Archive for October 17th, 2005

Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

The editors: James & Alex

Fame

Monday, 17th October 2005 by Alex

When we started this site back and April (and were immediately overwhelmed with the huge amount of interest we received), we joked about getting boingboinged, although we never imagined that it would really happen.

However, after 6 months and over 500 posts, we’ve actually done it! Very strange that it’s on a 3 month-old post though… Regardless, we are collectively pleased as punch and have added this trophy alongside our Slashdotting over on the press page.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for reading, commenting and supporting us along the way, we’ve been having a great time and intend to do so for as long as you’re interested.

Face in sand dune

P.S. The only old threads that actually still gets regular comments are ‘Alien Civilisation‘, where they’ve been debating theories for over 4 months, and the infamous ‘UFO Updates‘ post where, despite closing the original thread people are still discussing their theories 5 months later!

Brazilian Supertanker

by Alex

Please note that some or all of the objects mentioned in this post are no longer visible on Google Earth or Google Maps.

Here’s a totally awesome image of an enormous supertanker speeding along just off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Only ships above 250,000 tonnes are considered true supertankers, and due to their massive size and weight, their stopping distances are generally measured in miles. They’re also capable of carrying around two million barrels of oil.

It all seems completely unbelievable somehow, and yet Wikipedia tells us it’s true

Thanks to Gus.

Exploration Place

by James

This is a Children’s science center in Wichita, Kansas called Exploration Place. Alongside the weird shaped buildings there’s some quite nice looking gardens, which I believe incorporate a mini golf course. The official website has a ground level photo at the bottom of the page.

Thanks: Mark Sweat & David Grant.