woops

I'm totally cool with this as a one-time thing. I would definitely hate to see it become a widely adopted tactic, though.

How many times is this article going to be written?

I sent the author an email just because we happen to be from the same tiny rural area of Illinois. But I also wanted to share this comment with him:

"A little comment about how Google is gathering this data: You say in the article that they're capturing this data via satellite. This is probably not entirely accurate. Google does use satellite imagery for some extents (distances) in their maps, but almost all of their detailed imagery is captured by plane. I work for a county agency and our county creates its own aerial maps so we have the most up-to-date data and dont have to wait for Google. These mapping flights are flown in an overlapping grids and each image captured is actually 5 images: 1 straight down (ortho photography) and 1 angled in each direction - forward, back, left, right of the center camera (oblique photography). Combining all of these photos with know elevation data, allows Google to create 3D models of all ELEVATIONS, not just buildings. So while they publish the shape of structures, they also have 3D models of this like satellite dishes, HVAC units, and stairs on the front of churches as you point out. They also have 3D data for trees and playgrounds and cars, and people and anything else that not laying flat on the ground.

This data isn’t very difficult to create. Our agency, being a conservation park district, creates its own maps on a regular basis to track plant species and water levels, with a Drone and an iPad app"

Oh also I hardly know what APIs are or how to use them....

This is beautiful!

I actually do use a few on demand print services, as I mentioned. I don't sell a ton but I do sell a few shirts/stickers a month which is always nice to have some extra pocket change. I also don't really market these designs. It's just sort of passive income.

I've looked into actually! It looks like it would be a really cool craft to master and a fun DIY project. Things add up and get a little more complex when printing in multiple colors.