Over the weekend Google rolled out another major image update to Google Earth. Frank at the GEarth Blog is tracking the updates, and has so far spotted changes all over the place!

Scotland, China, Africa, South Korea, Mongolia, Iceland, Sweden, France, Norway, Turkey, Brazil, Bangladesh, Italy, Uruguay, Qatar, Canada, England, Argentina, Maldives, Greenland, Mexico, and the US states of Wisconsin and South Dakota.

Not too far from the GSS Scottish HQ, the new imagery has revealed this set of giant footprints, one of which appears to have become a rather effective van trap.

Update: Twitter user Mantolwen, who sent us this link, actually went along there today and took some photos of the footprints, as they’re still clearly visible. Thanks Mantolwen!

Elsewhere in Scotland we can see the some superb images of the previously featured Falkirk Wheel, which is appearing on Google Earth for the first time, and I also found my own car!¹

Not all of the images are of improved quality however - presumably because more up-to-date images are the thing desired by your regular Google Earther.

However, GEarth Blog also reports that there has been a whole slew of new historical imagery added in this update, covering even more of the globe than the new updated images.²

So what new sights can you find near you?

Thanks to Frank at the Google Earth Blog and @Mantolwen on Twitter for the giant feet!

This is the very lovely, but otherwise totally normal-looking Place de Terreaux in Lyon, France. Nothing strange about it at all, right?

However if you turn on the “show labels” option on Google Maps, it looks a lot like Google have been trying to draw a gigantic GPS penis.

Is it possible that the map provider did this on purpose, as a way of identifying their map data (a Trap Street), or is this just a very happy-looking coincidence?

Thanks to Keir at Google Maps Mania.

For a bit of Friday fun, here’s a roundup of our top ten rudest and funniest¹ UK place names on Google Maps.

So with no further ado, in reverse order, the winners are…

10. Titty Ho, Northamptonshire

9. Back Passage, City of London

8. Fine Bush Lane, West London

7. Crapstone, Devon

6. Sluts Hole Lane, Norfolk

5. Penistone, Yorkshire

4. Dick Place, Edinburgh²

3. Pennycomequick Hill, Plymouth

2. Minge Lane, Worcestershire

1. Butt Hole Road, Yorkshire

Of course the UK being the kind of place it is, there’s absolutely trillions more of these to be found. Some that didn’t make this list include:

• Cocks, Cornwall
• Thong, Kent
• Crotch Crescent, Oxfordshire
• Wetwang, East Yorkshire
• Twatt, Shetland
• Slag Lane, Wiltshire
• Hardon road, Wolverhampton
• Fanny Hands Lane, Lincolnshire

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out one of our most popular posts of 2007, which was about Fucking, Austria.

Thanks to The NY Times, via Nev.

Today we’ll explore some of the world’s most famous recording studios, starting with Sun Studio in Memphis. I love this Street View with the neon signs glowing!

Perhaps best known as the location of Elvis Presley’s early recordings, the studio was also used by many rock-n-roll greats including Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Jerry Lee Lewis. The building reopened in 1987 as a functioning studio and museum, appearing soon after that in the U2 film Rattle and Hum.

Speaking of U2, their first three albums were recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin. While the studio has moved, the location remains a site of pilgrimage for devoted fans who cover the walls with graffiti, visible on Live Maps:

One of the more unique studios in the world is the Astoria studio, found in a houseboat on the River Thames west of London.

Built in 1911, and originally designed to house an entire orchestra, the boat is currently owned by Dave Gilmour and parts of Pink Floyd’s two most recent albums were recorded there.

Most of Prince’s albums from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s were recorded at the now-defunct studio that shared a name with a song and record label: Paisley Park.

While we’ve already visited the Abbey Road zebra crossing on Google Sightseeing, we didn’t look at the actual studio:

Home to the vast majority of The Beatles’ recording sessions, these studios have since hosted a Who’s Who of modern rock, pop and classical music, from Radiohead to the Spice Girls. The wall outside Abbey Road Studios is also covered in graffiti from music fans, though it’s not visible on either Google or Live Maps.

From 1959 to 1971, Motown Records put more than 110 songs into the Top 10 - the majority of them were recorded at Hitsville USA, a pair of Detroit buildings that housed the label’s studios and administrative offices.

The label moved to Los Angeles in 1972, but the buildings have served as a popular museum since 1985.

And finally we fly to Berlin to see the Hansa Tonstudios.

Perhaps most famous for David Bowie’s Low and Heroes albums, many artists have taken residence there seeking inspiration from the culture and history of East and West Berlin.

Where was your favourite album recorded?

Thanks to Lianachan, Stephen Jackson, Martin S., 433 and Stephen LaMora.

If you didn’t already know, Valentine’s Day is imminent, so if you’ve not got that special someone a gift yet you better get on with it!

Perhaps we can help with some Google Earth sights around the globe?

In LA, where just a standard rectangular swimming pool isn’t enough, you need to show love for your other half by building them a heart-shaped swimming pool.

Or take a walk down the aptly-named Cupid Row in San Bruno to these two streets, which together form a perfect heart shape. I wonder if the any of the houses are for sale?

But if you can’t afford a new gaff, how about writing your beloved a simple message of love?

We’re still in California, where a field displays the simple message of “I (heart) U”. Presumably all the local men have at some point claimed responsibility for the declaration¹.

On a German beach near Warnemündethere, there’s a message of love which reads “Andrea möchtest du mich …”. Jenni from Google Sightseeing Deutsch has translated this as “Andrea, would you like to … me”, suggesting that the missing work (obscured by an unhelpful cloud) is “heiraten” (marry). ²

To seal the deal our suitor has even added a large love heart.

Lastly, we visit a packed Brighton seafront for a building promotes Love and Peace in one giant message.

Google Sightseeing wishes you all a happy Valentine’s Day, however you’re spending it! For more romance, we’ve previously visited various other heart-shaped things and heart pools.

Thanks to i-cube, Catherine, PatrickSalsbury, 89shelby, Marc Cohen, Meigel and Alexei.