You’re doing your homework, and you suddenly ask yourself, what is there in this world that I can use to entertain myself for hours, and prevent me from having to do my homework? Well my friends, the answer has come to me once again, as I bring to you my newest discovery, Google Earth.
Google Earth was a program created in 2004 originally called Earth Viewer. The idea is quite simple. Basically, Google Earth is a collection of millions of photographs taken by satellites that orbit the earth. After several years, the satellites have gained enough information and pictures to be able to combine them all and create the entire earth.
What’s so neat about this? Well, I’ll tell you. There is a search bar in the upper left corner. In this bar, you can type any location in. For example, I typed in Purdue University. The screen then began to zoom in and the Earth spun. The image that resulted was the center of campus at Purdue. It was pretty cool for the software to be able to find something so small (in relation to the Earth, of course) so quickly. I was pretty impressed with this, but I decided to take it a step further. I come from a town in Indiana that is not large by any means. My house is also nothing to stare in awe at. My house is average sized for suburban Indiana. So, imagine my surprise when I typed in my address, and immediately, the Earth spun and zoomed in to a picture of my house. I looked down, and saw my car in my driveway, and all of the trees, and anything else that is at my house.
So, you’re pretty interested, right? Well I do have one small complaint about it. The pictures need to be updated. When I look at my house, I see a tree that my father and I cut down a year or two ago, so I realized that it is not possible for the pictures to be all new. But still, am quite pleased with the software, and hope it continues to get better.
Now, what I have just described is the old Google Earth that I used a year or so ago. Recently, I have downloaded the newest version of Google Earth (available free when you search for Google Earth) and it has grown exponentially better. While the picture of my house is still a bit outdated, the new features more than make up for it.
In the new version, there are several new modes, including street mode, sky view mode, and 3-D mode.
Street mode is just as it sounds. It is a view of the actual street you want to see. Imagine you were looking for something on Northwestern, and you couldn’t find it. Perhaps you can get onto Google Earth and search Northwester and find it.
3-D Mode goes along with Street mode, a little bit. 3-D mode is a mode where you can change the view of the image, and see a 3-D image of something. My first idea was to search the Swiss Alps. So, I found the mountain range, and switched to 3-D mode. The mountains rose above me, and I desperately wished I could be at the top. So you know what I did? I
moved the camera to the top. I had free view within the mountain range. Now, here is the coolest part. I noticed something that looked like a timer with a sun on it. I clicked it, and the sun set, I clicked backwards, and the sun rose. Google Earth allows you to find the most recent sunset/rise of that area, and watch it over and over again. Now, you don’t have to spend a ridiculous amount of money to watch a romantic sunset. You can do it cheaply, while sitting at your computer desk.
The last mode that I am quite fond if includes the Sky Mode. Sky Mode is also just as it sounds. Google partnered with the Hubble Telescope, and got images of the night sky. Now you can constellation search throughout the vast universe and find what you are looking for. Constellations not your thing? How about searching for a certain planet that we know of, or galaxy. Google will take you there. Another very neat thing is the ability to watch a planet move in its orbital path. For all of you amateur astronomers out there, I
can practically see you drooling.
Overall, Google Earth is the greatest break from homework there is on the planet. Don’t believe me? How about you search the world for something greater, while using Google Earth. Oh, and did I mention that its free?
Google Earth was a program created in 2004 originally called Earth Viewer. The idea is quite simple. Basically, Google Earth is a collection of millions of photographs taken by satellites that orbit the earth. After several years, the satellites have gained enough information and pictures to be able to combine them all and create the entire earth.
What’s so neat about this? Well, I’ll tell you. There is a search bar in the upper left corner. In this bar, you can type any location in. For example, I typed in Purdue University. The screen then began to zoom in and the Earth spun. The image that resulted was the center of campus at Purdue. It was pretty cool for the software to be able to find something so small (in relation to the Earth, of course) so quickly. I was pretty impressed with this, but I decided to take it a step further. I come from a town in Indiana that is not large by any means. My house is also nothing to stare in awe at. My house is average sized for suburban Indiana. So, imagine my surprise when I typed in my address, and immediately, the Earth spun and zoomed in to a picture of my house. I looked down, and saw my car in my driveway, and all of the trees, and anything else that is at my house.
So, you’re pretty interested, right? Well I do have one small complaint about it. The pictures need to be updated. When I look at my house, I see a tree that my father and I cut down a year or two ago, so I realized that it is not possible for the pictures to be all new. But still, am quite pleased with the software, and hope it continues to get better.
Now, what I have just described is the old Google Earth that I used a year or so ago. Recently, I have downloaded the newest version of Google Earth (available free when you search for Google Earth) and it has grown exponentially better. While the picture of my house is still a bit outdated, the new features more than make up for it.
In the new version, there are several new modes, including street mode, sky view mode, and 3-D mode.
Street mode is just as it sounds. It is a view of the actual street you want to see. Imagine you were looking for something on Northwestern, and you couldn’t find it. Perhaps you can get onto Google Earth and search Northwester and find it.
3-D Mode goes along with Street mode, a little bit. 3-D mode is a mode where you can change the view of the image, and see a 3-D image of something. My first idea was to search the Swiss Alps. So, I found the mountain range, and switched to 3-D mode. The mountains rose above me, and I desperately wished I could be at the top. So you know what I did? I
moved the camera to the top. I had free view within the mountain range. Now, here is the coolest part. I noticed something that looked like a timer with a sun on it. I clicked it, and the sun set, I clicked backwards, and the sun rose. Google Earth allows you to find the most recent sunset/rise of that area, and watch it over and over again. Now, you don’t have to spend a ridiculous amount of money to watch a romantic sunset. You can do it cheaply, while sitting at your computer desk.The last mode that I am quite fond if includes the Sky Mode. Sky Mode is also just as it sounds. Google partnered with the Hubble Telescope, and got images of the night sky. Now you can constellation search throughout the vast universe and find what you are looking for. Constellations not your thing? How about searching for a certain planet that we know of, or galaxy. Google will take you there. Another very neat thing is the ability to watch a planet move in its orbital path. For all of you amateur astronomers out there, I
can practically see you drooling.Overall, Google Earth is the greatest break from homework there is on the planet. Don’t believe me? How about you search the world for something greater, while using Google Earth. Oh, and did I mention that its free?
2 comments:
Google Earth is a really cool program that i found to be very attractive. I love the graphics that it has too and how the Earth spins to the location that you put in. Just a couple days ago, in fact, my science teacher used Google Earth to show us what Mt. St. Helens looks like after it erupted. I like the 3-D effect that it give you too. I have not typed in my home address to look at my house, but i think that i will do it soon to see how much cooler my house looks when the Earth spins to my exact location.
Google Earth! The name says it all (at least for me)... I totally love this program because it is easy to use and you can take a look at pretty much anything in the world. I haven't used the newer version of it but having a 3-D effect and the sky effect might just make me get it. I use this program whenever I miss my hometown in India or if I wanted to show it to my friends. However, to look at some cities and towns in India, I would have to zoom in myself and find the place... Hopefully the newer version does it all for me...
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