Monday, August 18, 2008

Street View Reveals Baino's Birthplace

Ever wonder who's really sitting in those solid sided suspicious looking vans that you thought was the ironing man delivering newly pressed shirts to your too-lazy or too-busy-playing-golf doctor's wife next door? They're the Google gang using whiz bang fancy pants cameras to photograph your house at street level! Although since 1997 they've been whizzing about in nifty new VW's provided by Immersive Media, the company that came up with the 360 degre view GPS camera. That's right, Google maps in many places now offers you 360 street level technology. Photos can only be shot from public streets but in combination with Google Earth, I wouldn't go running out to the washing line in the nuddy just in case!


So naturally what do four women munching sandwiches during their workstation lunch do? Google their houses . . except I googled the house I was born in and hey presto! IrwinDrive, Handforth Wilmslow! . . OK Street View isn't available but by a stroke of luck it's for sale so there was a photo in the side bar! A little semi detached on a corner block! My bedroom was on the top right. What a funny little house? I remember it really well . . .and the only thing that's changed is the removal of front lawn in favour of pebbles and what looks like a plaster sculpture and the addition of a red paint to the door!


Slightly different to where I ended up and who'da thunk it! Three children were born in this teensy place. So have a go, see if you've got Street View on your Google Maps, hours of fun for all the family.

At first I thought it really, really cool then wondered about the privacy aspect . . .I'm too tired to debate that right now but we all know that Google Maps can be scary!




13 comments:

  1. I know and I hate them. They have a picture of my house at street level the morning I sneaked out of the house with just my tank top and underwear thinking nobody will be around while I retrieved the newspaper. Thank God it wasn't on the evening I was inebriated and passed out on the front lawn :-)

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  2. who NOSE what'll be next? :O lol

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  3. Anonymous11:08 pm

    Wilmslow is very posh!

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  4. People are going nuts in this country saying Google Earth's latest thang is little more than a burglar-friendly invasion of privacy...

    ... the local councils in London are doing CCTV parking and traffic enforcement from cars decked out like that...

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  5. Anonymous1:51 am

    I love to google the house where I was born, but there is little point, Mum still lives there !, 37 years later !, and I'll go for a visit next week !

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  6. Oops Ces, bad timing there . . must admit I often sneak out to the washing line scantily clad! It's about 25 metres from the house so plenty of opportunity to catch me in me Bridget Joneses' (foiled them so far).

    Who knows indeed Wuffa. Not sure how I feel about it but as a hack photographer I suppose I take pics of other people's houses and lifestyle all the same and without their permission!

    Ian it wasn't in 1956, this was my parent's first 'mortgage'. We moved to Romily when I was 7, now that was posh . .so posh, my Dad struggled and so we emigrated to Australia as ten pound poms!

    Actually Gleds, I've found most of the shots are a bit ambiguous thanks to the camouflage of trees and the like. Not so for the new McMansions who chop down all their foliage, they're in full view! Traffic eforcement? That's a bit sneaky, I think prevention is better than punitive measures personally.

    Little point indeed! We moved around a lot when I was a kid which is why I've probably stayed put in my current house for 19 years (Well that and nobody will buy it! *sob*)

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  7. 10 pound poms - those were the days. Not so easy to get into God's own now, I gather. But I bet you've had a better life; hope so, anyway.

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  8. but you are nowhere NEAR that obtrusive... nor do you offer them up to the world... or do you? :O lol

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  9. I think it's neat. I'm going to look up mine as well!

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  10. Nice gaf! This site tags the so called highlights of google earth!

    http://googlesightseeing.com/

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  11. Ernest, I'm not sure . . the weather's better but who knows, it's not as quaint as the Dordogne and certainly doesn't have the history of Europe but hey, it's home. We could have ended up in Pakistan or India but Australia it was . . my father had job offers in all three.

    Nah Wuffa . .strickly an amateur hack!

    Hours of fun Megan, almost as much fun as the hair styling thingy. Although the view from my street was less than flattering, they should have warned me and I'd have mown the lawn.

    Haha well it was a very little gaff! And I was only 7 when I left it. I know, I'm pathetic, I did a Sydney virtual street tour!

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  12. Just kidding about the clothing and drunken behavior BUT I do think Google Maps street view, as Gledwood says, is burglar-friendly and even worse, a stalker's tool.

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  13. Anonymous10:11 am

    They're beginning to map us for 'Street View', but we don't have it yet so I can't look my house up on that.

    However, you did give me a great idea for my blog post today! :)

    And I love the idea of people getting snapped for posterity by Google while nipping out nearly in the nude to hang washing! ROFL!

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