Google has announced that it has updated the service to version 6.2, and with that update the photos loose their gaps and irregularities, and get a uniform appearance.

That means now when you view the Earth, instead of seeing a mosaic of square photos plastered next to each other you just get a very smooth and cohesive image.

The tech used to accomplish this evens out the pics so ones taken night aren’t so dark and ones with clouds don’t stand out. Google also added the ability to get better search results, as well as added walking, public transport, and biking directions and the ability to share maps via Google+.

You can grab the latest Google Earth installer here.

[via Google Lat Long Blog]

If you would like to mess with this map and help put the finishing details on it, go ahead and contact him though YouTube. He says that he doesn’t have the time to finish it himself.

[via TechCrunch]

Sharp-eyed old school gamers will recognize the art as a much more detailed and classical version of the map of Dinosaur Land from Super Mario World.

If you like it, grab a cape feather and fly to Split Reason Clothing to vote for the design. I highly recommend that you head to Greg’s blog for a larger version of the map so you can appreciate its winks and nods and bits and bobs. It’s large enough to be a wallpaper for tablets and netbooks. I think this will work better a poster than a shirt graphic.

[via ALBOTAS]

I don’t plan on getting Skyrim before the PS3 bug is worked out, but thanks to videos online like this one I do know that the world map in the game is a 3D version of the game’s world, making it easier to correlate your position when viewing the map. But a handy tip posted at the Skyrim Nexus by a Dovahkiin named Mikanoshi makes the map even more useful. By tweaking the Skyrim.ini file, you’ll be able to zoom in all the way while viewing the map:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Enter noclip mode and fly to Skyrim Nexus, where the instructions are located. Again this is only for the PC version only, but since it’s just a tweak I hope Bethesda can add it to the console versions too in a future patch.

[via Destructoid]

The rug in the photo you see above is actually four Google Maps prints arranged to meet up perfectly. At first glance, it looks like a strange carpet until you realize that you are seeing houses, stores, and streets, not just lines and random shapes. The idea behind the art project was to take the art of tapestry and bring a modern twist to it by using Google Maps as the design.

The idea is interesting. I could see these making for an interesting conversation piece in a home. It would also be cool to see the idea used in business to show the view of a location from the sky. While you can buy these rugs, I wonder if you can actually commission these carpets with your area as the print.

[via GOOD via Dvice]

Steve Jobs has done a lot while he was at the helm of Apple. Aside from making Apple and iPods and iPhones more like a household name, he’s also managed to inspire a lot of people with his different brand of leadership. Jobs has been hailed as a visionary, and I believe, rightly so.

Someone who obviously agrees with me is Joseph Tame, a runner who wanted to do something special to pay tribute to Jobs. Armed with 2 iPhones and an app called RunKeeper, Tame ran 21 kilometers through central Tokyo to recreate a GPS path version of the well-known Apple logo.

In a blog post on his site, Tame talks of how Apple has changed his life and how grateful he was to Jobs:

It’s for this that I’d like to personally show my appreciation to Steve for his vision and leadership, which has made a direct positive impact upon my life. His work has also served to revolutionize the mobile phone industry, something that was desperately needed here more than anywhere. I’d like to wish Steve all the best, and hope that his health improves fast now he’s able to focus more on getting well again.

[via Geeky Gadgets]

I would not want the job of taking the street view photos down the Amazon and Rio Negro Rivers for anything. The Amazon is notoriously packed with piranha and all sorts of other animals that would like to eat you. In order to get the pics they need, Google will strap the trikes to a boat and then take the boat down about 31 miles of the Rio Negro to start. The trip down the jungle trails and the Amazon will apparently come later. The photos taken by the trikes will be turned into the usual 360-degree panoramas.

The project is a joint operation between the Brazil and US Street View teams, Google Earth Outreach, and the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation.

[via PopSci and BBC via PC World]

Each one of these map is capable of powering LED markers placed at any location on the map. To map out where you’ve been (or where you’re going), you simply poke an LED into the location on the map and it lights up.

In addition to the U.S. map, there’s a world map edition too, but it’s not quite as detailed, so it might be harder to pinpoint the exact cities you’ve been to.

However, since the whole thing is backed by a sheet of conductive foam, you can still place the LEDs anywhere you want on the map.

Each kit comes not only with the map, but with 100 LEDs in a variety of colors that you can use to mark your locations. There are also two blinking markers in the kit which let you mark home base, or start and end points on a long journey.

I think these would look great hanging up in a home office or study, as well as in a classroom for teaching geography. I could also see using these to divvy up sales territories by using colored LEDs to represent different sales reps.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Each map measures 35.5″(W) x 24.5″(H) x .75″(D), and includes a power adapter with a 9-foot cord. They’re available in either a black powder-coat aluminum frame for $199.99 (USD) or a burled wood frame for $249.99 over at LED Maps.

The troops then proceeded to remove a nearby Costa Rican flag and put the Nicaraguan flag in its place. Apparently, they then cleaned up a river that was nearby and dumped the junk they removed on Costa Rican soil.

The military commander then blamed the mishap on a Google Maps error. The Google Maps photo of the border area in the wrong place. I can see people following Google Maps to the wrong destination while driving, but invading a foreign country because you followed Google Maps is crazy. On second thought, perhaps this is how we can annex Canada to reap the benefits of cheap prescription drugs and an unlimited supply of moose jerky.

In addition to the tactile feedback, the user can also press the dots and plan.b will provide spoken information about the corresponding area. Of all the features of plan.b I think this is the most helpful one, but also the most difficult to implement. As you can see in the images below, the device would be fairly small, but for practical reasons the map is zoomed in, i.e. it shows the user’s immediate surroundings. This means that there has to be a lot of specific information encoded into the device, like mentioning the names of specific buildings or even geographic features, as opposed to just mentioning streets or landmarks. That’s a lot of work that’s way beyond the device itself.

Richter designed it with the help of two blind people, but even he himself admits that even if plan.b was made into a real device it still wouldn’t replace walking sticks or the heightened hearing that blind people often acquire. But overall I think plan.b is a great idea, simple and straightforward. What do you think?

[via Design made in Germany via Notcot]

The picture is deliciously huge, so head on to GamesRadar if you want to view and download the whole thing. Meanwhile you can view my awesome chopped up version:

What cracks me up most among the multitude of revelations that we can glean from this map is that apparently Ingrid is bunched with Q and Seth as having unknown origins, and yet Twelve is from Russia. Awesome.

[via GamesRadar]

You see, it’s relatively easy (for nerds) to build a robot that can find its way to a target outdoors, thanks to the magic of GPS. But what if you want to search inside a building? GPS won’t help you there, believe me. I researched it extensively. If you don’t have a map of the building or whatever structure you’re infiltrating, you’re screwed. But more importantly, GPS receivers need a strong signal to work, something which you’ll have difficulty obtaining inside a building.

So the aforementioned MIT students came up with a laser scanner that sweeps the helicopter’s immediate area, and that along with some algorithm magic (yeah this is where I lose track of definitions) builds a corresponding rough three-dimensional map of the autonomous vehicle’s immediate environment, as shown in the image above. Now I need you to watch the video below and then answer one tiny question for me: when the narrator uses the word “we” and “us”, does he mean that they can control the robot remotely which means they can see the map that the laser sweep generates, or is the robot fully autonomous?

Maybe the chopper is the narrator, and it’s talking using lasers. I don’t know. I’m confused.

[via MIT Tech TV]

Bright colors, blocky environments, and hordes of raging infected running around among the zombie-like goombas. This custom set of Left 4 Dead maps is based on the familiar scenes from the pantheon of Mario-associated games (and levels), but unfortunately, the only screenshot that shows a lot of zombies is the one above. I want to see zombies boiling out of a castle.

Recently, Valve has been talking about bringing user-generated content for Left 4 Dead to the Xbox 360, but of course, anything that steps on copyright won’t be allowed, so no Mushroom Massacre for those of us who are restricted to the console. Ah, tragedy.

[via GoNintendo]

If you can play such killer mods as the above, the replica of the mall from Dawn of the Dead, you wouldn’t want to give that up! But Valve has helpfully assured Left 4 Dead fans that all custom content from the first game will be immediately compatible with the second, which is due later this year.

[Kikizo via Co-Optimus]

In a surreal mashup of FPS action and dreamy art, this mod thrusts would-be terrorists or counter-terrorists into the twisted mind of Vincent Van Gogh. Examples of the artist’s work can be seen on the walls, and outside, the beauty of his famous Starry Night hangs heavy in the sky.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Counter-Strike players may want to download this one for themselves, but just watching the video (for hours and hours) may be enough to satisfy you. The visuals are addictive.

[Nipper Maps via Offworld]

Created by Unreal Tournament 3 mod-man Lord Simeon, the map features a totally destructible LEGO block environment. The map features about 20 types of LEGO blocks (including those little yellow dudes), built into structures you can blow to smithereens, thanks to the game’s excellent physics model.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Remember when you were a kid and you’d build some awesome LEGO creation, then smash it into pieces? That’s what it reminds me of. You can grab the entire mod, packaged up for US or European consoles here.

The Deluo MouseGPS embeds a GPS receiver inside of the shell of a USB optical scroll mouse. While you probably won’t be using it as a mouse if you’re in transit, the concept is a definite space-saver in crowded laptop carrying cases. As an added bonus, the device has a retractable USB cord to keep things extra tidy for transport.

Retail price for the MouseGPS is about $100, but you’ll really want to spend the extra $30 to get the version that includes Microsoft Streets & Trips, so you’ll have full mapping and direction capabilities right out of the box. Sure, it’s a little more pricey than buying a mouse and a GPS receiver separately, but it’s just one less thing to lose when you’re on the road.

[via SlipperyBrick]

[Order the Deluo MouseGPS from Amazon]

Westech Korea is launching this new portable wrist-worn GPS device which is designed specifically for sports applications. The Pyxis RGPS-300 features unique modes for tracking all sorts of athletic endeavors including running, biking, hiking, mountain climbing, skiing and even driving. My personal favorite feature is the ability to load up maps of your favorite golf courses and check out how far away you are from the pin.

For now, the device is only available in Korea, but hopefully they’ll see fit to release it in other parts of the world soon.

[via AVING]

Rather than trying to just deal with differences in surfaces and obstacles as the robot approaches an area, the ‘bot can actually take data from its recent surroundings to predict what might be next and store that information in its internal map. By doing this, the robot can better prepare to navigate ahead of time, reducing the likelihood of getting stuck or slow progress through challenging obstacles.

Currently, the algorithm does add a bit of processing overhead to the robot’s software, meaning that it can’t cover as much ground as less intelligent robots. In future, the researchers plan to link up multiple robots to share their knowledge and to improve prediction capabilities.

[via softpedia via robotster]

The light stores and charges conveniently in your 12-volt cigarette lighter socket, putting it to good use if you’re a non-smoker. It’s available from Discount LED Lights and Knives for about 20 bucks.