Israel's Military Has Its Own Verison Of Google Maps To Identify The Enemy

IDF

Forbes: Israeli Military Launches Radical New Google Maps Alternative

“Imagine a tourist arriving in a foreign city,” the Israeli intel officer tells me, “the first thing they do is open Google Maps and look for a restaurant. Google helps them find a place. Helps them navigate. Helps them get there on time. We do the same.” Well, not exactly. The augmented reality mapping application Lieutenant-Colonel “N” is describing is designed to find hidden terrorists, not restaurants. “Mistakes can be fatal,” he tells me, “we need to get the right house on the right street.”

Welcome to the battlefield of the future—artificial intelligence, multi-source data fusion, augmented reality. Everything edge-based and real-time. Except this isn’t really a battlefield, as such. “What happened to us,” the officer tells me, “is that our enemies have adopted a technique to merge into urban areas populated with civilians, we need to unveil the enemy, precisely, and stop the threat.”

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WNU Editor: This is smart. But they better make sure on how they gather their intel.

Russian Online Mapping Company Has Just Exposed Every Significant Military Facility In Israel And Turkey

When a Russian mapping service tried to obscure every military facility in Turkey and Israel, it had the unintended effect of *revealing* the exact locations of over 300 distinct sites (whoops) 😬

See the juicy details in my latest piece for @FAScientistshttps://t.co/2UJOVospF5

— Matt Korda (@mattkorda) December 10, 2018

FAS: Widespread Blurring of Satellite Images Reveals Secret Facilities

Want to know how to make a satellite imagery analyst instantly curious about something?

Blur it out.

Google Earth occasionally does this at the request of governments that want to keep prying eyes away from some of their more sensitive military or political sites. France, for example, has asked Google to obscure all imagery of its prisons after a French gangster successfully conducted a Hollywood-inspired jailbreak involving drones, smoke bombs, and a stolen helicopter(!)—and Google has agreed to comply by the end of 2018. In similar fashion, an old Dutch law requires Dutch companies to blur their satellite images of military and royal facilities—even to the point where a satellite imagery provider once doctored an image of Volkel Air Base after it was purchased by FAS’ very own Hans Kristensen.

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More News On A Russian Online Mapping Company Exposing Every Significant Military Facility In Israel And Turkey

Blurry satellite photos of military bases reveal more than they hide -- C4ISRNet
Russian map company exposes secret military locations in Turkey and Israel -- News.com.au
Secret military bases inadvertently exposed by Russian satellite map company -- FOX News
Every significant military facility in Israel and Turkey was just exposed by a Russian mapping service -- Quartz
Oops! Mapping Service Blurs Out Military Bases, But Accidentally Locates Secret Ones -- Popular Mechanics

Most Countries View The U.S. As A Threat To World Peace

Brilliant Maps: Which Country Is The Greatest Threat to World Peace?

The map shows the results of a 2013 (pre-Trump) WIN/Gallup International survey asking people which country they felt was the greatest threat to world peace.

According to the survey results:

The US was the overwhelming choice (24% of respondents) for the country that represents the greatest threat to peace in the world today. This was followed by Pakistan (8%), China (6%), North Korea, Israel and Iran (5%). Respondents in Russia (54%), China (49%) and Bosnia (49%) were the most fearful of the US as a threat.

Interestingly, Iran was seen as the biggest threat by Americans, Canadians and Brits, but Australians viewed the US as the biggest threat.

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WNU Editor: This survey was done in 2013. I can only asume that with President Trump now in power, the perception that the U.S. is a threat has probably intensified.

This Map Represents Where The World's Population Lives

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Zero Hedge: How do you view your country relative to others? Chances are if it’s based on most world maps, your view is distorted.

As the world turns its gaze to the rich and pretty people in Davos this coming week, The World Economic Forum unleashed the following cartogram, created by Reddit user TeaDranks, that could change your entire perception of the world. Cartograms scale a region’s geographic space according to a particular attribute and in this case each square now represents 500,000 people.

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WNU Editor: I feel small.

The U.S. Has More Guns Per 100 People Than Anyone Else In The World (Map)

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

The US also came top of the charts in this map which shows the number of guns per 100 people. It has equal to 90 guns per 100 people, compared to the likes of Poland where there are between one and four guns per 100 people, according to his graphic

WNU Editor: There are more fascinating maps on other topics to look at. The link is here .... The stunning maps that reveal the world at a glance: From manhood and breast size to obesity and divorce rates, how does YOUR country fare? (Daily Mail).

Collins Bartholomew Wipes Israel From Its Maps

Omitted: The map in the Collins Bartholomew atlas, sold to English-speaking schools in the majority-Muslim Gulf, omits Israel

The Tablet: Publisher HarperCollins omits Israel from school atlas 'to meet local preferences'

WNU Editor: If it is not on the map .... it does not exist. What a novel way of approaching the world and teaching in school .... to say that this is stupid is an understatement.

More News On Collins Bartholomew Deleting The State Of Israel From Its Maps

Publishing Giant HarperCollins Apologizes for Middle East Atlas That Wiped Israel Off Map (UPDATE) -- Algemeiner
Israel is omitted from HarperCollins atlas because including country would be 'unacceptable' to customers -- Daily Mail
HarperCollins apologizes for leaving Israel off maps -- Harper Collins
Israel is omitted from the map in Middle East atlases -- i24 News
Leading Publishing House Wipes Israel Off Its Map -- Arutz Sheva
Sin of omission? HarperCollins leaves Israel off the map -- Al Bawaba

Time To Update The Maps

National Geographic Society have announced plans to redraw the world map to show Crimea as part of Russia. © Fotolia/ gena96

National Geographic To Update World Map With Russian Crimea -- RIA Novosti

MOSCOW, March 19 (RIA Novosti) – Experts at the Washington-based National Geographic Society have announced plans to redraw the world map to show Crimea as part of Russia after the Ukrainian breakaway region’s reunification with Moscow is finalized.

The US magazine’s editorial, legal and cartographic leadership met Tuesday to discuss how to map Crimea’s political status, shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Crimea’s leaders signed a treaty on Russia absorbing the Black Sea peninsula.

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My Comment: This makes Russia's annexation of Crimea a "fait accompli".

Pentagon Creating A Digital Map Of The World

Pentagon Agency Creating Digital Map Of The World -- USA Today

Future military operations may use a constantly updated digital "image skin" for a comprehensive map of the world under development by the Pentagon's National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

This week, the NGA sought information from potential contractors to help develop the "orthorectified image skin" that would provide the base layer for the world map. Such a map would give the military a clearer picture of any potential trouble spot where troops would have to operate.

The U.S. Geological Survey defines orthoimagery as "high resolution aerial images that combine the visual attributes of an aerial photograph with the spatial accuracy and reliability" of a traditional map.

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My Comment: I guess this is something like Google earth .... but with finer details and updated regularly.

Taiwan Wants Apple To Blur Some Images On Their New Maps Aps

Part of Hsinchu in Taiwan on Apple's maps - Apple has been asked to removed imagery of a secret base in the area.

The Map That Apple HAS To Make Blurred: Taiwanese Government Complains New Maps App Is revealing Military Secrets -- Daily Mail

* US bases also appear on the service in high resolution
* Google has 'muzzed' or distorted military installations

After facing huge criticism for blurred maps, Apple has received an unusual request - to make its maps MORE blurry.

The technology giant came under fire for the poor quality of its maps after users found missing locations, areas obscured by cloud and even distorted bridges and roads.

However, Taiwanese officials found the maps too accurate - and have asked Apple to blur satellite images of sensitive military installations which are freely available to iPhone 5 users.

Read more ....

More News On Taiwan Wanting Apple To Blur Some Images On Their New Maps Aps

Taiwan to ask Apple to blur satellite images of top-secret base available on iPhone 5 -- New York Post/AFP
Taiwan Wants Apple to Blur Military Base on iOS 6 Maps -- PC Mag
Taiwan Blames Apple Maps For Revealing Its $1.2 Billion Top-Secret Radar Base -- Business Insider
Taiwan to Apple: blur our secret missile base from maps app -- Wired
Apple Maps outs secret military site, irks Taiwan -- CNet
Taiwan wants Apple to blur sensitive military images -- ZDNet
Apple Maps Accidentally Outs Secret Military Base in Taiwan -- Slate
iOS 6 Problems: Apple Maps Accidentally Reveals Secret Taiwan Base -- IBTimes

For All The Map Geeks

The following is a great site (Show World) for everything there is to know about maps. You will get suck into this website. I especially enjoyed looking at the section: Politics -- War and Conflicts, where different data can be visually presented in a clear and precise matter that will be understood by all.

The link to this website is HERE.