Google's Featured Content for Google Earth
Google has now implemented special "Feature Content" areas in Google area. Basically, in certain spots on the globe you can see certain overlays which will let you click through to learn more about that certain location. Right now they have a number of spots setup to better educate people about these areas. In the future though, I can imagine this being expand to include businesses as well as other geographic information. Cool. If I can get it working properly on my machine, I'll throw up some screenshots. Here are the currently available content areas:

Initial Featured Content for Google Earth partners include:

· United Nations Environmental Program - The UNEP overlay for
Google Earth includes successive time-stamped images illustrating 100
areas of extreme environmental degradation around the world. From the
deforestation of the Amazon to the fallout of raging forest fires in
Sub-Sahara Africa and the decline of the Aral Sea in Central Asia, this
before-and-after imagery spanning the past 30 years offers users an
online resource for learning about the environmental crisis zones
around the world.

· Discovery Networks World Tour - The Discovery overlay enables
travel enthusiasts and armchair tourists alike the opportunity to
virtually visit major world attractions, cities, and natural wonders
through Google Earth. Featuring streaming Discovery video segments,
users can learn about the history and significance of various world
landmarks, national parks, American and European cities, and African
locations. These multimedia vignettes introduce users to the wonders of
King Tut's tomb in the Valley of Kings to the history of the gate of
the Itsukushima Shrine in Japan.

· National Park Service - The National Park Service overlay enables
users to learn more about the natural recreation opportunities in their
own backyard. This includes detailed park descriptions, information on
visitor facilities, and more than 10,000 miles of trails within all 58
US National Parks.

· Jane Goodall Institute - With the Jane Goodall Institute overlay
users can visit Fifi and the other Gombe preserve chimpanzees and
follow their daily exploits with the Institute's "geo-blog" in Google
Earth. Updated daily, this geo-blog captures the work of the Jane
Goodall Institute, illustrating the Institute's research on
chimpanzees and the effects of deforestation in Africa.

· Turn Here - This overlay features free city video guides for
travel, restaurants, hotels, local events and music around the globe.
Told from an insider's perspective, these short films connect users
to information about the best pizza shop in New York's Little Italy
to Pablo Picasso's favorite hang-out in Halmstad, Sweden.

[google earth]  ¶ 10:51 AM