UPGRADE NIGHTMARE

  1. RussilloSM says:

    I have a gmaps test route in my yard which, if you trust a Stanley 100' metal tape--and I have no reason not to--is confirmed to within 2.5 inches. This is 99.79% accuracy which is not only wonderful but about the best one could expect on so short a distance since it nearly matches the limit of the maps' pixel resolution when zoomed in fully. Far longer test routes, between latitude parallels for example, revealed far greater accuracy. (For fellow map junkies: A single-leg antipodal great circle route measuring 12450.7303 mi implied a global circumference of 24901.4606mi/40075.0162 km which is a microscopic 31.5"/80cm off of WGS-84's value for the global circumference.)

    Today? This 100' tape is 86' long according to milermeter.com because the four highest zoom/magnification levels in "Google Satellite" and "Google Hybrid" (the only two layers I can use for my purposes) switch to the 45 degree viewing angle AND pull the start/end points to the nearest street.

    This has rendered worthless almost every one of my 100+ gmaps route bookmarks, accumulated over the past three years. (Glad I anal-retentively snapped screenshots of many of these routes!!)

    Can users somehow switch these higher magnifications to overhead view?