Subject: The Sightseer August 2006 Issue

From: "Google Earth" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 13:42:15 -0700 (PDT)

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THE SIGHTSEER
Monthly Newsletter for Google Earth, earth.google.com
August 2006
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In This Issue: 

-- Highlights --
Google Earth 4 Beta - New Features and Tips
Weather in Google Earth
Google Earth Data Layers

-- Explore Further --
Environment and Conservation Forum
The Tour de France
Google Earth Links
Placemarks of the Month
August Calendar

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WHERE IN THE WORLD

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/z0302a1700/where_aug06.jpg
Can you guess this beautiful location? Name the beach and the attached landmass.  Submit your best guess to: [email-masked].

We'll email the winners and post the results on the  ( http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/postlist.php/Cat/0/Board/khGlobe ) BBS. The first ten correct
submissions will win a free subscription to Google Earth Plus. 

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GOOGLE EARTH 4 BETA - NEW FEATURES AND TIPS

As we mentioned in last month's Sightseer, we released a beta version of Google Earth 4 in June (go to the download page
http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html to make sure you have the latest version). Google Earth Free, Plus and Pro are now available for both the
PC and Mac; the Free version is also available for Linux. The interface now sports a new tool for manipulating the scene in the upper right corner and
enables you to show photo textures on 3D models. You can read more about the latest features here http://earth.google.com/earth4.html and check out
this example of a building with photo textures. http://dl.google.com/earth/kml/kml_samples/San_Francisco_City_Hall.kmz

The improved interface for the Places and Layers panes allows you to see everything or just a portion of the items in a selected folder. If the box
has a check mark, all items are selected. A "dot" in the box means only some of the items in the folder are selected. An empty box means no items are
selected.
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/z0302a1700/sanfrancisco_aug06.jpg

New features in the Tools --> Options include: 
View -> Terrain Quality - Improves the resolution of 3D terrain
Navigation -> Mouse - Change direction of zoom with mouse wheel
General -> Language Settings - Set language for GE to English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish.
 
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WEATHER IN GOOGLE EARTH

It's late summer in the northern hemisphere, which means it's time to be ready for tropical storms. Google Earth is an excellent tool for viewing
weather information, and many Earth enthusiasts and professionals have created weather tools that help you do just that. Here are some of the best
tools we've found:

Hurricane Tracker - http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=110283
If you want to follow tropical storms, this tool posted on the Google Earth Community is for you. The Hurricane Tracker displays storms' current
position, past history, forecasted tracks and satellite photos. It even links to webcams from nearby locations and indicates storm strength via the
placemark color/icon.
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/110283/page/0

Weather Forecasts for Central and South America - http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=311974
Weather data automatically retrieved from the Weather Channel in a network link created by Google Earth Community members. 
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/311974/an/page/page/0/vc/1

Global Cloud Map - http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=373671
Satellite photos for the entire Earth updated every three hours. The image has been enhanced with transparency to still show the Earth's surface
where no clouds appear. This overlay was posted on the Google Earth Community.
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/373671/an/page/page/0/vc/1

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GOOGLE EARTH DATA LAYERS

People new to Google Earth sometimes overlook the Layers in the left sidebar which contain a surprising amount of information in a variety of
categories. These layers are continuously growing and were recently reorganized. You probably don't want to turn everything on at once, but you can
selectively turn on and off any portion of the layers to see that specific information. Some will even show more information when you zoom into an
area. Here's a sample of available data layers: 

National Geographic Magazine - Links to articles, photos and videos in Africa. The layer now has a sample of articles from the US as well. The
"Africa Megaflyover" layer will lead you to very high resolution photos (for example, these camels in Chad).
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/z0302a1700/camels.kml

Transportation - Location and names of most airports in the world, and a sub-layer showing layouts of airports in the US. Layers showing railroads
and local/subway trains are also available in some areas.

Geographic Features - This layer contains the names of many mountains and water bodies, and even the outlines of lakes and rivers for some countries.
You'll also find historical earthquake data (you may need to zoom in close to see this) and a new volcano layer from the Smithsonian Institution's
Global Volcanism Program. http://www.volcano.si.edu/index.cfm

Google Earth Community - These layers show placemark locations and posts by many contributors from the forums organized by categories.
http://bbs.keyhole.com/

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ENVIRONMENTS AND CONSERVATION FORUM

The Google Earth Community now has a forum dedicated to Environment and Conservation subjects. Examples of interesting Google Earth files shared and
discussed include:

Greenpeace Ship in the Bering Sea - Follow a ship as it explores this area for signs of overfishing. (see post) 
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=507014
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/507014/an//page/0/vc/1

Satellite Detection of Environmental Damage - Relevant locations found by readers.
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/103132/an/0/page/0/vc/1

Poison Places - Placemarks showing Superfund clean up sites in parts of the US. (see post)
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=206774
http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/206774/an/0/page/0/vc/1

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TOUR DE FRANCE

The Tour de France 2006 was followed closely by many fans with Google Earth, and you can fly around the route yourself. The Tour de France KML file
is available on the official Tour de France website and lets you see the entire course overlaid on satellite imagery for Google Earth. Try out the
tilt feature to see the truly daunting magnitude of all of those climbs where riders were battling it out in this year's wide-open race. Make sure
you have a look with GE 4 at stage 20 in Paris; you'll see a nice model of the Arc de Triomphe near the stage track.
http://services.google.com/earth/kmz/letour2006_us.kml
http://www.letour.fr/

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GOOGLE EARTH LINKS

Google Sightseeing - http://www.googlesightseeing.com/
Google Earth Hacks - http://www.googleearthhacks.com/
Juicy Geography (for the classroom) - http://www.juicygeography.co.uk/googleearth.htm
Deutsche Google Earth Community (unofficial) - http://googleerde.de/

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PLACEMARKS OF THE MONTH 

Arecibo Radio Telescope (see Wikipedia) http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=63418

KC-135 Refueling C-5 (see blog entry) http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=476176

Tiny Great Lakes (see blog entry) http://googlesightseeing.com/gearth/the-great-lakes.kml

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AUGUST CALENDAR

Click on the links below to fly to places associated with this month's events. Don't forget to click on these Placemarks in Google Earth and read the
descriptions.

August 1 - London Bridge Opens http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/z0302a1700/august1.kmz
August 4 - Louis Armstrong Born http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/z0302a1700/august4.kmz
August 8 - Dino De Laurentiis Born http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/z0302a1700/august8.kmz
August 9 - Jerry Garcia Dies http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/z0302a1700/august9.kmz
August 11 - Alcatraz Becomes a Federal Prison http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/z0302a1700/august11.kmz
August 15 - King Duncan I Dies http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/z0302a1700/august15.kmz
August 16 - Davy Crockett Born http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/z0302a1700/august16.kmz
August 19 - Google Goes Public http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/z0302a1700/august19.kmz
August 24 - Mount Vesuvius Eruption http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/z0302a1700/august24.kmz
August 28 - Midway Island Annexed http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/z0302a1700/august28.kmz
August 31 - Trinidad and Tobago Independence http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/z0302a1700/august31.kmz

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