Yo friends.. file this under “fun”…
I was captured by GOOGLE MAPS camera-truck.
Earlier this spring, before headed to the client, I was having a breakfast outside the Brazilian bakery, Fabiane’s Café in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY — as the Google maps truck rolled by.
I looked up and said “Huh-Huh??, are those cameras on a pickup truck!?”
The Google pickup has large wide-angle cameras attached to its front, sides and its truck-bed.
The camera in the truck-bed is mounted on a tripod, a bit higher than the truck’s roof-line.
The truck was accompanied by a loud motorcycle, which is what triggered me to look up from my quick coffee.
Honestly, I’d prefer not to have the picture taken, but really I’m too blurry to be recognized on the bench..
I guess, that’s life in a surveillance-age, everyone gets photographed.
FYI The pictures change as you roll down the street..
Check out the LOVE BUS (with Praying Gandhi and a funny red love sofa on the top) found in front of the bakery. as you roll down Bedford Ave, up to the intersection.
Bring your little P.O.V. man to the CENTER of the intersection… you will notice, as you stroll the street, that the parked cars will change/disappear as Google makes image editing choices….
So, map this
at http://maps.google.com
After mapping the location, active STREET VIEW.
Move down Bedford Ave (by click-dragging-forward) until you get to North 5th Street.
The street image will redraw as you move forward.216 Bedford Ave? Williamsburg, NY
and roll up onto the intersection (past the Love/Gandhi Bus),
and stop in the intersection
and rotate to the Right, 90°.
Look at bench.
N 5th St / Bedford Ave? Williamsburg, NY
I’m blurry guy sitting on the bench in front of the bakery, near the OneWay sign, under the Red awning.
<
Pretty Whacky world…
Holden
PS:
So, since it has been blurred-out, there’s no way to confirm that this is me unless you had the highres file.
Google blurs-out faces and license plates.
I happen to think it is, because I experienced the truck.
Google obviously takes multiple pictures and stitches them together for each street,
And even though this was a sunny day, there is no guarantee that this picture will remain at this location.
Peace.
PPS:
We are all becoming ghosts in the google-machine!
