Per discussion about improving Google Earth/Wikipedia collaboration, technical contacts are below.

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Michael E. Jones webtoe@google.com Date: Dec 12, 2006 1:47 PM Subject: Re: [Wmfcc-l] [Fwd: Re: Google Ads, Bubble, and Agreement] To: Brad Patrick bradp.wmf@gmail.com Cc: Cris Castello criscastello@google.com, Jason Shields < shields@google.com>

Hi Brad,

Please direct technical comments and questions to Cris Castello and Jason Shields.

Thanks, Michael

On 12/12/06, Brad Patrick bradp.wmf@gmail.com wrote:

FYI. Where do comments go to your tech team?

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Walter Vermeir <walter@wikizine.org > Date: Dec 12, 2006 10:49 AM Subject: Re: [Wmfcc-l] [Fwd: Re: Google Ads, Bubble, and Agreement] To: Communications Committee <wmfcc-l@mail.wikimedia.org >

Brad Patrick schreef:

...

I am pleased to announce that Google Earth's new release, slated to happen before Christmas, will contain a Google-developed layer for Wikipedia. We are happy to see this from Google, and are sure it will drive our traffic even more for points of interest. A mockup is below in this thread which shows what an entry bubble will look like. All of the links are directly back to Wikipedia itself. Alas, this release is only in English.

Press will need to be coordinated between the ComCom and Megan Quinn from Google (her address is attached as well).

-Brad

This is now public and live;

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/opening-my-eyes-to-whole-new-world.ht...

Google earth exists for Win, MaxOS X and linux

Go to: layers -> Primary database -> geographic web -> wikipedia

The result is that you will see the Wikipedia globe appear on certain places. When you click on them you get information about the location.

It is nice but needs still a lot of work.

• many places from who there exist articles are not listed
• very small towns are displayed when you are at a very high altitude

instead of the larger ones

• the location of the icon can be on a pace of the map the is not

logical; like on the border of an other county the icon to give information about a country.

• the zoomlevel needed to display information is not consistent and

mostly badly defined; often you need to zoom in highly before the icon with the information about the county is shown.

• when watching the globe there are no icons for the earth itself, the

continents and the oceans.

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-- Brad Patrick General Counsel & Interim Executive Director Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. bradp.wmf@gmail.com 727-231-0101

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