Odd internet travel... or "show me something fun in Google Earth"

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I love the new Google Earth program. It makes me feel like some super intergalactic being of higher power who can spin entire planets and visit any location he/she wants to on a whim. I can be in Tokyo right now, then leap over to Darwin in four seconds; or I can change the spin of the axis of the Earth and create two new poles. I must be stopped!

One of the things I like doing though is satallite spying on some famous places, like Disney World or Fenway Park. On a whim I happened to find something odd… I typed “Area 51” into the search bar and whoosh I was taken to that very military base in the Nevada desert. :eek:

So, do you have any other fun suggestions for places for me to visit in Google Earth? I’m bored and like traveling, even when I don’t have to get out of this chair.

2

Turn on “3D Buildings”, go to Dublin, Ireland, and look for the 120 metre-high spike in the middle of the city. Or London, and look for Big Ben.

Also, did you know you can navigate with the arrow keys? It feels much more intergalactic than using the mouse and icon navigation:

Up/Down/Left/Right: “drive” in the direction of the arrow key.
Shift + Up/Down: Change your height above the ground.
Shift + Left/Right: Rotate around what you’re looking at.
Ctrl + Up/Down: zoom in/out.

3

Google Earth really is amazing, isn’t it?

To satisfy your hunger for things to look at, bookmark the Google Earth Community forum … and prepare to waste a huge amount of the rest of your life. Start with the “Earth” link, and drill down from there.

Oh, and if you turn on “3D Buildings” as jjimm recommends, be sure to turn it off if you’re not actually looking for 3D buildings. That option can severely crumple your 2D display resolution if left on.

4

Since I’m still on dialup, I can’t get it.

Any chance you can screen-capture the top of Devil’s Tower and post it?

I’ve always wondered what it looked like on top.

5

This thread from a couple days ago has lots of good stuff … Fun with Google maps. - In My Humble Opinion - Straight Dope Message Board

6

Devil’s Tower from above (quality isn’t so good, but you said you are on dial up so I made it smaller).

I love Google Earth.

7

This is on Google Maps, 'cause I had to uninstall Earth, but check out these formal gardens, as well as a really cool Geodesic (sp?) dome: Google Maps They’re apparently Henry Shaw’s gardens. You’ll have to click to “satellite” and zoom in a bit, I can’t figure out how to link to the exact view. The green arrow is irrelevant - just a close intersection.

8

WhyNot … I used to live just up the street from there. Really a neat botanical garden http://www.mobot.org/

9

That dome is really neat! Thanks for linking to it.

10

You’d have to research the address, but the Design Center in LA is beautiful Its bright green and blue glass.

11

Cars drive on the right side of the road in China, and on the left in Macau and Hong Kong. The weird loop ramps shown at the border switch the sides. Yes, that can be done more simply, but there’s a purpose.

12

Aw, COOL!!!

Thanks!

(I’ll admit, I was imagining alien bases or a passage to the center of the world, but this will work.)

13

Davis Monthan AFB and its gazillion aircraft.