Steve Jobs in Google Earth

 

Steve Jobs undoubtedly had an effect on almost all of the technology that we use today. While he had relatively little impact on products like Google Earth (because Apple never created competing technology to help push things forward), his impact reached all of us.

That said, geospatial technologies can be used to help honor people in a unique way, such as the timeline of Louis Zamperini’s life.

Similarly, Google Maps Mania recently posted a timeline of Steve Jobs’ life. Steven Ho, who recently built the Trip View Bowl visualization, has built a nice tribute to Jobs in Google Earth. It turns Earth into a giant apple, with a silhouette of Jobs’ face on the side.

 

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It’s easily one of the largest 3D models we’ve seen, similar to the pumpkin or the giant mustached smiley face we show you for movember each year. The giant apple is part of a short tour that he created, which also includes music and a quote about Steve.

To see it for yourself, you can view it with the Google Earth Plug-in.

Google Earth: Visualizations from Tuesday’s earthquake

 

A few days ago, the eastern United States was hit by a magnitude 5.8 earthquake. The quake did relatively little damage, though it was felt by a large portion of the country.

Data Appeal,  has built a few files to show the severity and reach of the earthquake.

The first KMZ file uses transparent spheres with volumeric values, similar to the demos we have seen from DataAppeal in the past.

 

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Their second KMZ file shows the data with tall orange spikes, built using real data with dramatized height.

 

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These files are a great example of what companies like DataAppeal are capable of, as well an excellent way to show how fast they work. Being able to plug data into a system like that and get these kinds of results could be a powerful tool for a lot of organizations.

The Stone Mountain sculpture

 

 

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The carving on the mountain is widely thought to be 190 feet x 90 feet, provided by their official website as well as on Wikipedia. However, based on measurements made in Google Earth, Peter believed the actual size to be closer to 167′ x 77′. After repeated inquiries, Stone Mountain Park was able to confirm the actual size of the carving at 158′ x 76′ — even smaller than he had suggested (though still quite massive).

It’s also widely advertised that the total cutout on the mountain covers 3 acres. As it turns out, the cutout are is roughly 359′ x 191′ which amounts to 1.57 acres.

Peter’s new model just recently went live in the 3D Warehouse, so you can use this KML file to fly there and see it in Google Earth.