MA student “Jemalaska”, in/from Craig, Alaska, has posted a KMZ file to Google Earth Hacks that manages to be innovative in two wonderful ways. The first involves some clever social engineering:

My professor allowed me to submit a GE tour instead of a paper.

The second involves importing documentary photographs into Google Earth simply by placing them onto the surface of the Earth as overlays. There is plenty of flat space to do this — for example where the oceans are, but even on land the terrain doesn’t cause problems if viewing from directly above, or away from mountains (or with terrain turned off).

I think this wholly unintended use of Google Earth’s overlay tool works well. There is something quite natural about scrolling past pictures plastered onto a sphere, and of course many traditional maps use illustrations in exactly the same manner. I’ve just never seen it in Google Earth until now.