It’s not the “world’s first EARTH game” (there’s this one and this one already), but Earth Contest looks like a worthy addition.
I haven’t had time to play, as I am in NYC for a week attending a wedding, so expect only sporadic updates to Ogle Earth in the meantime. (Via Google Blogoscoped)
Look, new KML tools!
They’re made using PHP. There’s a KML circle generator, a line generator, polygon generator and rectangle generator. Modified by McShea98 from originals by Ink_Polaroid. (Via stavanja’s del.icio.us bookmarks.)
Taiwan isn’t complaining about the resolution of Google Earth; It’s complaining about the labeling in Google Maps. It is not “Taiwan, Province of China” it says, but a fully fledged country.
No doubt Google uses a standard-issue name database published by the US or the UN. And in neither would Taiwan show up as a country — The US has not recognized Taiwan since 1979, at the cajoling of China, and Taiwan does not have a seat at the UN, courtesy of the Chinese veto.
Still, if you look at the facts on the ground, Taiwan has all the trappings of a country. And if you believe in accuracy, then the “province of China” label does amount to a bit of wishful political thinking.
Luckily, Google seems to have inadvertently solved this dilemma: While Google Maps indeed does have Taiwan as a part of China, Google Earth dispenses with the formalities and just calls Taiwan Taiwan.
Who said being popular would be easy?
(via The Register.)
GPS device maker Garmin is acquiring MotionBased technologies, says this press release.
MotionBased is a web app that lets you store and visualize outdoor activities that you record using GPS devices. In other words, it provides a great excuse to buy a Garmin device.
At another level, however, this hints at strategic change of direction by Garmin, I think. Motionbased’s application lets you view your efforts in Google Earth. Garmin’s own Mapsource software now also supports Google Earth as of a week ago. I think Garmin is getting ready to hitch its fortunes to the expected mass popularization of all things GPS, and integrating deeply with Google Earth is the best way to do this.
Over at Infectuous Greed, a commenter leaves the observation that most of the Web 2.0 services, and specifically mashups, lack stickiness: “I cannot think of one mashup that I have used beyond that initial curiosity phase.”
The blog’s owner, Paul Kedrosky, agrees, but does not think this dooms the Web 2.0 idea (though he is mum as to why).
Quite possibly, this is merely a case of our collective imagination needing to catch up with the possibilities made available by new technology. But it is an interesting contrast to Google Earth, where all the anecdotal evidence (and blogs are nothing if not that) points to a strong and growing addiction among users. Google Earth is generating blockbuster video-game levels of usage. Sure, it’s immersive, but that’s not the main reason, I think. Rather, it’s because Google Earth is an enhanced browser, not an application in a browser — it’s a platform to publish to, not something that is published to a platform.
The analogy holds up well when comparing Google Earth to the traditional browser: Although our interest might flit from site to site using a traditional HTML browser, we still use a browser all the time. Google Earth is slipping into its browser role nicely — National Geographic last week, ants this week… Whatever it is next week, We’ll use Google Earth to show us. That’s stickiness.
I’m not sure what to make of Google Earth Zoo. On the surface it looks aimed at schoolchildren, providing them an original pretext to learn how to use Google Earth’s interface. But if you click on “Toilets” you get a gallery of images that are certainly NSFS (not safe for school). Are these slipping by naive site admins? Do the site admins themselves think these are funny? (Hint: goatse is not a random name).
Antweb gets help from Google to bring ants to Google Earth. Web Pro News article, Google Earth blog post. Out of gratitude, an ant is named after Google. Check out the freshly minted Wikipedia article on Proceratium Google. (Re the KML: Very cool, but are placemarks the best way to locate ant habitats? How about translucent overlapping areas instead?)
James Fee notes how Portland’s Google Earth support just keeps on getting better.
Via All Points Blog, a link to Global Connection, the people responsible for putting National Geographic in Google Earth (check), Putting Hurricane Katrina in Google Earth (check), and “building and exploring gigapixel panoramic images” (wow).