My Google Map Blog

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DigitalGlobe produces some amazing imagery, much of which is licensed by Google for use in Google Earth. In addition, they release many one-off images that they display on their site and we occasionally showcase on here. Some examples of that are imagery of Osama bin Laden's compound and a great photo of the Space Shuttle Endeavour as it was transported to Los Angeles back in September.

DigitalGlobe is now having a "Top Image of the Year" contest and is inviting you to take part in it. Simply visit their Top Image Contest - 2012 Facebook album and "like" the images that you think were the best of the year. You can "like" as many images as you want.

On December 19, they'll announce the five images with the overall most "likes" and then people can vote via a Facebook poll to determine the winning image. For additional votes, voters can also follow DigitalGlobe on Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest to retweet, repin and +1 their favorite images.

For more about this contest you can read this blog post from DigitalGlobe. For more about their company, you can read our Google Earth A to Z: DigitalGlobe post from earlier this year.

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You have to clean your shoes first to enter this area in Botswana. Some virus?

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Google recently released a new feature for Google+ called "communities". They're very similar to "groups" on Facebook, though with a few advantages (better moderation, notifications, etc).

There have already been thousands of groups created, covering everything from Android to Asana to Evernote to Ingress to WordPress, including dozens that discuss topics related to Google Earth. Here are a few to get you started.

Google Earth: This is one that we've created, covering everything related to Google Earth.

3D Modeling for Google Earth and Maps: 3D modeling and SketchUp discussion.

Google Earth Photography: Lots of amazing images from Google Earth.

Panoramio (unofficial): News and pics related to Panoramio.

Project Geo: The folks behind the excellent "Project Geo" series have started this community.

Geoscience: Not Google Earth specific, but it's an active group discussing "geology and related Earth Sciences" and has some great posts in there.

Of course, in all of this talk of "communities" we need to include the original Google Earth Community, first known as the "Keyhole BBS" (Keyhole was the original name of the software that later became Google Earth). All of these new Google+ communities are excellent, and it's great to be able to communicate with one another in new ways like this, but if you need information about Google Earth the GEC should be among your first stops.

Have you explored any Google+ communities yet? Which is your favorite so far?