At Google Blogoscoped, Philipp Lenssen has a great Google Maps hack to overclock the resolution of Google Maps, bumping any location up to the resolution available in Google Earth, simply by tweaking the URL:
- Select a location and switch to satellite view
- Zoom in as far as you can, and click “link to this page” at the top right
- Now replace the “z” parameter in the URL with a higher value, e.g. 20, 22, or 23, and wait. Some locations will now show more detailed imagery
During last year’s FOO Camp, Google flew over O’Reilly’s Sebastopol campus to get some high-rez shots of the event. They added these shots to Google Maps this past January, but the resolution was much higher in Google Earth. With this hack, you can get the same resolution in Google Maps that’s been available in Google Earth for a while.
So, if you surf over to 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472 (with the z parameter set to 22), here’s what you’ll see, right down to the “Welcome to FOO Camp” sign:
That’s me in the khaki pants. I’m having a great conversation with Natalie Zee Drieu and Doria Fan.
(via Lifehacker)
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