pro·crasti·nation n.
An interesting observation on the web forum this morning regarding the ability to add branding to KML files for Google Earth resulted in a bit of a quick experimental KML/KMZ creation for locating the KLDC;
This could be very interesting 
Documentation available from:
http://code.google.com/apis/kml/documentation/
The ABC Earth content layer (to be viewed using the Google Earth 4.3 application) is a trial that consists of video, images and content developed by the ABC.
The layer includes national news and video news updated every 5 minutes, stories from 50 Years of national and international news, Foreign Correspondent as well as Local Radio.
Comment on the ABC Earth trial at any time by visiting our message board.
The Content
[1] ABC Earth [ABC]
XKCD comic #426 contains an algorithm that generates random coordinates across the country every day.
These coordinates can be used as destinations for adventures, à la Geocaching. They can also be used for local meetups. — XKCD [2]
-38, 145 (Melbourne, Australia)
Melbourne is 14 hours ahead of NYC so it’s acceptable to use yesterday’s date. [4]
Via the Google Map lookup method using the 1st Eltham Scout Hall as my starting point (-37, 145 );
For date: 2008-05-21
Meetup location:
* -37.179468°, 145.861536° or
* S37°10.768′, E145°51.6921′ or
* S37°10’46.08″, E145°51’41.52″
This puts us in the NE Melbourne graticule (everyone in the same lat/long grid gets the same location);
Of course XKCD have defined Melbourne as -38, 145 so we can plug this into the Atom feed generator to get a Atom Geohash for Melbourne.
Geohash for -38, 145 on 2008-05-21
-38.1794679947,145.861536012
This puts us in the SE Melbourne graticule;
The official xkcd meetups happen every Saturday afternoon at 4:00 PM (local destination time). If the coordinates for your area are in the ocean, a military base, or somewhere otherwise unreachable, that meetup is of course postponed. Unless, of course, you own a boat, are a soldier at said military base, or are James Bond. If you can, record who’s there, take pictures, and post them here. [4]
So, for Melbourne we would use the previous Friday’s Dow opening and the -38, 145 to calculate the Saturday meetup location to make sure we are all going to the same location
If you happen to be looking for somewhere to go, driving to the coordinates can be an adventure. If you do, please take pictures and drop them on the geohashing wiki (feel free to help fill it out). — XKCD blag [5]
[1] Geohashing (2008-May-21) [XKCD]
[2] Map lookup []
[3] Main Page – Geo Hashing [wiki.XKCD]
[4] Melbourne, Australia – Geo Hashing [wiki.XKCD]
[5] Geohashing (2008-May-21) [blog.XKCD]
[6] Melbourne meet-up? [forum.XKCD]
On the Google Earth team, we’re big fans of Earth Day, so much so that we couldn’t hold out until it arrives next week to release our latest labor of love: Google Earth 4.3. With this version, we have completely rethought how you might interact with the 3D world. We’ve redesigned the navigation to make it much easier to fly from the heavens down to the streets of your town. And with all of the great user-created buildings in the 3D Warehouse, we wanted to make it easy for you to get right up close to see the rich detail. — (2008-Apr-16) GoogleBlog
New! in Google Earth 4.3 (beta)
* Photo-realistic buildings from cities around the world
* Dawn to dusk views with the Sunlight feature
* Swoop navigation from outer space to street-level
On the Google LatLong Blog in the post Introducing Google Earth 4.3, Peter Birch goes into a lot more detail of the new features.
NOTE: Google Earth 4.3 is still a beta
[1] A whole new world to explore (2008-Apr-16) [GoogleBlog]
[2] Introducing Google Earth 4.3 (2008-Apr-16) [Google LatLong Blog]
[3] Watch the Sunset From Google Earth 4.3 (2008-Apr-16) [Wired]
[4] Google Earth 4.3 Offers a Number of New Features (2008-Apr-17) [SlashDot]
[5] Swoop from space to the streets in Google Earth 4.3 (2008-Apr-16) [Google LatLong Blog]
[6] Touch down on the Earth’s surface with Street View (2008-Apr-16) [Google LatLong Blog]
[7] 3D buildings galore (2008-Apr-16) [Google LatLong Blog]
Google-branded cars with roof-mounted cameras have just begun traversing our streets, taking highly detailed panoramic street-level photos for a new Maps feature called Street View. — SMH (2007-Nov-23)
And so it was to be, at 16:00 hours 28-Dec-2007 we spotted the Google Car on Victoria Parade in Melbourne
Mounted on the roof on top of the pole and in the red casing is the camera, the GPS is mounted below and to the rear. The driver has a LCD monitor mounted in the passenger seat; and quite a bit of junk in the back seats
Cameras mounted on top of “Google labelled” cars, will travel around Australian cities and towns, pausing to take a 360 degree photo, record the location of the image using a GPS, and then move to the next location.
The images will be collected throughout summer and are likely to appear online in the second half of next year. — Cnet (2007-Nov-26)
[Also see Google Street View avaliable for .au (2008-Aug-05)]
The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2007 will start on 26 December and will be conducted on the waters of Sydney Harbour, the Tasman Sea, Storm Bay and the Derwent River. … About the race
Yacht Tracker:
The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2007 Yacht Tracker (Flash)
Google Earth Feed:
Watch the Rolex Sydney Hobart in Google Earth, with yacht positions and standings updated every ten minutes. Now sea surface temperatures and current information may also be viewed.
Google Releases New 3D Buildings Layer for Google Earth
Google has released a new layer (viewable with Google Earth 4 beta), which lets you view higher quality 3D Buildings – many of which are photo-textured. I highly recommend you download the latest Google Earth 4 beta because it loads these models much faster than the previous betas (actually, I just realized the new layer isn’t available unless you download the latest version). You can now turn on a “Best of 3D Warehouse” layer under “3D Buildings” and it will automatically load high quality buildings for the area you are viewing. The layer is a network link which automatically loads 3D buildings for the city you are viewing. Only cities which have the buildings available will load. But, many major cities around the world have at least a few buildings. Above is a screenshot of New York City. You can also turn on the “Other Buildings” layer and still see the old gray 3D buildings Google Earth has always had. Although, there is no longer a conflict between the cruder gray buildings and the new higher quality buildings. They’ve removed the cruder buildings wherever a higher quality building from the new layer exists.
NOTE: You will need to be running at least Google Earth 4 beta 6 (November 1st, 2006)
3D Warehouse Opera House
The Dakar Rally is on again with a grueling 7,915 km route (January 6 – 20, 2007).
Who can perhaps beat the Mitsubishi 4X4’s on the Dakar? The question is posed each year as New Year’s Eve approaches. And systematically for the past six years, the red cars answer categorically on the terrain: no one. Even when their lead driver, Stéphane Peterhansel, experienced misadventure in the late stages of the rally when he was leading the overall standings (2003 &2006). During last year’s rally, it was team mate Luc Alphand who was left to defend the positions of the Japanese armada, winning his first Dakar in his eighth participation. The former skier, who has made an extraordinary re-conversion, is now a legitimate candidate to repeat, as are fellow “Mitsu” men Peterhansel, Masuoka and Roma, all former victors of the event. [MITSU OR NOT MITSU ?]
Live Tracking (English text) (nod to javoresku) and Live Tracking (French text) from tracking2007.dakar.com
Google Earth Community : Dakar Rally 2007 overlays are also available , these are produced by TommyAfrika.
It’s that time of year again, just after the Christmas pud’ has settled and the yachts are off in the the 2006 Sydney to Hobart yacht race. This race lends itself to being watched from the comfort of your computer 
The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2006 will start on 26 December and will be conducted on the waters of Sydney Harbour, the Tasman Sea, Storm Bay and the Derwent River.
Over the past 61 years, the Rolex Sydney Hobart has become an icon of Australia’s summer sport, ranking in public interest with such national events as the Melbourne Cup horse race, the Davis Cup tennis and the cricket tests between Australia and England. No yachting event in the world attracts such huge media coverage – except, of course, the America’s Cup and the Whitbread Round the World Race – than does the start on Sydney Harbour. And the others only happen every four or five years.
– rolexsydneyhobart.com
So how do you track the location of the yachts? The following tools let you follow the race and get access to details on the yachts and their telemetry.
Yacht Tracker:
The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2006.. Yacht Tracker (Adobe Flash)
Google Earth:
A Google Earth feed is also available
“Santa, please return to base … the vehicle is not to be used for private purposes.“
Google Earth’s Santa Tracker was a pretty popular addition at our house on Christmas Eve. Now it appears that he is back at the pole with his feet up having a well earned rest.
Google has a Santa Tracker for Google Earth [Google Earth File. You must have GE installed.] which automatically updates every 20 seconds with Santa’s current position. Make sure you have the latest version of Google Earth 4 installed. You will see Santa, his sleigh, and reindeer (including Rudolf!) over the current city/country he is visiting. For verification, you can see that his position as seen in Google Earth is accurately synchronized with the NORAD Santa Tracker as well.
– Google Earth Blog
You can also check out Santa’s route
