Takashi U posted his finding in Japanese to Flickr, but the screenshot needs no translation: Google Spreadsheets does geocoding.

Sort of, at least. It’s an undocumented feature, and it may be because it isn’t ready for prime time yet, but the implications sure are interesting, especially if you’re looking for ways in which a future Google Office might use Google’s strengths to leapfrog Microsoft.

Basically, just fill a cell with =GoogleLookup(“New York”, “latitude”) and up comes the answer. Instead of “New York”, you can reference another cell, of course, like so:

But here’s the problem: This isn’t yet formalized geocoding, and the sources are varied. For Cairo, for example, the latitude is correct and comes from three reputable sources (just hover over the cell to view them) but the longitude is for Cairo, Illinois. Specifying which Cairo (or Paris, or London) by appending a country name doesn’t work at the moment.

Still, this is a wonderful conceptual leap, and it has implications that are similar to Yahoo!’s Pipes, which, by the way, got a serious geocoding module two weeks ago as part of a major update. (Yes, it gets coordinates for both Cairo and Paris right — GoogleLookup does not).

Remember, too that you can reference individual cells in Google Spreadsheets, like so. (The easiest way to turn a spreadsheet into KML is still through EditGrid and its support for XSL, however.)

Francophone versions of Google Earth are showing detailed results of the first round of presidential elections in France, held last night, as a default layer — so reports French cartography blog Renalid, with plenty of screenshots.

This layer is not available in other language versions of Google Earth, though there is a special page on Google Earth’s Francophone site that provides the layer as a standalone file. (Except that for me, at least, the standalone file only contains a popup for Paris, and results are still pending.)

And as a student of global politics, I really would love these results in my English language version of Google Earth by default (if not turned on, necessarily). In addition, language choice is a bad determinant of national affiliation. Lots of Belgians, Canadians and Africans speak French. Lots of Frenchmen have English versions of Google Earth. Trying to guess what news is interesting to people based on their choice of download language is as fraught with risk as trying to guess what measurement system people use from their IP address. Read Michael Jones’s comment — there is an obvious solution. Apologies for the lapse.

Way too much cool stuff, way too little time, so forgive the rapid-fire delivery. Much of the below could do with an own post…

• The Earth is Square‘s Chad Zimmerman does some excellent work creating a geospatial visualization of refugees and internally displaced people in Somalia. He first created a plugin for NASA World Wind, and has now released a version in KML, usable in Google Earth (direct download, or in data in Google Maps). The only real difference between the two versions is the resolution of the underlying imagery, which depends on the client you’re using, as well as any image overlays you may have.
• Neal Sweeney wrote in to point out that “someone has created a model of a spanish flag and placed it in the middle of Gibraltar which is a British colony. […] I wonder if this will start a trend of people ‘capturing’ other contentious places?” Indeed, if you have 3D buildings checked, there is huge spanish flag right here. I wonder how it climbed the popularity rankings in 3D Warehouse sufficiently for it to be included in the “best-of” layer… Could this be the first case of Google geobombing?

  

• GeoServer 1.5.0 is out. Improvements include “easier adding of data through the web admin tools, better support for Google Earth KML, performance and scalability improvements, and as always a heap of bug fixes.”
• A New Google Earth-based game, by MIT’s Ravi Purushotma: Google Earth Tag. I have not, unfortunately, had the time to try this, but don’t let that stop you — it looks very intricate.
• The Map Room links to an opinion piece in the Laser Altimetry of the San Andreas Fault Zone in KML.
• Dutch gaming TV program Gamekings tackles GPS for sports and geocaching. Google Earth features prominently in these two YouTube segments.
• tobedetermined!, just for the hell of it, has made it it possible to record a position history trail for his sessions Google Earth. It’s a proof-of-concept Python script that uses the Windows version’s API, but this is definitely a good idea in search of a practical application. Perhaps for games?
• From the people that brought you HeyWhatsThat: Elevation Mapper. draw a polyline on the map, get the elevation for the route as a chart. (Beta)
• Randall Newton over on AECNews has an interesting datapoint regarding the relative popularity of SketchUp: “Jesse Devitte, which was an investor in SketchUp, said that SketchUp daily downloads now exceed monthly downloads before the acquisition.”

Simple, effective, cross-platform position sharing has just made it to Google Earth: It’s called GE Sharing, it’s by a German new media company called DIVIS, and it works like a dream. They’ve even got a way to monetize it:-)

I’ve just been showing my brother-in-law Nazz in London some cool places here in Cairo on Google Earth, and then he showed some cool places in London. Here’s how we did it:

I went to this page. I entered my name and email, Nazz’s name and email, and clicked the submit button. (Click on the UK flag for the English version.)

We both got an email from DIVIS, each with a different, unique KML file. We fired up Google Earth (he on a PC, me on a Mac) by double-clicking on the file. My KML file contains two network links, selectable via radio buttons — one for serving my position and view, and one for following Nazz’s position and view.

Because I sent the email, my network links is originally set to server, while Nazz’s is set to client. Until both our network links sync, the cute graphical overlay looks like this:

When we’re both ready to move, the graphic turns into this:

As I move, my network link sends my position data to DIVIS’s server, which instantly uses it to update Nazz’s network link. The client network link updates every time the view stops moving, so it is always on the move if I am. We used a chat program to communicate while we moved, and the combined effect was natural and fluid.

When it was time for Nazz to show me something, I selected the “client” network link while he selected “server”. They synced, and suddenly my copy of GE followed him. It just works.

Some feedback:

• The default fly-to speed may be too slow if the other person is moving rapidly. Setting this to around 2 on both ends worked well for us.
• There is currently no way to turn off both network links, so one is always checking the server. It would be nice to be able to keep these in the Places sidebar for later use without the constant checking.

How is this different from Unype? Because GE Sharing doesn’t rely on the Windows API, it is platform independent. However, for the same reason, it can’t do some things Unype does, like layer visibility syncing, avatar depiction and model sharing. But for showing potential holiday spots to far-away family members, or taking house buyers on a remote tour of available properties, this can’t be beat for its robust simplicity.

How is DIVIS planning to monetize this? Simple: one-on-one sharing is free, but one-to-many sharing will be a pay service.

I’ve been sending emails to people located in Sudan asking if they could corroborate the Sudan aid worker’s strange report of no longer being able to download copies of Google Earth locally, though still being able to access the data servers. Somebody at the (wonderful) Sudan Tribune was kind enough to try, and even sent me a screenshot of the result:

That’s exactly the same error message that the aid worker got — and it certainly looks like it’s being served by Google.

What’s going on? A response from Google has now solved the mystery. Sudan isn’t censoring anything. The US is restricting access to Google Earth in Sudan. So says Google spokesperson Megan Quinn in an email:

In accordance with US export controls and economic sanctions regulations, we are unable to permit the download of Google Earth in Sudan. More information about these controls and sanctions can be found here and here.

I went looking, and found some relevant extracts, first from the US Treasury’s site:

SELLING TO SUDAN – Except for information or informational materials and donated articles intended to relieve human suffering, such as food, clothing and medicine, and the licensed export of agricultural commodities, medicine and medical devices, no goods, technology, or services may be exported from the United States to Sudan, either directly or through third countries, without a license.

There are exceptions for humanitarian NGOs and such, but not of the kind that allows downloads of software as is made clear by a page on the Bureau of Industry and Security’s website:

This rule also allows the export of software controlled under ECCNs 4D994 and 5D992 that is used in conjunction with such basic telecommunications devices or computers. However, the rule is not intended to be a vehicle for software exports per se. The software must be loaded onto the commodity prior to being exported and remain loaded on the commodity while in Sudan. These two software ECCN’s were included in the rule so that the commodities authorized for export by the rule could function in Sudan. They include typical “mass market” operating systems and applications software (such as office suite, email and web browser programs) for personal computers, cell phones and personal digital assistants. This rule does not authorize the transport of software controlled under any other ECCN to Sudan.

And even then, you have to be an NGO working under USAID authorization in Sudan. Only then can you bring a copy of Google Earth into Sudan, on your laptop. (If you’re not an American, I assume you may do whatever you want:-)

I don’t know if Google can apply for and get a license from the US government for internet downloads of Google Earth in Sudan, but it certainly sounds like it would need one before such downloads are legal. (I wonder then, too, if small software companies selling software online also have to check that the purchaser’s provenance isn’t an IP from Sudan?)

There are cases where sanctions have worked in the past (notably against South Africa under apartheid), and targeted sanctions also make sense for Sudan — for example, Rolls Royce shouldn’t be there, as oil-sector sanctions are key — but often the collateral damage is huge. In the case of Google Earth not being available for download in Sudan just as it becomes the single best tool for visualizing the genocide there, it is also highly ironic.

So let us count the ways in which the current implementation of US export restrictions on software downloads are nonsensical:

• It’s completely ineffective. The internet is built to circumvent precisely this kind of constraint on information. The use of proxy servers (like Tor) and peer-to-peer networks (like Bittorrent) makes a mockery of any attempt to prevent the leakage of software into specific geographic areas once it has hit the internet. Laws have to be enforceable to be ethical. This one isn’t enforceable.
• But let’s assume for a moment the download ban were effective. Then the people who have the most use for Google Earth — local aid workers and those Sudanese who want access to uncensored information about the genocide being conducted in their own country — are least able to access it.

Sudan’s president al-Bashir is no doubt grateful to the US right now that his people are being shielded from some rather unpleasant truths about his regime. Perhaps other despots can take note and also start clamoring for US export bans on Google Earth.

(In the meantime, Declan Butler, Brian Timoney, Brian Flood and USHMM’s Michael Graham are looking into producing a version of the Crisis in Darfur layers for Google Maps, which, if you’re in Sudan, you will only be allowed to view on a Norwegian web browser:-)

PS: How does US export law treat web applications and web plugins? Virtual Earth 3D? Google Docs? Where does “information” end and “software” begin? Where does open source software reside, legally? Can I download NASA World Wind in Sudan? Can I send copies of Google Earth Free from Cairo to friends in Sudan if I’m American? What if I’m Belgian? Just asking hypothetically, of course:-)

Ten days on, the default Darfur layer in Google Earth is still making waves — on blogs and on bulletin boards, in columns and presidential speeches. Purely in terms of media exposure, this is without a doubt the most successful default layer ever added to Google Earth, and that is entirely a Good Thing ™.

Several further thoughts on the past week:

• I think the media were generous towards the idea of rallying to the cause of Darfur, because there is certainly a will among news people to give it more exposure, but in an event-driven news cycle “Darfur still suffering” just doesn’t cut it. The Google Earth layer, however, provided the media with a timely pretext for raising the issue again, and the tech angle gave the stories something other than just despair and doom, which news editors were eager to highlight. That’s what drove the wide coverage.
• Many people are passively aware of the crisis in Darfur, but do not necessarily know where exactly Darfur is, though they may even feel that they probably should know. The Google Earth layer provided a ready opportunity to turn that passive awareness into an active and rewarding quest, and many embraced it. As a result, far more people now know where Darfur is compared to two weeks ago.

So what’s next? Tobedetermined! has a good point:

Why not include a button in the Google Earth layer where I can immediately put my money where my mouth is (even if it’s a single euro) in order to help the relief effort, or better, help rebuild the particular village I am looking at at this very instant in Google Earth.

It’s one of the possibilities that was mooted, in the abstract, early on in the process: Wouldn’t it be nice if we could add donation placemarks, so that people could make a connection and then immediately send microdonations? But the project soon took on a life of its own, and the focus became documenting the atrocities, which is best done neutrally. The canvassing can always come later.

Well, how about now? The Darfur Wall is an an initiative by the Seattle-based Darfur Foundation, and it sends 100% of the proceeds to four Darfur relief organizations: Doctors Without Borders, Save Darfur, Save the Children, and the Sudan Aid Fund. Plus, the website is a cool piece of savvy programming:

Ogle Earth’s traffic spike this past week resulted in some windfall advertising revenue. I’ve just sent all of that to Darfur via the Darfur Wall.

If this blog were a reputable news organization, I wouldn’t post single-sourced items, but it’s not, so here we go:

Somebody I know well just emailed me this:

Thought you might be interested in this note that just came in from an aid worker in Darfur (to remain anonymous):

At dinner tonight I just found out that google earth has now been blocked by the govt…so, those of us who had already downloaded it can access it but those who haven’t are unable to view it.

Before the story turns into an urban myth, I’m just wondering if anybody else in Sudan can corroborate this? What is strange about the above snippet is that it sounds like the client download has been blocked, not the data server, and that doesn’t seem like a particularly smart way to proceed (if that is indeed what has happened — wouldn’t the entire google.com domain have to go down with it?). Or perhaps by “downloaded” the person meant “cached”…? Or perhaps it was just a bad few hours for the internet in Sudan?

(Yes, aid workers have access to the internet in Darfur. Dragging the internet there is child’s play compared to ending the crisis.)

BTW, should Google Earth indeed be blocked, you can easily get around it (albeit with a download speed penalty) using the Tor anonymizing tool, as Uwe Hermann first discovered. The instructions look daunting at first glance but it’s actually straightforward: Download and install multiplatform Tor GUI Vidalia, then change your internet connection settings so that both HTTP and HTTPS traffic is directed to a local proxy server: IP address 127.0.0.1, port 8118. I’m running Google Earth using Tor this very second, and it works fine, though slowly. Still, once the area you’re interested in is in your cache, you’re all set. And to be clear: If you use Tor, no central authority can tell if your data requests eventually end up at Google, so they’ll have to block the entire internet to keep you from accessing Google Earth.