WebProNews

Tag: KML File

  • Google Earth Tour Highlights National Park

    In a guest post over at the Google Lat Long Blog today, Ben Fash of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy announced how the group used the Google Earth Outreach Developer Grant it received late last year. The Parks Conservancy, which is a nonprofit that supports San Francisco area national parks, created a Keyhole Markup Language (KML) presentation highlighting the restoration of Crissy Field – a large National Park adjacent to the Golden Gate Bridge. KML files can be used with Google Earth to view annotations and other media along with satellite data. From the blog post:

    The Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th anniversary celebration recently culminated in a waterfront festival, and hundreds of thousands of people joined hands on Crissy Field — a beautiful 100-acre national park site at the foot of the bridge. As we celebrated the bridge with the community on Crissy Field, we also celebrated 11 years of the restoration of the cultural and natural resources at this site.

    The presentation, titled “The Transformation of Crissy Field,” is an interactive Google Earth tour of Crissy Field and the many changes it has endured since before the arrival of Europeans. In its previous incarnations, the site was the location of a Grand Prix race track, an army airfield, and a dumping ground for chemical waste. The tour uses photos, maps, drawings, and, of course, satellite imagery, to create an informative Google Earth presentation on how Crissy Field was restored to its current pristine status.

    The KML presentation is only viewable if you have Google Earth already downloaded. Luckily, the Parks Concervancy has provided a fully-narrated YouTube video of the presentation. You can watch the video below or download the Google Earth presentation.

  • Google Earth 6.2 For Android & iOS Launched

    Google Earth 6.2 For Android & iOS Launched

    The world is what you make of it, Google Earthers, and now you can take it with you.

    With the launch of Google Earth 6.2 for Android and iOS devices announced today, Google has integrated customized maps into the update of the mobile version of the platform. Anytime you find a “Google Earth file,” also known as a KML file, you can click the link, which will now prompt the Google Earth app to open and load the custom map. Google’s Lat Long blog explains that, with the latest update, users will have access to the entire Google Earth Gallery in the mobile app.

    Since there was an earthquake earlier today in Japan, disasterphiles and tectonic aficionados may be interested in the real-time Earthquakes map created by the U.S. Geological Survey.

    If you’re in the United States, maybe your interest is in touring different capitol and landmark buildings around the country.

    Or, if you’ve got your head in the clouds, you can track all active flights in the United States in real-time with a map compiled by flightwise.com

    One perk that Android users will have is that they’ll be able to share screenshots of their current Google Earth view via Google+ circles and Gmail contacts.

    The update to Google Earth is currently available for in Google Play (formerly Android Market) now and it will be hitting the virtual shelves of iTunes App Store soon.

  • Google Earth’s Giant Santa Sightings

    Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer, especially for the Internet industry, a collective that embraces every popular holiday with open arms. With that in mind, going all out for the Christmas season seems only right.

    Take Google Maps, for example. Because of the street view feature, you can get a ground floor, rotational view of giant Santas in various areas. On the Google Sightseeing blog, a number of these were documented, but Google took it one step farther, offering a KML file that can be installed on your copy of Google Earth, giving you access to various giant Santas in an assortment of locations.

    Apparently, the Google Sightseeing blog documented many, if not all of the giant Santa locations, which Google then converted to an add-on file, simplifying the location process an exponential amount. Whatever the case, it’s for a good cause, because who doesn’t enjoy looking at the various versions of giant Santa Claus statues in the United States? If you’re one of the folks who wouldn’t, try enjoying yourself a little more.

    It should be noted that Google Sightseeing’s giant Santa findings were not only located in the United States. There’s also mention of a giant Santa in Norway, complete with coordinate links.

    As for Google, they also mention a few other sites that incorporate the Christmas theme with Google Maps. There’s one service that allows you to create a custom Christmas message, using a snow-covered image of your house and/or current location. It’s an awesome feature that allows you to send personalized messages using the data from Google Maps, and some snow added in for good measure.

    The resulting animation offers a link which takes the receiver to the personalized message. Be sure you have a WebGL-capable browser before you try to view it. Here’s one from us at WebProNews to you, our readers:

    Merry Christmas from WebProNews, thanks to Google Maps and It’sAMessage.com.