It’s been a while since we’ve posted here about updated images in Google Earth and Maps, but Google have been steadily rolling out new updates every few months, usually with a short quiz relating to the new locations.

However, today’s announcement is a little different as they’ve promised to not only increase the frequency of updates¹, but also provide exhaustive detail, via a KML file, of exactly which areas have been added or updated. This is great news for Google Sightseeing, as we’re always looking for new sights to feature.

Updated locations are highlighted in red

The Google Earth team have also challenged you to find the best sights on the new imagery and share them on twitter using the #GearthIMG hashtag. We’ve already posted a couple, and will keep an eye on the findings.

Remember, you can also follow us on Twitter to keep up with the latest Google Earth, Maps, and #streetview posts.

Our regular readers may have noticed a slight drop in output from Google Sightseeing lately, which is due in part to our drive to find more contributing writers to add to the team. If you’ve missed daily updates, then you’ll be glad to hear that we have now chosen our new writers, and shall be unleashing them upon you, starting later today!

Congratulations to all our new writers, we’re all very much looking forward to seeing the sights you guide us all too, and a big thank you to everyone who sent us a submission – we wish we could have accepted you all.

Google have just expanded Street View’s coverage to 14 countries with the addition of 11 Canadian cities and regions¹, and the Czech city of Prague.

We’ve already found some great Street View sights, which you can see on our brand-new Street View page or even better, follow us on Twitter to get the latest sights the moment we find them.

Montreal’s Olympic stadium was one of the very first sights we posted to Google Sightseeing, when the site was just 3 days old. Now 4 and half years later, we get a much better view of the bizarre building and the world’s tallest inclined structure.

Outside the stunning Canadian Parliament building we can see Tamil protestors, calling for action on the Sri Lankan Civil War. They protested non-stop throughout most of April 2009.

Probably Canada’s most recognisable landmark, the CN Tower in Toronto can be spotted from miles around. This unique view, complete with truck about to crash into the tower, comes from the CTV’s television station.

The impressive Czech National Museum sits atop Prague’s Wenceslas Square. The facade had to undergo major repairs following severe gunfire damage during the 1968 Warsaw Pact intervention.

Have you found anything cool on the new Street View? Send us a tweet so we can tell the world!

Island Week 4 should have finished at the end of last week, but we’ve got a bonus island post before we resume normal service.

Despite being just off the coast of France, the Channel Islands are British Crown dependencies famous for being the only part of the British Commonwealth occupied by Germany during WWII, and the centuries-old rivalry between the two principle islands of Guernsey and Jersey.

Although usually considered one unit, the islands are actually made of two distinct administrations, which share very few laws and institutions, named the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey.

The Bailiwick of Guernsey consists of seven inhabited islands, the largest of which is Guernsey itself, and various other islets and rocks. Guernsey was heavily fortified by the occupying Nazis during WWII, much more than was really necessary, and many of these fortifications remain.

Making up part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey is Alderney, a quiet little island to the North, which was almost completely evacuated to mainland Britain prior to the German invasion. 4 concentration camps were built on Alderney, and at least 400 graves have been found.

Sark’s odd claim to fame is that it was the last feudal state in Europe. These days, the population of 600 are proud of their traditional ways, which include the complete lack of any cars on the island.

The Bailiwick of Jersey’s only inhabited island is just Jersey itself. The lack of VAT charged in Jersey meant that it was, for a time, used by Amazon and Tesco for shipping out cheap DVDs and CDs to the UK.

Jersey and Guernsey’s rivalry stems from the English Civil War, when Jersey sided with Royalists and Guernsey sided with Parliament. Each has their own pound notes, police force, and famous breed of cow.

More information on Wikipedia for the Channel Islands, Jersey and Guernsey.

Thanks to James Bridle

Now in its triumphant fourth year, this week we will be focussing on all things island with Island Week 4.

The name gives it away, but the idea is that we’ll be posting mainly about islands, it’ll last for a full week of posts, and this is the forth consecutive year.

If you’ve not been around for previous Island Weeks then make sure you catch up on the first, second and third instalments.