# Google street view goes live in the UK today !



## Gixer-Mark (Nov 6, 2007)

Hi All

Well, if you haven't seen it yet ..... Google Street view has gone live in the UK today ( 11/03/10 ) and what an amazing bit of software it is!

Previously it was only main roads in some cities but from today over 95% of the UK is now covered ( sorry if your not! )

Pop onto google maps and have a look.

For all you lucky 3GS iphone users ( ahem, me included ! ) it is also available on our maps on the phone. Example : put your postcode in, a pin will drop near your address with a banner saying the street .... to the left is a red circle with a person in it .... touch this and watch what happens !!! To move along the street, touch the arrow in the middle of the street and it will move in this direction ( may take a few seconds ) Use the peel back page in the bottom right hand corner to flick the main page, find drop-pin, use this, it will then drop a pin in the area you are looking on the map. Keep your finger on the screen and 'drag' the pin to where you want to look ...... press the red person and you can look around .... 360 degrees!

Imagine the above will be the same as for PC / Laptop users etc.

Go on .... have a nose at your next holiday destination in Cornwall / Devon / Wales and have a look at the local area before you arrive ..... simply timeless !!

And yes, to you 'Glooms' who will slate this software re privicy / burglars / etc etc etc ..... get a life ....... they can walk along your street and see the same at any time, night or day!

Get with it ......... it's fab .....


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## EJB (Aug 25, 2007)

Quite amazing.....didn't realise that they had actually got to my front door 8O


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## mikebeaches (Oct 18, 2008)

A great aid to help identify wild camping and picnic spots!


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## JohnH (May 10, 2005)

Tried it on my iPhone with the postcode of one of the CC sites we know. Fabulous views and apart from being a few months old cannot fault it's usefulness when planning trips away.

ps I checked my address and the motorhome in the drive was changed last October.


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## richardjames (Feb 1, 2006)

Nice advert to inform some one when you are away 8O


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## JeanLuc (Jan 13, 2007)

richardjames said:


> Nice advert to inform some one when you are away 8O


Perhaps, but I suspect the typical serious villain forms a pretty good idea of what vehicles are normally parked in drives before a burglary session. As for the casual burglar, they can tell when a house looks empty and chance their arm.

Now if Google had launched real-time StreetView I would have a genuine concern.

I guess the best one can do is have insurance, an alarm, good locks, a neighbourhood watch scheme, 'Smart Water' and good / attentive neighbours. Then just hope and enjoy life.

Philip


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

richardjames said:


> Nice advert to inform some one when you are away 8O


Doesn't usually work that way. 

Dougie.


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## autostratus (May 9, 2005)

We're lucky as although on the map it shows our motorhome as at our old address it's missing on the street view.

For our new address it shows the car on the drive and no motorhome.
The camera car must have been round here when we were in France.


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## ThePrisoner (Jan 13, 2009)

I wasn't in the day the camera came around, but I know what day it was becuase my bin is still on the front. Tatty. 8O


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## GerryD (Sep 20, 2007)

Brilliant, source of endless fun....now back to work.
Gerry


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## dinger (Jul 30, 2007)

*street map*

Sadly if they want it bad enough they will take it, all you can do is make them choose an easier option.

:?


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## blongs (Jan 12, 2009)

We are going to Forest View campsite in Cromer at Easter, the google streetview camera has been around inside the actual campsite so you can see pitch numbers etc.

I have found a few BBQ's going on the sunny day they went around too. Yum Yum


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

Now what will the prospective thieves make of my car being shown on Streetview in two different locations?


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## peribro (Sep 6, 2009)

I'm glad they drove up my road in the summer as the garden looks quite nice with everything in bloom!


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## badger750 (Nov 1, 2009)

just put in my dads post code you can see his and my motorhomes very clearly and see our car that we sold about 8 months ago on our drive at home


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

They must have done parts of London twice. Last year my son was shown outside his house, loading the car. This time no son, no car and a better cut front hedge !

G


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## greenasthegrass (Oct 27, 2007)

Now call me thick if you dare! but have we not had this for some months? or is it different?


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## davesport (Nov 12, 2006)

My Van's on Streeview 3 times. Once at home, one in a wild spot & once waiting to get on the ferry to get back home from the Western Isles.

We were parked up & the Google car drove by up a dead end road, so myself & my youngest jumped out to await its return. We got bored waiting & climbed back inside..........then the car went past again the opposite way.

At the ferry terminal my lttle lad shouted "that car's back again dad" he leapt out & gave the van a big smile, so he's on there to. He'll be chuffed to bits when he sees his mugshot.

Thanks to the OP.

D.


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## blongs (Jan 12, 2009)

Before it was only certain cities e.g. Leeds ended at the ringroad.


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## jimmyd0g (Oct 22, 2009)

Mrs jimmyd0g told me she was working! My question of a minute or two ago didn't half put her on the spot. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

Our road was obviously done last Spring, end March early April by the looks of the daffodils by the road side. You cannot miss my motorhome because there are no leaves on the trees.

peedee

ps I notice they have blurred the number plates of parked vehicles!


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## EJB (Aug 25, 2007)

They have also blurred the faces of people.


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## trevd01 (Oct 26, 2007)

Gixer-Mark said:


> Hi All
> 
> Well, if you haven't seen it yet ..... Google Street view has gone live in the UK today ( 11/03/10 ) and what an amazing bit of software it is!
> 
> ...


Works on other phones, too. Not surpringly on all Android (Google) phones ( eg HTC Hero), and modern BlackBerries...


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## locovan (Oct 17, 2007)

They havent done private estates or our Park Home site not at street level anyway.


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## welshtust (Jun 9, 2008)

Glad it was on a day the Van was clean, must have just got back as it's parked the wrong way round.

can't believe the small roads they have done, the Gower, Swansea is really well covered. 
Can see if the Van will fit before trying now.


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## emmbeedee (Oct 31, 2008)

They have evidently been in our Close twice, once last spring (daffs out, gutters clean, etc.,) & again last Autumn (no daffs, gutters full of leaves, buddleias (sp?) grown up) & vehicles parked differently. Interestingly, all our vehicles are in the same spots but both my car & our MH are turned round.


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

locovan said:


> They havent done private estates or our Park Home site not at street level anyway.


They have even been down the cul-de-sacs where I live  It rather make a mockery of being told you cannot take photos in public places for fear of some nefarious act.

peedee


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## DiscoDave (Aug 25, 2008)

it's got our last two vans, both on the drive at the same time and theres a picture of me one day at work! now i'm impressed!


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## jimmyd0g (Oct 22, 2009)

Stupid b****y Google Earth . About half an hour ago our cat knocked a very heavy stone vase off a window ledge onto my nearly bare foot (I'm now suffering from man-bruised bones). Regretably & really adding insult to injury, Mrs jimmyd0g has just managed to get a Google Earth close-up of said vase.


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## twinky (Aug 11, 2008)

OK................ idiot alert.

Ive tried googling streetview and pressed the 'try street view on google maps' where it takes me to a view of Kew Gardens.

Then I put in my postcode and it shows me a normal google earth view of my house - no streetview.

OK I think maybe they havent been down my street yet, so I put it Bristol Street Bham. Same thing no streetview.

What do I need to do to view streetview please?


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## MeFeinMcCabe (Mar 28, 2009)

Info is about 18 month old


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## mickyc (Jan 20, 2006)

go to

google maps

zoom in to the area you want, then drag the little man on the left of your screen onto the map - roads that are covered are lit up in blue :wink:


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Now if all those nice people who entered a campsite review in the MHF database would spend a little time changing the point on the map that shows where their site is so that it is on a road and therefore " caught" on camera.....

G

(PS Don't forget to click on the blue text above the map before you leave that window !)


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

It's the closest view in Google Maps

Zoom right in and then Click on the little orange man (top left) the roads available in Streetview will highlight in blue - then drag the little orange man to the road you want to see.


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## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

MeFeinMcCabe said:


> Info is about 18 month old


Not everywhere.

At one of the places where my car is shown parked it can be no more than 6 months old at most.


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## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

I would say that mine is a couple of months old at most,judging where the van is parked and the foliage.

tony


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## greenasthegrass (Oct 27, 2007)

Well it slows down my laptop big time - but it must be at least 2 years ago for me as its got the Hymer on it and we sold that year last January and it had bikes on the back so must have been in August in summer so that's going on for 2 years.

Good pictures though.

Greenie


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*google*

How long before they update it?

I am not on it as we are not on a street, we are down a private road.

TM


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

The aerial views themselves are quite old, my area looks to have been taken about 2007 from the clues and my motorhome isn't on the driveway but in streets view which was taken last year it is. 

Do you not have to open up the street view layer before you can view them? I tick the layer box as required and then the camera icons appear. These increase in number when I zoom in and I click on the icon in the area I want to view. As someone has said it is great for looking at the state of routes and a few days ago I used it for just that to make sure I could get my motorhome along a road. The road was actually white lined which I hadn't expected and along its length two motorhomes were in the pictures both about the same size if not bigger than my own!

peedee


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

peedee said:


> The aerial views themselves are quite old, my area looks to have been taken about 2007 from the clues and my motorhome isn't on the driveway but in streets view which was taken last year it is.
> peedee


Correction I had the time line set to 2007,  just moved it to 2010 and it is much more up to date Both street views and the mapping are about a year old.

peedee


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

peedee said:


> Do you not have to open up the street view layer before you can view them? I tick the layer box as required and then the camera icons appear. These increase in number when I zoom in and I click on the icon in the area I want to view. As someone has said it is great for looking at the state of routes and a few days ago I used it for just that to make sure I could get my motorhome along a road. The road was actually white lined which I hadn't expected and along its length two motorhomes were in the pictures both about the same size if not bigger than my own!
> 
> peedee


Just realised that some are looking a Google Maps and I am looking a Google earth. For some reason Google maps does not look so up to date a google earth either?

peedee


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## suffolkian (Jul 25, 2007)

We live on a 'No Through Road' which is actually a narrow country lane. The Street View photos are taken at roughly 10 yard intervals, nice pictures of hedges. The one photo that concerns us is the one taken outside our property, It clearly shows the house name (on our post box) and the full registration number of the motorhome. Maybe I'm being paranoid, as someone said in an earlier post, anyone passing by would be able to see such details from the lane. However I feel a little uneasy that these details can be viewed from an armchair anywhere in the world without any effort at all. I thought that Google Earth had a policy of obscuring any identifying features captured on camera. Is there a way of getting the M/H registration/house name blurred or even the photo deleted?

Ian and Steve


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

Little point in having the house name blurred because house nos are shown in google earth. Surprised your reg number is visible though they have all been blurred out in my street. Can you not email them?
peedee


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

suffolkian said:


> Is there a way of getting the M/H registration/house name blurred or even the photo deleted?
> 
> Ian and Steve


Yes to the registration number- which should have been done anyway. E-mail them.

When the first experimental ones of London went up faces were not obscured and my son appeared, full face, outside his house.

I notice, in the latest batch, the road has been "done" again.

G


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## suffolkian (Jul 25, 2007)

I have found the solution. When you click on the camera icon a small navigation window opens. There is a link on this window to report any 'abuse', I have submitted my concerns and await a full response (I've already had an acknowledgement from Google Earth to say they will look into the issues).


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## JLO (Sep 27, 2006)

Looked at our house, I reckon the pics were done last June/July. 

My new car which I got in March is on the drive, the MH is not on the drive and my husbands car parked where the MH normally is, so we were in France, looking at the state of the privet out the front we had probably been in France about 2 weeks.


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## billmac (May 25, 2005)

what a brilliant use of the internet and technology. For those worrying abount it giving secrets away the camera car came down our street on June 1st last year and it has only just now been published so I dont think there is anything to be concerned about.

Athough aint that my wifes boyfriends car parked outside our house ....... only joking


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

Even the latest satellite photos don't show my motorhome. We were also obviously away but there is a white vehicle parked on the drive and I don't own a white vehicle :? I was somewhat bothered for a while until I realised I had covered the car up with a dust sheet :lol: 

peedee


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*views*

Had some fun with it.

One of my neighbours is on and my Brother, you can see despite the blurr on thier faces they are looking at the photo car!

I rang my Brother last night and told him how to go onto the website and view his house.

He said "I do not remember that - what was I doing?"

I said, I bet you are looking at a funny car with cameras on it!

He said ahhhgggghh I remember now, an odd looking car with french plates and cameras drove up, reversed in the cul-de-sac and drove off!

He then said, who was it? (he can be a bit dim) I said well it was not Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple, look at the name on the browser!

TM


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## gromett (May 9, 2005)

Gods Pliers?

Karl


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## zappy61 (May 1, 2005)

I zoomed in on our bedroom window and I didn't like what I saw! My case comes up next week.

Graham


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## ChristopherR (Jul 10, 2009)

Like a previous poster my van was on the drive and I could clearly see the registration, I reported it via the page (needs to be the offending view) and received an acknowledgement. Checked this morning and it has now been blurred out, can't complain at that...


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## 1302 (Apr 4, 2006)

gromett said:


> Gods Pliers?
> 
> Karl


what on (google) earth happened there.?


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## mandyandandy (Oct 1, 2006)

Amazing, I love it, just sent my sister pictures of hers, my sisters and my mums houses, clearer than if you take photo's yourself. 

We are in cul de sac so they only went across the bottom of road, nothing of our house on there.  

Mandy


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

The numbers of people who don't like it seems to be growing. Many complaints on our local news about invasion of privacy, exposure to theft and people being shown.

peedee


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## jimmyd0g (Oct 22, 2009)

Yesterday I was sharing coffee & a chinwag with a friend of mine who is a lot more 'conspiracy theory' than I am. He is in full view on Google Earth stood outside the office we used to work in & smoking a cigarette. Does the Google Earth photo bother him? Not one bit. Indeed he is enjoying his moment of inadvertant fame. Therefore if it doesn't bother somebody who sees Big Brother around every corner, it ain't going to bother me.


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## annetony (May 1, 2005)

Our motorhome ison the drive and you can see the back panel out so it must have been taken in September last year--we were replacing the pump at the time--

and I am on it walking down the street going shopping-you cant see my face but I had had a perm earlier in the year and you cant miss it--plus Tony recognised my clothes :lol: :lol: :lol: 


Anne


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## 1302 (Apr 4, 2006)

jimmyd0g said:


> Indeed he is enjoying his moment of inadvertant fame. Therefore if it doesn't bother somebody who sees Big Brother around every corner, it ain't going to bother me.


Indeed I dont unstand the paranoia?? The view on Google is as that you or another person would see if they walked down your road...

If someone comes down our street they see three vehicles on the drive - Google shows the same - except its showing our old camper and not the new one


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

peedee said:


> The numbers of people who don't like it seems to be growing. Many complaints on our local news about invasion of privacy, exposure to theft and people being shown.
> peedee


Why? How?

Ray.


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## Losos (Oct 28, 2009)

Gixer-Mark said:


> Pop onto *google maps *and have a look.


No doesn't work for me :!: when I go into Google maps all I get is the usual Map / terrain/ traffic options.......Help......please :!:


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## twinky (Aug 11, 2008)

Losos said:


> Gixer-Mark said:
> 
> 
> > Pop onto *google maps *and have a look.
> ...


I had the same problem earlier in this thread and was helped out.

Have you tried what I was told?

Thats is you zoom in a little and drag and drop the little yellow man icon above the zoom bar onto the road you want to view. Streetview will then load.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

twinky said:


> Thats is you zoom in a little and drag and drop the little yellow man icon above the zoom bar onto the road you want to view. Streetview will then load.


Depends on whther you live on a through road. We live off the end of a cul de sac, along a footpath and they could not get the van round to film it so we have only a distant view of upstairs at the back of the house.

I guess a lot of those who are worried do not realise that a) the pictures are not in real time and b) they were done quite a long time ago so don't show anything new.

When it first came out last year there were a lot of worried people who had been caught on camera in places they would not wish to be seen in !

G


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

raynipper said:


> peedee said:
> 
> 
> > The numbers of people who don't like it seems to be growing. Many complaints on our local news about invasion of privacy, exposure to theft and people being shown.
> ...


I don't know why Ray, it doesn't worry me. As to how, writing to the papers and being interviewed on the TV news and radio about their attempts to get things changed.

peedee


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## Losos (Oct 28, 2009)

twinky said:


> Losos said:
> 
> 
> > Gixer-Mark said:
> ...


Thanks I will give it a go now then

Edit to add:-
Wahey it works, *thanks for the tip * as it happens it looks like there was a part of the road they couldn't photograph, maybe because there were too many parked cars just there but the houses before and after are all clear and show people in the garden etc. BTW not my house but my brothers but he doesn't know I was 'snoopig' :lol: :lol:


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## frenchfancy (May 21, 2005)

How exactly do you access this on your computer please?


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Either via this link:

http://maps.google.co.uk/?hl=en

or you can do it via your browser:

Go to Google and on the top left of the page you will see: Web ( and then as blue links) Images Videos etc - more.
Bring up - more
and then: even more:

and then you should find one ( blue link) option is Maps.

This is what you want.

G


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## asprn (Feb 10, 2006)

I took the time to study the routes in & out of the aires and sites I'd earmarked for overnights on the way down through France with the RV & trailer to the south of Spain this last week. I have to say that it was an absolute joy to find that I already knew the streets/bad corners/entrances when I came upon them. Quite uncanny, finding myself remembering where to go, despite never having been to the places before. 8O 

Dougie.


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## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

So when did they pass through your town go and 'stand' outside the cinema and see what was on then google.

Only prob is that our local one doesn't have the posters outside too posh and where the posters are displayed guess what they went into a car park instead og going down the road, So I went to the city hall and they are displaying posters for March 2009. The clincher was at the playhouse which has two theatres and where banners only go up for the new show on opening night so my guess is first week of April 2009 as the two shows only overlap then.


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