300 Part IV — Google Earth Hacks
Each icon is an example of a data point, the equivalent of the GMarkerobject used in the
Google Maps to highlight a single point on the map.Points of Interest
In addition to locating the key points on the map, you can also overlay and move to key points
of interest on the map. The Google headquarters was an example of this, and a huge number of
other examples exist throughout the Google Maps application. There is no point in listing
those examples here; they are far too numerous and constantly updating. Much of the content
is U.S.-centric at the moment, but more data is being added all the time.You can add as many of these overlays to the map as you like. There is no limit, although the
application will slow down as you add more and more points and overlays to the map. The data
and overlay information can be extensive and interesting. For example, Figure 15-7 shows the
airports and train stations in Seattle.FIGURE15-7: Adding airport and train station data.Routes and Paths
Searches for information and locations work just the same as they do within Google Maps. You
can move directly to an address and also find routes between two different points. If all you
want to see is an overlay of the roads, select the “roads” overlay from the Layers panel. This
provides a view similar to the Hybrid view in Google Maps, where roads are overlaid directly
on top of the satellite imagery. You can see this more clearly in Figure 15-8, where the roads
overlay has been added to the southern tip of Manhattan Island.