Mapping reality . . . or fiction?
Published Thursday, November 17, 2005 by CCAer | E-mail this post

The dividing line between reality and fiction can at times be a little hazy, particularly in the neighbourhood of Hollywood, California.
Google GlobeTrotting has
a number of links to air photos and maps of Wisteria Lane (the best of which is the
Google Earth link), the setting for the popular television show
Desperate Housewives.
The air photos clearly display the street, complete with sidewalks, cars and houses but the street doesn’t exist.
It does not show up on street maps (or at least not in
Google Maps). What is being mapped here? Or not being mapped? If a map is a representation of reality, what is “reality”?
You think those arial maps are fake? From a different area? Why would Google's arial imagery provider do that?
There aerial photos are not fake - they are real. My point is - the landscape they are showing is fake and real - fake in that the streets and house are real - actually there - but not meant to be streets and houses that people normally would use as such. They are a Hollywood set. The question is - what reality is being shown here? What is the definition of feality?