Fresh imagery from Christchurch

In the wake of the earthquake that struck Christchurch last month, GeoEye captured some fresh imagery of the area and has now made it available to everyone.

While the imagery is a bit cloudy, it really gives a sense of the widespread damage in the area. These images were captured two days after the quake, on February 24.

christchurch.jpg

To view the imagery in Google Earth, they’ve made a few files available for you to download:

Central and Northern Christchurch
Southern Christchurch

As Frank mentioned on the Tahina Expedition blog a few days ago you’re encouraged to contribute to the families affected by the quake on the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal site.

(Via National Business Review)

“Destination Maps” for Your Holiday / New Year’s Parties

Over the next few weeks, there will be many holiday and New Year’s parties across the globe as we spend time with our families and welcome in 2011. I wanted to briefly re-visit a previously released Map App that is very timely for this time of the year – “Destination Maps”. When planning your party, this Map App lets you create custom mini-maps that you can save, print, or share via URL.

These maps can either help people who don’t know your location very well or just be a fun addition to a party invitation. And if you’re not having a party anytime soon, check it out anyways! You can choose from 4 different map styles, including the Treasure Map style as seen in the below example. Please note that the app takes between 2 and 4 minutes to generate the map.

Destination Maps Example

On behalf of everyone at Bing Maps, have a happy holiday and a great final few weeks in 2010. Enjoy!