par Oyez Oyez » Mer Avr 23, 2008 11:30 am
Tumbling adolescent preserved for posterity
Author: Mark Appleton
[img:280:210]http://mos.bikeradar.com/images/news/2008/04/23/streetview4-280-80.jpg[/img]
The scene: an unremarkable residential street in Cleveland, Ohio. Detached houses line the road, here and there a tree offers a modicum of shade, occasionally a car is parked next to the kerb, but otherwise, there are few signs of life.
But what’s this? A vehicle sporting an impressive item of roof-mounted optical hardware moves along the street at a steady, metered pace. The all-seeing eye blinks every 10 metres or so, capturing the view in panoramic, 360 degree detail.
The images are destined to be up-loaded to the internet, for the benefit of the lost, the curious and the would-be stalker. For this is Google Maps in action, hoovering up suburban scenes for its Street View feature. And thanks to that very same facility, we can now travel with the Google-wagon along Cleveland's West 90th St, and as we do so, we finally we see signs of activity. A teenage boy, happily rides his bike on the road up ahead. Sporting a baseball cap, white t-shirt and baggies, he’s just like a million other American teenagers – except today, he is about to be immortalised by the mighty G.
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