Google Earth and Map

Lest people think all I do is whine, I have reserved some positive remarks for Google Map and Google Earth. In my house, we adore Google Earth. It's a shortcut on the desktop! We have the best time going to addresses in other countries where we have lived and looking at how things have changed and where roads now lead. My husband, who is from another country, loves the fact that he can locate our home in his country--when it is so remote that it doesn't even show up on a regular map. My daughter was fascinated when we showed her where her grandparents lived and required some explaining as to why she couldn't see the front or back of the house, only the rooftop. My husband and a friend who came to stay with us spent over an hour looking at the town that our friend was going to move to in Utah--switching between the street map and the satellite--they had the best time in a way I don't think I will ever understand except to say that brain research shows men's brains are very spatially oriented and therefore I can get why they get into Google Earth on that level. We've been exploring it by using it to locate the towns of our Aupair candidates in South America. It is kind of fun to feel like you know a bit about where they come from while you are talking to them.

Anyone who wants to check out Google Earth can do it at http://earth.google.com/. Something really cool to do is check out the 3D buildings of America in Google Showcase: http://earth.google.com/showcase/