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Ever wanted to know more about the geography of an area that you know of? Ever wished that you had access to actual images and landscapes of places that you intend to visit during your holidays instead of simple block maps? Well, here’s your chance to get a glimpse of the world from above via Google Earth. Google describes it as a 3D interface to the planet. It consists of a nifty piece of software by Google that shows you the globe and provides you with an interface that allows you to zoom in for a closer look. You can read all the nitty gritty details at Google Earth’s webpage. However, if you want to simply dive in without knowing everything, here are the instructions.

Note of caution: Google Earth streams images from their server and stores them on your local harddrive. It may take a while to finish streaming and loading the map image overlays and will eat up a fair amount of harddisk space. Please be patient and allow each grid to load to completion.

Minimum Requirements:

• Operating system: Windows 2000, Windows XP
• CPU speed: Intel Pentium III 500 MHz
• System memory (RAM): 128MB
• 200MB hard-disk space
• 3D graphics card: 3D-capable video card with 16MB VRAM
• 1024×768, 32-bit true color screen
• Network speed: 128 kbps (”Broadband/Cable Internet”)

Installation:

1. Download the Google Earth setup from Google Earth’s download page
2. Install Google Earth by running the setup and following the onscreen instructions
3. Launch Google Earth and allow it to stream/download the various map files it requires

Navigation:

• To zoom in, hold down the right mouse button and drag back (move mouse towards you)
• To zoom out, hold down the right mouse button and push forward (move mouse away from you)
• To rotate the globe, hold the left mouse button and drag the globe in the direction you want to turn
  

Google Earth also provides a list of shortcuts and extra location images that you can download and access from the web. To load the files, simply follow the link and choose to open the files with Google Earth. The following is a list of disaster locations.

• Baffa and Mansehra: Earthquake areas in Pakistan
• Islamabad and Rawalpindi: More earthquake hit Pakistan
• Hurricane Katrina image listing
  

I was looking at Singapore and Malaysia today with a friend and we were surprised at the amount of detail that you can see. The overlays consists of a mix of satelite images and still captures from aircrafts. You can see specific buildings and roadworks. Some of the more popular and famous locations are also marked on the maps. I wonder if I can find my house in there somewhere…

Google Earth not enough for you? More interested in hystorical maps? There’s whole collection of viewable 3D maps available at DavidRumsey.com. You’ll need to discover this on your own cause I’m getting a little lazy. IMHO, the site is worth browsing even if you have no interest whatsoever in cartography.