If you thought that Google Maps was good (which it is), try downloading Google Earth.
This thing is fricking amazing. The best thing in computers since file-sharing. I was geninely amazed that technology was advanced enough to do this. I’ts easy to download, and easy to use.
Brian
I agree with Bu Lai En, Google Earth rocks and should be downloaded immediately by anyone that doesn’t have it.
Playing with that makes me imagine what that kind of tool will be like in the future… full global super hi-res in real time? A scary prospect in some ways, especially combined with compulsory GPS trackers implanted in all citizens. No wait, disregard that, that’s my paranoid fantasy and nothing to do with Google Earth, which is on the side of good.
Anyway I hope it won’t be too long before they add more Asian cities in hi-res… Tainan is all fuzzy.
BTW if any of you bump into my boss, please reassure him that Google Earth contains a wealth of work-related information.
I can’t get it to run, dammit.
I think the most powerful feature will be the overlays. I found a website that took the standard Google maps and overlaid weather stations. But they also feature Google Earth overlays for weather radar (by selecting the state on the right side and clicking “show”). You can check it out here:
myjavaserver.com/~weathermap … /index.jsp
With the hurricane season firing up already here in the SE USA, some people are already working up some overlays for hurricane tracking. I even saw one that tracked all cyclones around the world, although it needs some work.
Try enabling active X (an option on your web browser I think).
Brian
Wanted to download the software suggested by Bu Lai En but go the following message:
[quote]Google Earth downloads temporarily delayed
Thanks for your interest in Google Earth, but we’re sorry we can’t offer you a download right now. As you know, Google Earth is in beta, and we’re still building out our ability to take on new users. We’re making good progress, and expect to be able to accept new downloads shortly, so we recommend you check back daily at earth.google.com. We hope to be able to welcome you and other new planet surfers soon.
We appreciate your patience,
The Google Earth Team[/quote]
Yep, I had to keep checking back for 4 days before I could download it.
Brian
I’m running Firefox on Win2000. Can someone explain to a moron how to enable Active X? And it won’t screw up my computer, will it?
Found a mirror: Click here to download
(Actually Google Earth is the same as keyhole.com that was posted about sometime back)
I’m not sure. I use Firefox too, but with XP. At what stage couldn’t you get it to run. When I went to install it, I got a message which said something like “this won’t work unless you enable active-X, do you want us to automatically enable it for you” so I said yes.
Here’s the requirements for running Google Earth
If you like maps, it’s well worth the effort of getting it to work.
Brian
[quote=“Rascal”]Found a mirror: Click here to download
(Actually Google Earth is the same as keyhole.com that was posted about sometime back)[/quote]
Thanks! I was getting the frustrating “download delayed” message, too.
Just downloaded Googlearth yesterday, nice tool, fun for a couple of days.
Really worth downloading, I can see my 14F appartment building in Sanxia.
Actually my VGA card isn’t good enough, resolution is not good for some parts of the globe.
Can just see where my family lives in Belgium.
It’s actually a global atlas
Nice thing to have
I downloaded it a few weeks ago, but haven’t installed it yet. I guess I can try it out now someone else said its kinda cool.
really nice lttle gadget to have, it’s even in 3D, shows you th topographics off the world too.
some parts are rather unsharp tho, I guess they don’t have good satellite pics of those areas … but our compound in Sanxia, nice work, can see the whole building pretty sharp
Or … my desktop is too old to handle the stuff :s
There is a discussion of Google Maps and Google Earth here:
[forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph … rth#376414](Google Earth
They can merge both threads if needed.
Anyway, amazing how clear HK airport is partialy. The other side is maybe military secret zone, who knows.
The same goes for Taipei, one area is clear the other foggy(unsharp)
The program works fine but maybe not perfect on my comp.
This is just a matter of what images Google has. They don’t yet have the high res for many parts of the world, including Eastern Taipei. The whole of many countries is like this.
Brian
Maybe the area’s are blanked out for security reasons or images are not available
No. You cna see plenty of air and army bases around the island. I saw a missile battery near Jilong for example.
Hi
If you like the Google earth stuff, you may also like to know that there are aerial/satelitte maps avaliable for each district 區 of Taipei.
They come as posters, with a map to the same scale as well.
The only prob is that since Taipei’s Districts are all different sizes, the maps use three different scales in trying to show the whole area on one same size poster/map.
The Datong 大同, Da’an 大安, Neihu 內湖 posters are the best at 1/ 5900. Beitou 北投 is something like 1/12000.
I think most book stores will have them, although I got mine here:
Shin Lou Book Co Chongching South Road Section 1 #47 (on the bookstore street)
新樓書局慶南路1段47號
The Wanhua 萬華 and Wenshan文山 maps’ posters also show parts of Banchiao 板橋, Zhonghe 中和 and Xindian 新店I think too.