GoogleEarthWorm

So when you look at the state of West Virginia via Google Earth (and likely many other states as well, but we all know The Mountain State is the Best State) it's made up different block-configurations. One of them is a giant brown rectangle in the middle of it which is much more detailed than the rest of the state. Either that shot was taken during the fall or winter and no one's needed to look at it for a while, or else strip-mining is a lot more devastating -- and symmetrical -- than I'd thought.

But trying to search the greener parts of the state is hopeless. Once you get past the vague outline of rivers snaking through brilliant shades of green, all that happens is more and more pixels of green. I'm looking for a program that will be real-time, that will zoom so close to the earth that if I want to watch a chipmunk eating a hollyseed on the forest floor of Pipestem State Park, I can have that and have it instantly.


I'm kidding. Chipmunks are too camera-shy for that [insert mental image of enormous satellite hovering uncertainly above the ground in a grove of trees as a chipmunk stares, with its cheeks full and a startled expression on its face]. Besides, I like the fact that you can't dig any further into the landscape. Ain't nobody's business what goes on up there.