• Parking Lots Help Predict Earnings
  UBS is counting cars on US retailers' parking lots in satellite imagery to predict earnings reports.

• Ruing Exile, Russian Says He’s No Spy – NYTimes.com
  After 10 years in a Russian jail on spying charges, "His favorite discovery is Google Earth, which peers into secretive Russia like no spy ever could. Sitting at a computer, he used it to find his house outside Moscow. But he was uncertain whether it was the one on the left or the one on the right. So instead, he brought up his prison camp. He had no problem identifying each building.”

• Impact crater or old volcano? – Google Earth Community
  The Sudan impact crater candidate was placemarked back in October 2005 on Google Earth Community, by member Sucher.
• Asteroid Crater Hunting From Your Home | Wired Science | Wired.com
  Has an Italian physicist discovered another crater using Google Earth, this time in Sudan?
• YouTube – AVE Video Fusion Atlanta Edition
  YouTube demo of AVE Video Fusion shows 48 live cameras in Atlanta superimposed on a virtual 3D model of the city

• Google: We're not testing or using drone technology
  Jeff Jarvis tweets that Google PR told him: "Google is not testing or using this technology. This was a purchase by a Google executive with an interest in robotics for personal use." Let the guessing game begin re which exec.
• Google experimenting with spy drones, says German maker — The Register
  Should Google get the capacity to collect near real-time high-resolution imagery? Yes please, especially above humanitarian crises areas.
• Consumer Watchdog Asks FBI, DEA to Explain Use of Google Earth – press release
  Move along here, nothing to see…

• microformats.dk
  Here's a a good permanent backup of the Guardian's deleted Berlusconi Google Earth story
• Silvio Berlusconi wipes holiday home off face of Google Earth | Patrick Henry Press News
  Guardian deletes Berlusconi Google Earth story (without explanation) but here it is in full (minus pics), thanks for once to a reposter.
• Castello di Tor Crescenza – Google Maps
  High-resolution view in Google Maps of Berlusconi's holiday villa, which Guardian reporters and editors can't seem to find.

• NYC Mayor Bloomberg on the Cordoba House
  Off-topic, but important: Mayor Bloomberg's rousing speech on the NYC mosque, freedom of religion and what makes the US great.
• NASA Earth Observatory: Flooding in Pakistan – Image of the Day
  Imagery gives a good idea of the scale of the flooding.

I’ll be traveling through Xinjiang these next few weeks — to Ürümqi, then by train to Kashgar, or at least what’s left of it before the old town is completely razed. From there, I hope to make it to Tushuk Tash, the world’s tallest natural arch — you can stick the Empire State building under it. With some luck, I’ll bring back 360-degree panoramas of all these places.

Considering that all of Xinjiang was completely without internet most of the past year (there were some troubles) I likely won’t be online all that often. Needless to say, if something happens to Google Earth in the meantime, you won’t read about it here. See you in a few weeks.