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Filed under: Internet, Microsoft

Zoom in on the space shuttle with Microsoft Photosynth

Space shuttle photosynth
Microsoft and NASA have released high resolution images of the space shuttle Endeavor. Microsoft's Photosynth web viewer stitches together hundreds of high quality images to present a 3D view of items including Endeavor at the launch pad, the space shuttle Atlantis, and NASA's vehicle assembly building.

All told, there are four image libraries made up of thousands of images. To be honest, the interface is a little confusing at first. As you click on the arrows and images, you move from one photo to another. But after you get the hang of it, you can drag and drop the images, smoothly zoom in and out of photos, and flip between alternate views of the space shuttle.

It's not your usual 3D display, in that you can't easily get a 360 degree view of the space shuttle just by dragging your mouse, but the photos are stitched together in such a way that you can see pretty much all there is to see, right down to the people working on the launch pad.

Filed under: Google

New high resolution imagery for Google Earth

Google Earth AntarcticaGoogle has updated the imagery for Google Earth, providing high definition views of many more locations, including:
  • UK images have been updated so that most of England is now in high resolution
  • New color mapping for Germany
  • Parts of Antarctica, Greenland, and Canada have been updated (we'll refrain from making jokes about similar numbers of people living in each of these places)
  • High resolution updates for parts of Japan, Russia, New Zealend, Iran, Spain, Austria
  • More high resolution images for U.S. cities including Washington D.C., St. Paul Minnesota, and Houston Texas
While it's pretty cool that you can zoom in on parts of Antarctica, it turns out that there's really just not that much to look at.
[via Google Earth Blog and Ogle Earth]

Filed under: Photo, Web services, Google

Imagery: An alternate interface for Google Images

Imagery

Google Images' interface is a lot like most of Google's products: It doesn't stick a lot of options in your face and it stays out of your way. That's a good thing, but once in awhile you want something a little more robust, and that's what Imagery is for. Created last year by Eliazar Cardenas, Imagery is a slick front-end for Google Images that adds a pile of features. Search results are displayed as thumbnails, not unlike the standard Google Images interface, but when you roll over an image a few of options pop up, including Open Source Page and Open in New Window, and an X button the hide that thumbnail entirely. When you left-click on a thumbnail a full-sized version is added to a sort of collection area below where you have more viewing options. Imagery's nicest feature, though, is its tabbed interface. If you've already got one set of search results open and search for a new set of keywords, the new search will be opened in an embedded tab. Though I'm not sure it'll replace the regular Google Images for my daily image-searching needs, Imagery might come in handy for more serious image-hunting.

Featured Time Waster

Graveyard Shift - zombie-busting Time Waster

With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet. They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...

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