The official Google Earth plugin is one free download that makes all sorts of cool stuff possible in your browser. There's
a full screen version of the program (complete with underwater views and 3D buildings) which can be searched by entering queries at the end of the URL. There's
a framed version with support for layers, historical imagery, day/night cycles, and the Google Sky starmap.
Less useful but more fun are Google's collection of "experiments" demonstrating the possibilities of the Earth API, including
a "Geo Whiz" geography quiz,
an antipode locater,
a 3D first-person view of San Francisco,
a virtual route-follower, and
MONSTER MILKTRUCK!, a crazy fun driving simulator that lets you careen a virtual milk truck through the Googleplex campus, ricochet off the Himalayas, or explore any other place you care to name.
Lots more can be found in the
Google Earth Gallery -- highlights include
a look at mountaintop removal mining,
a real-time flight tracker,
a guide to trails and outdoor recreation,
a 360 panorama catalog,
geotagged Panoramio photos,
and the comprehensive crowdsourced
Google Earth Community Layer.
And while it's too large to view online, don't miss loading
the Metafilter user location map into a desktop version of Google Earth!
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Jun 9, 2011 -
15 comments
openculture.com is offering hundreds of links to free online courses from the top universities in the United States (and Oxford).
posted by gman
on Jan 12, 2011 -
16 comments
The OER Commons exists to help educators "find free-to-use teaching and learning content from around the world." Thousands of primary, secondary and post-secondary activities, labs, lecture notes, assignments and other educational materials are available by searching or
browsing the OER site.
posted by cog_nate
on Oct 16, 2009 -
7 comments
"The [textbook] industry charges outrageous prices for new textbooks while simultaneously doing everything it can to make older versions unusable or obsolete. There is simply no reason that a new calulus textbook should cost $157. The study of calculus, at least the type of calculus that most of us need to study in high school or undergraduate programs, has not changed significantly in decades." -
Textbook Revolution.
posted by Blazecock Pileon
on Jul 24, 2007 -
77 comments
If you have a *.edu email address, you can now access the normally for-fee New York Times
TimesSelect service
for free, which gets you access to archived articles and special content.
posted by Blazecock Pileon
on Mar 13, 2007 -
52 comments
The World Lecture Hall is a compedium of links to open university materials. Some include lecture notes, text books and even video. The
OCW at MIT is probably the most well known but there are many universities that provide online access to course materials. Want to learn about
medicine? John Hopkin's kindly provides some popular courses (Cadaver not included).
Notre Dame provides a number of courses focused on the liberal arts. The University of Washington provides
Computer Science and Engineering courses. Tufts provides a potpourri of
courses, including dentistry.
posted by substrate
on Feb 24, 2007 -
13 comments
