Chronicle Books Blog

Dear Google Earth,

First off, let me say that I’m a big fan. I can’t tell you how many hours of my life I’ve wasted zooming around the globe checking out cool stuff. Like my apartment. And Vice-President Cheney’s “secret” residence. (btw, “Pixelate” is one of my favorite Photoshop filters, too!) Oh yeah, and that amazing shot of the crater from the hydrogen bomb we dropped on Bikini Atoll… Who could have guessed that an island used to be there! Seriously, awesome technology, guys. Mad props.

1 Observatory Circle, Washington DC (a.k.a. Cheney’s house)

Congratulations on launching your brand new “Street View” feature! I was worried when Microsoft launched their “Bird’s Eye View” gimmick last fall to such fanfare, but since I’m a Mac user, that whole 3D thing never worked for me anyway. Besides, it’s way cooler to be able to actually look into people’s windows! You’ve totally smoked them on functionality. Feels good, doesn’t it?

Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands

Hey, have you seen what the gang over at BoingBoing is posting about Street View? One guy actually spotted his neighbor taking out the trash! That’s so rad. (And I totally disagree with the people who are freaking out about their privacy. I mean, if you’re going to have an affair or something, you should probably avoid standing near windows or walking out the front door anyway. That’s just common sense!)

Bob Arctor’s neighbor taking out the trash (Thanks, BoingBoing.net!)

However, I have to say that I’m a little miffed by the inexplicable lack of coverage on our block. In fact, that’s why I’m writing. I wanted to post a picture of our cool new Chronicle building to share with our readers, but when I typed in our address, I got nothing! I can’t believe your vans managed to loop practically every other block in downtown San Francisco and totally dissed one—just one!—block of 2nd Street. Is it because LookSmart is across the street?

The blue lines indicate San Francisco streets that have been photographed. The green arrow marks our location on the sad yellow block of 2nd Street.

I cobbled a couple of photos together from opposite ends of the block to try and give our fans a little taste of our neighborhood. But if you could do me a favor and send the crew around again to shoot our block, well, that would be great.

Our building is the brick façade on the left just behind the red ambulance.

Yours truly,

Guinevere Harrison

Looking down 2nd Street towards AT&T Park. Our building is way down the street, on the right-hand side, behind the big white trucks… Oh, never mind.