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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 , 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 of the US for photos from Aerials Express.
Details on the Service:

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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 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.
Related:

Decrease in Avian Flu Spread During Last Month

The database of the Avian Flu outbreak map 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.

Volvo Ocean Race Leg 7 in Google Earth

Pirates of the Caribbean Sailboat Volvo Ocean RaceThe 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.

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 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:

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.