2012 Google Model Your Town Competition

[Cross-posted from the SketchUp blog]

Following the success of last year’s Google Model Your Town competition, today we’re launching the second Google Model Your Town Competition. Model Your Town is about geo-modeling – making photo-textured models of real-life buildings that appear in Google Earth. The Model Your Town Competition is also a chance to celebrate your town by adding it to the 3D map. Of course, the USD$25,000 for a local school/district is a nice incentive too.

Barranco, Lima, Peru


The Model Your Town Competition is open to just about everyone, just about everywhere in the world. Form a team, model buildings (using SketchUp or Building Maker) and upload them by the end of February 2012.

You can model as many structures as you like – which types of buildings you choose to include is entirely up to you. The important thing is that your choices say something about the character and history of your town.

If your town wins, a bunch of us from the SketchUp team will visit, throw you a dinner party and do our best to make you feel like the local hero that you truly are. Check out the competition website for details, and start rounding up teammates!

Learn more at Your World in 3D, then get started modeling your town!

Garmin aera 796

As Garmin’s new flagship portable aviation product, the aera 796 incorporates the popular features of the GPSMAP® 696, while also adding new capabilities such as a touchscreen user interface, pilot-selectable screen orientation and 3D Vision. The aera 796 also takes the pilot one step closer to a paperless cockpit with a digital document viewer, scratch pad and pre-loaded geo-referenced AeroNav IFR and VFR enroute charts.

http://www.youtube.com/v/49qE-vp8Vqs?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata

Pacific Crossing in Google Earth

Join a journey of discovery virtually in Google Earth, as Liquid Robotics launches four wave-powered robotic gliders to cross the Pacific ocean in their Pacific Crossing (PacX) Challenge Expedition. The wave gliders are attempting to set a new world record for the longest distance ever attempted by an unmanned vehicle and will be collecting data about the Pacific ocean for use by scientists and students back on dry land. These R2D2s of the sea will cross 25,000 miles over 300 days and collect over 2 million data points, helping build the record of oceanic knowledge.

Wave glider robots await launch from San Francisco in this first expedition blog post in Google Earth.
To follow the wave gliders in Google Earth, download the expedition KML file or open the PacX Gallery page and click on the ship icon. You will be able to read updates from scientists sharing the latest robotic observations, from wave height in storms to weather measurements like barometric pressure, wind speed and air temperature. The ship icon will represent the location of the wave gliders, starting in the San Francisco bay.