The concern grows amongst Indian security agencies as Google Earth continues to show clear images of strategic Indian sites. People from all around the world can see clear images of Indian Parliament house from all possible angels.

One thing you can say about Google is they don’t stray too far from their Birkenstocks –aside from the legal department, where the smell of free love will get you shot on sight. But two new environmental layers added to Google Earth are evidence of those patchouli-scented sandals.

A student at Stanford has come up with a  cool app for Google Earth called gCensus. 

Currently, only the US Census 2000′s Summary File 1 (displaying population characteristics such as race and age) is available for mapping but there’s no doubt the developer and others will mashup more Census data in the near future. 

A new tool from The Weather Channel utilizes Microsoft’s Virtual Earth to let visitors drift through the clouds and weather systems from the desktop.

Some sympathy here for Tim O’Reilly’s comment on this post about Google Earth and the new capabilities being unleashed for developers. "People should be jumping up and down about this!"

I’m guessing the people who usually jump up and down don’t understand it, and the people who will be working with it aren’t given to jumping up and down.

A tip… if you’d like to locate some KMLs for viewing in Google Earth there’s a very simple way to search ALL the KMLs available onn the web (they are simple text files remember).

Two interesting (and superficially related) developments have occurred: Local business ads are starting to show up in Google Earth, and ads for Google Maps are starting to show up in the windows of local businesses (one business in the UK, at least).

During a raid on Iraqi insurgents, British Army intelligence made a chilling discovery. Insurgents were using Google Earth to locate soft targets at British bases in Basra.

The fourth incarnation of Google Earth was released this week with some interesting new features being heralded by enthusiasts. A new 3D building layer has been added in answer to Microsoft’s Virtual Earth 3D beta.

A new GPS manufacturer is the first to add an in-car local search engine to its features, and the umpteenth millionth company to issue a rotten press release. But let’s stick to the good news. Dash Navigation’s soon-to-be-released GPS device will feature Yahoo! Local search.

Google has a lot of fans, and has made friends with any number of businesses. Now the company has befriended the state of Pennsylvania. The “Google Earth geospatial image browser” is set to launch “on the official tourism website of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, VisitPA.com.”

Never let it be said that Google doesn’t embrace the holiday season. From various logo designs to free Google Checkout use, Google has always been very festive during the month of December.

The most recent round of elections had a lot of people thinking about the Internet’s role in politics. Most onlookers agree that it is becoming increasingly important; Google’s CEO, Eric Schmidt, believes that politicians must adapt. “The ones that take advantage of this most effectively will be the ones that will be the winners of the next election,” he said.

Users of the Gaia project’s open source utility for viewing the data normally available to Google Earth clients have been asked to stop using it in the wake of a cease and desist request from Google.

Opensource three dimensional Earth viewer Gaia received a cease and desist letter from head Google Earth technologist, effectively ending their world.

Telespial Systems is providing government agencies from around the world the tools needed to help manage and deploy asset and geographical data during times of emergency.

Since October 2005, Volkswagen and Google have been collaborating to develop a revolutionary new kind of navigation system that will change the way we travel.

Google is usually on the cutting edge, or at least near it. The company’s latest “innovations” are intentionally out of date, though. Google Earth will now feature historical maps dating back as far as the 17th century.

Not sure if anyone else noticed this or not but did you catch the graphics that are being used by ABC news and Good Morning America etc… to show the results of the election?

Virtual Earth 3D launched from Microsoft as a response to Google’s Earth program, with Microsoft’s version running in the browser as a plug-in instead of as a separate program.

As with any self-respecting blogger, I hate to say anything positive about Microsoft because they are synonymous with evil (just kidding!), but I must admit that the latest update to Virtual Earth – or whatever we’re supposed to be calling it nowadays, which is probably Windows Live Web Search Satellite Virtual 3-D Planet – is pretty damn cool.