Well, I’ve found an apartment, solved internet connectivity issues with an unmetered 3G mobile internet account (Sweden is good that way), and now it’s time for the catch-up:

• Ed Parsons was at AGI2006 and he confirms news of the impending timeline for Google Earth (before ZDNet even, sorry).
• We’ve already seen how you can use EditGrid, the online spreadsheet, to produce XML and then KML. Now KaMeLwriter (get it?) lets you turn mind maps and spreadsheets into KML. It’s free, but alpha, and not exactly idiot-proof. Here is the post on Google Earth Community.
• Meanwhile, EditGrid adds charts, and of course gives them a permalink. How many hours before Valery Hronusov does something cool with charts in KML? Hmmm…. How about using the coordinates for a scatter chart and then turning that into a dynamic overlay with assorted added analytics?
• Bionic Teacher has a cool idea for using Google Earth in the classroom: Mapping out a scale model of the solar system over the local neighbourhood.
• Pages Jaunes, the private company that did a better version of GéoPortail than the official version, is now also first to market with the in-browser Adobe Shockwave-based 3D prototype for Paris and Rennes. One caveat for Intel Macs — getting the plugin to run is a hassle. Here’s how.
• Matt Giger, he of EarthBrowser, has another go at KML, and feels that it needs some kind of AJAX upgrade. What, straight to GeoWeb 2.0 in just a few years? KML is where HTML was in 1996 — these things take time. But lest Matt’s motives be questioned, he does write “I must say again that I think that Google Earth is the best earth explorer out there right now.”
• Apple iPhoto’s built-in georeferencing not being developed fast enough to your liking? Why not run Google Picasa with Codeweavers CrossOver Mac Beta? It uses Wine to run Windows apps on Intel Macs, and the beta is free (but temporary). Documenting Picasa asks an interesting question — might this be a way for Google to make the rest of Google Pack available on Mac OS X and Linux?
• DestinSharks.com has two great KML resources for boaters — US tide predictions, and the NOAA AWOIS database of wrecks and obstructions in the US.
• Geenstijl has been documenting further instances of censorship in the Netherlands’ new dataset — and they’re up to 191 comments and counting. A turn of phrase in the blog post suggests Google is doing the blurring, though it’s likely the author knows it is the Dutch state that insists on having the images censored before the aerial imaging company can release them.

  Unfortunately, a Poynter.org blogger rereporting the news reads that literally, assumes Google does indeed blur, and then writes precisely that. Yawn.

• Nemetschek’s VectorWorks for the Mac already can import SketchUp files. Now, the latest version also has “support for Google Earth KML files.” Not clear if that is for importing, exporting, or both.
• Digitally Distributed Environments‘ how-to for creating panoramas from views within Google Earth has been getting a lot of play, most recently on MetaFilter… and it is indeed a clever and original hack. But why make static panoramas when you can fly around in Google Earth, the real thing? Just one reason: the panoramas let you easily alter your viewing pitch.
• A few final press releases: 3D authoring tool maker QuadriSpace Supports Google SketchUp Files. RealViz’s VTour, ImageModeler to Create 3D Scenes for Google Earth.