Google Maps Synch
This week, on June 2nd, my son was telling me he wants to learn about Asia. He said he'd been learning about different places in the world at school, but he didn't learn anything about Asia. I pulled up a map of Asia in Google Maps and then decided to see where Google has street view. For those who aren't aware, if you are in Google maps, you can pick up the orange figure of a person which is in the left side of the screen (at the top of the zoom feature) and start to drag it over the map; as you do this, some parts of the map will start to be highlighted in blue--these are the regions which have "street view". Street view is an amazing feature of Google created with a series of panoramic photos taken by vehicles on the road (all done by volunteers, I believe) all over the world. It also includes panoramic photos of the interiors of some buildings so that you can take a virtual tour.
Anyway, I zoomed out so that a good portion of the earth was visible on the screen, then picked up the street view person. I happened to notice that Japan was one Asian country with street view, so I dropped the little orange figure randomly into Japan. The place I landed was a courtyard, apparently photographed from someone on a bike or walking, because the "road" was just a walking path. I came upon a big wall of windows and admired the architecture. That's when I noticed a shelve of books through the window and realized i had randomly landed outside of a library. Then I noticed i could actually go in and browse through the library. It was empty of people. Desks sat empty. Everything was brand new and all signs were written in English (the sign at the front states that photographs are prohibited) and (I assume) in Japanese.
I opened up the bottom map and discovered I had landed at the town library in Obuse, which is a town in Nagano, Japan.
This was a synch for me because I am a librarian with a special interest in visiting the library each time I visit a new place. Perhaps the reason this happened was that Google gives search priority to places where interior views of buildings are visible, and that's why I landed there. I tried it a second time in Northern Japan and again ended up in a kind of courtyard, but didn't see a library around. I encourage you to try it yourself and see where in the world you land (if you do, please leave a comment to share).
Anyway, I zoomed out so that a good portion of the earth was visible on the screen, then picked up the street view person. I happened to notice that Japan was one Asian country with street view, so I dropped the little orange figure randomly into Japan. The place I landed was a courtyard, apparently photographed from someone on a bike or walking, because the "road" was just a walking path. I came upon a big wall of windows and admired the architecture. That's when I noticed a shelve of books through the window and realized i had randomly landed outside of a library. Then I noticed i could actually go in and browse through the library. It was empty of people. Desks sat empty. Everything was brand new and all signs were written in English (the sign at the front states that photographs are prohibited) and (I assume) in Japanese.
I opened up the bottom map and discovered I had landed at the town library in Obuse, which is a town in Nagano, Japan.
This was a synch for me because I am a librarian with a special interest in visiting the library each time I visit a new place. Perhaps the reason this happened was that Google gives search priority to places where interior views of buildings are visible, and that's why I landed there. I tried it a second time in Northern Japan and again ended up in a kind of courtyard, but didn't see a library around. I encourage you to try it yourself and see where in the world you land (if you do, please leave a comment to share).
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