Sports Archives

May 07, 2008

Links: NBA Destination, EarthNC 2.0, Geo Education

• NBA Destination - The National Basketball Association and ESPN have commissioned a Google Earth visualization showing all kinds of NBA and basketball content including 3D models of stadiums, placemarks with trivia and history, and a few little basketball "easter eggs" (Tip: try looking to the east of Mt. Hood, Oregon after loading the KML). You can go to their fancy flash-based web site NBAEarth.com which includes a video introduction, or you can go straight to the KML file . Thanks to Anandaroop Roy, the author of the KML content, for telling me. This is a well done KML file with lots of interesting content.

• EarthNC 2.0 - EarthNC has celebrated their one year anniversary by releasing version 2.0 of their online and Plus versions of EarthNC electronic charts and other marine data for Google Earth. If you're a boater (particularly in US waters) you should definitely check out this fantastic resource of marine data. EarthNC has some of the best KML, and most thorough, content available for Google Earth. And, their rates are very reasonable, especially compared to other data providers in the marine industry.

• Google Geo Education - Google has released a new web site to help educators find their geospatial related educational tools and content I'm a little disappointed they don't highlight more examples of Google Earth content. But, they do have some interesting classroom ideas, and on that page they link to a post I did last September with more relevant links for educators.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:48 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

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April 03, 2008

Follow the Olympic Torch Relay in Google Earth and Maps

Google has announced the 2008 Global Torch Relay maps they have developed to help everyone follow the Olympic Torch as it makes its way around the world on its way to Beijing, China for the opening of the Olympics in August. You can visit their web site at http://maps.google.com/torchrelay where you get a special Google Maps mashup which shows the current position of the torch, and "slider" buttons that let you go to each city/location the torch visits. Or, better yet, you can load the 2008 Torch Relay network link in Google Earth and get a much more dynamic view of the location (including 3D terrain, 3D buildings, Panoramio photos of the cities, etc., etc.). Double click on the "2008 Torch Relay" network link to be flown to the current city (today it is Istanbul). Open the city placemark to see information on the city. Click on the Previous City or Next City links to see where the torch goes. The date the torch is in each city is shown in the title of the placemark.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 05:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 10, 2008

Iditarod 2008 Dog Sled Race Live in Google Earth

EarthSLOT, whose mission is "to advance earth science and earth science education through the use of on-line 3D terrain visualization and GIS tools", has once again published a Google Earth file about the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race which is an 1150 mile dog sled race through the middle of Alaska. The race just started a few days ago, and the EarthSLOT Iditarod file shows the route of the race, and the live GPS position of the teams, along with the satellite photos and 3D terrain in Google Earth.

Matt Nolan, who runs EarthSLOT, has also included in the Iditarod file a link to the International Polar Year network link which contain all kinds of information about the Arctic and Antarctic and the science missions studying our polar regions. Matt is a scientist who studies Glaciers and other polar environmental features and worked with the IPY to develop the Google Earth content.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 07:53 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 29, 2008

Links: Star Viewer, Green Screen, World Hockey, European Pollution, Golden Shadow

• Star Viewer - Last week Mike at GoogleMapsMania pointed to me to a cool Sky/Google Maps mashup called Star Viewer. It has a nice tour with YouTube videos mixed in the placemarks. What I didn't realize at the time is that they also have a KML file so you can view the placemarks in Google Earth. And, the Google Earth version looks really nice with the videos (Windows only - because Google Earth only supports video in Windows). Also, the mashup was done by the guys at Virtual Tourism.

• Green Screen - Last August Stefan Geens at OgleEarth showed how you could use some software and video camera to create your own green screen overlay of Google Earth to mix with a video. Stefan has discovered that Hans Rosling has used a similar technique to produce a truly interesting video called Bangladesh Miracle. It's worth watching!

• World Hockey - A Google Earth Community (GEC) member called Sam034, who is a big Ice Hockey fan, has been documenting the sport in Google Earth for some time. Recently he has substantially updated his World Hockey Arenas collection which includes not only the locations of Hockey arenas, but also birthplaces of Hockey legends, world Hockey headquarters and halls of fame. Well done!

• European Pollution - Another GEC member called tegandrew has posted a pollution visualization using data from the European Pollutant Emission Register showing information on the annual emissions of 11,099 industrial facilities in the 25 Member States of the EU for the year 2004. Read the post for more details and screenshots.

• Golden Shadow - There were a lot of reports last week about InSTEDD (Innovative Support to Emergencies Diseases and Disasters). Since Google Earth is an excellent 3D visualization tool and has already been used in emergency situations (like Hurricane Katrina), it's only natural an organization like this would use GE. Last fall, InSTEDD conducted a simulated emergency called "Golden Shadow" in Menlo Park, California with emergency workers and volunteers and used Google Earth to monitor the situation. Read more about what they did. This is just to serve as a testbed for technologies and techniques which they hope to share with emergency workers all around the world.

Posted by FrankTaylor at 08:58 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

December 27, 2007

Top 25 Stories of Google Earth 2007

The following are my favorite stories about Google Earth in 2007. In retrospect, Google Earth had a fantastic year both in terms of new features and data added, but also in the wide acceptance and influence the application has created throughout the world. There also were a lot of interesting finds in the imagery, and cool content developed by creative GE users around the world. The list is presented in chronological order - with a few comments for perspective.

1. Google Earth 4 Officially Released - Major new release, lots of new features added.
2. Car parked on side of building - Not a fake!
3. Guatemala Sinkhole - Found the location of a bizarre news story.
4. Swiss Alps Fighter Tour - I was told Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, liked this one!
5. Dig a Hole Through Google Earth - Ever wondered what is under you?
6. Clean Underwear and Google Earth - Funny!
7. Rising Sea Level Animations - Popular animations.
8. Google Earth on the Simpsons - This proves GE has reached critical mass!
9. Crisis in Darfur Layer Released - Gets Presidential Notice - Most significant new layer.
10. Google Acquires Panoramio - Very cool news!
11. Weather and Storm Tracking Tools for Google Earth - Weather is cool stuff in GE!
12. Google Earth Outreach Announced - Significant new program for reaching the public.
13. Western US High Resolution Terrain - Lots of new high-res terrain added this year!
14. Blues Brothers Jump Bridge - You have to watch this video if you're a fan!
15. Our Sailing Holiday - GPS tracks, photos, and placemarks.
16. Google Earth Layers - the most overlooked feature of Google Earth
17. Google Earth 4.2 Released - Google Sky - Big new release! Lots of new features!
18. Google Earth Flight Simulator Tips - Tips on how to use this cool easter egg.
19. Star Wars 3D Sky Animation - Fun animation for Sky
20. Help Find Steve Fossett - No one found him, but they sure tried. Notice comments.
21. YouTube Layer in Google Earth - Cool new layer.
22. California Fires in Google Earth - Big news turns to Maps and Earth
23. Weather Layer in Google Earth - Finally a weather layer!
24. Arctic Ice Melting Animation - Whoa, the ice melted that much!?
25. Astronaut Mode in Google Earth - Very fun add-on for Google Earth

Posted by FrankTaylor at 11:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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More entries for this category:

6. 3D Red Bull Flights in Google Earth - September 21, 2007
7. Back to School - Educational Uses with Google Earth - September 11, 2007
8. Singapore F1 Race Visualization in Google Earth - July 19, 2007
9. News Roundup: GE Design, Live Tour de France, PhotoSketch, Iran Nuclear Project - July 13, 2007
10. Tour de France 2007 in Google Earth - June 20, 2007
11. Photo Finding in Google Earth - Just for Fun - June 15, 2007
12. News RoundUp: Football Game, VesselTracker, Antarctic Bases, Egyptian Digs, 3D Cities Help, Chimps, Gallery - June 12, 2007
13. Watch Weekend Boating Live in Google Earth - May 18, 2007
14. News Roundup - Chile Border Crisis, Caribou, Gumball Rally, Emotions - April 30, 2007
15. Maverick Waves Explained - Illustration in Google Earth - April 23, 2007
16. New Google Earth Layers for April: Darfur, Trimble, and more - April 09, 2007
17. Cricket World Cup 2007 Venues in Google Earth - March 12, 2007
18. Dog Sled Races in Google Earth: Iditarod and Finnmarksløpet - March 08, 2007
19. Google Earth Layers - January 11, 2007
20. Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in Google Earth - December 27, 2006
21. Baseball, 3D Stadiums, Videos, and Google Earth - November 02, 2006
22. Route du Rhum - Live Sailing Race in Google Earth - November 01, 2006
23. Google Earth Googlers in Moab Mountain Bike Race - October 05, 2006
24. Roundup - Pillows, redtrails, earthpoint, Robogeo 5, libferris, virtual land rush - September 20, 2006
25. GPSVisualizer Supports New Google Earth 4 Time Support - September 15, 2006
26. US National Parks Layer in Google Earth - September 13, 2006
27. MacWorld Does Google Earth Golfing - September 05, 2006
28. Tour de France Live Tracking Enhancements - July 12, 2006
29. Tour de France by Google - July 06, 2006
30. Live Tracking of Tour de France in Google Earth - July 02, 2006
31. Tour de France 2006 Starts Tomorrow - June 30, 2006
32. Win a Free Trip from Surfing Magazine by Using Google Earth - June 21, 2006
33. FIFA World Cup Football Stadiums in 3D - June 03, 2006
34. Tour de France 2006 in Google Earth - May 25, 2006
35. Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 in Google Earth - May 18, 2006
36. Cricket Venues in Google Earth - May 15, 2006
37. Multicup 60 - Live Sailboat Race in Google Earth - May 10, 2006
38. World's (second) Biggest Soccer Ball? - May 08, 2006
39. magnalox - New Features for Google Earth - April 25, 2006
40. GPS-Tour.info - A Resource of GPS Tracks for Google Earth - April 21, 2006
41. Ski Snowbird - April 02, 2006
42. Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race in Google Earth - March 29, 2006
43. Sking Alta Shown in Google Earth - March 28, 2006
44. Football Stadiums Update (4500) - March 18, 2006
45. Melbourne Commonwealth Games 2006 in Google Earth - March 10, 2006
46. GolfNation.org - Courses in Google Earth - March 03, 2006
47. Follow Volvo Ocean Race Leg 4 in Google Earth - February 19, 2006
48. MLB World Series Winners 1903-2005 in Google Earth - February 16, 2006
49. Follow Volvo Ocean Race Leg 3 in Google Earth - February 12, 2006
50. New High Res Torino Olympics Photos in Google Earth - February 09, 2006
51. CNET Superbowl Guessing Game in Google Earth - February 02, 2006
52. Off Road Races in Dakar and Baja - January 09, 2006
53. Volvo Ocean Race Leg 2 - January 06, 2006
54. Heavy Weight Boxing Champions in Google Earth - January 02, 2006
55. Adidas Promotion Uses Google Earth - December 27, 2005
56. Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race in Google Earth - December 23, 2005
57. 3280+ Football Teams and Stadiums Around the World - December 12, 2005
58. Ski Resorts and Snow Reports in Google Earth - November 21, 2005
59. Transat Jacques Vabre 2005 Race in Google Earth - November 16, 2005
60. And They're Off! - November 13, 2005
61. Volvo Ocean Race in Google Earth - November 11, 2005
62. Huge Resource of 3D Glider Tracks for Google Earth - October 12, 2005
63. Aussie Crag Climbing - October 07, 2005
64. Garmin Buys MotionBased - October 04, 2005
65. Watching Sports with Google Earth - September 27, 2005
66. 1650+ Football (aka Soccer) Stadiums Around the World - September 22, 2005

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