The gist of it is that they take satellite photos and then allow you to tilt and rotate the screen, appearing virtually 3-D.. and then you can actually 'fly' over the surface, as if you were in a plane. I'll tell you, every time I use this thing I am blown away. You can download a 'try-before-you-buy license that will go for a few days, or spring for the $$ and have *hours* of fun!
One sort-of Mac
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use is that you can fly over an area you want to sail and see what it 'should' look like from the air. Also good for when you are planning on going somewhere and don't quite know the 'lay of the land'. Of course, they don't have detail for all areas as good as they have for some others, but it's cool all the same. The major metropolitan areas are covered, as are many cities around the globe (you can even see the bomb damage on buildings in Bagdad!!)Now, just as an example, anybody out there know where this is?
Here are some others you may be able to guess....
(EDIT: I made them into links so that those of you on a slow link won't have to wait forever for this page to load!!)
Big pointy building...Pictue #1
My 'other' boat (just a little ol' thing)...
Picture #2
And a national landmark...
Picture #3
And just to show you how detailed you can get, here's a close-up of the barge in the photo above...
Enlargement of Picture #3
And finally.. the place I *love* to sail... I usually tie up the boat to the small island near the bottom center of the photo... any guesses as to where this is? (oh, and Chuck Healey, you don't get to play on this one... it's too easy for you!
Poplar Island
