NASA Worldwind

[Dialectic]

This is a big application that allows you to look at anywhere in the world and zoom down to street level detail. The information is not real time, but dammit, this program is amazing. I love NASA.

For more info, go here: http://learn.arc.nasa.gov/worldwind/

To download, go here: http://learn.arc.nasa.gov/worldwind/download.html

[awong]

253 meg download!! I'll download it later. lol

I gotta see whats the most recent view of my house they have. And which side my lawn ornament is at.

[Dialectic]

A warning: Slashdot posted about this, so their servers have been overloaded the past few days.

You should be able to download it easily now, but you probably won't have easy access to images you need to download as you zoom/ rotate the Earth (the program comes with a standard set of images but automatically downloads more whenever it needs them, depending on your requests).

Also, my computer, which is pretty powerful (dual Athlon processors, 1 gig RAM, Matrox 450 vid card) has a hell of a time running this thing, so unless you have some amazing processing power, a ton of RAM, and ideally a good 3D vid card (mine is the "king" of 2D 'cause most of my work is Photoshop/ Illustrator), don't expect perfect smoothness as you scroll/ zoom/ switch viewing modes.

[awong]

I guess an old Radeon 64meg sdr won't cut it. Ah its worth trying. Gotta get a new video card...2.8ghz and a 4 year old video card lol

[toml]

speaking of NASA, i recently got a Tempur-Pedic pillow and it is AMAZING!!!

GOD-FREAKING-AMAZING.

You have never really slept until you sleep on one. It basically cradles your head and neck.

I used to have massive neck pains but after a 2 weeks on this I'm all cured.

The first few nights are strange and you might not be used to sleeping on it. But after that it's fine.

It's a bit pricey but I think it more than makes up for it.


(oh and another tidbit that I heard -- not sure if it's true or not -- but they say that a bed will double in weight in 10 years due to all the "debris" you leave behind... )

[Dialectic]

Holy crap I just looked that up, and it sounds fuckin' amazing. Might have to look into that. I love NASA.