Parks
Latest
Google adds Disney parks to Street View
Last year Google revamped its Street View cameras to help us better map the real world, now it's taken the technology to a much more magical land. From today, you'll be able to explore inside 11 Disney Parks, getting an on-the-ground glimpse of all its castles, rides and attractions, including the captivating Avatar-themed world of Pandora. It'll also definitely prove popular when the Star Wars area opens up next year. Now if only the imagery was available in real time, so we'd know whether to bother lining up for Splash Mountain or not.
Google brings 40 US national parks to Street View
Google just made it easier to visit some of the US' biggest landmarks without hopping on an airplane. It's teaming up with the National Park Service to offer 360-degree Street View imagery for 40 national parks and historic sites, ranging from Alcatraz's legendary prison to the ancient cliff dwellings of Montezuma Castle. The collection also touts photos of artifacts from those locations. Want to see furniture from Abraham Lincoln's house? You can. No, this won't recreate the grandeur you'd get from being there yourself, but it beats having to rely on tourists' photos to get a feel for what you're missing.
Tokyo bans UAVs from its public parks
Citing concerns over visitor safety, officials in Tokyo have temporarily banned the use of UAVs in 81 public parks throughout the city. An announcement released Tuesday explains that violators could face fines up to ¥50,000 ($8,000) for violating the ordinance. This policy change follows a recent incident wherein a man protesting the country's nuclear police successfully landed a quadcopter carrying a cup of mildly irradiated water on the roof of Prime Minister Abe's office. According the The Japan Times, officials stated that the the metropolitan government doesn't plan to impose the stiff penalty but is asking that residents comply with the ban nonetheless. [Image Credit: AFP/Getty Images]
National parks will soon ban most drone flights
While we've already seen a few US national parks clamp down on drones in their airspace, it now looks like that no-fly rule is about to extend across the country. The National Park Service tells the Associated Press that it's about to order all 401 of its parks to ban unfettered use of drones on their grounds. Each park will have exceptions for high-altitude flyers, hobbyist clubs, researchers and rescuers, but you won't get to lug your personal camera drone around purely for the sake of remote sightseeing. If all goes according to plan, the Service will also have a preliminary national rule drafted within 18 months.
Google donates $600,000 to bring free WiFi to San Francisco parks
San Francisco has been striving for city-wide internet access since 2007, and with a little help from Mountain View, it's now one step closer to achieving that lofty goal. After receiving a $600,000 donation from Google, 31 public parks in one of the world's most tech-savvy cities will have free WiFi for at least two years. Google's gift will cover installation and maintenance of all necessary equipment for the project, which builds upon the the city's existing public WiFi hotspots like San Francisco International Airport and City Hall. While blanket coverage for the entire city is still a ways off, offering free internet access in places like public parks is a giant step forward in making the web accessible for all.
NYC partners with Cablevision, Time Warner Cable to bring WiFi hotspots to city parks
Mayor Bloomberg's government is often finding ways to keep The Big Apple as connected to the internet as can be. Today, in an effort to bring more connectivity options to its residents (and tourists), the City of New York announced that it's teaming up with Cablevision and Time Warner Cable to add WiFi hotspots to 32 parks across the five boroughs. Of course, these will be available in addition to free services already provided by companies such as AT&T in select parts of the city. Unlike with similar offerings, however, these new hotspots will require potential users to be Cablevision Optimum Online or Time Warner Cable broadband subscribers in order to get free access. Those who have the proper credentials will be able to connect gratis via a WiFi-enabled device anytime, while non-subscribers can do so at no cost for up to 30 minutes every 30 days, or for 99 cents per day. The full list of participating NYC parks can be found after the break, and fret not if your favorite didn't make it -- we're told WiFi is "coming soon" to more locations.
AT&T brings free WiFi to four more NYC parks, will occupy your downtime
AT&T's public WiFi rollout seems to be moving along rather splendidly, now that four additional New York City parks have been bathed in the golden rays of the internet. The carrier confirmed the expansion yesterday, announcing that its free WiFi service is now available at Mineral Springs and Tavern on the Green in Central Park, as well as Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park and Devoe Park, up in the Bronx. That brings AT&T closer to its goal of 26 WiFi-enabled city locations, and inches New Yorkers ever closer to networked nirvana. Full PR after the break.
Google Street View walks through parks, so you don't have to
Need to take a walk through the park, but hate all of the fresh air, foliage and sunshine that comes with it? Good news: Google has added a number of parks to Street View, including New York City's High Line, elevated train tracks that have been converted into a 1.5 mile plant-filled walkway. Also on the list are the statue-filled Kensington Gardens in London and Tokyo's cherry blossom-lined Koganei Park. The parks and their blurry-faced visitors can be easily accessed in the source link below. There's also a video of the High Line project after the break.
Idiots in the wilderness with technology are still idiots in the wilderness, posits NY Times
The New York Times published a rather entertaining piece a few days ago on folks who wander into national parks woefully unprepared and expect their fancy gadgets and gizmos to save them. Some of the anecdotes are great, like the group of men who hiked the Grand Canyon and tapped the emergency signal on their SPOT device three separate times, causing full-on helicopter responses to such travails as water which "tasted salty." What's unsettling about the article, however, is that it seems to blame the abundance, availability, and advanced capabilities of technology (much of it with life saving potential in real emergencies) for these problems, as seen in the headline: "Technology Leads More Park Visitors Into Trouble." Even more troubling are the anecdotes of camera use (getting too close to a buffalo, getting gored by a buffalo, stepping off a cliff), as if cameras were some sort of newfangled scourge upon an unsuspecting parkgoing populace. Luckily, two-way satellite emergency signals are entering the mainstream, which should cut down on some of the false alarms in the future, but we're not going to expect idiots to soon forget how to misapply technology, annoy park rangers, and get themselves hurt in the beautiful wilds.
