Google Street View available in South Africa

Google Street View has finally launched in South Africa, enabling internet users to view images of streets and surrounding buildings at street level. All faces and car number plates are blurred to protect your privacy. Considering that the FIFA World Cup tournament starts on Friday, this will undoubtedly assist tourists since they'll be able to view sights and stadiums before they arrive.



Of course, the first thing I did was to see if a Google Street View Car captured me in front of my home. Luckily not, but you can see my car in the driveway. I'm a fan of Google and use a lot of their online services; Google Maps with Street View is fantastic.

A view of Chapman's Peak Drive in Cape Town

Google Street View in South Africa is currently available in the major cities and a few other towns. I assume the rest of the country will be mapped during the rest of the year. All the major soccer stadiums are available in 3D with a 360 degree view inside.

3D model of Cape Town Stadium

Video: Street View on Google Maps







A lot of websites are dedicated to displaying funny images that have been captured on Google Street View. Here's a few interesting images.



The only downside to Google Maps and Street View is that it tends to use quite a lot of bandwidth so if you have a slow connection, good luck.



Related links

Google Maps with Street View - Google

Circumnavigating the world in an autogyro

Norman Surplus, departed on 22 March from Larne, Northern Ireland, to attempt to circumnavigate the globe in an autogyro called "Gyrox". It has never been attempted before. An autogyro (or gyrocopter) uses an unpowered rotor in auto-rotation to develop lift and an engine-powered propeller, to provide thrust.



Challenges



The trip is expected to take approximately four months and cover over 43000km, stopping over in 26 countries along the way. Considering the nature of the adventure and proposed travel route, some severe weather conditions should be expected along the way. It's quite a brave attempt considering that an autogyro has an open cockpit! Not to mention the long stretches of open water that need to be covered. To make this possible, Norman's gyro was fitted with extra fuel tanks which will extend the normal 300 mile range to 800 miles. Then there's the challenge of relying solely on the pilot's own visuals since he's not allowed to use instruments to navigate (gyro rules). Finding fuel in remote parts of the world may also present to be a problem.



Video - Gyrox autogyro circumnavigation of the globe





Gyrox Goes Global from Gyrox Goes Global on Vimeo.



Motivation



Norman recently beat a bout of cancer and this motivated him to embrace life more intensely. He will raise funds for Bowel Cancer UK during the trip.



You can track the Gyrox via the SPOT GPS.



Related link

Autogyro circumnavigation of the globe - Norman's website

GyroxGoesGlobal - Norman's blog

Norman Surplus - Facebook