See the world

August 17, 2005 8:14 AM

FlashEarth is a Flash app that adds continuous zoom and rotation abilities to Google Maps/MSN VirtualEarth. Created by Paul Neave.
posted by gwint (16 comments total)

Sweet
posted by dead_ at 8:20 AM on August 17, 2005

Applause.
posted by ericb at 8:29 AM on August 17, 2005

Very cool that you can quickly switch from different data sources for the maps. Google Earth is a little shinier but of course it's not a web app.
posted by selfnoise at 8:36 AM on August 17, 2005

Hm. Maybe I should have another play - I tried it out a day or 2 ago and didn't see much of an advantage over google earth (or googlemaps for that matter). It may (as usual) have been because I was focussing on Oz. In any event, the google data was superior for Sydney over MSoft.
posted by peacay at 9:12 AM on August 17, 2005

If I could get a ride on the space shuttle I'd do a space-walk in my trenchcoat, and then I too would flash the earth!
posted by wavespy at 9:54 AM on August 17, 2005

wonderful. nicely implemented.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:48 AM on August 17, 2005

Very nice - not nearly as clunky as Google Maps, but not nealry as full featured as Google Earth.

Correct me here - although Google Earth is not a web app, it does gather all of its data from remote servers once you boot it up.
posted by Jazznoisehere at 11:21 AM on August 17, 2005

That's correct, Jazz. It streams higher-rez data off remote servers on the fly.

(I sometimes wish I could just download the whole thing, but presumably it's HEEEEUUUGGGE)
posted by selfnoise at 11:35 AM on August 17, 2005

You know, the best thing about this is the little crosshair that appears when you start dragging the map. This allows you to place something in the real center of the square, then zoom in while that spot stays in your view window... I really wish this were on the real maps.google.com.
posted by odinsdream at 11:48 AM on August 17, 2005

cool cool cool. Good link!
posted by tomplus2 at 1:45 PM on August 17, 2005

This is awesome
posted by mert at 2:09 PM on August 17, 2005

wow.

Thanks Paul Neave.

I like scroll-zoom.
posted by wah at 2:23 PM on August 17, 2005

Nice. Can finally run GoogleEarth on a Mac.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:47 PM on August 17, 2005

selfnoise, in case you're interested, the good folks at this website have made some estimates...
posted by flagellum at 8:01 PM on August 17, 2005

Thanks, flagellum! 8-11 terabytes, huh? Wow. I guess I can't store that on my HD.
posted by selfnoise at 12:18 PM on August 18, 2005

Those estimates are silly. Raster vs. vector. Now, the estimates would be valid for visual / satellite data, but not for map data. That's all simple vector data.
posted by intermod at 4:30 AM on August 22, 2005