Andrew J. Darcy
News Article #2
“Google Earth’s latest realm is under the sea”
San Francisco Chronicle
By: Verne Kopytoff
February 3, 2009

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/03/MNCV15LO88.DTL

Google has yet again improved their already vast interactive Google Earth feature. On Monday (February 2nd) they introduced their mapping services for under water exploration. While underwater you get to sore past certain items such as sunken volcanoes, endless caves and travel around as if you where even a dolphin. Not only do you get to swim around anywhere you please, they also have pictures and videos of sea life and other aquatic sites such as shipwrecks. To get their imagery they teamed up with National Geographic Society, along with others, in the goal of educating people by expanding their minds of what is beneath the sea and also how we should take careful steps to preserve the ocean. There are many options to choose from when looking at the undersea world of Google and these choices range from the terrain you wish to view, all the way to selecting what layer of the ocean you wish to see. Google is choosing to take on these neat, inexpensive endeavors, while cutting other projects that are not generating income because of the poor state of the economy and this is an effective way to attract even more visitors to Google.

Great article since we were talking about the many features of Google in class this week. Technology is a crazy thing and it is amazing how Google is bringing the world to a click of a mouse and is allowing people to see things they ordinarily would not see. If anything it is a great learning tool for people to be aware of what is going on around the world and to give people more appreciation of what the seas have to offer. This technology is going to be used, or so they say, as a teaching tool and I think that is a very good way of doing so. Technology is allowing them to make an exciting site that is not only educational, but also a pleasurable way to spend an afternoon searching the world with Google Earth!