|
|
What
is Google Earth?
Google Earth
is a "world map" put together by Google using satellite imagery
and coordinate system. When people first heard about it, workplaces suffered
greatly from this. Those who downloaded and installed Google Earth, began
looking for their own house, parents' house, vacation house, their friends'
houses, the grocery store they shop at, the spot where they first fell
in love or had their first fight with their spouses. Finding out when
the images were recorded and who the cars parked in front of their houses
belonged to became important missions and most people risked their eye-sight
to find and perve on a couple snuggling on a beach. These were all perfectly
justified and essential tasks for all those involved, up until they realized
how long they have been lost in the Google Earth world, and only when
woken up by their bosses who have already been there, done that. Following
a period of "recession" which had a significant affect on the
economy, Google Earth has become a permanent fixture in our lives.
How
to use Google Earth
Your first need to
install the software -preferably the beta version because it is free and
unlimited- by clicking on the link below. I want to warn you though; the
size of the file is 11.1 Mb. Depending on the speed of your connection
download can take a while.
http://kh.google.com/download/earth/index.html
Once downloaded and
installed Google Earth, you can follow my "Tracks" and view
some points of relevance which I will record using my onboard GPS (Global
Positioning System - which utilizes satellite signals to identify location/coordinates).
You need to follow these steps:
1. Download and install Google Earth from the link above
2. Save my "track" files which will be listed below and updated
throughout my trip, to a certain location in your computer.
3. Start Google Earth, click "File" menu and select "Open".
4. Browse and find the file with the extension ".ppx" which
you have saved in step 2. Left click on the file name, this should allow
you to see the selected file in the "File name" box in the same
window.
5. Make sure that you see the file extension "Gps (*.gpx *.loc)"
in "Files of Type" window. If not, select it from the dropdown
menu.
6. Click "Open". This will open the file and show you my tracks
along the route recorded in that file and some important and relevant
location information along those tracks. You can easily zoom into a point
on the track and see what "I have been up to".
7. When you are done, close Google Earth by selecting "Save as"
from the menu and by saving it with a name of your preference (i.e. Ali_route).
When you open this file later, provided that you "save" it every
time you view it, you will see that the new tracks will be continuously
added to the file. So by opening the file, Ali_route, you will be able
to follow the route I completed from the start up until the latest update.
Obviously that will make me go "I always feel like, somebody's watching
me", but that's OK.
Thank
you
A big thank you goes
to Ahmet (Sekercioglu), my brother-in-law and dear friend, for all his
help on how to convert Garmin GPS data into a Google Earth compatible
file, which allowed me to realize that "follow me on Google Earth"
idea. He gave a helping hand all the way from Melbourne, Australia. Much
appreciated, thank you Ahmet!
Tracks
Below you will find
files consisting of GPS data recorded infrequently from the beginning
of the trip. Each new file will take over from where the previous one
left (I hope and if everything goes fine). Enjoy!
20051017_ist_aleppo_filtered
20051021_aleppo_lattakia_tartous
20051022_tartus_krak_tartus
20051023_tartus_hama
20051024_hama_palmyra
20051029_Palmyra_Damascus_Dead
Sea_Jordan
20051030_Dead_Sea_Petra
20051102_Petra_Wadi
Ram_Aqaba
20051103_Nuweiba
20051106_Nuweiba_Sharm_Cairo
20051111_Cairo_Alex[1]_Alamain_Cairo
20051117_Cairo_Western_Desert_Luxor
20051127_Luxor_AsswanPort
20051206_WadiHalfa_Khartoum_Meroe_Khartoum
20051210_Khartoum_Gonder_Axum
20051214_Axum_Lalibela
20051216_Lalibela_AddisAbaba
20051219_AddisAbaba_Moyale
20051223_Moyale_Marsabit_Nanyuki_Nairobi.zip
20060112_Nairobi_City_NP
20060114_Nairobi_Naivasha_Nakuru_NP
20060119_Kisumu_Kenya_Kampala_Uganda
20060122_Kampala_Mrchisson_Falls_Kibale_Forest_NP
20060126_Kibale_Forest_NP_QENP_Entebbe
20060224_Entebbe_Kampala_Mbarara_Kisoro_Ruhengeri_Volcano
NP
20060301_Volcano
NP_Gisenyi_Kibuye_Butare_Nyungwe NP
20060306_Nyungwe
NP_Kigali_Mwanza(TZ)
20060312_Mwanza_Serengeti_Arusha_Tanga_DaresSalaam
20060321_Dar_es_Salaam_Mbeya_Mzuzu_Nkhata_Bay(Malawi)
20060326_NkhataBay_Salima_Lilongwe_ZambiaBorder
20060401_Salima_Lilongwe_Blantyre_Tete(Mozambique)_Chimoio_Vilanculos
20060405_Vilanculos(Moz)_Komatipoort(SA)
20060408_Komatipoort_Kruger_Mbabane(Swaz.)_Durban
20060410_Durban_MosselBay
20060414_MosselBay_CapeTown
|