IDEA:
The idea of this blog is to collect location-specific stories, memories, narrative, facts and investigations from your personal experiences of living in Victoria, BC, Canada. I will collect these stories and attach them to Google Earth - so when people view the interactive map of Victoria, your memories will appear, infiltrating and contributing to the collective portrait of the city. Landscape retains history. Walk down any familiar street and your memory is constantly triggered by mundane and significant events that relate directly to that location. Write your story, find the exact location that inspired it and post it here.
example: "There is a mailbox on Richardson, just east of Cook, that I ran my truck into last summer the day after my father had a stroke and two days before my cat died. It was red and I didn't see it coming. Location 48*25'10.34" N x 123*21'15.84" W." anonymous contributor
INSTRUCTIONS:
SIMPLE: for those with little computer experience
Near the bottom of this page you will see a heading Post Your Story Here. Below this you will see the link Comments. Click on Comments.
This will lead you to a new page where you will be prompted to Leave a comment. Write your story in the text box provided. Before you finish, make sure you have visited Google Earth to find the exact coordinates (48*25’09.17” N - 123*21’20.29” W) of the location you wrote about!! (Read the GOOGLE EARTH section below for further instructions on how to do this). This enables me to post your story directly on Google Earth enabling the general public to read it.
Below the text box, you will need to Choose an Identity. If you do not have a Gmail or Blogger account, choose Anonymous. This choice lets you bypass the more time consuming task of signing up before posting comments on the blog. Feel free to include your name and email address with your story; you don’t have to stay anonymous. Now that you have written your story, included the location’s coordinates and maybe your name and contact, go to the bottom of the page and click Publish your comment. A new page will appear stating Your comment has been saved and will appear in a moment. You are finished. Now post another!
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GOOGLE EARTH: You will need to download the Google Earth program onto your computer. Do not worry. It is safe and well worth it.
Go to http://earth.google.com/ - or use the Google Earth link on the top left side of this blog. Now in the top right corner is a green button Download Google Earth (free). This takes you to a new page, read the instructions. In the blue box choose what kind of computer you have – Windows 2000/XP/Vista if you have a PC, or Mac OS X if you have a Mac. This will download Google Earth to you computer.
When it is finished, open it up. In the top left corner enter a location you are looking for (2439 Epworth St., Victoria, BC) and click Search. The program will fly over the earth and zoom into your location. You can zoom in and out and move the map around to find your exact location. When you have found it, leave your mouse there and look to the bottom of the page. You will see your location’s coordinates (Pointer 48*25’09.17” N - 123*21’20.29” W). Write these down and add them to your Comment on this blog.
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ADVANCED: for those with slightly more computer skills
Now that you have thought of a location and a story, open Google Earth and find your exact location with Search. When you have found it click on the Placemark icon (orange push pin) on the top of the page. An icon will appear on your location and a text window will open, enabling you to title the Placemark and write your story. Now when you move over the Placemark on the map your story will appear in a pop up window.
Right click on the Placemark and choose Email… This will open a window instructing you open Gmail or Outlook Express, follow the prompts. Now an email is generated with your Placemark attached as a KMZ file. Send this to me and I will embed it permanently on the GE map for others to view. Email me at: dedicated.to.me.and.you@gmail.com
Pass It On
Excited about this idea. Pass it on to friends who live elsewhere and get them to start the project in their own town. Remind them to continue posting their comments here, on the dedicated to you: victoria blog, so we can follow the project as it grows.
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