Last week we took a look at MapQuest and Google Maps, two tools that have interesting daily uses. This week, we'll take a look at something that is perhaps less useful and more entertaining, Google Earth. Earth is a tool that has to be downloaded from Google and then installed, as opposed to running within a browser window, but it is all the more powerful for that. You can get a copy of the program itself at: http://earth.google.com/ and then download
and install it. [If you have any questions about this process or want some help, send me an IM and I'll drop by to take this step for you].Google Earth is particularly interesting because it allows you to look at nearly anywhere on the planet, and to 'fly' from location to location. Once you have it installed, and start the program, there is a "Fly To:" search box that shows up in the left hand pane, and you can input your initial destination there. Naperville, for example, or virtually anyplace you can think of. It's worth noting that sometimes you have to try a couple of different spelling options to find the right place, but most work pretty simply.
There are, of course, some locations that have less detail than others. A close up of the middle of the Pacific Ocean offers little detail, and there are relatively well known instances of geographical locations that have little to no detail - The US Naval Observatory, for one, and that place known as Area 51 for another, as well as some locations in China. {http://www.ogleearth.com/2008/09/google_and_cens.html}
A bit further down in that left hand pane, there is a section called "Places" and this area has a built in sightseeing tour - if you click on 'sightseeing' and then press the "Play" button [looks like a triangle facing to the right] just below that pane, it'll 'fly' you through the whole tour, starting in the grand canyon.
There are a whole series of websites, like: http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php/Cat/0 that are dedicated to explaining the expanding the use of Google Earth, though most casual users simply find sightseeing fun, and I suppose that there is a library application that would be useful, as well. There are also lots of sites that give the coordinates of... interesting things.
Copy and paste the following lat/long numbers into Earth's Fly to: box and then hit enter...
30 30'38.82"S 115 22'56.14"E
37°41'27.13"N 121° 4'29.99"W
and many other possible locations that you'll have to discover for yourselves!
Once last idea - type in point lobos state reserve and hit enter, and it'll take you to the Northern Calif. coastline. Once you're there, you can use the wheel on your mouse to zoom in and out a little bit. Set up a nice view and the hold your left mouse button down on the map itself and gently 'flick' it down, letting go of the mouse in the same motion. What will happen [and it might take a few tries to get it right] is that the map will scroll to the south, past Big Sur, following the path of Highway 1 [though you may well have to readjust the path of the map scrolling by grabbing it with the mouse and moving it one direction or the other. Once you get a feel for it, you can choose a path and watch the earth rotate as you go...
What else have you found? What part of Earth seem most interesting, and do you see a library application for this, or is it just fun?
Write a Blog post about it, and let us all know!
jjs
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