Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps? • Hacker News Board

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#21

Post by betterunix2 » Mon, May 17, 2021, 7:25 PM UTC

vanusa wrote: post #7

zokier wrote: post #4

tldr: Israeli-US agreement limited resolution until July 2020, and Gmaps hasn't gotten around to updating the imagery since.

The bigger question of course is why the "agreement" was made with the Israelis, and not with the Palestinians directly.

Should they have negotiated with the Palestinian Authority, which only partially controls the West Bank, or with Hamas, which took control of Gaza and proceeded to murder leaders from other Palestinian political parties? It is kind of hard to know who the "official" representatives of the Palestinian people actually are due to the failure to establish a functional Palestinian state or government.

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#22

Post by Angostura » Mon, May 17, 2021, 7:27 PM UTC

wernercd wrote: post #12

vanusa wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bigger question of course is why the "agreement" was made with the Israelis, and not with the Palestinians directly.

Because there's never been a country named "Palestine" and as such it's hard to make agreements with a country that doesn't exist.

The US seems to manage OK forming relationships with Taiwan, for example.

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#23

Post by wahern » Mon, May 17, 2021, 7:27 PM UTC

wernercd wrote: post #12

vanusa wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bigger question of course is why the "agreement" was made with the Israelis, and not with the Palestinians directly.

Because there's never been a country named "Palestine" and as such it's hard to make agreements with a country that doesn't exist.

The United States helped establish and continues to recognize the Palestinian National Authority, which is the recognized governing body of what ostensibly would become a Palestinian state. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_National_Authority

The U.S. also recognizes passports issued by the PNA, though w/ caveats given the lack of nominal statehood.

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#24

Post by Juntu » Mon, May 17, 2021, 7:28 PM UTC

Smoke is telling the truth that blurred on gg maps can be fixed by an update.

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#25

Post by paxys » Mon, May 17, 2021, 7:30 PM UTC

deadalus wrote: post #5

Is it possible to have real-time live-feed of the entire planet? If cost isn't an issue, would something like that be possible?

Not really feasible at a usable resolution. The number of satellites required to do this as well as the data bandwidth needed far exceeds our current capacity.

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#26

Post by LegitShady » Mon, May 17, 2021, 7:31 PM UTC

wahern wrote: post #23

wernercd wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because there's never been a country named "Palestine" and as such it's hard to make agreements with a country that doesn't exist.

The United States helped establish and continues to recognize the Palestinian National Authority, which is the recognized governing body of what ostensibly would become a Palestinian state. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_National_Authority The U.S. also recognizes passports issued by the PNA, though w/ caveats given the lack of nominal statehood.

The PA has no control over Gaza - in fact they were kicked out of gaza by hamas.

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#27

Post by wernercd » Mon, May 17, 2021, 7:34 PM UTC

zinekeller wrote: post #18

wernercd wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because there's never been a country named "Palestine" and as such it's hard to make agreements with a country that doesn't exist.

... in the US Government's (and some of its allies') perspective (NB: there are definitely some caveats and the most "Israel-only" policy is in the Trump era but in practice this is how it works). Most Arab countries (for some, until recently) have the inverse: they only recognize the Palestinian government and never the Israeli government. Some governments choose a more pragmatic "both Israel and Palestine exists bu…

in the US perspective? Please, show a map that has ever had the country Palestine...

I love how a simple statement of fact is getting voted down: You can't make an agreement with a non-entity.

https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/139168

> In fact, historically, there was never an independent country named Palestine.

> So, the historical record says that Palestine was never a country, and was rarely ever an intact entity.

Recognition of... what? a "government" of a country that never existed? People can vote me down more but facts remain that the country never existed as a real entity.

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#28

Post by zinekeller » Mon, May 17, 2021, 7:35 PM UTC

duxup wrote: post #17

vanusa wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bigger question of course is why the "agreement" was made with the Israelis, and not with the Palestinians directly.

As far as Gaza goes, Hamas rules Gaza but they're not the recognized government. I'm not sure who you would ask to make policy in such a situation. Just Hamas because they rule that area by force? That sounds a lot like asking Israel for the same reason. I don't think there's a good/ automatic answer for these situations.

> As far as Gaza goes, Hamas rules Gaza but they're not the recognized government.

It's definitely more complicated by that, there is some evidence that people in the Gaza area have definitely supported Hamas, but of course they're rejected by the PNA (which rules over West Bank) and Israel.

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#29

Post by wernercd » Mon, May 17, 2021, 7:35 PM UTC

wahern wrote: post #23

wernercd wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because there's never been a country named "Palestine" and as such it's hard to make agreements with a country that doesn't exist.

The United States helped establish and continues to recognize the Palestinian National Authority, which is the recognized governing body of what ostensibly would become a Palestinian state. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_National_Authority The U.S. also recognizes passports issued by the PNA, though w/ caveats given the lack of nominal statehood.

"what would become" and that changes my statement that Palestine has never existed how?

Re: Why is the Gaza Strip blurry on Google Maps?

#30

Post by Denvercoder9 » Mon, May 17, 2021, 7:36 PM UTC

tpmx wrote: post #16

deadalus wrote: post #5

Is it possible to have real-time live-feed of the entire planet? If cost isn't an issue, would something like that be possible?

Maybe Starlink satellites should also feature a camera? They've already got the connectivity. You'd need a large constellation and this one seems like it will become huge.

At 1 px/m², the Earth's surface is 5×10^14 pixels, so with the full constellation of 10,000 satellites and 1 fps that'd be 5×10^10 pixels/satellite/second (about a terabit/satellite/second uncompressed). If you can shoot 30 images per second, you'd need a 1.6 gigapixel camera.

It's technically possible but not feasible.