You could be right Stephen but don't you agree the outline of the blimp looks quite unnatural? Much worse than ordinary image compression artefacts I would say.
Congratulations for your web site BTW! Michel ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stephen A. Lawrence" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <vortex-l@eskimo.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 28, 2006 2:20 AM Subject: Re: [Vo]: [OT] Google Maps Easter Eggs > > > Terry Blanton wrote: >> Vorts, >> >> While spying on my neighbors about a mile away, Tournament Players >> Club, aka Sugarloaf Country Club, I came across this image: >> >> http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&z=17&ll=34.010799,-84.115362&spn=0.004562,0. >> >> 007231&t=k&om=1 >> >> http://tinyurl.com/wclkj >> >> Now, if that is a dirigible, where's the shadow? Does Google do this >> for fun? Or is it a UFO? > > I don't think it's faked. It looks like an ad blimp, and I see what > looks like a definite shadow. > > First, look at the tree line along the highway, and look at the shadows > from the trees. They're falling diagonally, to the upper left of each > tree; you can see them like tooth marks on the highway. > > Now, at max zoom, draw a line from the _tail_ of the blimp in the same > direction. Look at the embankment by the side of the highway, just > above and to the left of the blimp. There's a dark area there, which > has a bulge at the end, just like the blimp's tail, just about where the > shadow might fall if the blimp is flying low. That dark area has no > business being there, unless it's a shadow -- but note that its edges > are fuzzier than the tree shadows, both because the blimp is a lot > higher than the trees (and the edges spread at about a 1/2 degree angle, > of course), and because it's falling on rough ground with lots of > vegetation. > > Now, trace the body of the blimp in the shadow, which goes down and to > the left. First, the shadow climbs the embankment, faster than you > might expect, because the embankment is sloped. Second, it gets lost in > the line of trees next to the highway, which are somewhat dark. > > Finally, the nose of the shadow apparently just barely misses getting > onto the pavement -- or perhaps it runs over a bit, but is superimposed > on one of the tree shadows. > > I've outlined the area in which I think the shadow has fallen, here (I > drew the outline a bit outside the area of the shadow): > > http://www.physicsinsights.org/images/blimp-shadow-1.png > > Again, since the shadow is falling on a hillside, it's not parallel to > the (horizontal) blimp. > > >> >> Terry >> >
