Just saw this. More fun stuff that Google does:

http://lifehacker.com/5525758/top-10-things-you-didnt-know-google-maps-could-do

Another interesting note: over on the Whitney forum, there's a thread on Mt. Randy Morgenson. I can't remember where the idea originated, but someone proposed to Board of Geographic Names that the peak just west of Mt. Russell be named after Randy, a long-time backcountry ranger who died on patrol about 10 years ago. The NPS didn't support the idea (there's a policy to no longer name things within parks or wilderness) and BGN turned it down. So the local ranger goes up there with a can and so names it anyway. People can use the name or not.

Well, someone was checking Google Maps the other day and, shazzam!, there's Mt. Randy Morgenson, correctly labeled. How'd that happen? It's a local usage and not known to a lot of people. It's not in the GNIS (Geographic Names Information System) -- where does Google get its place names from? Or is one of the Google cartographers a mountaineer?

A mystery... .

g.

Last edited by George; 05/05/10 08:15 AM.
None of the views expressed here in any way represent those of the unidentified agency that I work for or, often, reality. It's just me, fired up by coffee and powerful prose.