This 3D map animation starts with a view of the greater Bay Area, and progressively homes in on the San Jose Museum of Art. The map technology is powered by Google. The widget and animation sequence powered by Forthmedia.

To see an even bigger map with satellite imagery click here. (Hint: Set your browser to full screen mode.)

Yes, but is it art?

From a design standpoint, the Google Maps API uses 3D technology introduced by Adobe into Flash and Photoshop CS4. Also the same Google Maps Navigation in Droid smart-phones. It’s pretty nice.

Now that you have an idea of the range, you can play around with the controls on you own. Try Satellite view. If you get lost, switch to Hybrid to see street names. Is it art? You tell me.

Silicon Valley

Grid Spray – April 10, 2009

Los Angeles. Cell phone camera. From a moving vehicle.

Street view 2

Street view 1

Supposed Organic Life on Mars – False Color

My online buddy Mac Tonnies and I have been blogging since before they called it that. I have long since re-engineered my site to run WordPress, and "broke the link" to these old images, but the Internet never forgets and the relentless programmatic "spiders" that cataloge the Web for "relevance" came looking for them.

A long time ago, in Internet time, Arthur C. Clarke made an offhand email remark about "tree-like" objects on Mars, which appeared to have no geological explanation. He might have known better, because once they’re on the network your words can be cross-referenced endlessly. At that time I thought, "Wouldn’t it be fun to show what organic life on Mars might look like?" (Keep in mind that these Mars things are really, really huge, and that this image was "colorized" by nothing but my imagination.)

Lowell Maps the Canals of Mars

Here we see astronomer Percival Lowell, as he meticulously documents the so-called canals on Mars. If you go in for high-tech, scientific "what-if" speculation, Mac Tonnies over at Posthuman Blues offers up the best around. But I am warning you, Mac, that anything you say (or imagine) could come back to haunt you.

Sampling Space

This explodes a digital painting technique developed here earlier this year. Energetics and Cellular explored atomic-size energy concepts. Here we zoom way out to energy on a cosmic scale.

Detail

Did you know there’s a gaping hole in space?

Zoom ~ Get the wallpaper

Mother Earth amid rising sea level

This is a representation of the mythical Mother Earth, or Gaia as she is sometimes called. Her hands in the clouds and legs in the water show the hydrological cycle. Her body is the color of arctic ice, ranging from white to deep blue. On her person you can see a human hand brushing the surface of the water. Those are typical Northern California hills in the background, and it appears that the water line is rising.

If you enjoyed the movie An Inconvenient Truth and are interested in areas susceptible to global warming, you can view dynamic maps created about climate change and sea level.

A panoramic view of Moss Beach
Jagged rocks, tide pools and fog are typical of Northern California beaches. Moss Beach is situated just north of Half Moon Bay.

A panoramic view in Castle Rock State Park
Outdoor panoramic view of wooded rock formations at Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz mountains of Northern California.