Written by: admin
Recently in my conquest for a respectable golf course at a low price, I found a very useful website. Using Google Earth, gogolfing.org is a real view directory of golf courses in the US.
In addition to the golf course contact information, you can see at a satellite map level by zoom in what the course looks like and how the course design and layout is. Trees, sand traps, whether the lakes have water in them, and even if the parking lot is full or not.
I have found this very useful as many courses have a digitalized or Photoshop version of the golf course. Many times these do not give you a proper representation of the way the course looks in real life.
With Google Maps using gogolfing.org you can actually see what you will be playing via fly by. Incredibly cool! Fore!
Written by: Christine_Bush
Product Review: “The 21 Steps” by Charles Cumming (Penguin Digital)
by Christine Bush for EarthSatelliteMaps.com
Date: 2008-08-24
Source: http://wetellstories.co.uk/stories/week1/
KML, the XML-based language used by Google Earth, allows the geospatial data service to be extended in surprising ways. One example of its extensibility can be found in an interesting promotion in progress now by Penguin Digital, the electronic branch of Penguin Press. Penguin Digital has invited contemporary writers to re-imagine some of Penguin’s classic publications into not only new tales but new media. The first of these is an homage to John Buchan’s 1915 “shocker”, “The 39 Steps” (Buchan, John. The Thirty-Nine Steps. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1915.) The new version is called “The 21 Steps” and is retold by Charles Cummings and delivered online at a web site (that embeds Google Earth) by alternate reality gaming shop Six To Start.
When I first opened the page and realized what I was seeing, I admit to being pretty excited. Realizing that this was a “first” (at least for me, and spend I good amount of time looking for this kind of stuff), I allowed myself to sit back and just enjoy the experience with an uncritical approach and my expectations were met, and in some cases, exceeded. The story itself is adventurous without being to complex. This gives the user mental space to explore the Google Earth context into which the text of story has been placed. And it is a visually compelling context with good resolution (if not a bit strongly shadowed) orthophotography of London in the first few chapters and of Scotland later in the yarn.
I’m not a fast reader and I made it through the whole tale at a casual pace in the course of a weekend. I experienced no glitches in delivery and only had to refresh to get the imagery to tile correctly once or twice. I used a modestly robust wireless connection to a DSL router in my home office to connect. It would be nice if you could more easily hop around among chapters. The programming of the story is solid and makes good use of many of KML’s more sophisticated capabilities, like the ability to show progress through space over time. I would enjoy more non-map graphic elements being included in the story, such as pictures of the main characters and significant items — not to say those that were included are not appreciated.
So, we can now begin to place our books into a geospatial context. What are the questions and issues that this presents us? Here are a few, in no particular order:
- Are there certain kinds of books or stories that will most benefit from being delivered in a geospatial context?
- How can we better exploit the data and information made available to the author by geospatial placement?
- Is it necessary, or even desirable, to have every piece of the story tied to a specific place?
- Is this a slippery slope away from the summit of pure literature into the valley of visual entertainment?
Some of these questions evoke straight forward answers, others are more elusive. Read the book.
Written by: Christine_Bush
Every year about this time, the United States Northern Command (NORAD) is given a mission-critical assignment: provide aerial escort for and track the movements of Santa Claus. (See http://www.noradsanta.org/ for details.) This year NORAD provided a Santa Tracker KMZ file that could be loaded into Google Earth and auto-refreshed every few minutes. The Santa Tracker makes use of the KML programming capabilities of Google Earth to mark his whereabouts with gift-wrapped icons and a 3D sleigh pulled by 9 reindeer.
You can also see the Santa Tracker in action on YouTube.
Written by: admin
Tired of always looking up phone numbers and businesses in the YellowBook? Do you want a fast and easy way to get in contact with millions of businesses around the world? Well, now you can, with MSN Live Maps! Picture this, you’re looking at a map of the world and you want to find the home of one of your best buddies. Just type in the address of where you’re looking to go and watch as MSN Live Maps locates your party instantly! Now, wait a minute, it gets better! With one click of the mouse you can zoom in or out as close or as far as you want. Zoom all the way out for a giant map of the entire earth or zoom in close enough to find a tiny intersection located within your home town! With Live Satellite Maps you can look up the phone number of a company, locate the address and virtually go there! It works very similar to Google Satellite Map in regards to its bird’s eye viewing capabilities. But Microsoft Live Map is your ticket to fast company searches and detailed directions. Just think, no more searching the house for that big yellow phone book that gets more use out of being a booster seat for your children. With just a click of a button you can travel virtually around the entire world.
Loaded with bird’s eye views and 3D imagery Microsoft Live Map is your one way ticket to never getting lost again! With detailed turn-by-turn directions and GPS capabilities you’ll be able to map out the fastest route from Long Island all the way to California. With the Live Satellite Map you can find the latest updates on real-time traffic reports, look up business ratings and reviews and even see your virtual world in 3D! Have a restaurant business? Well, now you can read what people are saying about your restaurant and you can even write your own restaurant reviews with MSN Live Maps. Hate getting lost when driving to new places? Wouldn’t it be nice to know ahead of time which shopping centers are close to your party so you’re not stuck looking for a tiny number on a mailbox? With Live Satellite Map you can find what types of stores are surrounding your point of reference so you will know if you are in the right or wrong area. And with Satellite Map Live Images you will know exactly what you’re looking for because it’s right there on the screen! Very similar to Google Satellite Map, Microsoft Live Map offers the same gadgets and applications with a special touch of MSN. What does that mean for you? It means no more sitting in traffic and no more digging out your closet for the phone book. It also means no more expensive 411 information calls when you need the name or the phone number of a restaurant. No more getting horrible directions from the hostess on the phone at the restaurant when you’re already running late for dinner. Just simple, easy to follow and accurate information right at your fingertips!
Written by: admin
Of the many virtual globe programs available via the internet today, Google Earth is the oldest and the most popular. This 3D simulation of the earth is created through a combination of various kinds of mapping techniques and photography, notably satellite imaging and aerial photography.
Features of Google Earth
Google Earth is an easy to use and user friendly software which must be downloaded off the Google Earth web site. There are various download options available. The regular Google Earth software is free whereas the users of Google Earth Pro and Google Earth Plus have to pay some amount of money. Navigating the software is very easy: the scroll button on the mouse, the arrow keys on the keyboard and the drag and drop options—all can be used to explore locations on Google Earth. Any location in the world, down to the tiniest of details like address, street number, etc, is accessible through the search box provided in the sidebar. Google Earth also includes the various useful features of the Google Maps with added enhancements. Thus, one can find business enterprises or public utility services through the searches on Google Earth. The information is presented through detailed, graphical multimedia sources. The google earth has several strata of mapping. Each layer has unique content. For instance, there’s a 3D building layer. Other important layers include a traffic layer detailing information about road conditions in real time, a featured layer by NASA which gives the users the option to explore the earth during night time, a layer detailing restaurants, etc. The NASA layer is part of Google Earth’s featured content. The 3D layer lets one view the buildings from ground level as opposed to the normal aerial view. In this way, hills, gorges and other geographical features can also be viewed in great detail. The Google Earth includes one of the most comprehensive driving guides available anywhere in the world today. The driver is taken through the routes in the minutest possible details. One can receive google earth files through emails and open them by just clicking on them. Similarly, one can email google earth files to others in order to show them certain locations or terrain. The google earth sidebar has a tab named ‘my places’. One can store the one’s favourite or most often visited locations in this file thereby making it easier to locate these places subsequently. Google Earth is unique among all the virtual globes programs because it allows one to print the images and save them free of cost. The paid versions of Google Earth, however, yield better quality pictures and spreadsheets. Various online information portals and communities can be harnessed with the google earth to provide richer knowledge. National Geographic is one such source and there is a separate National Geographic layer in Google Earth.
Using Google Earth Satellite Maps
Land areas are depicted with greater resolution than the oceans and some islands, as a general rule. The satellite maps used are usually fixed in their resolution of around fifteen metre per pixel. The highest resolution is greater than this however, and can be found in the depictions of places like Las Vegas in the USA. Many national governments have been alarmed at the availability of such high resolution images of various high security risk places in their countries. Following such concerns Google earth has blurred various images through pixelization. However, citizens have also expressed concerns about their privacy being available for examination. There is growing awareness about this.
