Thursday, June 02, 2005

Conspiracy Theory

Ok, I have to admit, the last two posts were a bit boring. Time for more pictures and a lot more sensation. What about investigating some conspiracy theories? Let's get to it.

One of the most well known conspiracy theories must be the Roswell Incident. In Early July 1947, a couple of witnesses saw an UFO crashing down in the New Mexican desert near Roswell. The 'believers' immediately jumped on the story, and the government kept their mouth shut, which only added more value to the believers' theories. The results were hundreds of websites covering on the subject - each and everyone telling to uncover a bit more of the truth - and an ideal story for big Hollywood movies Like Men In Black. Most theories say that after the UFO had crashed, the US Army picked up the debris (and Aliens inside) and transported them to an army base called 'Area 51'. You must have already have heard about this name before, recently there was even a game released with the same title (and subject).

How about looking up this 'Area 51' and searching for the Aliens ourselves? On foot or by car it is literally impossible to get anywhere near the vacinity of Aria 51. The surroundings are heavily guarded and trespassers risk to be shot. So I'm trying it the safe way, yes, Google Maps. Well, to be perfectly honest, Google Maps didn't make it that easy either, I could have known... Just typing 'Area 51' didn't give any results, a conspiracy maybe? I had to search google to find anyone else who had more succes finding it. And so here it is, Area 51!


The mysterious Area 51

But what's the deal with the big white spot? Is Google trying to hide something for us, is it a conspiracy after all? Well, I hate to dissapoint you, but actually the white you see is a dried up saltwater lake called 'Groom Lake'. Here's a picture from it, taken by another satellite. So nothing special to see here, and when you zoom in to close, Google says it doesn't have the images for that zooming level. For those who do want to see more, and I know you do, here's a link for more detailed pictures of the facility. Unfortunately, no Aliens either.


A more detailled view

The area surrounding Area 51 also has some other nice things to look at. Like 'Area 19' for example (kind of makes you wonder how many area's they have...). This is even an old nuclear testing site, called Area 3, which is quite impressive when seen from a larger distance. So I guess this is what Nagasaki looks like. And I still wonder what this is...


Strange...

So unfortunately we couldn't find any evidence on Aliens or UFO's. The discussion will probably keep continuing, altough the US government considers the case to be closed. Now I want to hear what you think, do you think they are hiding something for us, or is it just another conspiracy theory...?

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

First look at Google Earth

Get this, 2nd post today! This time about the new apple on the Google-tree, namely Google Earth. Newrecruit is one of the lucky few to download a beta version of this new software. It can be used to plan a route, project that route on sattelite images and even visualise the route from a birds' perspective.

Google Earth is supposed to be released in a couple of weeks. It combines the Keyhole software Google bought last year, together with Google Local and Google Maps. The software requires an online database to work. This way, no updates have to be installed to view new areas or new images with a better resolution. At this moment, it's unsure the software and data will be available for free. Altough Google has a tradition on free information distribution, the current Keyhole software still has to be paid for.

Since the beta is not freely downloadable, I advise you to visit newrecruit for the pictures. To give you a small indication, I included another screenshot I found on the net.


The Google Earth interface

Google Maps UK launched

Are the people over at Google Maps reading this blog? Two days after my previous post, my obeys are already answered, or at least some of them. It seems Google launched Google Maps UK. Let's hope the rest of Europe is coming soon.