Google Maps adds view from Mt. Everest

Google on Monday added views from some of the world's tallest mountains to scenes woven into its popular online map service.

Arm chair explorers were invited to take virtual adventures with members of Google's Street View team to Aconcagua in South America; Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Elbrus in Europe, and Mt. Everest base camp in Nepal.

"Whether you're scoping out the mountain for your next big adventure or exploring it from the comfort and warmth of your home, we hope you enjoy these views from the top of the world," Google adventurer Dan Fredinburg said in a blog post.

Mt. Everest

"With Google Maps, you can instantly transport yourself to the top of these peaks and enjoy the sights without all the avalanches, rock slides, crevasses, and dangers from altitude and weather that mountaineers face."

The mountains climbed by the Street View team were among peaks referred to as the 'Seven Summits;' the highest peaks on the Earth's continents.

'Googlers' who made the ascents took the pictures with tripod-mounted digital camera equipped with a fisheye lens to capture 360-degree views.

Street View teams have cycled, driven and walked through cities and towns around the globe capturing images to add to online maps, letting people see what it might be like to stand at a spot they are curious about.

Google has added images from a Nunavut community in the Canadian Arctic and a portion of the Amazon in Brazil.

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Pirate Bay faces UK blockade

The PirateBay could be blocked in the UK following a court ruling that it illegally encourages users to infringe music copyright. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) - which represents labels including Sony, EMI, Universal and and Warner - succeeded yesterday in persuading High Court Justice Arnold that the site was breaching copyright on a massive scale.

The decision also criminalizes users of The Pirate Bay.

"In my judgment, the operators of TPB do authorise its users' infringing acts of copying and communication to the public. They go far beyond merely enabling or assisting. On any view, they 'sanction, approve and countenance' the infringements of copyright committed by its users," reads the judge's statement.

pirate bay logo

"But in my view they also purport to grant users the right to do the acts complained of. It is no defence that they openly defy the rights of the copyright owners."

ISPs BT, BSB, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk, Telefonica and Virgin Media are all named as defendants.

The High Court will rule in June on whether they should be forced to block the site, as the BPI is asking.

But the decision follows a ruling by the same judge last summer that the country's biggest ISP, BT, should be forced to block pirate website Newzbin 2.

The judge said he found the Pirate Baycase 'virtually indistingushable' from that one: indeed, he added, "If anything, it is a stronger case."

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Kim Dotcom granted bail in extradition fight

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom has been granted bail in New Zealand, after a judge overturned two previous rulings and concluded that he wasn't a flight risk. The US government is seeking Dotcom's extradition, and had been pushing for him to remain behind bars. It claims the site's generated more than $175 million in criminal proceeds, and caused more than half a billion dollars in harm to copyright owners.

kim dotcom

Dotcom was prised from a special safe room at his Aucklandmansion last month and arrested, with numerous vehicles and computers seized, and bank accounts frozen. He was denied bail at two previous hearings.

But District Court Judge NR Dawson this morning ruled that he wasn't a flight risk, pointing out that he had a wife and three children with another on the way.

Kim dotcom having fun before arrest

And his finances aren't quite so mega now, the judge pointed out, commenting that "the US government has not shown since Dotcom's arrest that he has access to any money".

He's no been bailed to a house in the grounds of his mansion - although he's not allowed to set foot in the house itself. He's been denied access to the internet - and to helicopters - and must wear an electronic tag on his ankle.

There's still no date for the extradition hearing, but it's likely to start this summer and take about three weeks.

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Microsoft redesigns Windows logo

Microsoft Friday announced that it was redesigning the logo of Windows software, making a fundamental change to the iconic four-colour Windows logo users have been used to for 20 years.

Meshing with the Metro design of Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8, the new logo is a slightly-angled blue block with a thin white cross in the middle, making it look like a window instead of the four-colour wavy flag in the past, reported Xinhua.

"The Windows logo is a strong and widely recognized mark but when we stepped back and analyzed it, we realized an evolution of our logo would better reflect our Metro style design principles and we also felt there was an opportunity to reconnect with some of the powerful characteristics of previous incarnations," said Microsoft in a blog post.

"We did less of a re-design and more to return it to its original meaning and bringing Windows back to its roots -- reimagining the Windows logo as just that -- a window," the company said.

The new logo is designed by Paula Scher from the Pentagram Design Agency, whose notable works include the Citibank logo.

The first Windows logo debuted in November 1985. Since then, the logo has gone through several redesigns, which were all based on the design of a four-color wavy flag.

 

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