EARTH-THEMED
What better way to celebrate planet Earth than to dive into its oceans, soar over its crust, and acquaint yourself with its diminutive, dusty red neighbor? Google Earth's new tools make the substantial application a standout. One of the program's best uses is taking part of a global community of virtual cartographers who work together to populate Google's digital Earth with the monuments of human achievement (Egyptian pyramids, the Taj Mahal)--as well as use the technology to map out areas of crisis we can tackle as common inhabitants of the same greater home.
Microsoft's free WorldWide Telescope takes in extra earthly sites gleaned from the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center, and a network of other terrestrial and space-based telescopes. Within the application are tools for getting intimate with nebulae, galaxies, constellations, and planets you never realized were part of our cosmos. Best yet, Microsoft and the astronomy community have teamed up to create interactive virtual tours of the stars.
If diving into the oceans using Google Earth feels too "meta" or detached for you, consider this instead: a 3D screensaver of a healthy coral reef replete with schools of brightly colored fish, shadowy, azure waters, and just beyond the scene, a sunken ship that's ever-so-slowly being claimed by seaweed. The deep ocean colors and calming motion of the fish swimming to and fro pull you into the world beneath the waves.
Back on dry land, this sunny screensaver of bright, springtime flowers celebrates existence in its own way. Closeups of crinkly, hot pink petals and a field of yellow tulips can't help but lift your spirits, while purple, star-shaped flowers grab your attention with their intimacy and intensity.
Original article at CNET Green Tech Tags: Netbook, App, Dashboard, Laptop Computer, carbon footprint
