A collection of short news items that is rather longer than I expected:

• GeoServer is up to version 1.3.3. The latest release has “some enhancements and fixes to the KML output format so it will work with the newer versions of Google Earth.” Download here.
• Sweden is relatively underrepresented when it comes to Google Earth’s base data (What, no Göteborg?). Now someone has figured out a way to superimpose high resolution tiles of Swedish web mapping service Eniro, via a network link.

  

  Very slick — just make sure you’re not looking at areas that are already in high resolution in Google Earth, or where Eniro’s data has been tampered with by the Swedish government for “security” purposes. Actually, come to think of it, this should make it even easier to find those spots that do have something to hide. (A nice find by Le Blogue du LFG – Guadalajara.) Anybody working on getting Géoportail’s tiles into Google Earth?:-)

• I had never heard of the 500-meter high wave that swept through Lituya Bay, Alaska, after an earthquake in 1958. I do now, thanks to aerial imagery and a map that somebody has turned into a KML file. A lovely piece of geographic exposition.

  

• The variety of GIS, AEC and BIM 3D applications out there never ceases to amaze me. Version 5.1 of Navisworks Jetstream, which seems to be used for visualizing complex pipe assemblies, will now export to KML. (Mmm, it also has stereo viewing built in.) (Via JTBWorld)
• Following this Ogle Earth article on directional icons for weather symbols, Japan’s Bugs Bunny blog comes up with directional icons for photos, which depict the direction in which a photo was taken. I think that’s a wonderful idea. Here is Bugs Bunny’s example.
• One of the illustrations in this Cadalyst magazine article on how SketchUp is being used by new users and by schools shows a chess piece being made with SketchUp. Now that Battleships exists in Google Earth, this got me thinking… How about a chess game in Google Earth? Of course, it’d be a game where you move the chess piece not so much when it’s your turn but whenever you manage to travel to it. You’d then have to “carry” it to the correct square to drop it. Variations of the game could involve allowing you to “carry” up to two pieces at a time, say:-)

  (Tron would also be a wonderful candidate for a real-life game, but it turns out it’s so wonderful that it’s already been done, as reported by we-make-money-not-art back in january 2005.)

• The US NOAA has a new website where many of its RIDGE radar images can be uploaded as KML. They’re asking for feedback, so: Except for the dataset with warning polygons, only static downloads available. Is this for bandwidth reasons? Wouldn’t network links refreshing every 30 minutes or so make more sense for visual weather data?
• Geosoft’s Dapple is a specialized application (Windows XP only) derived from NASA World Wind that focuses just on just the tools useful for the Earth sciences. Interestingly, the open source status of Dapple means that World Wind developers will be able to incorporate Dapple’s innovations in future versions of World Wind.
• 3D city updates: London’s Canary Wharf is also now available in Google’s 3D Warehouse, notes Digitally Distributed Environments. Vancouver has 3D buildings ready for your perusal, notes Google Earth Blog. (Note: Google Earth Mac beta has issues with Vancouver.) [Update 2006-07-23: La Défense in Paris is also available in the 3D Warehouse.]
• Speaking of Vancouver, GeoWeb 2006 is taking place there next week, July 24-28, and Google Earth CTO Michael Jones will be a keynote speaker.