Ladies and gents: Google Street View is straight-up the most badass thing Google has come up with so far.
For those unfamiliar- imagine if you could use Google Maps to explore your favourite cities from the ground level in a full, 360º field of view. You now can for most major world cities, from Tokyo to Washington D.C. to Amsterdam (my personal favourite), though they’re taking their sweet time getting around to giving Canada coverage. Ignoring the obvious privacy implications of this, for those of us who are content to just aimlessly walk around new locations when vacationing, Google Street View is simultaneously the raddest invention ever and the worst possible thing to discover during the last week of school. See: maps.google.com/help/maps/streetview/ for more information or merely do a Google Maps search and click and drag the little yellow dude at the top of the zoom bar to
any part of the map with Street View data (Hint: it’ll be coloured blue once you start dragging).
However, because I am not content to merely destroy my own productivity during this most crucial of school weeks, This Week On The Internet is holding its first ever Google Street View Scavenger Hunt. Go to maps.google.com and use Google Street View to find each of the following. For each item, click the “Link” button near the top-right corner once located and paste the given address into an email to aendrew [at] aendrew.com. Note that merely copying and pasting the address bar from your web-browser is not sufficient and will not only prevent you from winning the contest, but also make you look like a damn fool. The three people to respond with the most items will receive a fantabulous prize package comprised entirely of junk from my desk (Value: approximately greater than that of a cup of coffee but much less than that of a elephant). Contest ends August 31, winners/procrastinators will be posted to the Gauntlet website next TWOTI.
People:
A person trying to shield their identity from the camera.
A police officer or a fireman.
One other individual resembling a
member of the Village People.
A person committing an illegal act.
A person on a balcony.
A person smoking a cigarette.
A person eating a sandwich.
A person in a costume.
A person on a bike.
A person on a boat.
A person wearing a hat.
A person wearing attire related to a religion.
Carmen Sandiego.
Places:
A government building.
The Sydney Opera House.
A demolished building.
A field with llamas in it.
Area 51.
A suspension bridge.
A phallic landmark.
A traffic circle.
A building that’s uglier than Mackimmie Library Tower.
A road with more than 4 lanes on each side.
A building that’s wider at the top than at the base.
A McDonald’s restaurant within 500 meters of a major historical site.
A place that has 6 or more different flags.
A brewery or bottling plant.
Things:
A high-speed train.
A single street with more than 5 cars on it.
A kitty cat.
A weird statue.
An accident.
A small-town tourist trap of the “Giant Thing” variety.
A tumbleweed.
A massive flag.
A Jumbotron display.
A surface reflecting the Google Street View van back at itself.
Any nudity whatsoever.
A flash-mob, group of Live Action Role Players (LARPers) or a mass protest.
A piece of litter.
A tank or other piece of military hardware.