Google is not your friend

[keith]

You do have a reading problem, don't you. I said I wouldn't comment on the choice of words. The idea that pool water is going to contaminate groundwater is *dumb*, however.

[keith]

Not around here. The GE satellite views of my house, well aren't. That makes them at least three years old (probably about that, since the earth moving has begun and there are a couple of houses in our development). OTOH, the street views clearly show our house.

Shocking!!

Just shocking, I tell ya!

[DerbyDad03]

That's OK, as long as you completely missed the point, we're good.

Show me the post where I used the words "contaminate groundwater".

Nevermind, don't bother. We're done.

[Ned Flanders]

Well I would have dig a little deeper to know it actually needed a permit. It is smaller than 10 x 10, and although it is built on a cement pad it was not connected to the house. There is no side on it on the house side so you can see the vinyl siding. Water was running down the wall and getting things wet so my solution was to unsnap the siding and slipping in a strip of aluminum flashing. I put a bead of roof caulk under the flashing before I screwed it to the shingles. Since I added the flashing everything inside has been bone dry.

[Oren]

From the article: "A representative for Google said she did not know of any other community using Google Earth as it has been used in Riverhead. She did not respond to a question about whether Google has any concerns about how the town is using the service."

What a crock. I had 2/3 of my lawn turf removed. First I met with the contact from the water authority, so I could get the rebate money for taking out the turf.

The contact shows up with a google earth color 8x10 (?), then he measured the turf, said I would get a check in the mail and then left.

[notbob]

Water shortage or are lawns jes illegal in your town?

nb

[Steve B]

Oren, please explain a little deeper. I, also took out the grass at two of my Vegas houses. Each time, they sent a rep who took pictures and measurements. The Google Earth feature can be useless in lots of cases.

We moved to Utah in 2007. The pictures on there right now are 2006. Before that, I wanted to go riding in this area, and Google Earthed the area around here. It was one of those images that is really fuzzy. Finally, about a year later, clear pictures were put up and one could see the roads. So, they posted 2006 imagery in 2008.

When I go to my houses in Vegas, I get imagery date of may 29, 2010. I guess they change the pictures a whole lot more there in Vegas than they do here in rural Utah.

How much per square foot did you get. IIRC, we got $1 per square foot.

Steve

visit my blog at

[Oren]

Both.

Homes built since a few or more years ago cannot have a turf lawn in the front yard. Rock / desert style is now the norm.

..."Program saves billions of gallons

The Water Smart Landscape rebate program has helped the community upgrade more than 142 million square feet of lawn to water-efficient landscaping, saving the community billions of gallons of water."

[Oren]

Like I mentioned he came to measure the turf. That was the difference in area photos.

See:<

I'll have to look and see if my patio permitted roof is on the tax rolls or such.

Don't remember exactly. I was in the rebate range of dollars, mostly. The rebate went down at a certain square footage.

[krw]

Not "None of this even considers the long term impact of "illegal pools" that lower property values when they collapse or ruin the aquifer (or whatever, no comments on the choice of words please) or in some other way cause problems when they get installed in conflict with local codes."

Now, you tell me how a swimming pool is going to "ruin the aquifer" (ground water).

No, but your brain is well done. Well beyond toast.

[HeyBub]

Still, you've got to wonder what would happen if:

A. You covered your pool-containing backyard with camouflage netting, or B. You erected a 20x30' silver tarp with a diving board drawn on it.

Regarding "A" above, what if you could find out when the Google camera is scheduled for your property. You'd only have to cover your pool for a relatively short period.

Or you could cover the pool during the day and confine yourself to nighttime pool-parties (unless the Google bird has a really big flash).

Jes thinkin' out loud...

[HeyBub]

He doesn't have a cool, refreshing pool. The city confiscated it.

I understand the city is going to take all the confiscated pools, stack them up, and make a lake.

With fishing and everything. For the children.

[krw]

They'll just "ruin the aquifer"!

[phaser5]

I have nothing to hide and I'm complaining. So there you go, not it's not just those complaining who have something to hide. Big brother is watching. I personally DO NOT want my property shown online. Can I stop them? NO.....

Now every criminal can look over our property... We dont have any privacy anymore.

Doing roadmaps was fine, but showing the actual buildings and land is bullshit. I'm waiting for a class action lawsuit to take place because I'll join immediately.

[Jim Elbrecht]

Life is all about choices. You chose the property you own. You could buy a piece of property that isn't shown on Google maps. i.e.- first floor of an apartment building- restricted area like adjacent to a nuclear research facility, etc.

Or you could disguise your current property so it doesn't look from the air the way it looks from the ground.

How did you stop them in the past? These photos have been available for decades, albeit not as easily as googlemaps makes them. The good their availability does far outweighs the 'bad'.

True that.

Don't hold your breath.

Jim

[dgk]

I read a long time ago that towns were using planes to spot unpermitted pools, this is clearly a cheaper way to do it. I just was looking out a commerical airliner last week and could spot pools from two miles up easily.

[Han]

"HeyBub" wrote in news:H5udnYVcPIujfMvRnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

There is privacy, and there is evasion of rules & regulations. If you (knowingly or not) evade the "law", the consequences are yours. Find an island in the South Pacific and generate your own country.

[Jay Hanig]

Looking at what Google shows of my home, it's nothing more than what anybody driving by could see from the road. The overhead view from the satellite doesn't show where I've hidden the diamonds and gold bullion. I think this is a lot of to do over nothing.

OTOH, if you're trying to find a place, it's damned handy to know what the building looks like before you try to locate it in traffic. Just last week, I found a new veterinarian's office that was off the main highway about 200 yards. I'd have never spotted it from the highway if I didn't know what I was looking for initially.

People coming to visit me drive right up because they know what the house looks like. It's much better than the old "4th house on the right" crap.

Take a chill pill.

Jay

[Kurt Ullman]

There is also (at least in the US) a well-developed case law line that says there is no expectation of privacy in a public place. Thus (as an illustration) if the paparazzi can stand on the sidewalk and take a picture of you sunbathing, that is legal. However, they can't put a ladder on the same sidewalk and take pictures over your 10 foot high stone fence. Same basic principal here. If anyone in an airplane can see as they go overhead, there should be no expectation of privacy. (This is also why celebs lobby the FAA to make areas around their weddings, etc., no fly zones.)

[HeyBub]

$75,000 ain't nothing.