Owner: Google Earth Hacks blog URL:http://www.googleearthhacks.com/blog/ Join Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 09:01:23 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: The latest news and information about Google Earth. Site statistics:Click here
First 3D-city outside USA 2007-01-17 20:14:56 Google Earth offers more than 30 cities in 3D - all in the USA. Now Google is going to offer a new city in 3D - outside the USA!
The online version of the German news magazine Spiegel reports, that Google Earth is going to offer the first 3D city outside the USA. Within the next days or weeks, the German city Hamburg will be available. Hundreds of models with detailed textures will display downtown Hamburg.
The complete article with a picture series and a little movie here - unfortunately only in German.
Update: Ogle Earth has a bit more info here.
Read more:First
Google Earth Gaming 2007-01-16 18:51:58 gamona.de - the German online magazine for computergames - reviews about another use of GoogleEarth
instead of peeking in the neighbors garden, finding aliens or preplaning the next vacations: gaming!
From GE War to Mars sucks - six different games bring more fun and popularity to the growing Google Earth
community.
The whole review in gamona.de - only in German language!
Read more:Gaming
Google Earth used to attack troops in Iraq 2007-01-13 14:50:51 The British Daily Telegraph reports, that terrorists in Iraq
i use GoogleEarth
to prepare and conduct attack
s against UK troops in Basra.
Print-outs with details of the base including the precise coordinates were found during a raid. British military men are concerned. The daily mortar attacks are increasingly accurate, killed one soldier within the last six months and injured many more.
A Google spokesman said the information could be used for “good and bad” and was available to the public in many forms. “Of course we are always ready to listen to governments’ requests,” he said.
Read more:Google Earth
Google Earth 4 no longer beta 2007-01-12 15:39:37 After months in beta, GoogleEarth
4 has finally been officially released. If you haven’t downloaded version 4 yet, you’re missing some great things including textured 3d buildings, improved terrain data (better looking mountains), a refined interface and much more.
You can download version 4 here.
Read more:Google Earth
CAPTCHA problem when downloading files 2007-01-21 00:13:08 We’ve just been made aware of problem that some of you are experiencing when trying to download a file from our site. The problem is that the CAPTCHA (image verification) isn’t showing up, and therefore you’re unable to enter it to download a file.
The quick solution is to simply register (it’s free, easy, blah blah) and then you won’t even have to see the image verification page. However, we’ve found the cause of the problem and it should be resolved shortly.
For those that are curious what happened: We recompiled PHP on our primary server yesterday in order to enable the ZZIP module. This allows us the server to open compressed files
(KMZ, specifically) and pull out the coordinates for use in our network links (like this one). However, when we recompiled it we forgot to include GD’s FreeType support, which is used for creating those CAPTCHA images. Since I never see them, I didn’t realize it was broken until someone pointed it
Coming Soon to Google Earth - Toxic Wastelands! 2007-01-20 19:53:53 The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced earlier this week that they would begin making hazardous site information available for GIS applications such as GoogleEarth
.
Agency representatives at a public meeting here on Wednesday unveiled what they billed as the first step in a new push to make the EPA’s vast scientific data stores more readily accessible online for download and incorporation into popular applications like Google Earth
and Microsoft Visual Earth.
The agency’s ultimate goal is to boost public awareness of its activities–with a loftier aim of improving public health and the environment in the process–by allowing federal agencies, companies and even mashup artists to get their hands on the data more easily. Such data can play a key role in everything from land-use planning to real estate transactions, they said.
“We’re extremely excited about this,” said Pat Garvey, one of the project’s managers. “We think Read more:Coming Soon
New NASA network links for GE 2007-01-20 19:42:54 It’s been a month since Google and NASA
signed their ‘Space Act Agreement’, an act that will lead to 3D mapping of the moon and mars being made available for free using Google Earth software.
In the mean time, someone called OnEarthWMS has been posting some simply marvellous networklinks
 at the GEC using some of NASA’s high-res imagery (thanks to Google Earth Blog for picking this one up).
First up is the NASA ‘Blue Marble’, many of you may have seen the version that is still available from Google’s showcase page (showing composite images across the 12 months of the year). However, the problem with this was that the images were low-res, and as soon as you zoomed in to 4,000 km eye altitude, it became pixelated. These new network links will update as you zoom, showing the full beauty of NASA’s Blue Marble at a MUCH higher resolution! You can now see snow and ice advancing and retreating on a valley scale in the Alps, for example. H
Mechdyne Unveils Visualization Software for Google Earth 2007-01-24 17:58:03 MARSHALLTOWN, IA, January 24, 2007 — Mechdyne Corporation today announced that its VRCO software division released Conduit for GoogleEarth
Pro 4.0, a visualization middleware package that enables stereoscopic display of desktop-based imagery and viewing in multi-planar, large-scale immersive and interactive displays such as the walk-in CAVE and reconfigurable FLEX wall-size display systems available from Fakespace Systems, VRCO’s sister company.
A 3D interface to the planet, Google Earth Pro is used to visualize a wide spectrum of geo-referenced data exported from GIS, civil engineering, energy exploration and other applications. With Conduit for Google Earth Pro, applications can leverage ultra-high resolution stereoscopic display capability and a range of advanced 3D visualization features.
The Conduit middleware package enables a desktop application, like Google Earth Pro, to natively drive advanced visualization environments. This maximizes the potential insight and da Read more:Software
, Visualization
A Virtual World by Google? 2007-01-29 17:58:34 From MarketingVOX:
Rumors are swirling of a Google
-engineered “metaverse” - a virtual world a la Second Life - with Benchmark Capital analyst Michael Eisenberg calling the rumored project a “world game.”
The metaverse would use real-world data gathered from Google’s existing properties to craft the alternate online platform, writes play.tm. According to Eisenberg, Google is courting in-game ad company AdScape in preparation to monetize the virtual world.
Furthermore, rumor is that a firm in China has been hired to craft avatars while an internal team is building the “metaverse” itself, thanks to a team that has come over from There.com, another online virtual world.
Google already has a product called SketchUp, which is used to craft 3D models that can be layered onto Google Earth images.
It’ll be interesting to see what comes of this…
Read more:World
, Virtual World
New sunrise layer on Google Earth 2007-01-31 18:54:21 From the Google
Blog…
Many of us aren’t lucky enough to experience one of nature’s most glorious sights—the beauty of the sunrise—every day, let alone on demand. That is, until today. Now there’s a Google Earth
layer that brings the sun’s ascent right to your computer screen, and Google Earth
aficionados can also see video vignettes drawn from Discovery HD Theater’s “Sunrise Earth” program.
To view the videos, open Google Earth and select the Sunrise Earth layer under Discovery Networks. Follow the links in the pop-up window to experience the sights and sounds of one of nature’s most beautiful phenomena. Watch dawn rise over Stonehenge, Mayan pyramids, and Buddhist temples as it has for thousands of years. See the Katmai Bears emerge from their seven-month slumber to greet a new day. Witness the sun’s light bringing life to natural habitats around the world, from the forests of Costa Rica and the coast of New England, to t
New sunrise layer on Google Earth 2007-01-31 18:54:21 From the Google
Blog…
Many of us aren’t lucky enough to experience one of nature’s most glorious sights—the beauty of the sunrise—every day, let alone on demand. That is, until today. Now there’s a Google Earth
layer that brings the sun’s ascent right to your computer screen, and Google Earth
aficionados can also see video vignettes drawn from Discovery HD Theater’s “Sunrise Earth” program.
To view the videos, open Google Earth and select the Sunrise Earth layer under Discovery Networks. Follow the links in the pop-up window to experience the sights and sounds of one of nature’s most beautiful phenomena. Watch dawn rise over Stonehenge, Mayan pyramids, and Buddhist temples as it has for thousands of years. See the Katmai Bears emerge from their seven-month slumber to greet a new day. Witness the sun’s light bringing life to natural habitats around the world, from the forests of Costa Rica and the coast of New England, to t
A Virtual World by Google? 2007-01-29 17:58:34 From MarketingVOX:
Rumors are swirling of a Google
-engineered “metaverse” - a virtual world a la Second Life - with Benchmark Capital analyst Michael Eisenberg calling the rumored project a “world game.”
The metaverse would use real-world data gathered from Google’s existing properties to craft the alternate online platform, writes play.tm. According to Eisenberg, Google is courting in-game ad company AdScape in preparation to monetize the virtual world.
Furthermore, rumor is that a firm in China has been hired to craft avatars while an internal team is building the “metaverse” itself, thanks to a team that has come over from There.com, another online virtual world.
Google already has a product called SketchUp, which is used to craft 3D models that can be layered onto Google Earth images.
It’ll be interesting to see what comes of this…
Read more:World
, Virtual World
Mechdyne Unveils Visualization Software for Google Earth 2007-01-24 17:58:03 MARSHALLTOWN, IA, January 24, 2007 — Mechdyne Corporation today announced that its VRCO software division released Conduit for GoogleEarth
Pro 4.0, a visualization middleware package that enables stereoscopic display of desktop-based imagery and viewing in multi-planar, large-scale immersive and interactive displays such as the walk-in CAVE and reconfigurable FLEX wall-size display systems available from Fakespace Systems, VRCO’s sister company.
A 3D interface to the planet, Google Earth Pro is used to visualize a wide spectrum of geo-referenced data exported from GIS, civil engineering, energy exploration and other applications. With Conduit for Google Earth Pro, applications can leverage ultra-high resolution stereoscopic display capability and a range of advanced 3D visualization features.
The Conduit middleware package enables a desktop application, like Google Earth Pro, to natively drive advanced visualization environments. This maximizes the potential insight and da Read more:Visualization
, Software
CAPTCHA problem when downloading files (update: resolved) 2007-01-21 00:13:08  (note: this issue has now been resolved. please let us know if you still experience this problem.)
We’ve just been made aware of problem that some of you are experiencing when trying to download a file from our site. The problem is that the CAPTCHA (image verification) isn’t showing up, and therefore you’re unable to enter it to download a file.
The quick solution is to simply register (it’s free, easy, blah blah) and then you won’t even have to see the image verification page. However, we’ve found the cause of the problem and it should be resolved shortly.
For those that are curious what happened: We recompiled PHP on our primary server yesterday in order to enable the ZZIP module. This allows us the server to open compressed files
(KMZ, specifically) and pull out the coordinates for use in our network links (like this one). However, when we recompiled it we forgot to include GD’s FreeType support, which is used for creating those CAPT
Coming Soon to Google Earth - Toxic Wastelands! 2007-01-20 19:53:53 The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced earlier this week that they would begin making hazardous site information available for GIS applications such as GoogleEarth
.
Agency representatives at a public meeting here on Wednesday unveiled what they billed as the first step in a new push to make the EPA’s vast scientific data stores more readily accessible online for download and incorporation into popular applications like Google Earth
and Microsoft Visual Earth.
The agency’s ultimate goal is to boost public awareness of its activities–with a loftier aim of improving public health and the environment in the process–by allowing federal agencies, companies and even mashup artists to get their hands on the data more easily. Such data can play a key role in everything from land-use planning to real estate transactions, they said.
“We’re extremely excited about this,” said Pat Garvey, one of the project’s managers. “We think Read more:Coming Soon
New NASA network links for GE 2007-01-20 19:42:54 It’s been a month since Google and NASA
signed their ‘Space Act Agreement’, an act that will lead to 3D mapping of the moon and mars being made available for free using Google Earth software.
In the mean time, someone called OnEarthWMS has been posting some simply marvellous networklinks
 at the GEC using some of NASA’s high-res imagery (thanks to Google Earth Blog for picking this one up).
First up is the NASA ‘Blue Marble’, many of you may have seen the version that is still available from Google’s showcase page (showing composite images across the 12 months of the year). However, the problem with this was that the images were low-res, and as soon as you zoomed in to 4,000 km eye altitude, it became pixelated. These new network links will update as you zoom, showing the full beauty of NASA’s Blue Marble at a MUCH higher resolution! You can now see snow and ice advancing and retreating on a valley scale in the Alps, for example. H
First 3D-city outside USA 2007-01-17 20:14:56 Google Earth offers more than 30 cities in 3D - all in the USA. Now Google is going to offer a new city in 3D - outside the USA!
The online version of the German news magazine Spiegel reports, that Google Earth is going to offer the first 3D city outside the USA. Within the next days or weeks, the German city Hamburg will be available. Hundreds of models with detailed textures will display downtown Hamburg.
The complete article with a picture series and a little movie here - unfortunately only in German.
Update: Ogle Earth has a bit more info here.
Update: The first buildings are available!Â
Read more:First
Google Earth Gaming 2007-01-16 18:51:58 gamona.de - the German online magazine for computergames - reviews about another use of GoogleEarth
instead of peeking in the neighbors garden, finding aliens or preplaning the next vacations: gaming!
From GE War to Mars sucks - six different games bring more fun and popularity to the growing Google Earth
community.
The whole review in gamona.de - only in German language!
Read more:Gaming
Google Earth used to attack troops in Iraq 2007-01-13 14:50:51 The British Daily Telegraph reports, that terrorists in Iraq
i use GoogleEarth
to prepare and conduct attack
s against UK troops in Basra.
Print-outs with details of the base including the precise coordinates were found during a raid. British military men are concerned. The daily mortar attacks are increasingly accurate, killed one soldier within the last six months and injured many more.
A Google spokesman said the information could be used for “good and bad” and was available to the public in many forms. “Of course we are always ready to listen to governments’ requests,” he said.
Read more:Google Earth
Google Earth 4 no longer beta 2007-01-12 15:39:37 After months in beta, GoogleEarth
4 has finally been officially released. If you haven’t downloaded version 4 yet, you’re missing some great things including textured 3d buildings, improved terrain data (better looking mountains), a refined interface and much more.
You can download version 4 here.
Read more:Google Earth
Google Earth makes the news again as a tool of war 2007-02-13 23:09:34 Spotted this story hitting the home page of BBC News this evening. Unlike previous stories of GE being used to attack troops, this story focuses on GE being used as a form of defense planning for Sunni Muslims being attacked by Shia Militia. Although it does mention the use of GE by insurgents to identify ‘posible targets’:
From BBC News:
Google
is playing an unlikely role in the Iraq war. Its online satellite map of the world, Google Earth
, is being used to help people survive sectarian violence in Baghdad.
As the communal bloodshed has worsened, some Iraqis have set up advice websites to help others avoid the death squads.
One tip - on the Iraq League site, one of the best known - is for people to draw up maps of their local area using Google Earth
’s detailed imagery of Baghdad so they can work out escape routes and routes to block.
It’s another example of the central role technology plays in the conflict - with the widespread use of mobile phones, satellite Read more:makes
New Google Earth Imagery 2007-04-01 20:54:09 Google has updated the imagery for Google Earth
Below is a list of the changes.
New high resolution:
Canada: Downtown Vancouver, BC
England: Northamptonshire, Nottingshire, Berkeshire, Peakdistrict, Birmingham, Greater Manchester, Avon, Gloucestershire, Linconshire
France: Rennes, Poitiers
US: Omaha, NE; Missoula, MT; Amherst, MA; Keowee, SC; Catawba Wateree, NC/SC; Rolla, MO; Nashville (”Burbia”), TN; Gaston County, NC; Anne Arundel County, Metro Water District of Southern California; State of Arkansas
Updated Imagery
:
Spain: Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, El Hierro, La Gomera, Tenerife, and Las Palmas (Canary Islands) Spain
US: Austin, TX; San Bernardino, CA; State of Connecticut, Greater Los Angeles Area, CA
Australia: Sydney Harbour Area
Fixes:
Danish plane replicants removed (read more)
Andes, Machu Picchu terrain repaired
Thanks to the Gearthblog Read more:Google
GEH en Espanol launched 2007-04-04 22:19:22 We are pleased to announce the launch of GEH en Espanol, the Spanish language version of our site. It uses the same database of files as our main site, but translated into Spanish. The complete collection of files (18,000+) has not yet been translated, but it’s well on its way.
Other languages will be coming within the next few weeks.
Mickey
Significant improvment to our “most popular files” page 2007-04-12 20:01:23 While it’s still not perfect, we’ve made some improvements to our “most popularfiles
” page. It used to be simply a list of our files, ranked by how many times they’ve been downloaded. The obvious downside is that once a file gets up there, it’s not likely to ever come down (since the total number of downloads will keep increasing).
The new page is similar, in that they’re ranked by number of downloads. However, the count used for that page is reset each month so that newer files have a chance to reach the top. We know it’s not an ideal solution, but it’s a step in the right direction. We have plans to improve it even further, but figured we’d go ahead and put this first step in place.
We’ve gone ahead and launched our new ranking algorithm. It takes into account various data from the past few days, including when the file has been downloaded most, whether it was a member or non-member that downloaded it each time Read more:Significant
Announcing GEH pmShare - the easiest way to share your favorite places 2007-04-15 20:48:24 We’re pleased to announce the launch of pmShare, designed to be a very easy for you to share places with your friends and with the world.
Once you download a couple of KML files that are built specifically for your account, you can add items from within Google Earth and they’ll immediately be visible to everyone else. You can even send a link directly to a friend, which is a great way to share locations without having to worry about uploading, downloading or any of that stuff.
As more people add more items, it will become increasingly useful. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of gems are right in my neighborhood - maybe a great restaurant that I hadn’t tried, or a celebrity that lives two streets over.
This feature is not meant to replace our main file archive. These items won’t have screenshots, and you can’t save image overlays, 3D models, or multiple placemarks at once. This is simply intended as a way to quickly share a wide variety of l
GEH auf Deutsch launched! 2007-04-15 19:38:08 Following after our Spanish translation, our German translation has just been launched.
Check it out - deutsch.gearthhacks.com
Mickey
Read more:Deutsch
More enhancements to pmShare 2007-04-19 20:51:52 We’ve just added a category selection when you add items to pmShare. This is used primarily to show different icons in GE for the different types of items that are added. If you add your local McDonald’s, it shows their logo. If you add a baseball stadium, it shows a baseball icon.
With this in place, it’ll make it easier to quickly tell what you’re looking at simply by looking at the icons. As the database grows, this information could be very useful to someone moving to a new area or looking to go on vacation.
I know some of you are thinking that this could make the network link a big mess - and you’re right! Left untouched, the small places like McDonald’s would overwhelm the cool places like baseball stadiums, mountains, zoos, etc.
That’s why we’ve just added a SmartView feature to the network link. The network link will still show you 50 locations inside of your viewing window, but it will make the more important ones a p
Our three main network links have all been given minor makeovers 2007-04-19 15:18:22 In particular:
- Our newest files network
link now shows each location represented by the avatar of the user that submitted it, rather than just the GEH logo.
- Our most popular files network link also shows the location represented by the avatar of the user that submitted it. In addition, it now uses our new algorithm to determine which files are the most popular, rather than just listing those with the highest number of total downloads.
- Our main network link now shows the avatars, too. Also, instead of just showing 50 random placemarks within your viewing window, it will show the 50 placemarks nearest to the center of your viewing window.
Hopefully these changes will make these files more useful for you.
Mickey
Read more:links
New version of GE released! 2007-05-10 04:55:48 As announced by Google Earth Blog, Google has released the beta version
of Google Earth 4.1 today. Among the enhancements:
- SpaceNavigator support for the Mac. The very cool 3D SpaceNavigator device now works in GE on the Mac.
- Tips. When you first open GE, you’ll get a “tips” window. Very helpful for beginners.
- Starting Location. A new “starting location” is added to your My Places folder, based on what country version of GE you’re using.
- View in Google Maps. A simple button has been added to show your current view in Google Maps. Very slick!
- New installation process and new languages. The installer is a bit different and GE 4.1 now supports Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Korean, Arabic and Czech.
You can download this new version on the official Google Earth download page.
Have fun!
Mickey
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