47 AM
They had one of these on show at the Google I/O party, but unfortunately test drives weren't allowed. Could have been amusing given the unlimited free beer...
Posted by: JB at June 13, 2009 11:50 PM
Google could mount the SV hardware on Segways! The rugged version of the segway should be able to handle the equipment, but it would need a rechargeable battery setup...! Right now the Googlenetta trike has a gas powered generator to recharge the batteries...! On flickr there's already a lot of shots of the Googlenetta trike in action and in some the Honda power generator can be seen, in the box under the boom, in photos looking @ the Googlenetta from the back the generator can be seen...)
flickr photo of Googlenetta trike's rear:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/porfaltadesoma/3598364735/
Posted by: smokeonit at June 14, 2009 11:14 AM
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If the story of the Google Trike is not misplaced from 1 April, am I'm not entirely sure, even the most athletic operator of the current model would be in difficulty off road. A better application would be to provide views of the many scenic pedestrian parts of European cities not covered by the SV cars. A while ago I commented, half seriously, in GEB that cameras mounted on mobility scooters - battery powered trikes for people with limited mobility - should be used, so what next?