Google Earth For Dummies

Explore the world from your computer!

• This interesting guide covers all aspects of Google Earth, the freely downloadable application from Google that allows users to view satellite images from all points of the globe

• Aimed at a diverse audience, including casual users who enjoy air shots of locales as well as geographers, real estate professionals, and GPS developers

• Includes valuable tips on various customizations that users can add, advice on setting up scavenger hunts, and guidance on using Google Earth to benefit a business

• Explains modifying general options, managing the layer and placemark systems, and tackling some of the more technical aspects, such as interfacing with GPS

• There are more than 400,000 registered users of Google Earth and the number is still growing

Autorentext

David A. Crowder has authored or coauthored more than 25
books, including the bestsellers Building a Web Site For
Dummies and Cliffs Notes Getting on the Internet. His
two most recent books were both listed as essential for all library
collections by the magazine Library Journal.

Professor Crowder is equally at home with high technology or
with working his way through the backcountry on horseback or in a
dugout canoe. When he is not writing, he spends his time with his
wife Angela, wandering through villages in the Andes or frolicking
in the Caribbean surf.

Zusammenfassung

Explore the world from your computer!

• This interesting guide covers all aspects of Google Earth, the freely downloadable application from Google that allows users to view satellite images from all points of the globe
• Aimed at a diverse audience, including casual users who enjoy air shots of locales as well as geographers, real estate professionals, and GPS developers
• Includes valuable tips on various customizations that users can add, advice on setting up scavenger hunts, and guidance on using Google Earth to benefit a business
• Explains modifying general options, managing the layer and placemark systems, and tackling some of the more technical aspects, such as interfacing with GPS
• There are more than 400,000 registered users of Google Earth and the number is still growing

Inhalt

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

How to Use This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 2

Conventions Used in This Book 2

How This Book Is Organized 3

Part I: Getting to Know Google Earth 4

Part II: Personalizing Google Earth 4

Part III: Becoming a Cybertourist 4

Part IV: Advanced Features 4

Part V: The Part of Tens 4

Part VI: Appendixes 5

Icons Used in This Book 5

Where to Go from Here 5

Part I: Getting to Know Google Earth 7

Chapter 1: The Earth According to Google 9

The View from Google Earth 9

Exploring the Earth Online 11

Google Earth Gives You Options 13

Starting with what's free 14

Looking at Plus and Pro versions 15

So What Can I Really Do with Google Earth? 16

Plenty of personal uses 16

And businesses might want to 17

Joining the Google Earth Community 18

Getting Geekier with GPS, KML, and Overlays 19

Downloading the Program 20

A Note for Mac and Linux Users 22

Chapter 2: Finding Businesses, Places, and Things 23

Flying Down to Rio (Or Anywhere Else) 24

Right on the dot: Understanding latitude and longitude 25

Deciphering geocoding 28

Searching for a Tailor in Tulsa: The Find Businesses Tab 30

Getting Directions 31

Going Global: The Overview Map 32

Surfing with the Integrated Web Browser 35

Chapter 3: Adjusting Your View on the World 39

Rock the World: Dragging and Zooming the Map 39

Gaining a New Perspective: The Direction and Tilt Controls 41

Three-dimensional viewing 43

The compass and status bar 44

The Bigger They Are: Figuring Sizes with the Scale and Ruler 45

Using the Scale Legend 45

Using the Ruler 45

Part II: Personalizing Google Earth 49

Chapter 4: Fine-Tuning the Program 51

Relieve the Pane: Manipulating Screen Areas 51

Setting the Options 56

The 3D View tab 56

The Cache tab 60

The Touring tab 61

The Navigation tab 62

The General tab 63

Chapter 5: Adding Layers and Points of Interest (POIs) 65

Peeling the Onion: A Guide to Layers 65

Built-in points of interest 66

Displaying Layers 68

From School Districts to Earthquakes: Types of Layers 70

The Google Earth Community layer 70

Featured Content 74

Location layers 76

Boundary layers 76

Geographic/geological layers 78

Transportation layers 80

Picking a good place to live 81

Chapter 6: Pinning Down Placemarks 85

Exploring the Built-in Sightseeing Placemarks 86

X Marks the Spot: Creating and Naming Placemarks 88

Editing Placemarks 90

Customizing styles and colors 91

Changing the placemark icon 93

Adjusting the view 96

Setting the altitude 97

Organizing Placemarks 99

Saving files 100

Sorting by hand! 102

Part III: Becoming a Cybertourist 103

Chapter 7: Going on Tour 105

Real Roads: Getting Route Info 105

Animating placemarks and routes 108

Touring a path 109

Working the Touring Tab 110

Fly-To/Tour settings 110

Driving Directions Tour options 112

Making Custom Tours 113

Planning your tours 113

Constructing the tour 114

Chapter 8: Mingling with the Community 117

Using the Keyhole Forums 117

Joining the Google Earth Community 119

Signing on to the forums 121

Browsing the forums 122

Searching the forums 125 Getting Help 127</...