Eye in the sky

I discovered Google Earth (LINK) this morning while avoiding housework. First of all, I don't think Google would have built in a "Save Image" option if they didn't want me to export images for my own use, so here (LINK) goes. The intersection of the gray lines is our house. To the north is my playground, the grain elevators and train tracks.

Second of all, good God! Yes, satellite photography has been around since the 1960's and aerial photography since the earliest cameras were taken up in hot air balloons but this technology is something else.

In the space of five minutes I was able to visit all three capital cities of the Axis of Evil. Tehran and Baghdad (still a member of the axis?) were vaster than I had imagined, and particularly close to the ground in terms of average building height, possibly a function of the materials used to build structures in those countries. From an altitude of 5,000m both cities looked like some highly viscous tan colored liquid that had been poured into the desert.

Pyongyang, capital of North Korea was the most intriguing axis city. From above it looks like a decent western city with its parks, stadiums, museums, galleries and a freeway system that Ireland would be lucky to have by the year 2106. But here’s the somber bit, there are virtually no vehicles (LINK) to be found on the People's roads.