Mickey Mellen

Creating a NavDoc of Philadelphia

June 13, 2014

Esther Polak and Ivar van Bekkum from 250 Miles are trying to create a NavDoc of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this year and they need your help. They explain the word “NavDoc” as follows:

Esther Polak and Ivar van Bekkum, operating under the name PolakVanBekkum, invented the term NavDoc for their project “250 Miles Crossing Philadelphia,” which will be executed in the second half of 2014.

For those who do not know, you can make movies in Google Earth! The NavDoc that PolakVanBekkum will be producing will solely run in Google Earth. This feature is mostly used for presentations about geography-related events. PolakVanBekkum use it, amongst other media, for a more poetic visualization of their work.

It’s a great idea and a very ambitious project. You can follow their progress on 250miles.net.

Via Technical.ly Philly

About Mickey Mellen

Mickey has been using Google Earth since it was released in 2005, and has created a variety of geo-related sites including Google Earth Hacks. He runs a web design firm in Marietta, GA, where he lives with his wife and two kids.

Hurricane season is upon us

June 12, 2014

Hurricane season is here, and Google has recently put out a helpful blog posts with tips for staying safe. Specifically, they suggest three things:

Make sure your phone will receive Public Alerts

Google Public Alerts, launched two years ago, is a tool that sends people alerts from authoritative sources like the U.S. National Weather Service or the Japan Meteorological Agency during emergencies. They’re accessible through the Google search app on your mobile devices and Google Chrome on your computer, as well as in search results for related queries and on Google Maps when relevant.

Install emergency preparedness apps

There are a number of great apps which can help you prepare for or outlast an emergency. For example, a flashlight app can be useful if the power goes out and you don’t have access to a regular flashlight (use a regular flashlight if you can to conserve your phone’s battery). The first-aid and disaster preparedness apps from the Red Cross have a lot of valuable information. And the official FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) app has information on how to stay safe during a disaster, the locations of FEMA disaster recovery stations, and more.

Get helpful gadgets

A waterproof phone case can help protect your phone during floods or heavy rains and a portable solar-powered charger will help keep your phone’s battery alive. It may also be a good idea to invest in a cell phone signal booster which gives you a greater chance of connecting to an operational cell tower.

Beyond those tips, there are ways to watch and track severe weather using Google Earth. Hurricane data can be found in the main “places” layer of Google Earth, and there are many other great tools to help track the weather by using other layers and downloadable files.

Check out the full post on the Google Lat Long Blog and stay safe out there!

About Mickey Mellen

Historical Street View imagery shows Detroit being reclaimed by nature

June 11, 2014

It was just recently that Google released their historical Street View feature, and we already have an amazing example of what can be found in there.

Using Google Street View’s historical imagery (and sometimes a bit of Bing imagery), the GooBing Detroit blog showcases some heartbreaking scenes around the city. For example, here is a series of photos from 2009-2013 on Exeter between Seven Mile and Penrose in northern Detroit.

The blog is both incredibly amazing and shockingly sad. I encourage you to check out the full blog to see the items that Alex has assembled on the page.

(via +Mike Elgan)

About Mickey Mellen

Google acquires Skybox Imaging for $500 million

June 10, 2014

Google has just announced that they’ve purchased Skybox Imaging for $500 million, in an effort to help keep imagery updated more rapidly, improve global internet access, and assist in disaster relief.

Google’s press release on the acquisition was short and to the point:

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to buy Skybox Imaging for $500 million in cash, subject to adjustments.

Skybox’s satellites will help keep Google Maps accurate with up-to-date imagery. Over time, we also hope that Skybox’s team and technology will be able to help improve Internet access and disaster relief — areas Google has long been interested in.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals in the US.

You can also read more on the Skybox blog.

About Mickey Mellen

More underwater maps to explore in Street View

June 10, 2014

Back in 2012, Google released some amazing underwater Street View imagery from a few areas around the world. As part of World Oceans Day last Sunday, Google has released some additional underwater Street View imagery that is equally stunning. In partnership with the Catlin Seaview Survey, you can now dive and explore some additional locations in Belize and the Philippines including the Belize Barrier Reef and Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park.

From the Google Lat Long Blog:

The Catlin Seaview Survey team has documented many underwater locales around the world using their 360-degree panoramic SVII cameras, including a growing number of UNESCO Marine World Heritage Sites. We’ll continue to add this imagery to Street View in Google Maps as it’s collected. In the spirit of World Oceans Day, the goal of this project is to expose the world to the beauty of these marine habitats, and to create a scientific baseline record so that their changing health can be monitored over time.

To learn more about these new additions, check out the full article on the Lat Long Blog or explore Google’s entire collection of underwater Street View imagery at maps.google.com/ocean.

You can also check out this article from last year that discusses some of the technical hurdles that they face when working to capture this kind of imagery.