Missed News (11/2008)

Not all of it is nudity related, but they're still interesting...

• Google has partnered with others and launched GeoEye-1, another spy satellite providing higher quality images for Google Maps and Google Earth. The next iteration will have resolutions up to 25 cm. By my calculations, a 6 foot person will be 7.3 pixels in size -- our privacy is safe for now.
• Despite privacy concerns, Homeland Security is now spying on us from space with their new satellite. Information is "above top secret" and hasn't been reported much by the press. It is reported to take "ultra high-resolution photographs to within 1 meter of their target", and safeguards aren't in place to prevent misuse. It also tracks heat signatures of people inside buildings. Forget that privacy comment above.
• Google protects the privacy of this topless woman, but I don't think it's considered a crime. (They also mention an "armed policeman hiding behind a car" -- take a closer look.)
• I'm not the only one that doesn't approve of Google's street view.
  
• My last bit of Google news is their new feed recommendations feature. It makes me want to get another couple of accounts, and sign up to every christian, republican, and nudist news feed I can find. Some of my recommendations were a bunch of nude art blogs, some local news feeds, this blog (since I don't subscribe to my own blog), and a few flickr tag feeds like "bikini" and "ass". Stats are also shown, and include:
  
• The city newspaper feeds have thousands of subscribers.
  
• The typical art nude blogs have hundreds of subscribers.
• This blog has 38 subscribers.
• Flickr images tagged "bikini" has 760 subscribers (!!!) and about 1500 uploads per week.
• Flickr images tagged "nude" has 14 subscribers (???) and about 1650 uploads per week. I'm actually very surprised at how small this number is, especially when compared to "bikini". Google trends show the opposite. (Also of interest is McCain vs Obama. Google trends is fun!)
  
• Flickr images tagged "ass" has 42 subscribers and 950 posts per week. It's nice to know that slightly more people are interested in ass pictures than my blog.
  
• Iceland is for sale -- give global warming a couple more years and it'll be a nice island resort for nudist use.
• Here's an idea for nude campers, go off-the-grid.
• Skinbook is new and appears to be taking off. Note to self: Nudist websites should be socially-oriented instead of project-oriented, otherwise they won't work.
• The Friends of Mazo Beach cleared up a lot of confusion for the locals.
• I'm not sure which is worse: Parking a car in a handicapped spot at the police station to have sex, or the fact that the police had to respond to a call about it in order to find them. I'm happy that they were charged with the greater crime -- drunk driving. (See the spot in question.)
  
• How can prudish Americans get kinky in the bedroom? A latex burqa, of course!
• It's too easy to crack a joke about this coin-slot warning system.
• Here's a neat feature on caves around the world. (takes a while to load all the pics.) If I ever make it to Mexico, I'd love to do some nude spelunking in that 112 degree one. They complain that the heat and humidity make it difficult to explore, yet are fully clothed in the pictures.
  
• I'm fairly sure that fig leaves didn't stick to the real Adam and Eve. Am I the only one that finds it disturbing that they produce a full body costume made to look like skin, and then censor the fabric with fig leaves?
• Hack-A-Day has a nice collection of voting machine issues, including a video. I have never in my life seen a touch-screen that worked so badly! A cheap off-the-shelf one works better even without the one-time step of calibration. Why don't they use buttons like an ATM? Maybe I should grab one of those keys and add buttons myself so I can actually vote.
• I've followed his Art Nudes blog for several years, and he's now offering a nude art calendar. Please buy one from his store -- it's on my Christmas wish list.
• A climate awareness calendar in London was pulled from the museum because it contains nudity. One picture is from the World Naked Bike Ride, and the other is from Spencer Tunek -- both very tasteful, and both fit perfectly with the theme.
• Here's a blog with video of the Boulder Pumpkin Run this year. (Here's a better video, I'm sure there are many more.) I think it might've lived up to the promises of last year. It's a shame that the police are stepping in, because it looks like their all having a great time!