January 24, 2012

Belgian Fries in Google Street View

Nikolaas, a reader of this blog, noticed that Pegman - the Google Street View icon - looks different for Belgium. When you try to move the icon, you'll notice that Pegman got some French fries.


"Occasionally Pegman dresses up for special events and occasions, or is even joined by peg friends in Google Maps. Some of these icons stay in Google Maps for specific locations, such as the skiing Pegman at Whistler Blackcomb Mountain and the penguin for Street View imagery of Half Moon Island, Antarctica," explains Google.

Street View was launched two months ago in Belgium, but it's not clear why Pegman looks different. Maybe because French fries originate from Belgium.

{ Thanks, Nikolaas. }
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16 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 24, 2012 at 12:27 PM

    Belgium is famous for its French fries.

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousJanuary 24, 2012 at 12:50 PM

      I thought that was McDs?

      Delete
    2. AnonymousFebruary 20, 2012 at 4:08 AM

      > Belgium is famous for its frites

      Fixed that for you ;)

      Delete
  2. AbhisshekJanuary 24, 2012 at 12:56 PM

    i thought French fries originated from France

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousJanuary 24, 2012 at 9:40 PM

      french (third-person singular simple present frenches, present participle frenching, simple past and past participle frenched)
      (transitive) :
      To prepare food by cutting it into strips.

      Delete
    2. boototterJanuary 25, 2012 at 4:08 AM

      Neither. Here you might find the reply to both..
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_fries#Etymology

      Delete
    3. JensJanuary 30, 2012 at 4:34 AM

      They did originate in France, because in 1802 Belgium didn't exist yet.

      It was a part of France until the defeat of Napoleon in Waterloo in 1815. It then became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands until 1830 when it became independent.

      So yes, they originated in France, but that part of France is now called Belgium.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 24, 2012 at 1:05 PM

    Belgium = french fries, beer and chocolate.

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  4. AnonymousJanuary 24, 2012 at 2:13 PM

    Thanks goodness for Belgium....

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  5. StijnJanuary 24, 2012 at 3:13 PM

    Coming from Belgium myself, I find it odd that this does not appear when I use Google Maps myself. Did you use any particular settings while browsing the map?

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    Replies
    1. Alex ChituJanuary 24, 2012 at 4:55 PM

      Nothing special. Just use Google Maps, drag the Pegman icon to a location from Belgium and then move the icon in the small map at the bottom of the window.

      Delete
    2. SVTJanuary 24, 2012 at 5:29 PM

      Another Belgian here, seeing it (exactly the method you described, and not visible otherwise).

      Delete
    3. boototterJanuary 25, 2012 at 4:13 AM

      Coming and browing from NL, at first I did get just plain old pegman. But on dragging the streetview from 't Steen (Antwerp)southbound, he suddenly got hungry. And since then....

      Delete
    4. StijnJanuary 25, 2012 at 7:46 AM

      Thanks for you comment Alex. I've got it working now. :-)

      Delete
  6. AnJanuary 26, 2012 at 4:37 AM

    Google Street View was chosen product of the year in Belgium (my country), and I read somewhere that Google would like to thank the Belgians for that by this particular feature.

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  7. AnonymousJuly 28, 2012 at 3:29 PM

    Check out Pegman in Hawaii- he's wearing an aloha shirt someplaces, and carries a surfboard in others!

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