Google Earth

[RDN]

3D graphics card: 3D-capable video card with 32MB VRAM or greater

Roughly, what sort of money would those toys run to?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My Acer TravelMate 4603WLMI came with an ATI Mobility Radeon X700 graphics card with 128 MB VRAM. Don't know how much they cost when bought separately. The PC has 768 MB RAM and a 1.86 GHZ Pentium M750 processor (Centrino?). It cost an arm and a leg. It's also got a DVR+/-RW. I also bought a MS wireless optical mouse which is brilliant. . But no more toys this year.

[TizMe]

I'm running it on 1222 dial up...

And I only have 24 bit colour.

No pomplem....

[TizMe]

I don't believe you, the guy is wearing a big straw hat with a red hatband, how could you tell all that?

He is also wearing very well polished shoes. You can make out his reflection.

[TizMe]

And if you look even closer, you'll see me sitting with the ladies at the noodle shop next door taking photos... 

Pssst.......... wanna buy an "I just done it" photo? 

Those "ladies" that you are sitting with are the girls from BB taking a rest just after a "session". As you are the only male there we can only make one conclusion.... What will Mrs Jai Dee think about you being there?

[Jai Dee]

And if you look even closer, you'll see me sitting with the ladies at the noodle shop next door taking photos...  

Pssst.......... wanna buy an "I just done it" photo? 

Those "ladies" that you are sitting with are the girls from BB taking a rest just after a "session". As you are the only male there we can only make one conclusion.... What will Mrs Jai Dee think about you being there?

Shhh...... I just stopped off for some "quayteow moo sen lek"... honest!

[udon]

Sorry,just testing...... 1 2 3

Thanks JD

-------------------

Hmm, no movement...... why whould that be?

Edited July 14, 2005 by udon

[RDN]

I'm running it on 1222 dial up...

And I only have 24 bit colour.

No pomplem....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for that - I'll persevere trying to download the damm file!

[coldcrush]

Downloaded the prgram, not getting much only roads maps etc...surely doing something wrong knowing me!!!!

Have a good system etc, just getting landscape views cannot get buildings close ups etv?

Any ideas?

Thanks all

Edited July 14, 2005 by lopburiguy

[penelope]

attached is an mpeg of my google earth user experience, taken holding a sony camera up to 43" pioneer plasma. Movie quality is a bit crappy, compressed mpeg, but you can get an idea of the smoothness you should expect with good bandwidth,good graphics system,display panel, dvi output etc.... This movie is a fly in on the british embassy in bangkok.

MOV02407.MPG

[udon]

This Link may give you a few ideas of how to use Google Earth.

[Jai Dee]

This Link may give you a few ideas of how to use Google Earth.

Cheers udon...

And, I haven't forgotten you Moogy...

[Jai Dee]

I wonder why... of all Thailand's coastline... the Sattahip naval base should be photographed at a much higher resolution...

[RDN]

I just found my house:

Must've been taken before I moved in because there's no grass, fence, drive or car port.

Amazing program!

[udon]

If looking for Angor Wat, use siem reab, cambodia in the location box, not siem reap, cambodia........ that takes you south of PP...... can't figure that one out yet

[richard10365]

I downloaded the program. It's a lot of fun to play with.

You probably already know this feature but I'll mention it anyway in case others don't know.

In the bottom right corner of the screen you have the option to place pins on the map marking a specific location. The pin marks the exact latitude and longitude of the place where you put it.

Using my GPS, and the stored places on it, I am able to pin point my exact location on the Google Earth program. The latitude and longitude are editable features.

This feather helped take the guess work out of wondering, "is this my house?" I live in the country side and it was a little confusing where it was exactly.

Another nice feature I like is the elevation feature. As you move the pointer over the map, the elevation of that area is show in the bottom left corner. As you move the pointer across the map you can see the changes in elevation.

This feature could be helpful when studying places to build a dike or dam for the hot/dry season. I looked at an area close by which the government is going to build a dike and I was able to see why they chose the area.

It's a great program and I think in the future the resolution will be even better.

Good ideas start out rough around the edges sometimes but soon take on a life of their own.

Take the internet, for example. Orginally designed by the US Govt and now look at the monster it has grown into.

[penelope]

It's a great program and I think in the future the resolution will be even better.

Good ideas start out rough around the edges sometimes but soon take on a life of their own.

Take the internet, for example. Orginally designed by the US Govt and now look at the monster it has grown into.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The program has been around for a while..it was called KeyHole, Google bought them out. The images at high res have probably all been captured, however what exists and what is made available by the various agencies for distibution with Google Earth is the moot point. I'd say it has a bright future, with the captial Google has combined with the smarts they employ(some of the brightest cmoputer scientists around). They truly are the NEW Xerox Parc

[udon]

Googles desktop search is brilliant, I found a doc I needed from 2000 and had just about given up until I tried this fast d/load.

Kudos to Google.

[Nordlys]

p.s. I've never heard of a 100Mbps ADSL connection before.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

PS. Type 100Mbps ADSL into google, 660,000 sites.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bilko, is it possible what you might have is 100Mbps FTTH (fiber optics)?

I understand YahooBB Japan now has 50Mbps ADSL service though.

BTW too bad there's no Mac version to this program.

[penelope]

p.s. I've never heard of a 100Mbps ADSL connection before.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

PS. Type 100Mbps ADSL into google, 660,000 sites.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bilko, is it possible what you might have is 100Mbps FTTH (fiber optics)?

I understand YahooBB Japan now has 50Mbps ADSL service though.

BTW too bad there's no Mac version to this program.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

gigabit dsl, thats right... "GIGA", is available in Hong Kong.

[udon]

From The Courier Mail BNE

Google Earth 'no security threat'

08aug05

TERRORISTS are able to download a bird's-eye view of sensitive Australian sites, including Parliament House, the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor and airports, an internet company admits.

But the federal Government today said the increasingly popular Google Earth website posed no security risk and added nothing to information already publicly available.

Anyone with internet access can download high-quality satellite imagery through Google Earth, a new software program which allows users to zoom across the planet at a height of about 300 metres.

The new technology has prompted the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) to ask Google to consider censoring sensitive information.

"We have approached Google to find out how the technology is changing and what sort of information might be available in the future," ANSTO'S chief of operations Dr Ron Cameron said.

"The current level of information disseminated is not something that really concerns us, but we thought it would be prudent to find out where the technology was going."

Dr Cameron said ANSTO was not alone in its misgivings about the new software.

"Some overseas countries have asked for their defence sites to be censored, but I'm not sure if that's happened here," he said.

"At the moment it only shows buildings and we're about protecting what's in the buildings".

A spokesman for Google Australia said the information provided by the website was already in the public domain and even if the sites were censored people could still access it elsewhere.

"We are taking existing information and making it more accessible to the general public," he said.

A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said security agencies had factored the Google Earth website into their assessments of threat and found it posed no risk.

"If we were to receive advice from our security agencies that there were concerns, then the Government would take the appropriate action," she said.

"(But) medium and high resolution images have been available for several years to the public from a number of companies both at home and overseas ... the Google Earth website does not add anything to the existing publicly available data."

[Neeranam]

I've got 100Mbps but can't get it to run.

Says the publisher could not be verified.

[udon]

Here's a piece from the help files

Many new graphics-intensive features have been added, so graphics card

  compatibility is an issue.  Be sure to update your graphics driver.

- This version supports Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

 

  It does run on Windows Server 2003 and XP-x64.

  It does not run on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98SE, or Windows ME.

  It has also been tested successfully with Windows XP Service Pack 2

  (SP2) with some exceptions:

  * If you install Windows XP SP2, it may DOWNgrade your driver to

    a version earlier than is found on the manufacturer's website.  Some

    people report that such nVidia, Intel, and ATI drivers do not work

    with Google Earth.  To avoid this problem, please do the following _after_

installing XP SP2: Go to the manufacturer's website, download, and

install the latest driver.  Note: Refer to the driver *version number*

-- not the date -- to determine how up-to-date your driver is.

- A minimum screen size of 1024x768 pixels is required.  Also,

  "True Color (32-bit)" resolution and a sufficient graphics card are required for

  filled polygons; otherwise, they will be displayed as outlines only.

- The default OpenGL graphics rendering engine is the usually the best

  from both a performance and visual quality perspective. 

- The DirectX version of Google Earth can be selected in the Preferences

  panel.  If there is a problem at startup, you can also change it from

  the Start Menu item.  Use it on older machines and laptop computers that

  have trouble with the default OpenGL version.

- The DirectX version of Google Earth requires DirectX 8.1 or newer.

  Microsoft's current release is 9.0c:

    http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&displaylang=en

- The ATI Omega drivers are not supported. If used, they produce frequent

  crashes in the client.  Use only manufacturer recommended drivers.

- If you have a Quadro, FireGL, or other workstation card that has problems

  with printing, movie making, or filled polygons (flashing or replicated

  on the screen), change  one of the options in the advanced area of your

  Display Properties and then restart the Google Earth client.

  (eg: Control Panels->Display->settings->Advanced->3D for ATI)

  a)  For ATI FireGL, find the application configuration section

      tab, and choose "3dsmax."  ATI will soon be adding a "Keyhole"

      mode, so choose that if it is available.

    For Quadro, select the "use unified back/depth buffer" check box.

- If the client crashes, then it will create a 'minidump' file that can

  help debug and fix the problem. It does not contain any personal

  information. If the option is selected in the installer, this is

  automatically sent to Google. Regardless of whether you send it to Google

  a copy is made on your machine. The file names starts with "Google_Earth"

  and contains the version number/type, the date/time and has a ".dmp"

  extension. It is stored in your temporary directory - to see the most

  recent crash sorted by name and pick the minidump closest to a file

  starting with the letter H, or sort by 'Date Modified'.

      Directory: C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Temp\

      Example Name: Google_Earth_EC_3.0.0220_beta_050504-114650.dmp

- If you have having trouble connecting to Google Earth servers and you

  your machine has a software firewall like:

      McAfee Personal Firewall

      Norton Personal Firewall

      ZoneAlarm

      Microsoft Windows XP service pack 2 (SP2) Firewall

  you may have inadvertently blocked Google Earth's access to the internet.

  Please verify that GoogleEarth.exe is not explicitly blocked and that

  access to "port 80" is available for non-browser applications. You can

  typically find these settings by opening your anti-virus software

  preferences. 

I hope it helps.

[glassdude007]

thanks penny....great sight my kids are hooked on it already...they got the opening picture then pan way back so you see the whole earth and then somehow they get it spinning like a bowling ball AMAZING ...for what its worth i can see my boat in my back yard here in cape cod mass usa ..also the quality here is good but the photos are old as the golfcourse up the street is still under construction on google earth ...but has been up and running for 4 or 5 years........also how does it compare too the nasa sight witch one is better????????tx again

[manx_bkk]

Google Earth has updated Bangkok's images. The blurred out part on the west of Sukhmuvit is now detailed.

I m off to Exploring!

Lumpini Park below

[penelope]

Google Earth has updated Bangkok's images. The blurred out part on the west of Sukhmuvit is now detailed. 

I m off to Exploring!

Lumpini Park below

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

fantastic !

[LivinLOS]

Anyone flown over Area 51 yet ???

[tuky]

Is google earth any better than http://maps.google.com/?

I have not bothered downloading the google earth program, as maps.google is easy to access and seems to do exactly the same job.

Here is my home from maps.google

[penelope]

Is google earth any better than http://maps.google.com/?

I have not bothered downloading the google earth program, as maps.google is easy to access and seems to do exactly the same job.

Here is my home from maps.google

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

same image repository, just a different interface (web based vs thick client)

[bkk_mike]

Google Earth has updated Bangkok's images. The blurred out part on the west of Sukhmuvit is now detailed. 

I m off to Exploring!

Lumpini Park below

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

fantastic !

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Its not just the west Sukhumvit area they've updated - the 3-4 year old pictures of the east of Bangkok are now a lot more up-to-date too. (looks to be 6-12 months old now...)

[The Coder]

Is google earth any better than http://maps.google.com/?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Google earth is a lot more comfortable for panning and zooming around; much nicer than the web version because it is smooth rather than in steps. I also noticed the web version does not have the new and improved bangkok yet. Even the improved bangkok is still just a bit blurry here and there, but is a huge improvement none the less.