greenpoint design

Google Earth Spurs Spy Hobbyists

August 11, 2009 on 8:27 am | In IdBlog, Maps, Spin | Add a Comment

Totalitarian states beware: Google is watching you. As reported in The Age of Melbourne today, amateur spies are puzzling over a large structure spotted in the Burmese jungle.

The structure, which looks like an Olympic swimming pool, is a big shed partly buried in the ground. Speculation is that the building may be a staging site for Burma’s nascent nuclear program.

Perhaps more startling is the discovery of an “open source military analysis community”, exemplified by the Arms Control Wonk blog. We’re not sure if this sort of volunteerism is a good thing or a bad thing, but it certainly demonstrates how new tools can influence human behavior.