Google Maps Drives Navy To Change Building

Back in 2005 WebProNews reported on the story of the offensively shaped building and Chris Silver Smith has been following the story as well. He writes,"Quite some time back, I came across this Swastika-shaped building via Google Maps, and posted the screengrab in my Flickr account. Since then, it became one of my most popular Flickr pictures, since strange stuff like this can become quickly viral. Loads of people (16,000+) have viewed the photo’s page."

CNN did a report on the building and said the Navy has received so many complaints about the building that they are now planning to change the shape of the building so it does not resemble its current shape from the sky. The Navy will be adding landscaping and structures to fix the problem at the tune of $600,000.

To be fair to the Navy the building was not purposely built to be in the shape of a swastika from the research I found. Silver Smith points out that it has become all too common for people to use mapping services such as Google Maps and Yahoo Maps to see aerial views and that online map users have helped to push for the change in the design of the building.

Loads of people (16,000+) have viewed the photo’s page, and then various journalists contacted me and posted the photo on news stories in Europe and elsewhere. Here it is:

(click to view swastika photo profile page)

I researched the building and found it was a Navy building, apparently built unintentionally in the shape of a Nazi Swastika in California. This was built way before people anticipated the general public would be viewing buildings from the sky all that much, but now the easy accessibility of viewing satellite pics from Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, Mapquest, Microsoft Live Maps, and other utilities have made birds-eye-viewing all too common. I photo-blogged the info I researched on the Flickr page, and quite a few people commented and favorited the unusual picture over time.

Today, CNN reported on the swastika building, and they added one really interesting new detail: the Navy has received so much flack about having a swastika-shaped building that they’re now planning to change the shape of the building when it’s viewed from the sky to obliterate the swastika shape. They’ll be adding landscaping and structures at a cost of something like $600,000 to just make the shape less offensive to people viewing from airplanes and satellite pics!

Now, I’ve posted before about how people have been increasingly using rooftops and such to communicate advertising messages to people viewing via the online mapping systems, but this has to be something of a first — an actual building profile is being changed for the sake of PR because of online maps users!

(It should be noted to avoid any chance of confusion: I am not affiliated with any sort of neo-aryan organization, and I vehemently decry racism. In fact, my family is of mixed-race as well. I’m displaying this pic as an interesting news item related to online maps, and do not wish to offend anyone at all.)

Comments

Stars and Stripes said the Navy and the Marine Corps took steps on Tuesday to deny access to commercial email accounts from base libraries and library centers connected to official government networks.

AOL Mail, MSN Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo! Mail fall into the group blocked by the military. Access to those services was perceived as a potential problem by Navy policymakers.

“By going through some of the commercial Web-based e-mail accounts, it opens up vulnerabilities to government-run networks and presents too high risk to be acceptable,” Neal Miller, a senior plans and policy manager with Naval Network Warfare Command in Norfolk, said in the report.

The policy covers Navy and Marine personnel, and Department of Defense employees and contractors who use Navy computer systems. Instead of using commercial email, Marines and sailors can use an unclassified email account provided to each member by the Navy.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

A press release from the US navy’s Office of Naval Research detailed the debut of the advanced electric-ship demonstrator (AESD) ship SEA JET, in Bayview, Idaho. The ship uses waterjet technology, codenamed AWJ-21, created by Rolls-Royce to make ships faster and stealthier.

While this isn’t quite the invisibility of the urban legends surrounding the USS Eldridge and the Philadelphia Experiment, a vessel that can move through the water with a measure of stealth with regards to technologies like sensors and weapons tracking systems would have a combat edge.

The vessel measures 133 feet in length, and was assembled in Washington State in modules. Those modules were then transported to Idaho for reassembly. Built on an advanced destroyer frame, the Navy intends for the AESD to be a significant upgrade to the existing Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers.

Work on the project has been going on for several years, with the Navy disclosing last year the AWJ-21 system would be ready for testing. As far as invisibility goes, according to the Navy, ships being degaussed could evade the notice of magnetic mines, but not radar, sonar, or the human eye.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

Gateway announced a $2.7 million USD contract with the US Navy’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation Division in a statement today.

The deal will see Gateway supply a variety of high-tech products:
 • over 1,100 E-6300 desktops and displays
 • 100 M460E notebooks
 • 90 9210 SCSI servers

The company will also deliver a selection of over 600 products, including scanners, color printers, and switches.

Navy MWR provides a variety of Internet connectivity solutions to its sailors and military personnel from all branches currently serving abroad.

“We are proud that our products are being used to aide in the well-being of the U.S. Navy’s personnel through their MRW division,” said Vin Riera, vice president of Gateway government sales, in a statement. “We are very pleased to provide powerful solutions to keep personnel in touch with loved ones while they are serving our country.”

Gateway had to demonstrate it could provide the requested hardware configured with specific operating system requirements. Numerous proprietary computer applications used by the Navy do not work with off-the-shelf operating system software.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

According to a tounge-in-cheek report from the Channel Register, an interesting aerial photograph discovery of a building called “The Seals Lair” was made at San Diego’s US Navy Exchange station: the office complex is in the shape of one of the most bastardized symbols ever: the swastika.

The Channel Register notes the building looks like Albert Speer, architect of the Third Reich, designed it. When you inspect the satellite image image in question, you can see what they are referring to. After this inspection, you also see it is unlikely that the US Navy will be making any modifications to building without turning it into a major undertaking, or even completely razing it.

Unfortunate design aside, it’s quite obvious the US Armed Forces does not support or condone any of the Third Reich’s actions. However, the building’s design does raise a question: didn’t anyone look closely at the building blueprints before it was constructed?

Chris Richardson is a search engine writer and editor for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest search news.

For loved ones at home, a phone call or e-mail from a family member serving our country is always a welcome event. Over 140,000 troops are currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nearly 200 specially equipped tents house computers and other communication equipment; the majority of these cyber caf tents resides in Iraq, and has someone using them around the clock.

The system began two years ago as a civilian Naval initiative. Soldiers embraced the concept immediately.

Administrators find dust and not insurgents to be their most persistent foe. They take care of the systems, called MWRNet; MWR stands for Morale, Welfare, and Recreation. Over the past year, MWRNet’s bandwidth and throughput have been greatly enhanced.

The network supports voice and data via a satellite system. Armed forces can send e-mail for free or telephone at a nominal per-minute cost.

Stateside citizens who wish to support the armed forces by purchasing phone cards for them can do so through Operation Uplink, an initiative of the Veterans of Foreign Wars supported by Walmart, FedEx, Pfizer, and other partners.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

This will allow Titan to continue to bid, receive and perform on United States government contracts.

The administrative settlement agreement was concluded after Titan entered into a consent to a final judgment with the Securities and Exchange Commission and reached a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to Reuters, Titan has agreed to pay $28.5 million to settle related criminal proceedings.

WebProNews | Breaking eBusiness News
Your source for investigative ebusiness reporting and breaking news.