Go by miles or kilometers

Posted by Dave Barth, Product Manager

Most of us think primarily in terms of either miles or kilometers, and converting from one to the other takes a bit of mental power that, personally, I think could be put to better use. We've heard the same from our users, so this week we've added the ability to view your driving directions in either miles or kilometers, no matter which part of the world you're in. Just click the km or miles link below the directions if you want to switch your units, and hit the road.

Where in the world is...

Posted by Matt Manolides, GIS Specialist

Happy February, Earth fans!

It took a full two months for us to get ready for it, but we've finally pushed out the first imagery update of 2008 -- and I hope you'll find that it was worth the wait! Most of the updates in this push are centered around the U.S., though there are a quite a few very high quality updates all around the world.

1) This city is getting a belated Australia Day present from the Google Earth Team.

2) Until now, this famous Frank Gehry building was shown as under construction.

3) This city is host to a young basketball team that's very exciting to watch, despite having their top draft pick sidelined for the entire season.

4) Still providing spring water, this architectural landmark is one of the best-preserved Roman constructions on the Iberian Peninsula.

5) This salt dome is not only home to one of my favorite hot sauces but also a bird sanctuary.

6) Named after the 13th century bishop of Toulouse, this historic California mission town can be viewed in high-res.

7) This city has an amazing mix of Islamic and European architecture, including a church built inside a former mosque.

8) You can now view The Manor where the Whiskers, Lazuli, Commandoes, Zappa, and Starsky families live and play.

9) Come to this city to join me at a Giants game.

10) Every year on January 20th, this city is awash with drum beats while adults march through the streets dressed as cooks and soldiers.

Ready for the weather

Posted by Jeff Martin, Product Marketing Manager

I'm headed to the mountains for the weekend, so I just checked the weather conditions for my route using one of my favorite sites, weatherbug.com. If you look up your local weather (or the weather of wherever you may be going this holiday weekend), you have the option to "change tracking station." This brings you to a great use of our Maps API -- a Google Map where you can choose from thousands of weather monitoring sites around the world. These micro-stations feed real-time temperature, wind, and precipitation data of the exact location you're looking for directly to your desktop.

Looks like I may encounter wind and some snow. I'll pack my chains and consider that a small price to pay for the predicted knee-deep powder tomorrow!

Love is in the air...and in Google Earth!

Posted by Chikai Ohazama, Product Manager, Google Earth

There's plenty to love about Google Earth, like being able to explore the universe, track the weather, and watch YouTube videos in the place they were made. But it's our imagery that's at the, well, heart of the matter.

As you can imagine, the Google Earth team is always on the lookout for good views from the air. That's why we are so pleased to find, just in time for Valentine's Day, that the world seems to be filled with hearts! See for yourself by downloading this KML file and clicking the Play button: there are heart-shaped islands, heart-shaped pools - and for those of you who keep an eye out for "other-worldly" activity, there's even a crop heart. Just think of it as our virtual valentine to you!



A field in deepest rural Wiltshire, UK has a mysterious heart in the middle of it



This natural heart shaped island can be found off the coast of Croatia near Turkljaca



5 miles from Brampton, Ontario (Canada) this heart shaped lake is tucked away among the trees

Mapping with Google Spreadsheets

Posted by Christiaan Adams and Sean Askay, Google Earth Outreach

On the Google Earth Outreach team we're always looking for ways to help non-profits share their stories. One great way to spread your message is by creating a layer for Google Earth or Maps. You probably know by now that placemarks can be created using something called KML. Most people think this file format is really hard to use, but with the help of Google Spreadsheets and a little imagination, you too can create your own layers. And to make creating placemarks in Maps and Earth even easier, we've just released our new and improved Spreadsheet Mapper 2.0 tool. Instead of getting bogged down maintaining a bunch of KML code, this tool lets you:

• Create up to 400 placemarks.
• Use our six ready-made balloon designs to create great-looking placemarks.
• Create and share your own balloon designs by using a simple HTML templating system.

Ready to dive in? Check out the tutorial, which includes a YouTube video to help you follow along.

For added inspiration, see how the folks from Edge of Existence used this tool to showcase their top 100 most Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) mammalian and amphibian species. And it's not just for organizations; we encourage anyone who is looking to create their own layer in Maps or Earth to try it out.

Your content on Google Maps

Posted by Jess Lee, Product Manager, Google Maps

Our goal is to create the world's most comprehensive virtual atlas -- the best, most complete map of the earth. This is no easy task, and we know we can't accomplish it without the help of our users, because nobody knows a neighborhood better than the folks who live in it.

In April of 2007, we launched a feature called My Maps that lets anybody create a map quickly and easily just by pointing and clicking. We wanted to enable all the world's local experts to map our their neighborhoods, their hobbies, their interests.

Over the past 11 months, people have created more than 9 million My Maps, encompassing a total of 40 million placemarks. That's an impressive 1 new placemark created every second! We never anticipated that people would become so interested in mapmaking, which used to be accessible only to priests, scholars, and academics.

To give you a better sense of what's being created, we've put together a page that randomly displays My Maps, showcasing ones that were recently edited or added. We've seen everything from hotels in Havana to birthplaces of the 2008 presidential candidates to the aftermath of an oil spill to bird-watching spots in Oklahoma. We hope that this new page helps you discover some fascinating maps too.

The six Rs of Google Earth Outreach

Posted by Rebecca Moore and Steve Miller, Google Earth Outreach

As part of the Google Earth Outreach team, we're big fans of the three Rs of environmentalism: reduce, reuse, recycle. We also abide by another important set of Rs: release, revise, repeat. By trying out new ideas, listening to feedback, and making changes, we think we'll do a better job of helping out our partners.

In that spirit, today we've updated our site to include some new content. Over the course of the week we'll show you around in detail, but for now, here's a quick tour:

Getting Started guide: Since launching the Google Earth Outreach program last June, we've seen a growing interest from nonprofits in using Google Maps. So we've created this step-by-step guide to help organizations get started using Maps, Earth, or both.

Case studies: Today you'll find a few new ones featured. The "Ecology of the Ancient Bristlecone Pines" looks at how researchers use Google Earth in their fieldwork studying bristlecone pines in the White Mountains of California. The "EDGE of Existence" case study describes the making of a KML showing the 100 most endangered mammals on earth. (The KML code was generated from a spreadsheet by our new Spreadsheet Mapper 2.0 tool. Stay tuned for more on that!) We've included an update to the Neighbors Against Irresponsible Logging (NAIL) case study describing how Google Earth helped them win their environmental battle to save a redwood forest. Finally, we're pleased to publish an update from Appalachian Voices, describing their new and innovative "MyConnection" site, which shows individuals how they are personally connected to mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. Update: read what Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has to say about this initiative.

Tutorials: In addition to the new Spreadsheet Mapper tool and tutorial (which we'll be telling you more about tomorrow), we want to let you know about our new Collaborate on Your Maps tutorial that highlights the collaborative mapping capability introduced recently to MyMaps -- potentially very useful for volunteer groups and nonprofits.

And last but not least, since our program is designed to help the nonprofit community make the most of our mapping tools, we thought we ought to have a map of that community right on our homepage. If your organization is using Maps or Earth -- or is thinking about doing so -- you can add your organization to our map in just a couple of minutes. This is a small first step toward more actively involving our partners in our site to share ideas, challenges, and successes.