links for 2009-10-06

I like this sentiment from a commenter: "The Challenger should be appreciated for its beauty and what it represents – BC's triumphalistic resource exploitation era. Preserve it, display it – but make sure our emergency services are using the best tools available for their jobs – and Google Earth is really the way to go!" In my opinion, a combination of 3d physical models of terrain, 2d & 3d computer maps and coordinated, online emergency services with on-the-go updates can go a long way in security maintenance and disaster response.

"The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with analysis, unclassified commercial satellite imagery and geospatial intelligence products of the Samoan Island areas devastated by the recent earthquake and resulting tsunami. NGA is also providing public access to some of the images."