Google Earth Blog

All about Google Earth...

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Tue, 13 Mar 2007 09:59:47 -0500
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  • Google Highlights New Layers

    Google has given a big boost to the new layers added over the weekend to Google Earth. In particular, the new layers under "Featured Content->Global Awareness" each get their own write-up at the Official Google Blog.

    Dragline mining in Google EarthFirst, the Appalachian Mountain Top Removal layer gets a write-up by Appalachian Voice Executive Director Mary Anne Hitt. This new layer shows the destructive new mining techniques in practice by coal mining companies in West Virginia where they have removed the tops of mountains to get to the coal and minerals. These mountains were off the beaten path from towns and highways, so unless you saw them from above you wouldn't know about it. By the way, this layer has some hidden features like this 3D model of a piece of mining machinery called a "dragline" which scrapes the top of the mountain off. You can find it under the "Mining Tour" at "Stage 3".

    WWF in Google EarthSecond, the World Wildlife Fund Conservation Project layer gets a write-up on the Google Blog by James Leape, Director General, WWF International. This layer contains placemarks marking the locations of the many WWF projects around the world drawing focus to endangered animals and the environment. Each placemark includes some background information on the project, photos of the endangered species or environmental feature, and links to more information at the WWF web site.

    A write-up on the official Google Blog combined with a layer in Google Earth will result in at least several hundred thousand page views, so this will really help these organizations out.


    Tue, 13 Mar 2007 09:59:47 -0500

  • Nine Planes in Formation - Faked in the Google Earth Database!

    Nine planes in formation in Google EarthWhat started out looking like a pretty cool find of nine small planes in flight in near-perfect formation, was quickly determined to be a fake. At a lake about 35 km west of Copenhagen, someone photoshopped this formation of what is apparently a single plane before the photos were supplied to Google. So, anyone can see the faked formation (at least until Google removes them). See the planes here in Google Earth , or here in Google Maps. If you look closely at the aerial photo you can easily see that the water around each plane is identical. It only took a couple of hours from the time someone posted the exciting find, for experienced GEC moderator 'Hill' to recognize it was fake and point it out. You can read the two nearly simultaneous threads of discussion here and here. Interesting to note that just to the southwest of the planes on the same lake is a large number "2" in orange. This looks like part of a number from a camera which took the aerial photograph, but wasn't properly edited out. When you have millions of photos from many suppliers, interesting things happen to the imagery. I kind of like the planes... Hopefully Google will keep them around a while. Thanks to 'Delta102' for the tip.

    For more interesting things found in the Google Earth imagery - which some people consider data errors, but others find entertaining - check out this article on the Data Error Compendium.


    Tue, 13 Mar 2007 08:05:44 -0500

  • Lloyd's Using Google Earth for Insurance Visualizations

    Lloyds insurance visualizations in Google EarthLloyd's has announced plans to offer agents and underwriters the means to see Lloyd’s data on Google Earth maps to plot their exposure to hurricanes, earthquakes, terrorist attacks and other catastrophes. The underwriters will be able to see specific visualizations for insurance exposure models related to catastrophes such as hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. The application uses Google Earth's 3D abilities to make the visualizations more compelling by using techniques such as 3D bar charts overlayed over the specific locations of interest. “It should give underwriters increased confidence that they’re not going to be caught out by a hotspot." says Paul Nunn, Lloyd’s head of exposure management.


    Mon, 12 Mar 2007 16:32:46 -0500

  • Cricket World Cup 2007 Venues in Google Earth

    Cricket World Cup 2007 Venues in Google EarthThe Cricket World Cup 2007 venues are located in the West Indies of the Caribbean. The Radioactive Yak has posted a Google Earth collection of placemarks showing the location of these venues. You can select the folder called "World Cup 2007 Venues" and then select the menu choice "Tools->Play Tour" to see a flying tour of the different cricket stadiums set up for this year's events. Many of the stadiums have been upgraded for this year's event, so the photos you see in Google Earth are the way the stadiums used to look a year or more ago. Some of the locations don't even have a high resolution yet. Although, none of the Caribbean had high resolution photos until less than a year ago - so what you see now is actually a big improvement. And, I think Google is the only mapping tool publicly available, at the moment, with high resolution photos for the Caribbean.

    Read the Yak's post for other World Cup information including Google Maps, and Google Calendar tools for following the games. Radioactive Yak last May posted other Cricket Stadium locations for Google Earth.


    Mon, 12 Mar 2007 12:49:24 -0500

  • US Migration Patterns in Google Earth

    US Migration Patterns in Google EarthGoogle Earth Community (GEC) member 'giasen', who produced the cool-looking world oil consumption charts last month, has now used his exploding 3D shape charts technique to show US migration patterns . Taking data from moving company United Van Lines for 2006, he shows for each state of the US "inbound shipments minus outbound shipments multiplied by 100 in meters" (negative values are shown as flat). I was only somewhat surprised to find out that the state I live in, North Carolina, had the most number of people moving to it. It's just unfortunate so many people have found out how nice it is to live here. Here's his post.


    Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:29:48 -0500

  • Car Tipping

    Car tipping in Google EarthThis interesting find by GEC member 'Joerg_M', who posted it last June, shows a car tipped on its side in a parking lot in northwest Germany. What is it about people parking in this part of the world? It wasn't long ago we found a car parked on the side of a building in the Netherlands. Is there a gravitational anomaly in this part of the world? One member in the forums speculated the car on its side was a new form of "cow tipping". Maybe like "tractor tipping" as seen in the movie "Cars"?


    Mon, 12 Mar 2007 07:47:52 -0500

  • Major Layer Update for Google Earth - March 10th

    Google has just today released a big update to the Layers inside Google Earth. Many people don't realize there is even more information buried in the layers than the images of the Earth itself. Now, Google has added even more. Here are the highlights of this update (from this post by Google):

    • New "Global Awareness" folder under "Featured Content" containing:
      • World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Conservation Projects - Placemarks of conservation locations around the world
      • Appalachian Mountaintop Removal - Part of this one was written about here before. Now substantially upgraded and includes overlays showing the mountains before the awful mountain top removal mining efforts.
    • New Zealand Roads - Like Australia last month, now New Zealand has detailed roads and highways.
    • New National Geographic content (under the "Featured Content". Now articles from National Geographic for Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, and the Poles.
    • Updated layers:
      • Geographic Web: WikiPedia, Best of GEC
      • Featured Content: more Yelp Reviews, Tracks4Africa
      • Populated Places, Islands and Borders - more island names and better borders for islands
      • Google Earth Community layers
      • Under "Google Earth Community->Community Showcase->World Wide Panorama" - this excellent layer has been expanded to show many more panoramas. Each placemark contains a small snapshot which is a link to a Quicktime VR panorama - beautiful pictures!
      • Volcanoes Layer
      • Digital Globe Layers

    Sat, 10 Mar 2007 23:35:32 -0500

  • Skype + Unype = Multi-User Google Earth

    Unype logoA very interesting "mashup" for Google Earth was recently released called Unype. Murat Aktihanoglu, the developer of Unype, contacted me by e-mail over a week ago, but I've been slow to write about it. This free application allows you to use Skype (the popular, and free, voice over IP, chatting, and video conferencing software) with Google Earth and you can both chat and share your Google Earth session with someone using the same programs on their end. For example, you and someone else can jointly plan a trip or show each other something cool in GE. Murat says that sharing models and even Avatars are coming soon. Someone has posted a good demo showing two laptops side by side running Unype, Skype, and GE:

    In a way, this "mashup" could facilitate a kind of pseudo "virtual world" application if you add Avatars. But, it won't make Google Earth into a Second Life.

    I'm going to have to try this out using the SpaceNavigator to see if the program will smoothly show the same movements to someone on the other end.

    It just occurred to me that this could be a great way to have someone else control a demo of Google Earth while you are giving a presentation, but where you could still have control as well. Thanks to Digital Urban for posting about the video.


    Sat, 10 Mar 2007 12:29:04 -0500

  • YouTube Demo of Berlin in 3D for Google Earth

    The collection of 3D models from the City of Berlin released yesterday are fantastic! Over 44,000 buildings - nearly 10% of the city is available. So, I spent some time learning a bit about the city and created the following 5 minute video using Google Earth and the new 3D models (more details below). All kinds of interesting things to see, the video here has just a few highlights:

    The Berlin collection is even better than the Denver and Las Vegas collections I demonstrated a few days ago. Read my story from yesterday for details on the Berlin collection or just download the link to see the buildings yourself inside Google Earth 4. These large collections of 3D models can demand a lot of resources. You should have a relatively new computer and/or a fast video graphic card (with lots of memory) if you want to see faster performance. In my video, I'm using a relatively new computer designed for 3D gaming.

    Related: See also the video demo of the Swiss Alps.


    Fri, 09 Mar 2007 09:02:29 -0500

  • Dog Sled Races in Google Earth: Iditarod and Finnmarksløpet

    Winter time in the northern hemisphere is almost over. That means its time for the dog-sled racing competitions! This year we have the two biggest races covered in Google Earth.

    • The Iditarod Dog Sled Race in Google Earth Iditarod 2007 - Matt Nolan has again contacted me to let me know about this year's 1100 mile Iditarod dog race in Alaska. Visit the official site for details. Matt has a web page dedicated to his virtual globe content for the race including a Google Earth file which shows the race track and checkpoints, weather, and live tracking of the racers. The race has already started, so check it out now.
    • Finnmarksløpet - This is Europe's longest sled-dog race and has been held since 1981. The staff has, along with the NRK - Norwegian National TV, traced the route and added photos and information about each checkpoint. The 1000 km race starts this Saturday (March 10th) at 1145 local time. Here is the main web site. Here is the race course and checkpoints in Google Earth. They say there will be live coverage at the NRK site, it's not clear to me whether you will be able to follow racer positions with Google Earth.

    Thu, 08 Mar 2007 18:49:57 -0500

  • Berlin in 3D Released for Google Earth

    [UPDATE 1800 ET: Mac OSX version works now too! See video below provided by the publishers of the collection.]

    Berlin 3D buildings in Google EarthSeveral German readers have sent me E-mail this morning alerting me to the release of 44,000 buildings of Berlin (about 10% of the buildings in Berlin) for Google Earth. Not only that, but five of the buildings are available in the "highest resolution" with even interior details including the Reichstag Building (seat of the German Parliament), and the Olympic Stadium. The models were made possible with help by Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam and a spin-off called 3D Geo GmbH. It was developed by the State of Berlin through the Senate Department of Urban Development, the Senate Department for Economics, Technology, and Women's Affairs, and Berlin Partner GmbH.

    To download the collection (not yet part of the Google Earth layers), use this link (English) or this link (German). These models are not yet part of the Google Earth layers, you have to download them through these links published by the State of Berlin.


    Thu, 08 Mar 2007 06:50:48 -0500

  • Google Earth News: Google Wins Patent Dispute

    Remember a year ago when Skyline Software asked a court to have Google shut down Google Earth because it infringed on their patent? Well, a court has decided Google Earth does not infringe a patent issued by Skyline Software in 2002. Here are the details from the Associated Press:


    Wed, 07 Mar 2007 19:47:35 -0500

  • News Roundup: Google Earth Resume/CV, Google Maps Interface to BMW cars

    [UPDATED 1530: the BMW video shown below is official - see details below]

    • Google Earth Resume/CV - A young man by the name of Ozgur Alaz in Istanbul has used Google Earth to generate a major marketing coup to further his career. He posted a GE file showing some placemarks of relevant locations to his personal and career life with the label: "The First Resume in Google Earth". His blog post has been picked up in the blogosphere and even some news sites and is showing signs it will get him some major global exposure. You can see his Google Earth resume here . I think he had a great idea, and although I don't think he is really the first to use GE this way, he is certainly the first to market himself with it. His blog is all about marketing by the way.
    • Google Maps Interface to BMW Cars - Someone has released a very interesting YouTube video which demonstrates a guy using Google Maps to find a location, and then proceeds to E-mail the location to his car. He then jumps in his car and the location is put into his car's navigation system. Technically, I'm sure you could do the same thing with Google Earth. Not sure yet whether this is real, but the service referred to in the video called "BMW Assist" is a real service for BMW cars. This is real - here is the official Google announcement (and a link to the German version of the video). Here's the video:

    By the way, I think this is an example of a professional YouTube video done as a commercial, but designed for the Internet. I wonder if they will even bother with a television broadcast?
    Wed, 07 Mar 2007 10:19:37 -0500

  • Google Earth has a Nazi-era Mountain Name in Germany

    Bad Label in Google EarthResidents in Germany have discovered there are some legacy label issues with the "Geographic Features" layer in Google Earth. Spiegel Online (in German) reports that apparently someone noticed a mountain was labeled "Adof Hitler-Berg". The Nazi-era names like this were purged from Germany's maps and databases after the war. But, apparently some of the US databases still have the old names. According to a 64 year-old resident of the area, the mountain has not had the old name for as long as he can remember. A representative from Google says in the article that the label will be fixed with the next update to the layers in about 2 weeks. You can see the bad label here , by turning on the "Geographic Features" layer (if Google hasn't already changed it).

    In Google's defense, they have a huge challenge in gathering data describing virtually everything on Earth, processing terabytes of information, and attempting to avoid volatile issues (e.g. border disputes). Language translation issues make it even more difficult. I think the main point here is that Google is sharing the data, and if they discover issues they should address it as quickly as they can. If you see something in the default layers of Google Earth which is incorrect, you can report the problem at the Data Discussions forum. Thanks to GEB reader Frederic for the tip on this story.


    Wed, 07 Mar 2007 08:04:37 -0500

  • Google Earth Links Page Updated

    It has been several months since I made significant changes to Google Earth Blog's links page. I've added a table of contents, reorganized, and cleaned up the links a bit. The page includes all kinds of interesting web sites or blogs about Google Earth and related information. Included are links for getting started with Google Earth, advanced reference sites, blogs, sightseeing, geospatial tools and software, games, and more.


    Tue, 06 Mar 2007 13:01:56 -0500

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