Google Earth Blog: May 2006 Archives

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May 31, 2006

Near Real-time Severe Weather Data for the US from NOAA

The National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been experimenting with Google Earth as a visualization platform. Last year I had put an earlier version of their radar reflectivity composites in a storm tracking tools collection. The nice feature being that the radar data had transparent areas where there were no storms, so you could still see the satellite photos for unaffected areas. I am in the process of collecting new storm tracking tools for this year's storm season. The NSSL has been improving their excellent collection of network links for tracking thunder storms (read some papers they have publised on using GE for weather).

The most useful network link at the NSSL web site is the CONUS radar reflectivity map Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. with severe warning polygons (the areas where severe warnings are in effect). Note: the data is updated every 1 to 2 minutes. You can turn on and off a "Contrast Adjustment" (black or white) which helps highlight the data. You might also want the satellite maps Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. to compare IR, visible, and water vapor satellite photos (which update every 10 minutes) to the radar data . The visible satellite file is missing when it is not daylight hours in the US. The storms yesterday afternoon were pretty interesting.

There are many other useful Google Earth files and weather data on the NSSL web site. If you are really into weather, I encourage you to look. Very soon I will be publishing a new collection of storm tracking tools for Google Earth to help track tropical storms and hurricanes. Leave me a comment here if you know of any particularly good new ones.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:47 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

May 30, 2006

Pin in the Map - Keep it Simple

Last Friday, Chris Parsons of Eden Development announced the release of Pin in the Map. Chris was the author of one of my favorite Google Earth network links - the Global Cloud Map (which lets you see the clouds on the Earth from near real-time satellite photos). The concept of Pin in the Map is targeted to make it as simple as possible to mark a place on the Earth and share it. This is something I've seen done very well before with Tagzania, so I struggled to think of a way to explain how this was different. Stefan at OgleEarth popped up with a story and he described it very well: Pin in the Map is like TinyURL for location.

With Pin in the Map you don't need to set up an account. You simply find a location you want to share with Pin in the Map's Google Maps, then simply click to put in the pin. Type in a description (there are some text formatting features available). And you're done. You are given a pininthemap.com url which includes a unique code. If you attach "/earth" to it you have a link to the same spot in Google Earth. For example, here is a link to the Googleplex for Google Maps, and for Google Earth Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. . The URL is this: http://pininthemap.com/pp05b23afcbcf2a2cd8.

Pin in the Map also plans to offer a premium service. The two key features so far for the premium service will be to get rid of ads appearing around the map, and to have your own custom URL like: http://pininthemap.com/googleplex> (for example). Tagzania has a much more powerful interface with many more features, and you can get a readable URL (once you set up a free account) by simply creating a tag (for example http://tagzania.com/tag/googleplex). But, there's always room on the Internet for even simpler interfaces. Great work Chris.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:01 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

May 29, 2006

Memorial Day - Medal of Honor Recipients

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States. It is awarded "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in actual combat against an armed enemy force."

This collection has been expanded since I last wrote about it. The collection now includes the recipients of the US Medal of Honor from the following campaigns:

The China (The Boxer Rebellion) 1900, Mexican (Vera Cruz) 1914, Haiti 1915 Campaign, Dominican Campaign 1916, World War I 1917-1918, Haiti 1919 - 1920, Nicaraguan Campaign 1927 - 1933, World War II 1941 - 1945, North Korea 1950 - 1953, Vietnam 1964 - 1973, Somalia 1993 and The War On Terror (2002 - Present).

The collection shows the placemarks of the birthplaces of each winner and the descriptions show date of birth, rank, organization, location of deed, and the citation. Photos are also available. The collection was developed by 'Up_The_Spurs' from the Google Earth Community who also did the recipients of the Victoria Cross.

The collection doesn't show fancy photos, or 3D models, but each and every placemark contains a hero.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 08:02 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Google Earth for Linux to Follow Picasa

Last week Google released their really great photo tool Picasa for Linux. They did this by making refinements to the open source Windows API software called WINE. A recent story in the WINE newsletter about the port mentions that Google is doing the same thing for Google Earth. Google Open Source Program Manager Chris DiBona has revealed that Google Earth will be the next application ported according to a LinuxToday story.

For those of you who think Google should port Google Earth natively, the Google Operating System blog has this to say:

Many Linux users think Google should build native versions for their software, instead of using Wine, but if Wine becomes powerful enough to run (almost) any Windows software everyone will gain: more people will adopt Linux because they can use their favorite applications and companies will have a wider audience for their software.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 12:49 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Great Pyramid of Giza in 3D

The Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the seven wonders of the world, can be seen in the satellite photos of Google Earth. But, it is just a 2D photo on a hill of terrain, not the actual structure. Yesterday, someone called 'atf' at the Google Earth Community posted an excellent 3D model of the Great Pyramid Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. which also shows the interior chambers by making the walls of the pyramid transparent. Once you load the model, you need to turn off the "Terrain Layer" to see the full model. He has provided a number of camera views - look at the "Views" folder and then double click on the various views. This lets you get a close look at the entrance, Queen's chamber, the King's chamber, etc.

Two weeks ago I posted an article about the tomb of King Tut which also used similar 3D techniques. I expect many other interesting archaelogical sites will be created for visualization like this.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 10:00 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

May 28, 2006

Google Earth Blog Presenting at Google Geo Developer Day

The Google Geo Developer Day being held one day prior to the Where 2.0 conference filled up after only a few days. However, Google has had so many requests, they've decided to open up a waiting list to Where 2.0 registrants who want to come, and if they get a bigger venue, they'll let those on the waiting list first attend. In addition to the details at the waiting list registration form, you should know that I will be making a presentation at Geo Developer Day of unique Google Earth collections of placemarks, network links, and applications. Mike Pegg of GoogleMapsMania will be presenting Google Maps mashups as well. Hope to see you there!

Posted by FrankTaylor at 10:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Unicycling for College Money - Track Max in Google Earth

This is a rather unique idea for raising money for college: Ride a unicycle through 6 states in the northeast and collect money by amusing people along the way and through a clever web site. So, that's what Max DeMilner is doing. And what better way to visualize and track Unicycle Max than through a Google Earth network link Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. ? Max has a GPS and his brother periodically receives the GPS track and uploads it to the server so you can see his track.

I was contacted by Max's brother Kyle who is managing the web site. Kyle asked for some help with setting up the Google Earth file and I simply recommended the use of the network link. This is a really unique and fun idea. You can turn on the roads layer in Google Earth and zoom in and look at the aerial photography to see the places he went. I recommend you visit the nicely designed web site, look at some of the fun pictures and videos, read about how he got stuck for a week due to raining and flooding, and check out where he is today (or just see the route he took). And, how about dropping Max $5 or more for his entertainment and college education?

Posted by FrankTaylor at 09:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 26, 2006

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Points of Interest in Google Earth

Here is another collection of placemarks showing many of the points of interests in a popular city. This time we have Rio de Janeiro Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. in Brazil with over 1000 placemarks (in portuguese). The collection also contains polygons showing the borders of districts (counties?) in the area. Each district has a placemark showing its approximate population. It is being maintained by a 'muxaxo_rj', who for some reason has put his E-mail address as a link in most of the placemarks. There have been contributions from many other brazilians in the thread. There are a number of web cam placemarks in the area as well. I really like web cam placemarks where you can compare the GE views to the real-life current web cam shots.

If you're going to visit Rio, you really can't miss seeing the famous Christ the Redeemer statue up in the mountains. So, here is a 3D model Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. of the statue posted by 'wribeiro'. Of course, you can also turn on the Google Earth Community layers in GE and see even more points of interest.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 09:02 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Cape Wind Project in Google Earth

This is another example of using Google Earth to visualize a controversial building project. The Cape Wind Project is a proposal to build the first offshore wind farm in the United States in the vicinity of Nantucket Island and Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. Someone named 'RockyRaccoon' at the Google Earth Community posted information about this last year and included a map overlay showing the area. Apparently the primary concern is that the wind farm will scar the views from these locations.

Recently, someone named 'redgreenblue' posted a Google Earth file with 3D models of the wind turbines Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. in the proposed locations. Now you can put yourself on the shore and see what the view would look like in GE's realistic views using satellite photos and 3D terrain. I suggest you turn off the map overlay before testing the views. The GE file includes views from the wind farm, and views from the shore. Just double click on the different camera view placemarks. Because the wind turbines are located several miles off shore, the curvature of the Earth causes some of the turbines to be below the horizon. The camera views don't get you close enough to the ground. I suggest you try to get lower to get a more realist view. 'redgreenblue' has included some retouched photos to simulate the views as well. You will notice some of the views show no sign of the turbines.

Earlier this year I wrote about a building proposal in New York. And, a wind farm proposal in the UK. Google Earth is definitely an excellent way to visualize proposed building projects.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:46 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 25, 2006

Ohio Fatal Traffic Crash Map for 2005 in Google Earth

The Ohio State Highway Patrol has just released a well done, and dramatic, collection of placemarks showing the locations and details of fatal traffic accidents in the state during 2005. The number of fatal crashes is stunning. Download the Ohio fatal traffic accidents Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. collection now. They have used icons to represent whether the fatality was in a car, motorcycle, alcohol related, or commercial. Each placemark contains details on number of fatalities, location, type, alcohol involved, and the cause. You can zoom in and see the actual location in the satellite/aerial photos in GE, and turn on the roads layer to see better where each happened.

"It is imperative that motorists are educated about traffic safety and understand the dangers on Ohio's roadways," Colonel Paul McClellan, Patrol superintendent said. "Providing accurate and detailed information utilizing Google Earth will help to inform troopers as well as the public about these problem areas."

It seems quite a few people just drive off the road in rural areas and alcohol is not even involved. The other strong point clearly illustrated is that drinking and driving really is dangerous.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 09:43 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Tour de France 2006 in Google Earth

[NOTE: This file now has "live tracking" of the race. Read more.]

Last year, shortly after Google Earth was released, a bunch of Tour de France (TdF) fans in the Google Earth Community (GEC) put up the complete route of the 2005 TdF. The race was still going on while they were completing it. This year, the complete TdF 2006 course Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. has already been mapped in Google Earth well ahead of the July 1st start (see the official TdF 2006 web site). It's a network link, so any refinements will get updated automatically, so save it in your "My Places" if you plan to follow the race. Once it loads, you will just see the tracks for each stage. For more details open up the folder and turn on each stage's detailed placemarks showing the checkpoints. You can check out the satellite photos, but more importantly make sure you use the pan/tilt features in GE so you can see the mountains they go through. Thanks to 'lucifer666' at the GEC, who also did the Volvo Ocean Race network link.

Read other interesting Google Earth stories in the following categories: 3D Models, Flying, Sailing, Science, Sightseeing, Sports, Tips, and more.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 08:14 AM | Comments (15) | TrackBack

May 24, 2006

Microsoft Imagery Update for UK

Google Earth Blog rarely comments on other mapping products since it is focused on GE. However, the release last night of Microsoft's Windows Live Local new imagery for the UK is worth mentioning. The new Live Local imagery is really much superior to the satellite/aerial photos in the Google Earth/Maps database for the UK (Google above, Microsoft below in screenshot of the London Eye here). Live Local's imagery has been processed for clarity, color balance, and sharpness. The resolution is equal to Google's best imagery for the area, and it is much better in several areas in the UK where Google's isn't even high resolution. For a real comparison, I recommend trying FlashEarth which lets you zoom with the mousewheel and simply click between Live Local and Google Maps satellite views. Google's data looks like a patched quilt of imagery from on high, while Microsofts looks much more consistent.

Not long ago Microsoft announced it had invested serious money to compete with Google, and they have made some significant acquisitions of companies in the aerial photography and virtual earth industry. Hopefully Google has been taking notes. Because Google is going to need to release some serious upgrades soon to Google Maps and Google Earth or they will lose the leadership advantage they have had for the last year. Also see OgleEarth's comments on this subject.

I decided to try using Google's Picassa on the Google Maps version of the London Eye used in the comparison above. I did a "feeling lucky", color saturation, and a sharpness. The quality of the new image is much improved. This is the kind of thing I'm sure Microsoft has done with their data in order to get the better look. You can see the result in the photo here (click on the thumbnail for a better view).

Now all Google needs to do is a "little" processing on several hundred thousand square kilometers of photos and their pictures will look just as good. :-)

Posted by FrankTaylor at 08:08 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

May 23, 2006

Integrating Calendar Events to Location in Google Earth

For a long time, I've been expecting to see a lot more integration between calendar events and location information. For example, you should be able to have a Google Map inside your Google Calendar and see pushpins for your event locations. This would enable you to have directions built right into your calendar appointments. You can already create an HTML link to a map or GE file for a calendar event right now. And, while you are perusing in Google Earth, you should be able to turn on calendars of events to see what is happening. For example, while looking at New York you should be able to turn on the "broadway show" layer and see placemarks for what shows are showing tonight and where they are located. And, the placemark description should have a link to buy an E-ticket.

Just last week, someone in Austria announced a cool web site which is a big step in the right direction. The web site has the whimsical name of Shnitzl, it's free, and it lets you create events and show them in Google Earth! Right now there is just a few events mostly in Austria. But, anyone can open an account and create events for anywhere in the world. Look at the network link for the events Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. here. One thing I like is that it has color coded icons according to whether a placemark is a future event, current event, past event, or just the venue for an event. And of course, you can use Google Earth to get driving directions, check out the satellite photos, search for a place to eat before or after, etc., etc.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 08:38 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Discount to Where 2.0 for GEB Readers

If you have not yet registered for the Where 2.0 conference, you can get a 10% discount by being a Google Earth Blog reader. The O'Reilly Where 2.0 conference brings together the people, projects, and issues leading the charge into the location-based technology frontier. Location-aware technologies combined with mapping and other data are poised to create a whole new class of web apps and services. Where 2.0 will explore what's viable now, and what's lurking just below the radar. Meet the people behind the mash-ups and the platforms, and the people looking ahead to the future of geospatial. Where 2.0 will be held June 13-14, 2006 at the Fairmont Hotel San Jose, California. Google Earth Blog readers get 10% off registration using code whr06gglerth. For more information visit http://conferences.oreilly.com/where.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 08:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 22, 2006

See More Recent Aerial Photos in Google Earth

Aerials Express has made a press release announcing a new service allowing you to see more recent aerial photography for a significant portion of the populated US. The new service being introduced is called ViewGL (Beta). "ViewGL feeds Aerials Express' premium aerial content directly into the Google Earth platform..." But, they have also released examples as Google Earth network links you can try for six areas in the US: Atlanta Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. , Chicago , Las Vegas , Milwaukee , Northern California , and Phoenix . After you pause over the selected area for a second it will begin loading an image for that view. Zoom down close to see better detail. [NOTE: there are confirmed problems with the GE Mac Version.] If you live in one of these areas, you will probably want to go there now and check out your home area to see if there are more recent aerial photos. [NOTE: available only for about 30 days. See below.]. You can also see in GE the coverage areas Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. of the US for photos from Aerials Express.

Details on the Service:

"Google Earth has had a very positive impact on our business," states Bill Landis, CEO of Aerials Express. The press release indicates that ViewGL is targeted for "giving professionals access to the latest high resolution imagery available." I imagine people in the real estate industry, property tax verification, and other government sectors will find this immediately interesting. However, I wonder if they are missing an even bigger opportunity. Why not offer this service to consumers who are hungry for more recent photos of their houses and communities?

[Edit 12:30 22-May-06: I spoke to Bill Landis. Bill says ViewGL access will cost $495 for regional access, and $1995 for access to the entire US, for a single-user license. The licensed access will be for a limited period of time, but you can take screenshots or print from Google Earth the areas you are interested. You will need Google Earth Plus or Pro if you want to print at higher resolution. Bill also said that the free access to the six example regions will only be provided for the next 30 days. In addition, Bill says they are considering ways to provide photography to a broader audience.]

Posted by FrankTaylor at 09:56 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Hotel Bookings for Europe in Google Earth

Just last week I was remarking that it was surprising more online lodging services were not using Google Earth. Well, one of the more established online lodging services for Europe, booking.com, has implemented its own Google Earth implementation. They have a hotel finder network link Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. which lets you zoom over an area (you need to be below 100 km), and it will then load hotels for that area. One thing I was impressed by is they have implemented the GE and web interfaces in several languages (just click on the flag for the language you prefer). Each hotel placemark can contain photos, description, and links to more information including reservation capability. Once you find the hotel you think you like, make sure you zoom in in Google Earth to look at the scenery in the satellite photos. Also, turn on the Google Earth Community layers to see what interesting things are nearby.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:12 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

May 21, 2006

Google Earth Business

Internet News has published a story by Nicholas Carlson called "Commercializing the World, Google Style". In the story he quotes John Hanke, former CEO of Keyhole and now the general manager of Google Earth, about his vision of Google Earth. The quotes have to do with the evolution of the product while it was still Keyhole and how even he was surprised at how "people had begun to collaboratively figure out" new ways to use the application. I don't believe Carlson was able to get new quotes from Hanke in this article. Google, as a public company, is very careful about making statements about its business strategy. None of the Hanke quotes talk about current of future strategy. Hanke is quoted about the costs for deploying all of this satellite photos and the huge bandwidth demands of GE: "It is really expensive to collect and provide all this data".

So, what is the business model?

Carlson does get quotes from other businesses. He quotes Zillow.com as a "naysayer" who thinks Google Earth's openness to allowing cultural content (i.e. non-business oriented content) is of no use to a business. Of course, Zillow.com has a business alliance with Microsoft - so what do you expect? He also quotes Tim Hibbard (of "Where's Tim?" fame) who has built a way to allow people to track his movements with his GPS phone using Google Earth/Maps. His employer is a GPS tracking company and the publicity from the tracking site has enabled his business to grow.

Some interesting speculation in the article, but nothing really new. Read some of my thoughts back in August about business opportunities surrounding GE. There have been a few notable revenue generating changes at Google in the last few months: 1) Google bought SketchUp which had its own profitable revenue stream; 2) Google has made some joint marketing content pushes like National Geographics, Discovery Channel, and Las Vegas; and 3) ads have been deployed in Google Earth. In my opinion, Google has only scratched the surface on the possibilities for monetizing Google Earth and Maps. If they are smart, and Google has a lot of smart people, they have been working on these possibilities. One thing is for sure, Microsoft has definitely been working on new things to compete with Google Earth/Maps. I expect the next few months are going to be very interesting in the way of new software releases.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:10 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 20, 2006

Global Volcanoes by Smithsonian Institution for Google Earth

There was a lot of interest in volcanic eruptions this week after the elevated alert status of Mount Merapi in Java, Indonesia. I just discovered that the Smithsonian Institution has an excellent educational web site about volcanoes which is home to the Global Volcanism Program. It turns out their data serves as a source for the Volcano World data provided in last week's article. On the new Smithsonian site is a new Google Earth file which shows the locations of all Holocene-era volcanoes Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. (last 10,000 years) . More importantly, the placemarks contain a great deal of useful information and many have excellent photos of the corresponding volcano. This collection is vastly superior to the "Volcano Layer" provided with Google Earth. I highly recommend you check this one out.

Make sure you use the pan/tilt features of Google Earth to view the 3D views of the volcanoes while you are looking at the satellite photos. One thing you may notice is that some of the placemarks do not appear over the tops of volcano peaks. The Smithsonian site explains this in detail, but the primary reason is that they put the placemark at the center of a field of volcanoes/vents in many cases rather than mark each vent.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 09:22 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

May 19, 2006

MI6 Headquarters in 3D for Google Earth

This quite attractive building is the headquarters of British Secret Intelligent Services MI6 located in Vauxhall Cross, in western London, England. It makes an interesting 3D model project for SketchUp. Or, so thought Google Earth Community (GEC) member 'barnabu' who posted this 3D model of the MI6 headquarters Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. earlier this week. The building was designed by architect Terry Farrell in 1987. The building has appeared in James Bond movies including "Golden Eye", "The World is Not Enough", and "Die Another Day". Perhaps you can figure out the scenes from the movies by looking at the satellite photos and this 3D model in Google Earth. You can read more detail about this building and see some photos at the Wikipedia.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:43 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Three Mile Island in 3D for Google Earth

Here we have a nice 3D model of an infamous location: Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. This was the site in 1979 of a partial core meltdown which did not result in any identifiable injuries or the need for evacuation. See details at Wikipedia. The Three Mile Island Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. model was created by Joe Wade and posted at the Google Earth Community. When you first open the model, he has one of the cores exposed in a cut-away view so you can see he has modeled the core interior. You can click on "Core_half" to return the missing half. If you turn off the 3D models you can also see the plant in the satellite photo provided by Google Earth. Nice work Joe!

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Decrease in Avian Flu Spread During Last Month

The database of the Avian Flu outbreak map Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. by Declan Butler (Senior Editor of Nature Magazine) has just been updated. When you first load the network link it shows just the new cases since the last update (which was mid-April). There has been a dramatic decrease in the number of new outbreaks during the last month (compared to the previous update). During the last update there were hundreds of new outbreak locations. In this case there appear to be just a few new cases, although there are actually about a hundred (most are concentrated in Myanmar, Mandalay). Howeer, if you look at the placemarks you will see it still involves tens of thousands of cases - since some of the locations are poultry farms. It's possible the warming spring temperatures have something to do with the decrease in growth rate of the flu. It's spread is likely to return as the temperatures reduce in the southern hemisphere. Turn on the full data, by clicking on the "H5N1 map" folder, to see the full extent of the avian flu outbreaks since it began.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 12:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 18, 2006

Down Under and Kiwis Get Roads in Google Maps

GoogleMapsMania reports that Google Maps got a data update last night which gives Australia and New Zealand detailed road maps. Further inspection shows that the road layer has not fully migrated to the Satellite - Hybrid view. More importantly, a quick check does NOT show detailed roads yet for Google Earth. In the past, Google has released new road data layers in Google Earth first, then Google Maps. I guess they wanted to give maps a chance this time. Hopefully, the road data will migrate to the GE database soon. Since there hasn't been a formal announcement from Google, they probably haven't finished deployment of the new road data layers.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 03:47 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Who is Vanessa? - Google Earth Sleuthing

Another one of those mystery views from a satellite photo in Google Earth. Someone at the Google Earth Community noticed a womans name and "phone number" written in 12-meter tall letters on the ground near Belo Horizonte, Brazil. You can view the location Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. here. So, the poster asked why someone would do this? Somone speculated maybe a real estate developer (based on the nearby development). Then, about 2 months later someone called 'jfjunior' posted he had done some Google searching and discovered "Vanessa 45444" was an MPP candidate, or in Portuguese a "Candidato a Deputada Estadual". Apparently the photo is from 2002, because 45444 was the number she used during that election. It amazes me how the Internet enables you to find out about almost anything odd you may see if enough people look into it. There's now almost 500,000 registered members at the GEC forums. And for every registered user there is usually 15-20 people not registered viewing the forums.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:43 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 in Google Earth

Pirates of the Caribbean Sailboat Volvo Ocean Race The 7th leg of the Volvo Ocean Race round-the-world yacht race has been going on for a week. They left New York headed for Portsmouth, England - a distance of about 3300 nautical miles. You can download the Volvo Ocean Race file now and see the history of the previous four legs and watch the LIVE race in Google Earth.

Meanwhile, Dee Caffari on Aviva is about to complete her solo round-the-world against the prevailing winds record attempt in Southhampton, England late today. See my story about her Google Earth track, and the Aviva Challenge web site for details on her arrival.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:20 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 17, 2006

Da Vinci Code Tour in Google Earth

Just watched the "Da Vinci Code" movie and want to know where the scenes took place?. GoogleMapsMania points out that a Google Maps mashup called Da Vinci Tour which includes not only places which are in the movie, but also routes the characters supposedly took. The Da Vinci Tour is also available in Google Earth Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. which makes it even easier to zoom in and look at the satellite and aerial photos and view the routes of the characters. Tagzania also has also created a collection of Da Vinci Code locations.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:33 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Accomodation Planning for Norway in Google Earth

It is amazing to me that the travel industry has not embraced using Google Earth to a larger extent. So far, for GE we have seen one big global hotel listing (Earthbooker), one air fare locator, and a bed and breakfast guide. If you are going to Norway, there is an excellent resource called Reiselivsbasen with links to more than 4000 lodgings in Norway. Unfortunately, Norway has limited high resolution satellite photos, but even so it is still beautiful to look at in GE. This travel tool not only supports Google Earth, but also allows you to get location information and download it for use in your GPS so you'll be ready when you arrive. Reiselivsbasen is definitely worth reviewing if your planning a trip to Norway, or if you are looking for ways to use Google Earth and GPS for your travel site.

Here's a sample of hotel listings Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. with pictures in the placemarks. Each hotel listing can have photos, acommodation information, directions, mapped location, a Google Earth link, contact information, payment options, and more. You can also create your own map of places for use with a GPS (go here for instructions), it supports export to TomTom, GPX, and KMZ. Also provided is a Google Earth network link called GE LiveLookup Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. which lets you look at places in Norway and it will automatically find the 30 nearest accomodations (including camping, hotels, bed and breakfastes, etc.). Thanks to the author Arnulf for contacting me. Great work!

Posted by FrankTaylor at 06:47 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

May 16, 2006

Laval University Campus in Google Earth

Last month I wrote about a Google Earth campus map created for Bowdoin College. Now, a company in Quebec, Canada has created a 3D map of Laval University Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. campus. In this case, the main campus buildings have simple 3D models overlayed on top of the satellite photos in GE to help enhance the feel of the campus. Placemarks provide photos and links to more information (in French). GeoWebServices appears to be an enterprising new geographic information services company which is currently occupying a non-profit .org domain name.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:56 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

SketchUp News

A few interesting news items and tips for SketchUp users:

SketchUp has announced Mac OSX SketchUp Pro 5 users can now download an OSX Google Earth plugin so they can also post and download to and from the Google 3D Warehouse. Mac users should read the above announcement first as there are some important instructions required for a successful installation. The free Google SketchUp for Mac OSX is still not out yet.
SketchUp3D.org - a new blog dedicated to sharing ideas, news, tutorials, and examples for using SketchUp effectively. via OgleEarth.
SketchUp video tutorials - this page lets you view (or download) a number of video tutorials showing how to create models with SketchUp. I highly recommend these. My favorite is "Model from a photo" which just amazed me.

If you haven't downloaded the free Google SketchUp, I highly recommend it. This is an amazing tool for creating 3D models. Google SketchUp is a free application whose primary purpose is for outputting models for use in Google Earth and is for personal use only. SketchUp 5 Pro is the commercial version (US$ 495) which can be used for commercial purposes and allows exporting your models to many formats and printing (you can download a free 8-hour trial).

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:19 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 15, 2006

Mount Merapi Volcano in Google Earth

"Mount Merapi is a conical volcano in Central Java, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted 68 times since 1548. Its name means Mountain of Fire." from Wikipedia. Mount Merapi is currently spewing ash and rock and is at the highest level of alert prompting evacutations in the area. You can see this angry mountain Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. in the satellite photos and 3D views in Google Earth with a little help from Volcano World. Volcano World keeps track of volcanoes all over the world. One of the Google Earth Community (GEC) members, who calls himself 'Herminator', created some network links, and wrote some code, to process Volcano World's data which allows you to check on all the volcanoes of the world from Google Earth. His network links include:

Current eruptions
Historic eruptions
Global Volcanism Program's Weekly report - By the Smithsonian Institute and USGS.

If you load "Current eruptions" for example, and open the folder in the Places pane, you will find "Merapi, Java, Indonesia" listed. Double click on it to fly to Merapi and see this colorful satellite photo in 3D. Open the placemark and you will get details and links to perform a Google Search or a Wikipedia search for more information. Very nice interface! Herminator was also the creator of the World Heritage sites which are now part of the GE Community Showcase.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 06:25 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Cricket Venues in Google Earth

Last week I was told about an article at GoogleMapsMania about a mashup for international test Cricket venues which also had Google Earth support. After noticing a problem with the download, I contacted the author of the Cricketing Yak and explained how to set up the Google Earth file on his server by setting the mime-types. You can easily download the Cricket venues Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. for the UK and Australia now (he plans to add more areas later for GE). Each placemark shows the actual field/stadium in GE's satellite photos where cricket is played, and the descriptions provide photos, local weather, and a link to scores. Other countries are displayed in the Google Maps version.

Related - other sports:

Posted by FrankTaylor at 10:25 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

May 14, 2006

Real-time Stream Flow Sensor Net in Google Earth

The US Geological Survey (USGS) has released yet another sensor net of data with excellent visualization in Google Earth. This time their WaterWatch program has released real-time streamflow data Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. compared to historical streamflow for the day of the year for all the states in the US and Puerto Rico. There are hundreds of sensors in this data set which tracks short-term changes (over several hours) in rivers and streams. The colors represent real-time streamflow compared to percentiles of historical daily streamflow for the day of the year. There is a legend explaining the colors, and you can click on the placemarks for more details. You can zoom down to each placemark and see where they are located in the satellite photos of Google Earth. The USGS previously released a real-time Earthquakes sensor net.

About Sensor Nets - and the James Reserve sensor net
USGS 1906 Earthquake Documentary
NOAA Coral Reef Watch
Aurora Viewing Map
Flight Tracking
Ocean weather data

Posted by FrankTaylor at 11:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

The Tomb of Tutankhamon in Google Earth

The tomb of Tutankhamon - also known as KV62 in the archeological world - was the most intact tomb of a pharoh of Egypt ever found. It became very famous for the wealth of treasure it contained. Someone at the Google Earth Community called 'atf', who is from Zaragoza, Spain, posted an excellent 3D model and an aerial photograph of the area to help you visualize Tutankhamon's tomb.

Since Google Earth does not currently allow you to place models below the surface of land, how do you show the location of a tomb? 'atf' used a method similar to one I wrote about last month. He took his subsurface model and 'floated' it above its actual location. Look at the model of Tutankhamon's tomb Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. , and you can see the stairs leading down to the burial chamber. A few important things to note: make sure you have the "Terrain" layer turned on and that your Preferences have "Elevation exagerration" set to 1.0; raise your altitude a bit and then double-click on "Tumba de Tutankhamon" to get a good view; If you open the folder you can see 'atf' has provided several views of the various chambers and corridor. Excellent work 'atf'!

See Wikipedia entry on KV62 - Tutankhamon's Tomb.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:13 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

May 12, 2006

3D Prints from Google Earth

The guys from Eyebeam Research have been doing more cool things with OpenGLExtractor (OGLE). OGLE lets you extract 3D models from any OpenGL application. and you can convert the models and put them in Google Earth (see earlier writeup). They have printed off some of the 3D buildings from Google Earth on a Dimensions 3D printer. Here you see some 3D buildings in New York City, and the resulting "print". The Eyebeam guys say in their blog they had to do a bit of manipulation to add floors to the bottoms of the models before they would print. Of course, OgleEarth mentioned this today. The 3D print made it in Make as well. Read this to learn how to see 3D buildings on top of the satellite photos in Google Earth.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 08:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Conferences for Geospatially Aware Developers

There are a couple of upcoming conferences, and a significant Google event, coming up if you are a developer of software or mashups for mapping or vitrtual earth applications and can get to the west coast of the US. All of these events will have Google Earth team members participating and sponsoring.

The first conference is Where 2.0 by O'Reilly (well known publishers of technology books) which is being held in San Jose, California June 13-14. Where 2.0 brings together the people, projects, and issues leading the charge into the location based technological frontier. John Hanke, co-founder of Keyhole, and who now heads up the Google Earth team, will be speaking.

Google Also, there's an important event being held the day before Where 2.0 conference on June 12 called "Google Geo Developer Day". A limited number of Where 2.0 attendees are being invited to the Googleplex (Google headquarters) to meet the Google Geo development team. They promise to make 1 or 2 product announcements. By the way, if you go you'll have a chance to meet me - I'll be there and at the Where 2.0 conference as well.

July 24-28, a conference called GeoWeb 2006 has been organized by Galdos Systems - authors of GML (Geography Markup Language). GeoWeb 2006 is the meeting point of consumer location services and professional geographic information technologies. Prominent sponsors are Microsoft, Google, Oracle, and Autodesk, and many others. Keynote speakers will include Michael Jones (CTO for Google Earth), and Stephen Lawler the General Manager of Microsoft's Virtual Earth Business Unit. Michael Ashbridge, KML Data Engineer at Google Earth, will be presenting a 3 hour workshop on KML and Google Earth interaction.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 11, 2006

Kennedy Space Center Placemarks and Webcams

The Floriday Today has recently published an online interactive Google Maps map for the NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and includes a Google Earth version Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. as well. You will find placemarks with links to more information about KSC. Google Maps Mania just wrote this story about it:

Florida Today has included an interactive Google Map on their site which maps space launch sites at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral. It includes a database of every launch since the dawn of the space age, shuttle and rocket launch video and images, and video tours inside facilities people usually don't get a chance to see guided by its space reporters. It also has an enhanced 3D Google Earth version you can download as well. This is a great example of a newspaper using its historical archive to create a maps mashup for visitors from all around the world.

Thanks to Mike at Google Maps Mania, for bringing it to my attention. Now we just need some enterprising Google SketchUp modelers to create some 3D models of the Vehicle Assembly Building, launch pad, and a space shuttle or two for the pad and runway.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 12:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Feature Request: 3D Video in Google Earth

I would really like to see the following features implemented for Google Earth. Last week, one of the blogs I regularly check on - Digitally Distributed Environments (DDE) - posted about an amazing feature in a really excellent new 3D panorama tool called DevalVR. DevalVR is available as a plug-in for your browser and is much better than QuicktimeVR in my opinion (download DevalVR plugin here). What is really neat is that you can stream movies into a 3D location within a panorama view in your browser!

To test the video capability, Andy at DDE created a huge screen between these two towers and inserted a video he had created. First download the DevalVR plugin, then download the panorama with 3D streaming video. After you pan around to view the screen, you simply click with your mouse on the video controls and you can watch a movie on a 3D projected screen (and listen) while panning around. Like Andy, this amazing tool just made me smile. I had seen 3D video years ago on a Silicon Graphics workstation when I worked at NASA. But, now here it was in a plug-in within my browser!

This is the kind of 3D content smarts I would like to see added to Google Earth. Not only texture map 3D models, but allow video plug-ins and VR panorama plug-ins on 3D surfaces! Recently Vlogmap.org (which I wrote about last August) released a new network link showing georeferenced videos which they call "geovlogs Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. ". You can also still download their network link showing the georeferenced locations of video blogs . Imagine if they could instead put placemarks where their videos were made and you could view the movies on 3D "mouse-in" (instead of drive-in) movie screens? And, imagine if you could view the panoramas of World Wide Panoramas Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. from within the 3D content of Google Earth itself?

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:30 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

May 10, 2006

Multicup 60 - Live Sailboat Race in Google Earth

There's a fierce multihull sailboat race going on right now called the MultiCup 60 (the boats are 60 feet long). They are racing from London around Portugal, Spain and into the Mediterranean Sea until they arrive near Nice, France. They are already about 1.5 days into the race. Here is the official web site (also available in French), and here is the map they provide for showing the current positions.

Of course, I prefer the Google Earth file they have provided for showing the boat positions Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. . That way you can zoom in and see the positions from any angle and view the more realistic satellite photos in Google Earth. Plus, you can add things like current global clouds to see what the weather is like. The placemarks provide more detail on each boat (in French) and a picture of the boat.

I have created a network link Google Earth File. You must have GE installed. which will update their data once per hour automatically (assuming they have new data). Speaking of ads, this race is heavily sponsored by Ambassador Coffee, and you get a big one in the GE file. Thanks to Didier for contacting me about this.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 09:32 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Ads in Google Earth

There has been some talk recently in the blogsphere about Google Earth's ads. Some blogs seemed to be a bit confused about how to see them, and others had their facts wrong. So, I decided to write something about them.

First of all, the ads in Google Earth are very unobtrusive. In fact, they have been in Google Earth since the beginning of 2006. And, as I previously reported, if you have the PLUS version of GE you can turn the ads off. You only see the ads if you perform a localized search for a product or service. Even then, they are only seen in a subtle fashion. Ads only appear for cities where Google has business address information tied to its maps. So, for any country which has a localized version of Google Maps, you will likely find ads. So far, there are localized versions for the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

To see the ads...

First, to see the ads you need to use the "Search