The Revitalist

Alligator snapped sunning himself at the LA zoo.If you were inspired by the great explorers as a kid but think that all the good spots have already been discovered, then the LA Times has found a new hobby for you (via Planetizen). "Armchair explorers" are mining the satellite imagery available from Google Earth and MS Live Search to find little snippets of history in action. While the satellites are documenting mountain ranges, coastlines and street grids, they are also recording moments of the lives lived on that ground. Enthusiasts are documenting these real-life finds on sites like the Google Earth Blog, Google Sightseeing and Bird's Eye Tourist. And because some humans can make any activity competitive, they often race to document the most finds or the rarest ones—for example, a boat on fire off the coast of Iceland. Of course, some are finding more important uses for these still lifes, like documenting cases of ethnic cleansing in Darfur where a village is there one day and gone the next. We use these programs all the time to scout new projects, learn more about our project neighborhoods and make explanatory maps. It's interesting to see this other side of a familiar tool.