Google drowning in oceans of data?

In Tuesday's IT Blogwatch, Richi Jennings watches Google update its Google Earth app. Not to mention the real reason for Lore's frustration...

Sharon Gaudin goes all Disney-esque:

Dory and Marlin would likely have had an easier time finding Nemo if the new version of Google Earth was around at the time.

Google Inc. today launched the latest version of Google Earth, which promises to provide users with a much closer look at the Earth's oceans. The new version includes a detailed map of the ocean floor ... [It] also includes several other updates ... now has historical imagery, showing users images of a place years or even decades in the past ... they can see how an area has changed over time.

Bobbie Johnson grauni-adds: [You're fired -Ed.]

Although, so far, there has been only limited data collected about the sea floor, with just 10% of the habitat mapped at any useful scale for science, bathymetry experts said that the public's ability to "interact" with the oceans and gain better understanding, as well as see the evidence of global warming, could have quite an impact on perceptions.
...
The inclusion of environmental information forms the latest part of the company's plan to offer the public more data about climate change. In 2007 Google convened a high-level meeting of experts to help it develop sources of submarine information and environmental data.

Google's John "don't call me Mister" Hanke is proud:

This launch is particularly special to me because it marks the moment when Google Earth becomes much more complete ... We have always had a big blue expanse and some low-resolution shading to suggest depth. But starting today we have a much more detailed bathymetric map (the ocean floor), so you can actually drop below the surface and explore the nooks and crannies of the seafloor in 3D.
...
In addition to Ocean, we introduced new features ... The Touring feature makes it simple to create an easily sharable, narrated, fly-through tour just by clicking the record button and navigating through your tour destinations ... 3D Mars: This is the latest stop in our virtual tour of the galaxies.

But where's the IT angle? Google's Bryan Atwood 'splains:

This is a tremendous advance for organizations who work on -- or under -- the Seven Seas, or who have archives of historical photos and data that they'd like to make more accessible to their employees. People who use Google Earth Pro, the workplace edition of Google Earth, will see the new oceanographic data, historical imagery, and other features through their connection to Google's public globe of satellite imagery, maps, terrain & 3D buildings.

John Murrell spins the story:

Since its launch in 2006, Google’s 3D geographic exploration program has given only cursory coverage to the world’s oceans while letting users zoom into and fly through satellite imagery of surface terrain. Given that oceans cover more than two-thirds of the planet’s surface and account for about 97 percent of the biosphere, this struck some folks as a notable lapse, among them National Geographic explorer-in-residence Sylvia Earle, who early on asked Google Earth and Maps Director John Hanke, “When are you going to finish it? You should call Google Earth ‘Google Dirt.’”

Soon enough, Earle found herself heading a panel of science advisers helping Google fill the void.

Harry McCracken went to the launch event, IRL:

I’m at the California Academy of the Sciences in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park ... Al Gore’s ... here, and understandably excited about Google Earth in general and the new version’s power as an educational tool in particular.

Katie Fehrenbacher is hopeful:

It’s not often you find a topic that brings together former Vice President Al Gore, Jimmy “Margaritaville” Buffett and hundreds of Googlers together in one building.
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Google Earth’s new ocean data can help educate the public on how climate change is affecting our planet, and Gore — whom Google CEO Eric Schmidt introduced as the person who will go down in history as having saved the Earth — said he hoped it will drive home the reality of global warming. Gore often speaks at events on climate change and has worked as a senior adviser to Google.

But your humble blogwatcher tweet-grumbles:

The coldest winter here in southern England for 18 years. Hey, Al Gore, how about a bit of that global warming over here, eh?

And finally...

• The real reason for Lore's frustration

Buffer overflow:

• Educated Guesswork: The NSA invents perpetual motion
• Thomas Cutting: Going Covert, Part 4
• Hal Pomeranz: Change Controls: Ur Doin It Rong
• Eric Krangel: Only 10% Of Enterprise Users Bought Vista
• How to Change the World: Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn to Find a Job

Other Computerworld bloggers:

• Seth Weintraub: Windows Vista 'New Coke' of operating systems?
• Don Tennant: Better than that
• Don Tennant: Microsoft’s Charles Johnson on America’s strength
• Eric Lundquist: The forward slash that crippled Google
• Michael R. Farnum: Less is more
• Robert L. Mitchell: Information monopoly locks out independent mechanics
• Preston Gralla: IE loses market share: Does it really matter?
• Mark Everett Hall: SaaS would slash government waste
• Shark Tank: Do as I say, not as I ...
• Douglas Schweitzer: Preying on fear and uncertainty
• Shark Bait: The little guy helping the big guy

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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 23 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You can follow him on Twitter, pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.

Previously in IT Blogwatch:

• The DoD: seriously openly sourcy
• Fannie Mae sabotaged?
• Gmail gears up for offline Web access