From Google PR:

Almost 500 photographs by French photographer and environmentalist Yann Arthus-Bertrand have been unveiled in Google Earth today. The photographs are presented as a layer in Google Earth with striking facts and figures about the state of the globe today. Yann Arthus-Bertrand and his non-profit organization GoodPlanet.org aim to promote environmental sustainability by highlighting the beauty of the planet and the issues it faces through his photography.

The layer, which is called "Earth from Above," will be regularly updated with new photographs plus facts and figures by GoodPlanet.org, using data from various agencies around the world. It will be accessible from the Global Awareness folder in Google Earth, home to a number of layers highlighting environmental and humanitarian issues.
To access the Global Awareness folder, users should go to the Layers folder in the left hand toolbar in Google Earth. Google Earth can be downloaded for free here.

The stunning Yann Arthus-Bertrand photographs can also be accessed on iGoogle, the personalized Google homepage. By adding the "Earth from Above" gadget to their homepage, users can discover a new photograph each day and pinpoint its location on Google Maps.

The layer, iGoogle gadget and an introductory video can be accessed from the "Earth from Above" microsite: www.google.com/earthfromabove. The Earth from Above layer will be available in 14 languages: French, English, German, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Czech and Russian.

Read more on the Official Google Blog.

Ed Parsons noted Google's new tools for UK teachers to use Google Maps and Google Earth in the classroom to teach history, geography and citizenship. The BBC offers its take:

History topics include the slave trade, castles and the British Empire and geography topics include climate change and natural disasters - based around information integrated with Google's online maps.

"It's the first step in the GIS-enabled madness we're planning on rolling out in the New Year. "

- GIS company? No. Neogeo person? No. Mike Orren, president of Pegasus News in his blog speaking to new tools at Pegasus News, a local news/events site for Dallas/Ft. Worth and someday more cities. From the site's main page: "If you register an address in your user profile, this box will deliver headlines and events in a tight radius around your home. Otherwise, you can browse neighborhoods."

There is a slow and steady move from geospatial software providers as they move their focus from the end-user to the third party developer. More tools are available than ever. Developer conferences are growing. Demand for industry focused or custom solutions is growing as easy-to-use websites change end-user expectations. Editors Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg explore how this sea change will impact the geospatial marketplace.

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