Holiday trees in 3D

Can you imagine the holidays without fir, spruce and cedar trees decorated with colorful ornaments? Beyond tracking Santa, we’re getting into the spirit of the season by placing 3D holiday trees in more than a dozen places on Google Earth 6.

Check out the Rockefeller Center in New York City. The only thing that would help make this scene even more festive would be crowds of people bearing shopping bags and a light dusting of winter snow! And don’t you just love how the ornaments on the New Year Tree in Moscow’s Red Square reflects the vibrant colors of Saint Basil's Cathedral?

Rockefeller Center

Red Square

One of the most interesting places where we’ve added holiday trees is Austin, Texas, along highway 360 near 2222. Every year when the holiday season starts, the cedar trees along this section of highway called Loop 360 are mysteriously dressed up in tinsel, ornaments and lights. Some say elves are responsible for spreading this holiday cheer, and we’re excited to celebrate and tribute the fun local activity with digital replicas of the trees!

In all, there are fourteen places where you can find holiday trees in Google Earth 6. Can you find them all?

New Orleans Gets Birds Eye View

New Orleans is now covered by Google Maps' oblique satellite views. I'm sure there must be more cities that have been recently added but New Orleans is the only one I've found so far.

This Google Map shows the cities around the world that Google have aerial views for (New Orleans has yet to be added). I've updated my Aerial View Mapto include aerial imagery of the Louisiana Superdome and Jackson Square in New Orleans.

I've also updated the Bird's Eye View with the new imagery. This map allows you to compare Bing Maps' Bird's Eye View side by side with Google Maps' aerial view.

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The Google Map of Love's Labour's Lost

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

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You Were Cute

So you have this crush on the guy / girl of your dreams but you can never conjure up the courage to ask them out.

What do you do?

Well, you could try You Were Cute, a new Google Map application that hopes to help you with your missed connections. You can add a message to the Crush Map at any location simply be completing a short form.

Hopefully the object of your crush will then find your message on the map, reciprocate in kind and, well, the rest is really up to you.

I do love this Google Map. It is such a simple idea brilliantly executed, with just the right note of poignancy.

Create a Google Map in 60 Seconds

Mapbiquity

Mapbiquity is a Google Maps based creation tool that can help you create a Google Map for your website.

Mapbiquity helps you build a map with your own data. To create a map all you really need to do is upload some Shapefile data. You can then style the map to fit the design of your website.

When you have completed you map you can then add it to your site by cutting and pasting a short piece of code.

Where Will You Watch the Lunar Eclipse?

Event Map: Where Will You Be?

NASA have created a Google Map so that you can share where you will be watching tonight's total lunar eclipse. NASA hopes to build a community of moon-gazers across the country by everyone sharing their lunar eclipse viewing spots, comments and photos.

You can add yourself to the moon-gazing map by entering your 10-digit cell phone number on the NASA website. NASA will then text you with tips and resources for viewing the eclipse. You can then text NASA your zip code and they will add you to the map.

Remember you can also tune into NASA's live video feed of the eclipse and view a simulation of the eclipse on the Google Earth browser with HeyWhatsThat's Event Map: Where Will You Be?

Regional Accents on Google Maps

Map Your Voice

The British Library has created a Google Map to record and map English accents around the world.

The British Library are asking people all over the world to read and record the children's story 'Mr. Tickle' by Roger Hargreaves. The story has been chosen for the range of English sounds it contains when read out loud.

You can listen to the recordings already made by clicking on the map markers on the map and pressing play on the embedded audio player.

This isn't the first sound map produced by The British Library. The UK SoundMap is a Google Map of soundscapes captured around the UK.

Via: ReadWriteWeb

Telling Stories with Google Maps

MapSkip

MapSkip is an interesting Google Map that allows users to map stories about places. The stories can be about the place you fell in love, where you had a dream vacation or where you took a great picture. Alternatively your stories can be about the places that are important in your life, such as where you live, eat, work and have fun.

MapSkip has a community of over 1,000 registered users and has mapped over 1,200 stories. MapSkip is particularly popular with many schools and teachers. The site allows teachers to create student accounts and adjust settings so that students' work is not visible to others. A Teacher's Interface also allows teachers to review stories submitted by their students.

The MapSkip map of submitted stories can be filtered to show only your added stories and places, to display only your favourited stories, or only stories that have sound or video.

Create a Google Map in 60 Seconds

TIXIK.com

If you need to create a simple Google Map then TIXIK.com can help. Using this map creator you can create an embeddable map for your website in a matter of seconds.

To create a map you just need to enter a location. A Google Map showing the location is then displayed with the code to embed the map on a website. If the location needs adjusting you can drag the map marker to the correct position.

TIXIK.com also allows you to adjust the height and width of your map, set the map type, the zoom level and adjust the map border.

The Lunar Eclipse Simulator

HeyWhatsThat: Eclipses

Early in the morning of December the 21st, on the winter solstice, there will be a total lunar eclipse. If you live in North America you should have great views of the eclipse. If you live in Western Europe you should be able to see the beginning of the eclipse.

HeyWhatsThat: Eclipses uses the Google Earth plug-in to simulate solar and lunar eclipses. Using Eclipses you can watch a simulation of the lunar eclipse from your location. Use the timeline beneath the Google Earth plug-in to view the eclipse at different times during the night.

If you live in the southern hemisphere you can enjoy the summer solstice. However you can also tune into NASA's live video feed of the eclipse.

usa maps

official site

Map of the USA that is compatible with the Tag™ reading system. Loaded with facts about individual states and regions. For ages 4 - 7.

offiial site