ketchup

Technology the military and government once kept for themselves tends to gradually get released to the masses. Just like velcro and the internet, satellite imagery is now the domain of not just G.I. Joe but Joe Sixpack. Microsoft links up terabytes of decent-resolution imagery of pretty much anywhere in North America and it’s all searchable. It is indeed possible to identify individual houses and even smaller features.

They also make it possible, through an incredibly complex interface, to include maps and images in other web sites and applications. After all, the whole setup’s an ad for Microsoft’s .NET framework. That doesn’t make it any less useful, of course. Try it out.