Earth From A Desktop

Ever wanted to tour the world using real-time, satellite photos at your fingertips? I've got a couple goodies for anyone who just digs the planet Earth. These programs are much different that the old black and white, click to zoom photos we had a couple years ago and better yet, they're FREE.

I've been using Google Earth for weeks now. It's awesome and when flying down to my house, you can actually see my car in the driveway. Some of the cities have 3D mapping on the buildings and the driving directions and message boards are great freaking fun. You can download new locations and sightseeing locations from Google. I use this program a lot for work and even more for playtime.

For an even more advanced experience, check out NASAs World Wind 1.3. Now we're getting into updated terrain mapping and current images of disasters and even 3D moon maps. You need the 3D to play with this one, but it's great if you have plenty of hours to kill hovering over terrain maps of the planet.