It has turned out to be a busy summer for the Google Maps directions team up in Seattle. Between last week's launch of walking directions, this week's redesign of the printed directions page, the redesigned Google Maps interface, and the recent Avoid Tolls feature, it's getting hard to keep up! We wanted to step back for a moment and give you an overview of the most common tasks for getting directions through Google Maps. Here's a brief tutorial from Ryan, one of the directions team engineers:
Thursday, 31 July 2008
It has turned out to be a busy summer for the Google Maps directions team up in Seattle. Between last week's launch of walking directions, this week's redesign of the printed directions page, the redesigned Google Maps interface, and the recent Avoid Tolls feature, it's getting hard to keep up! We wanted to step back for a moment and give you an overview of the most common tasks for getting directions through Google Maps. Here's a brief tutorial from Ryan, one of the directions team engineers:
This week we've added an 'Avoid tolls' option to Google Maps driving directions. When you are getting directions, click the 'Show options' link in the left panel of the screen and you'll see a new option to avoid tolls:
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Google Maps can help get you where you want to go, but let's face it, you can't be online all the time. Sometimes you really just need a good old-fashioned hard copy, so we're making it easier to print exactly the information you want: text directions, maps for any step, and - for the first time - Street View images.
Printing Directions with More Maps and Street View
Unfamiliar with the area? You can turn on a full-size overview map for your entire route and specific maps for each step. 
Chances are, however, that you don't need that much detail for every single step, so hover directly over each step to turn that map on or off. 
You can turn on all available Street View images by selecting the "Street View" option at the top of the page. Or, you can hover over any step to see if Street View is available for that particular location, then click the "Street View" link to turn on the image for that step. If you want more control over the final print-out, simply grab and pan the image to reveal other landmarks - your Street View image will be printed at the viewing angle of your choice.Now that we've arrived safely at our hotel, let's head uptown to the Natural History Museum. A printed map of the area with an image of the entrance might help us orient ourselves when we're on the street and away from the computer. Just pan your map over to the museum, and find the entrance in Street View. Click "Print" above the map to open the preview window. Finally, customize the layout to add or remove the map, and pan the Street View image to show exactly what you want. Print, pack and enjoy!
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Less is more.
With the new look for Google Maps, you can do all of the same things, but without the extra clutter. Find businesses (creamery near palo alto), addresses (6605 Delmar Blvd, St Louis, MO), and more (root beer in sf) from one search box. You might also notice the map is a tad bigger, and that it's easier to get full screen maps:
I hope the new design makes it easier to find everything you need. And incidentally, if you're ever in St. Louis, stop by 6605 Delmar. Particularly if you like root beer.
Friday, 25 July 2008
Last month a group of Googlers traveled to the Brazil at the invitation of Chief Almir Surui and the Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) to lead a series of workshops for members of his tribe and others who are interested in using technology to protect the Amazon rainforest. Technically we were the trainers, but the trip was an incredible learning experience for all of us. I hope you'll read the account of our trip we just posted on the Google Earth Outreach website, but there were more great stories and memories than could fit in one place. So I've asked some of my fellow Googlers to share some of their favorite moments here, starting with mine:
Fun with Gigapan
Gigapan is my favorite new toy, and made a great addition to this trip. With it you can create ultra-high resolution panoramas (up to 5000 megapixels!) that can be viewed on the web, or in Google Earth (look in the 'Gallery' Layer). Created by the Global Connection Project (a collaboration between NASA and Carnegie Mellon University), Gigapan is a powerful tool for promoting cultural exchange. Several units were donated to the Surui people and ACT so that they can document and share indigenous and Amazonian life with the world. While in the village of Lapetanha I mounted my digital camera on the robotic unit and took three panoramas of the village. If you explore the one embedded below, you can see some Googlers having lunch under a traditional thatched shelter, and others playing 'tag' with the Surui kids.
From Marcelo Quintella, Product Manager, Google Brazil:
"Seeing the Amazon from the plane is an amazing experience. It is incredible how the the forest does not start gradually. It's like a wall: on one side you have farms and city, and suddenly the forest is there, dense with trees. I think the forest used to start gradually, but with deforestation we only see this "wall effect."
Fun with Gigapan
Gigapan is my favorite new toy, and made a great addition to this trip. With it you can create ultra-high resolution panoramas (up to 5000 megapixels!) that can be viewed on the web, or in Google Earth (look in the 'Gallery' Layer). Created by the Global Connection Project (a collaboration between NASA and Carnegie Mellon University), Gigapan is a powerful tool for promoting cultural exchange. Several units were donated to the Surui people and ACT so that they can document and share indigenous and Amazonian life with the world. While in the village of Lapetanha I mounted my digital camera on the robotic unit and took three panoramas of the village. If you explore the one embedded below, you can see some Googlers having lunch under a traditional thatched shelter, and others playing 'tag' with the Surui kids.
From Marcelo Quintella, Product Manager, Google Brazil:
"Seeing the Amazon from the plane is an amazing experience. It is incredible how the the forest does not start gradually. It's like a wall: on one side you have farms and city, and suddenly the forest is there, dense with trees. I think the forest used to start gradually, but with deforestation we only see this "wall effect."
From Mark Aubin, Software Engineer, Google Earth:
"Seeing two Amazonian Indians from opposite sides of the Amazon meet and embrace for the first time was a powerful moment for me. They communicated easily with smiles and embraces, but speaking proved quite challenging. Wuta (left), a cartographer for ACT Suriname, speaks Tiriyó. Chief Almir's father, Maribop Surui (right), speaks Tupi-Monde, the native language of the Surui. As Maribop spoke, Almir translated to Portuguese, then Vasco would translate to English, and then Skappie, Wuta's Surinamese colleague, would finally speak Tiriyó to Wuta. Despite this game of 'telephone' I could see from their faces that they shared a common bond that goes very deep." (Photo courtesy of Andrea Ribeiro)
"Seeing two Amazonian Indians from opposite sides of the Amazon meet and embrace for the first time was a powerful moment for me. They communicated easily with smiles and embraces, but speaking proved quite challenging. Wuta (left), a cartographer for ACT Suriname, speaks Tiriyó. Chief Almir's father, Maribop Surui (right), speaks Tupi-Monde, the native language of the Surui. As Maribop spoke, Almir translated to Portuguese, then Vasco would translate to English, and then Skappie, Wuta's Surinamese colleague, would finally speak Tiriyó to Wuta. Despite this game of 'telephone' I could see from their faces that they shared a common bond that goes very deep." (Photo courtesy of Andrea Ribeiro)
From Amit Sood, Google Europe:
"As our training session started off, I scanned the room to gauge the students' levels of knowledge. It was clear that some students are more comfortable than others. A few minutes into the session I noticed a group of four women sitting quietly, staring at their monitors and not participating in the training exercises. I investigated, and learned that they were not familiar with the mouse or the other strange equipment that is such an everyday part of my life. A fellow instructor, Eduardo, focused his attention on them while I continued the training. At the end of the day I witnessed something that made me feel both proud and sad: all four women were chatting away on the Internet, searching, moving the mice as if it were something they had always known. Smiles all around, no sense of apprehension: The Net had found four more addicts."
There were no cameras around to capture that particular moment, but here is a nice one of Amit during the training (and me, on the far right):
If I've piqued your interest and you want to learn more, Rebecca Moore, Manager of Google Earth Outreach, has posted her thoughts about the trip on the Official Google Blog.
"As our training session started off, I scanned the room to gauge the students' levels of knowledge. It was clear that some students are more comfortable than others. A few minutes into the session I noticed a group of four women sitting quietly, staring at their monitors and not participating in the training exercises. I investigated, and learned that they were not familiar with the mouse or the other strange equipment that is such an everyday part of my life. A fellow instructor, Eduardo, focused his attention on them while I continued the training. At the end of the day I witnessed something that made me feel both proud and sad: all four women were chatting away on the Internet, searching, moving the mice as if it were something they had always known. Smiles all around, no sense of apprehension: The Net had found four more addicts."
There were no cameras around to capture that particular moment, but here is a nice one of Amit during the training (and me, on the far right):
If I've piqued your interest and you want to learn more, Rebecca Moore, Manager of Google Earth Outreach, has posted her thoughts about the trip on the Official Google Blog.Wednesday, 23 July 2008
A couple months ago, I told you about a site we created to highlight organizations and their great uses of Google Maps. Because there are so many amazing examples out there, we've added two more case studies to our gallery.
Both The New York Times and Tripadvisor have created many innovative mashups -- from tracking The New York Times' Frugal Traveler on his national roadtrip, to mapping crime in New York City, to creating applications that millions of people use to rate restaurants. Take a look at this video to see what else Tripadvisor has done:
If you've created a great Google Maps mashup, we'd love to hear about it! Let us know by filling out this form, and you could even be featured in one of our upcoming case studies.
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
It's summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and when it's not too hot, it feels like a waste of gorgeous weather to get behind the wheel or hop in a cab. Doubly so when you're traveling to a city you'd love to explore, and you're pretty sure that you could walk from your hotel to the aquarium, if only you could figure out the way. You could try to use driving directions from Google Maps, but city centers are always a maze of one-way streets and no-left-turns. These driving directions from a local hotel to the Seattle Aquarium require numerous contortions in order to obey one-way streets and find a route under the freeway, taking you out of the way of where you could go by foot:
Starting today, you can tell Google Maps that you want walking directions, and we'll try to find you a route that's direct, flat, and uses pedestrian pathways when we know about them. Just get directions as you normally would. If you're going 10 km or less (some call this 6.2 miles), we'll show you a link that you can click to get "Walking" directions:
Our walking directions for the same hotel-to-aquarium route ignore the direction of one-way streets and make use of a pedestrian-only path under the freeway. This route is more than half a mile shorter than if you were to drive:
If public transit directions are available for Google Maps in your area, you'll seen an improvement to them as well. We used to point to your destination from the nearest transit station, but unless you could fly these directions needed some tweaking.
Now, we'll give you step-by-step directions for the portion of your trip on foot:
Walking directions are a new feature for Google, and while I'm pretty excited about it, there are some rough edges that compel us to release it in "beta." Walking directions work well for short trips in urban areas, but we don't always know if a street has a sidewalk, or if there's actually a special pedestrian bridge for crossing a busy street. There are still a lot of pedestrian pathways we don't know about, and they might save you some time if you find them. We're working on collecting new data on pedestrian pathways and on more effective ways to solicit your feedback, so that we can steadily improve this feature and get you where you need to be as efficiently as possible.
Walking is a great way to learn about a place, to get around, and to get some exercise when the weather is nice. You'll notice shops, parks, and public art that you've been accustomed to zooming past, and come away feeling like you've really gotten the insider's take on a neighborhood or city. Of course, don't get too caught up in enjoying the sights! Please be careful, and be particularly attentive in high traffic areas. Just like if you were driving, follow road signs and signals along your route, and use good judgment about streets that can't be walked (there are many useful websites containing safety tips for pedestrians).
Now, we'll give you step-by-step directions for the portion of your trip on foot:
Walking directions are a new feature for Google, and while I'm pretty excited about it, there are some rough edges that compel us to release it in "beta." Walking directions work well for short trips in urban areas, but we don't always know if a street has a sidewalk, or if there's actually a special pedestrian bridge for crossing a busy street. There are still a lot of pedestrian pathways we don't know about, and they might save you some time if you find them. We're working on collecting new data on pedestrian pathways and on more effective ways to solicit your feedback, so that we can steadily improve this feature and get you where you need to be as efficiently as possible.
Walking is a great way to learn about a place, to get around, and to get some exercise when the weather is nice. You'll notice shops, parks, and public art that you've been accustomed to zooming past, and come away feeling like you've really gotten the insider's take on a neighborhood or city. Of course, don't get too caught up in enjoying the sights! Please be careful, and be particularly attentive in high traffic areas. Just like if you were driving, follow road signs and signals along your route, and use good judgment about streets that can't be walked (there are many useful websites containing safety tips for pedestrians).
Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll get out of the office for twenty minutes and take a stroll.
Monday, 21 July 2008
Last week, 18 Googlers brought their 9-12 year old kids to our Mountain View headquarters to spend their week learning with Google Earth and all the other geo tools. By the end of the week, the "Geo Camp" participants had mastered Google Earth, Maps, and Docs, and used these tools to research environmental issues, virtually tour the planet (and universe), and collaborate to build sophisticated presentations on habitats around the world.
I'm not sure who had more fun -- the teachers or the kids! As the week came to a close, we asked them all to reflect back on what they had learned, and I just can't help but share some of their responses:I didn't know I could ____ with Google Earth
- fly (Matt, 6th grader)
- see all the rides at Disney World (Gwen, 4th grader)
- learn about endangered animals (Aditya, 7th grader)
- the Space Needle (Jack, 7th grader)
- the Empire State Building (Jake)
- the entire universe (Andrew, 6th grader)
- find a place to go on vacation (Nick, 5th grader)
- share global awareness about different countries to other people (Esha, 9th grader)
- look at other galaxies, and see if there's traffic (Aditya, 7th grader)
- build more SketchUp buildings (Erik, 5th grader)
- create a ship simulator in which you could be the captain of a ship (Ashna)
- make a driving feature so people could pretend to drive on roads (Warren, 7th grader)
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
For those of you looking for an excuse to have some fun with SketchUp, I've got great news: we're joining forces with Dwell Magazine to launch a friendly competition to Design Your Dwelling. Get the details (including the secret site location!) over on the SketchUp blog.
The District of Columbia government has submitted more than 84,000 3D models to Google Earth via the Cities in 3D program. But why would a city, let alone one that is known as a horizontal city because of a strictly enforced height limit, be so eager to participate? Here's a glimpse into our thinking in the District's GIS department.
1. It is the right thing to do. Fundamentally, the District Government believes that data created with public funds should be available to the public. Making this data now available via Google Earth is an important step in making our data truly accessible to the public at large.
2. Because every neighborhood can benefit from 3D. Instead of modeling just a select few landmarks in exquisite detail, we wanted to model every building in every neighborhood. Economic development was a primary driver behind development of the dataset. The buildings provide the context in which to plan and debate proposed new developments. Despite our aforementioned reputation as a horizontal city, we are also a city of spires, penthouses and domes, as you can now see. As public sector mappers, we put the entire city on Google Earth, not just downtown, because every neighborhood needs planning and development. We hope that the private sector will follow suit and create rich 3D models of proposed developments as KML downloads in the future.
3. We get better 3D performance from the cloud and we don’t pay for it. Some GIS users in the DC government, have made excellent use of the data, but with the city’s current technology, the 3D data had to be used locally on high-end desktops. Frankly, the District did not have the technical capabilities for distributing nearly 100,000 3D building across the enterprise. With the data now hosted on Google Earth 4.3, we expect DC Government users to turn to Google Earth just like the public. And using the same tools as our citizens is another powerful way to connect with them and ensure the quality of their experience.
4. We want to communicate with our residents. It is important to us that citizens, particularly DC taxpayers, understand what we do. We posted the “coolest” data set DC GIS has, because now that we have your attention we want to show you all of the other stuff we do. As part of Mayor Adrian Fenty’s drive for transparency, the DC government now makes more than 200 geospatial data sets publically available. So admire the thousands of 3D buildings, but also extend your virtual tour. You can add these datasets as layers on Google Earth, and view things like wards, trails, parks, museums, building permits, fire hydrants, zoning and even things the city isn’t proud of, like calls for rodent abatement.
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Here are the answers to yesterday's quiz -- I'm sure you all passed with flying colors.
1) Founded in 1608, this former British possession has a decidedly French flair.
--Quebec
2) Once the seat of great political power, this red fortress is now a major tourist attraction.
--Alhambra, Granada
3) Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this city was lost to the world for 1700 years.
--Pompeii
4) Passing by a famous golf course and luxurious mansions, this stretch of road is a tourist attraction in its own right.
4) Passing by a famous golf course and luxurious mansions, this stretch of road is a tourist attraction in its own right.
--17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach (California)
5) Legend has it that Hercules founded this major European city.
--Barcelona
5) Legend has it that Hercules founded this major European city.
--Barcelona
6) This city within a city plays host to an Opera House, Planetarium, Science Museum, Oceanographic Park, and beautiful gardens.
--City of Arts & Sciences, Valencia (Spain)
8) This city hosted General MacArthur's South West Pacific Headquarters during WWII.
--Brisbane
9) Some of my Googler co-workers can enjoy the views from this very tall building.
7) When we updated imagery of this city, we got complete coverage of another country with it.
--Rome & Vatican City
--Rome & Vatican City
8) This city hosted General MacArthur's South West Pacific Headquarters during WWII.
--Brisbane
9) Some of my Googler co-workers can enjoy the views from this very tall building.
--Taipei 101, Taipei
The following is a more complete list of the areas we've updated in this data push:
The following is a more complete list of the areas we've updated in this data push:
Updated Imagery:
Americas:
- USA: San Diego, San Francisco metro area, Wenatchee (WA), New Mexico.
- Canada: Quebec, New Westminster (BC).
Europe, Middle East & Africa:
- England: Bristol
- Spain: Barcelona, Costa del Sol, Granada, Murcia, Valencia, Cuenca, Toledo, Caceres, Zaragoza.
- Portugal: Braga, new base imagery for entire country
- Italy: Rome, Naples
- Germany: Freidburg, Munich
Asia & Oceania:
- Australia: Brisbane, Great Barrier Reef
- Taiwan: Taipei, Taichung
New 2.5m base imagery for: The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Taiwan, Tasmania, and parts of Mexico, China, and Australia.
In March, we introduced the Cities in 3D Program, empowering local governments to contribute their own 3D models to Google. Since our original announcement, we have expanded the program to Europe and been working closely with several local governments in the US to get their models published to Google Earth. After four short months, the models from our first round of participants are available. Let's go for a brief tour to explore these new cities....
Amherst, MA: Taking a stroll down Main Street. In the distance, you can see the Southwest Towers on the University of Massachusetts campus.
McMinnville, TN: Night-time view of downtown McMinnville, where you can browse through art galleries and museums.
Nashville and Davidson County, TN: A close-up view of the State Capitol, as buildings from across the entire country stretch into the distance.
Jamestown, NY: Go shopping along the downtown storefronts.
Washington, DC: The U.S. Capitol building in the heart of the nation's capital, with 3D models from all across the city surrounding it.If you follow the link on each city's name, you'll get to learn more from them about the partnership, and check back here tomorrow to hear from the GIS Manager for Washington DC about his views on 3D data.
We look forward to working with many more organizations, including local governments, educational institutions, and community groups to get local 3D data published on Google Earth. Please contact us if you'd like to share your 3D data with us!
We look forward to working with many more organizations, including local governments, educational institutions, and community groups to get local 3D data published on Google Earth. Please contact us if you'd like to share your 3D data with us!
Monday, 14 July 2008
Today I'm happy to announce that we've just finished pushing out an imagery update for all you Google Earth fans out there. As usual, I'll drop a few hints at where these updates might be, and tomorrow I'll post the complete list of updates.
1) Founded in 1608, this former British possession has a decidedly French flair.
2) Once the seat of great political power, this red fortress is now a major tourist attraction.
3) Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this city was lost to the world for 1700 years.
4) Passing by a famous golf course and luxurious mansions, this stretch of road is a tourist attraction in its own right.
5) Legend has it that Hercules founded this major European city.
6) This city within a city plays host to an Opera House, Planetarium, Science Museum, Oceanographic Park, and beautiful gardens.
7) When we updated imagery of this city, we got complete coverage of another country with it.
8) This city hosted General MacArthur's South West Pacific Headquarters during WWII.
9) Some of my Googler co-workers can enjoy the views from this very tall building.
8) This city hosted General MacArthur's South West Pacific Headquarters during WWII.
9) Some of my Googler co-workers can enjoy the views from this very tall building.
Friday, 11 July 2008
Since it was introduced about 3 years ago, we've seen a broad range of uses for Google Earth -- from potentially life-saving (Cyclone Nargis disaster response planning) to educational (Rumsey historical maps) and, of course, to entertaining (the number of downloads of the new Nine Inch Nails album around the world).
We've also seen interest in and usage of Google Earth grow as people find even more new and interesting ways to convey information in its geographic context through the Google Earth. We're constantly working to fine-tune the Google Earth experience to provide the most useful geographically organized content for all of our users. Yet I often get questions from friends and family about what they're seeing in Google Earth and how to best explore all that one can find there. I'm sure many users ask themselves these very questions when they first launch Google Earth.
With that in mind, I thought these pointers might be helpful:
- Controlling what you see in Google Earth
To present information in Google Earth, a file format called KML is used to display data in a geographic context. Groups and individuals can create KML files which appear as "layers" on top of the satellite and aerial imagery that form the base layer in Google Earth.
After you launch Google Earth, you'll see a sampling of these layers. This is a preview of the range of content available in the product. To turn particular layers on and off, just go to the "Layers" panel in the left navigation window, click the "+" sign to expand a given list and check or uncheck the box for a layer.
- Understanding what content comes from Google
We've heard that users sometimes are confused as to what information in Google Earth is supplied by Google and what is provided by users, organizations, or other third parties. Google supplies a base of information in Google Earth through our licenses with content partners; this includes information for borders, terrain, roads, business listings, weather, and traffic.
Separate layers, which appear on top of this base information, feature educational and informational content from third parties such as National Geographic, NASA and The New York Times. Each of these layers has its own icon (such as the familiar yellow rectangle for National Geographic), which is displayed in connection with the content when the layer is checked on. Layers for content created and submitted by users of certain other Google services, including YouTube, Panoramio, and the Google Earth Community, also appear on top of the base information.
Certain layers will automatically be turned on when you open Google Earth. With all the interesting content out there, we thought this would help users discover new content from any of these third-party sources. You can turn these layers on or off by following the instructions above.
- Creating content for Google Earth
Google Earth is not just for browsing information supplied by others. Users can join the Google Earth Community and contribute their own content. This is incredibly powerful because it allows users to share their expertise and knowledge with the millions of people who use Google Earth.
To get started, create an account in the Google Earth Community. This allows you to participate in discussions about content that your fellow users may have added to Earth. Next, go to the location where you'd like to post information and check out this tutorial video.
After you have created a placemark, you can easily share it with others on the Google Earth Community. Just right click (CTRL click on the Mac) on the placemark and chooseShare/Post. Just follow the subsequent instructions to post information about this placemark in the Google Earth Community. The Google Earth Community content submitted by users may appear as blue "i" icons or orange dots in Google Earth.
If you're ready to take it to the next level, you can create a KML file to appear as a layer in Google Earth. To get started, take a look here. If you're proud of what you've done, share it with us! We might show it off in the Google Earth Gallery which highlights various layers created for Google Earth.
Hopefully this helps give you a better understanding of just how Google Earth works, and the wide range of ways you can interact with it. Keep an eye out for additional "tips and tricks" features on the LatLong blog about to learn more about how to take advantage of all the features of Google Earth (and Google Maps too!).
Thursday, 10 July 2008
Hot on the heels of yesterday's Webcam.travel announcement, we've also launched a new Google Earth layer under the Travel and Tourism folder in the Gallery. The Japan National Tourist Organization worked with the Google Japan office to develop the Japan Tourism layer, which features rich information on landmarks and attractions all over Japan. These include everything from the many temples of Kyoto to the bustling streets of Tokyo to the clear blue waters of Okinawa. Turn on this layer along with other interesting layers such as 3D Buildings, Panoramio or Kyoto Tourism to get a head start on your trip planning.
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
Are you interested in the current weather at your travel destination so you know if it's worth to start early in the morning for that trip to the nearby mountains? Or do you want to check the current traffic situation or visibility conditions on the Golden Gate bridge? Or do you just want
to confirm that the Earth is still spinning and the other side of the globe doesn't get sunlight now?Just enable the newly launched layer Webcams.travel in the Gallery folder and start to browse the placemarks. Clicking on the Webcams.travel placemarks will show you an image taken within the last 15 to 60 minutes. This new layer has been created in partnership with Webcams.travel and gives you access to almost 5,000 geo-located webcams all over the world.
You can also rate or comment on a webcam by following the link below the image. Or if you have your own geo-located webcam and want other people to see it in Google Earth, just register your webcam with Webcams.travel and, after being approved, it will appear in Google Earth.
We are happy to announce the winners for the Google 2008 International Model Your Campus Competition! Congratulations to the talented students who took on such a challenging project. You can see their amazing models in Google Earth by turning on the 3D Buildings layer and navigating over to each campus, or you can see their individual collections in our 3D Warehouse. The winning schools are:
- Johns Hopkins University (Student Technology Services & Digital Media Center; United States)
- Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (China)
- University of Wisconsin-Madison (Department of Engineering; United States)
- Missouri University of Science and Technology (Department of Physical Facilities; United States)
- Nicolas Copernicus University (Department of Biology and Earth Sciences; Poland)
- Stockholm University and KTH (Department of Computer and Systems Sciences; Sweden)
- Cardiff University (Department of Information Services; United Kingdom)
- Bournemouth University (The Business School; United Kingdom)
- Peking University (School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science; China)
Friday, 4 July 2008
One of the things I look forward to every summer is the Tour de France. I'm always fascinated when I hear about the hairpin turns and steep climbs. To bring the Tour de France to life and help you experience it stage by stage, we're very excited to provide Street View for the 2008 Tour de France route.
With this launch, you can now follow the race through each of the 21 stages with just a click of a mouse and enjoy a perspective similar to what your favorite cyclists see as they wind through France's majestic mountains, vivacious cities, and tranquil countryside. To jump right in and see panoramic imagery at street level for the Tour de France, navigate over to google.com/tourdefrance2008. Or keep reading and I'll take you on a little tour of the Tour route!
The Tour de France route marks our first launch of Street View imagery in Europe, and we're bringing with us some of our newly released features such as ground-filling and face blurring, but we're also introducing some more new features.
First off, we're now featuring even higher quality imagery -- take a look for yourself:
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Coliseum in Nimes, found within Stage 14 from Nimes to Digne-Les-Baines
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Nearing the finish line in L'Alpe-d'Huez, found in Stage 17 from Embrun to L'Alpe-d'Huez, arguably the most physically demanding stage of the whole race
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The Eiffel Tower and Seine river in Paris, passed in Stage 21 from Etampes to Paris' Champs-Elysees, the final stage of the race
We've also been keeping busy since first announcing our the state-of-the-art face detection technology -- you'll see our new license plate blurring technology as you travel through the Tour de France route.
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This feature, seen on a car in the town of Pipriac within Stage 3 from Saint-Malo to Nantes, complements our previously launched face blurring feature
Of course, there's only one way to conclude a blog post about the Tour de France -- with an image of the finish line!
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The Arc de Triomphe, at the western end of the Champs Elysee. If you zoom in, you can look at the detailed sculputres on the frieze
The Arc de Triomphe, at the western end of the Champs Elysee. If you zoom in, you can look at the detailed sculputres on the frieze
Thursday, 3 July 2008
Last week's Google Teacher Academy (GTA) got me thinking about the way I got launched into the world of Google back at the GTA in November 2006. I had previously used Google as a search engine but after the GTA I used Google for, well, everything I could! During the Academy, teachers using the products gave us examples of activities and projects they had done with their students. That’s all I needed to be off and running. As the Technology Resource Teacher for my K-8 district I have had many opportunities to pass on my enthusiasm and training to both teachers and students. Now after a two and a half year hiatus I have returned to Google as a Noogler (a new Googler).
Even though I have just begun my fellowship at Google, I feel like I am part of the Google family. My first week was spent finding my way around. I took some time to discover the ins and outs of the Google campus, then I got to work and explored the Google For Educators website, which is overflowing with useful lesson ideas.
There are many reasons why I'm loving my time here, but one of the main ones is learning about and being able to pass on all the engaging ways educators can use the Geo products to help students learn about their world. Even though it may be summer vacation, the Google for Educators site can help teachers prepare some great lessons for the upcoming school year, and parents can take a browse to find fun ways to keep their kids learning over the summer!
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
If your 're dreaming of traveling to beautiful
South Africa you can now enjoy the newly launched South Africa Tourism layer in Google Earth. Together with South Africa Tourism, the layer allows you to discover more about the country's highlights. You can learn about the heritage and culture of the region before touching base with the urban vibes of the different cities. If your interest is more about the countryside and wildlife then you can explore the nature and safari layers, or if you're a sports fan then check out the locations of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. You can also enjoy virtual tours, create an itinerary, or take a flight along the proposed routes to plan your next vacation.
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