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Geekiest Thing EVAR

Firefox logo crop circle. Via Google Maps. That is all. You may return to your homes....

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #1 from Christopher B. Wright

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 08:37:59 -0500

I have visions of Mel Gibson locked in a basement while Richard Stallman, Eric Raymond, and Bruce Perens are trying to break in.

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Posted November 30, 2006 8:37 AM by Christopher B. Wright

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #2 from Fragano Ledgister

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 08:56:23 -0500

We have obviously been invaded by the Firefoxians. Troops must now be dispatched to invade Iran.

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Posted November 30, 2006 8:56 AM by Fragano Ledgister

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #3 from Scott Taylor

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 09:01:54 -0500

I dunno - I think building your own Google pointer has got to be pretty close on the list.

Although the crop circle is really well done.

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Posted November 30, 2006 9:01 AM by Scott Taylor

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #4 from Alex Cohen

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 09:19:03 -0500

Is that an... airplane?

Also, see the crowd of people. They must have known when the satellite was coming over for the next round of shots.

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Posted November 30, 2006 9:19 AM by Alex Cohen

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #5 from Skwid

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 09:25:57 -0500

Yeah, I think Alex is on to something. Although...isn't most of the close-in imagery like this done through Aerial photography rather than satellite anyway? I'd imagine it's a lot easier to find out the schedule for that than the other...

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Posted November 30, 2006 9:25 AM by Skwid

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #6 from Michael Weholt

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 09:43:56 -0500

Jeez, I dunno. I'm no expert at this sort of photography, but how do we account for the (almost) complete lack of detail in (most) of the logo? There is a great deal of detail in the surrounding field, but only a few dark spots in the upper right of the logo. It otherwise looks perfectly smooth. Not a clod of dirt high enough to raise a shadow... At least that's the way it looks to me on two different screens, a mac and a windows.

But then I note this is just north of Salem so perhaps Oregonian witchcraft is involved.

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Posted November 30, 2006 9:43 AM by Michael Weholt

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #7 from Christopher B. Wright

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:00:07 -0500

There are plenty of images of other crop circles that look similarly unblemished.

And heres a photo of a firefox crop circle that is obviously real.

Or one heck of a photoshop job.

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Posted November 30, 2006 10:00 AM by Christopher B. Wright

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #8 from Cassie

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:02:58 -0500

And just in time for snow, I have the urge to commit agricultural vandalism.

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Posted November 30, 2006 10:02 AM by Cassie

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #9 from TexAnne

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:10:55 -0500

Christopher, #7: The obviously-real logo you linked to is the same one as the fake-looking one from Google Maps--look at the lines going through the paw, for instance. Does anybody know why the Google one doesn't look real?

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Posted November 30, 2006 10:10 AM by TexAnne

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #10 from Michael Weholt

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:20:32 -0500

#7: I didn't inspect every one of those crop circle pics, but the ones I looked at did not appear unblemished to me.

However, the second image, the FF logo close-up clearly seems legit. And, as TexAnne says, it does appear to be the same logo as the Google image.

So, beats me. I'll stick with the Lines of Nazca, thank you very much. Nothing like the imprimatur of Ancient Astronauts to mark your Earth Art as the real deal.

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Posted November 30, 2006 10:20 AM by Michael Weholt

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #11 from John

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:22:56 -0500

That looks like a Photoshop job; the shadows are on the wrong side of the crop circle, as if the image is raised higher than the crops that were not disturbed.

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Posted November 30, 2006 10:22 AM by John

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #12 from Michael Weholt

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:28:32 -0500

#11: But how do you Photoshop a direct link to a maps.google image? If such a thing is possible, that's kind of scary...

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Posted November 30, 2006 10:28 AM by Michael Weholt

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #13 from Pantechnician

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:38:38 -0500

Invaders from Canis Major? This could be sirius.

It isn't unblemished if you look closely, but it does look highly suspicious.

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Posted November 30, 2006 10:38 AM by Pantechnician

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #14 from TexAnne

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:38:45 -0500

#12: I haven't played with Google Maps enough to know whether this is normal: the Firefox logo is in a rectangle that's a distinctly different color from the rest of the image.

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Posted November 30, 2006 10:38 AM by TexAnne

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #15 from Tom S.

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:42:47 -0500

John at #11: The shadows look right to me. The sun is fairly high and shining from the bottom edge of the image (look at the shadows cast by the plane and cars below the circle). That's consistent with the thin shadows on the lower edges of the circle, cast by the tall crop stalks onto the edges of the flattened area just above them. The lack of resolution inside of the circle is probably from fairly high light levels being reflected back almost directly at the camera (glare, in effect).

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Posted November 30, 2006 10:42 AM by Tom S.

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #16 from Cassie

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:47:56 -0500

The closer-in version from Christopher at #7 shows the shadows the same way, but it's closer and clearly coming from the taller crops. The lines through the circle look raised in the Google version, too, and they're really down.

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Posted November 30, 2006 10:47 AM by Cassie

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #17 from Tom S.

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:48:26 -0500

BTW: The Oregon State image of the crop circle led me to a page in which the creators of the circle descrbe how it was done.

http://lug.oregonstate.edu/index.php/Projects/Firefox/Firefox_Circle

One hopes this will dispel any lingering suspicions.

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Posted November 30, 2006 10:48 AM by Tom S.

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #18 from Pantechnician

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:53:19 -0500

Colour variations aren't too uncommon, since the shots they use are taken from many different cameras. The discoloured area is centered on the logo, meaning that whoever took it was specifically concentrating on that area. It's a nicely-composed shot with the crop circle in the center that's been stitched in rather poorly.

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Posted November 30, 2006 10:53 AM by Pantechnician

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #19 from Carrie S.

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 10:55:47 -0500

John at #11: It only looks raised if you assume the light's coming from the upper-left corner of the image (which is what I believe people do by default). This time of year in Oregon, though, the sun's going to be fairly far south in the sky even in the middle of the day, and observing it with that assumption leads to it looking properly sunken.

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Posted November 30, 2006 10:55 AM by Carrie S.

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #20 from TexAnne

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 11:03:33 -0500

#18: Thanks, that's what I wanted to know.

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Posted November 30, 2006 11:03 AM by TexAnne

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #21 from Eve

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 11:17:13 -0500

#3: Have you seen the Cursor Kite? http://www.windfiredesigns.com/timbofolio_pages/PointerKite.html

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Posted November 30, 2006 11:17 AM by Eve

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #22 from Pat Kight

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 12:20:35 -0500

I work at Oregon State University; this was definitely for real. In the local geekosphere, it's the coolest thing the university has done since the invention of the modern maraschino cherry.

We're so proud.

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Posted November 30, 2006 12:20 PM by Pat Kight

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #23 from jeffk

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 12:21:04 -0500

The Firefox crop circle is the latest Firefox-promoting project by the Oregon State University (OSU) Linux Users Group (LUG). Their first such project was to chalk-paint the Firefox logo on the OSU quad, and the second was to launch a balloon satellite carrying a Firefox banner. The crop circle was project 3, to celebrate 200 million Firefox downloads.

Please see here for details: http://lug.oregonstate.edu/index.php/Projects/Firefox

Disclaimer: I don't go to OSU. Never have. I'm a Duck (U of O). I'm just stuck working in Corvallis. :-)

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Posted November 30, 2006 12:21 PM by jeffk

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #24 from Michael Weholt

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 12:47:14 -0500

Well, as an ex-University-of-Washington-Husky, I congratulate my fellow Pac-10ers, the Beavs, on this impressive accomplishment. I always suspected they were out there in the oats somewhere trying to raise ET.

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Posted November 30, 2006 12:47 PM by Michael Weholt

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #25 from Daniel Martin

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 13:02:59 -0500

See, now what I'm really jealous of is the obvious attention to recent photos that the Pacific Northwest gets from Google Maps. The photos of our area are around three years old.

(I can date local photos because this should be a parking lot for a light rail stop, and the light rail opened in early 2004 - as you can see, in the photo it's on the way towards becoming a parking lot)

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Posted November 30, 2006 1:02 PM by Daniel Martin

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #26 from Andrew Kanaber

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 13:47:37 -0500

This is of course the resolution to Firefox bug #347226.

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Posted November 30, 2006 1:47 PM by Andrew Kanaber

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #27 from Narayana

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 14:10:45 -0500

The bit with the logo is the only part of that area Google has photographed at that "zoom". If I try to zoom in on the areas around it, they are blurred or missing at that resolution. So what happens, does someone phone Google and say, "I've got a cool geeky thing for your map, find the high res photos quick so I can be famous," or is it just an accident this area got zoom treatment? (Cynic? Moi?)

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Posted November 30, 2006 2:10 PM by Narayana

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #28 from Tom S.

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 15:36:03 -0500

Narayana: It turns out that several Google employees were part of the effort to build the circle. I suspect that might just have something to do with the speed with which the pictures were taken.

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Posted November 30, 2006 3:36 PM by Tom S.

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #29 from Narayana

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 17:01:33 -0500

Tom #28 - I'm not surprised to hear Google employees were in on it, but the concept is certainly giving the "map is not the territory" part of my brain a work out. (Goes to have a lie down.)

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Posted November 30, 2006 5:01 PM by Narayana

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #30 from adamsj

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 17:15:01 -0500

Did I read about this last year?

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Posted November 30, 2006 5:15 PM by adamsj

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #31 from Alan Hamilton

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 21:12:10 -0500

You can zoom in more with Google Earth by going to 45.123785,-123.113962 . Also note that the plane, cars, and people lying down to the south. I can't tell what they're trying to spell out, though: FX?

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Posted November 30, 2006 9:12 PM by Alan Hamilton

Geekiest Thing EVAR -- comment #32 from paxed

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 03:54:13 -0500

#31: "Fx" is the preferred abbreviation of "Firefox", or at least that's what their FAQ says. I don't know anyone who actually uses that.

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Posted December 1, 2006 3:54 AM by paxed