The unofficial Google Earth Blog have some examples of Google’s SketchUp renderings (as shown above) that are simply stunning. The photo-realistic pieces really have to be seen to be believed. They give some hint of the level of detail and quality that Google Maps 3D will someday achieve. Do take a look.
Spatial Sustain have a short piece and accompanying video on Microsoft’s GIS offering, “Layerscape” and how it’s being used by earth scientists in such disciplines as geology, climatology, oceanography and glaciology, to study, analyse and visualise massive amounts of data.
GIS Lounge informs us that the British library has launched a new crowdsourcing initiative that hopes to enlist the help of the public in georeferencing historical maps. The initiative will help make many more maps available to geographic searches.
Big Think have an interesting historical map, not of an actual place, but of a fool. It talks of the 1720 bubble not unlike the financial crisis most of the world is in right now. It’s an interesting map with an interesting story, and well worth a read.
SlashGeo alerts us to a discussion regarding the recent signign of a new law that allows UAVs to be used in the US for all manner of commercial purposes, including real estate, Hollywood films, crop dusting, and any manner of applications. The discussion focuses mainly on the potential amount of data that will be collected in the future.
Google Maps Mania have a little map that allows you to plot the location of the people you follow on Twitter. A neat little way to visualise just where all your information is coming from.
Esri have put together a map that shows what coral reefs are currently threatened by human activity, and which of those are expected to be endangered over the next 40 years.
And that's it for this week. Until next time!
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