google streetview uk is live!

[Firefox]

It was more the thieving staff than the Spar itself.

They always had the little monitors on the tills turned as far back as possible, so even they had to lean sideways to see them and there was no possibility of customers getting a look. There was absolutely no chance of getting a receipt, ever. If you turned round at the checkout to get a paper or a TV guide there'd be three beeps in quick succession from the scanner as they scanned (e.g.) your packet of jaffa cakes three times.

So basically in order to shop there you had to:
a. Add up your bill in your head beforehand, then argue the toss with the cashier when their total magically came to several quid more than yours, or
b. Not mind getting ripped off.

I'm not a huge fan of Tesco, but at least they give you a nice itemised receipted without fail.

[Portland]

Must say, the Spar round the corner in student times was similar for double scanning. I used to refuse to pay until I'd seen receipt, and the manager didn't give a shit. Must be a Sheffield Spar thing.

Just went elsewhere in short order.

[gumboot]

WOW
Just WOW




I'm just going to have to stare at that awhile

The real Google car has cloaking technology. The car on the left is just a decoy, while on the right the real car goes about its business.

Was just wandering down to the shop when a Google car popped out of a side street! I'm going to be on Streetview! *mild excitement*

So does anybody have a proper response planned for if they see the thing (ignoring that the real one will actually be sneaking up behind you)? Anything more than a startled expression?

[Ratsoap]

Friend of a friend had a temp job driving the Google car in Aberdeen a few months ago. We were going to go up and co-ordintate some shennanigans, but it turns out we are a bunch of lazy fuckers, so we never.

[Firefox]

So does anybody have a proper response planned for if they see the thing (ignoring that the real one will actually be sneaking up behind you)? Anything more than a startled expression?

In addition to the startled expression (probably more like a slack-jawed gape) I managed to whip out my phone and take a snap.



If you look carefully you can make out the Googlebeing goggling back at me through its MiB shades.

[Dio]

You'll have to see if you appear in the Photo Feedback Loop. The Reg had some fantastic ones.

[IronGiant]

Just out of interest, is there a web site which gives regular updates on which areas (UK or worldwide) have recently been added to Streetview?

[venusian]

According to my mother (who's not an expert witness for these things) they did her town around the same time as Bristol came online but said town is still not online. Presumably they're saving them up for a big push at some point.

[defsdoor]

I saw it going down the main road just as I came out of the dentist a couple of weeks ago. Considered chasing after it to get in the shot but couldn't be bothered

[SimonB]

Saw two different Google cars today - one in Ipswich while I was on my Park & Ride bus to work and one in Hadleigh (with a French reg plate) when I was going to a meeting in a pool car so no chance to snap them back or do a silly dance or anything.

[PVB]

Just out of interest, is there a web site which gives regular updates on which areas (UK or worldwide) have recently been added to Streetview?

Wiki lists these for the UK:

England: Nottingham, Derby, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester ,Bradford, Scunthorpe, Bristol, London, Gateshead, Norwich, Newcastle upon Tyne, Birmingham, Coventry, Liverpool, Southampton, York, Cambridge, Oxford, Watford

Scotland: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Paisley

Wales: Cardiff, Barry, Swansea

Northern Ireland: Belfast

Can't find any 'latest updates' though.

Also:

Google has stated that its ultimate goal is to provide street views of the entire world, although the company has not disclosed in advance the exact dates when any particular locations will be added.

[IronGiant]

Ta mate.

[Arnel]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1166722/Angry-villagers-form-human-chain-stop-Google-Street-View-filming.html

I do love the way that the people who were so angry about the thought of their cars and their houses being seen on Google Maps seem to have no qualms whatsoever about taking pictures of the Google StreetView car (complete with number plate) AND a photo of the driver (non-blurred), and sending them in to a national newspaper for publication.

N.

[piku]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1166722/Angry-villagers-form-human-chain-stop-Google-Street-View-filming.html

I do love the way that the people who were so angry about the thought of their cars and their houses being seen on Google Maps seem to have no qualms whatsoever about taking pictures of the Google StreetView car (complete with number plate) AND a photo of the driver (non-blurred), and sending them in to a national newspaper for publication.

Well the Google cars are evil, so the Daily Mail readers are justified and right in their breach of privacy, obviously.

Must be a strange job to do, driving slowly around the housing estates of the world at 20mph taking detailed photographs of everything.

Has the Google Sightseeing site been mentioned in this thread yet?

[Ollie]

Half of my road (the half with my house in it) has been removed entirely from Streetview (as in, you can't place the little man on that half of the road). I've heard of individual houses being blacked out, but I don't know why half an entire road would be removed. It was definitely there when Streetview first went live, as (probably like most people) the first thing I looked at was my house.