Google Killed Bambi

Google Maps' "street views" are mostly collected by automobile. The cars have a special multi-lens camera pod attached to the roof.

In this photo, the camera pod is on the left; on the right, it's mounted on a car:





There are many different kinds of cars and trucks used. (See http://tinyurl.com/bk77sb )

The vehicles continuously record views in all directions while a GPS records exactly where the vehicle is. That way, each frame or exposure can be collated with a specific location and orientation.

Because they're just ordinary vehicles rolling down the streets, people don't pay a lot of attention to the cars. As a result, the Google cameras sometime capture images of interesting things; often people doing something unusual. A very mild example:



There are photos of crimes in progress, people making love or passed out in doorways, a woman peeing in the street--- some strange stuff.

There are even sites devoted to finding and discussing weird stuff in Street Views. You can find such site--- where else?--- on Google:

http://tinyurl.com/cwnzxv
http://www.streetviewfun.com/
http://mashable.com/2007/05/31/top-15-google-street-view-sightings/
http://www.gstreetsightings.com/
etc.

Sometimes, things get even stranger, such as this, when Google killed Bambi:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/30/who_killed_bambi/