[From Oracle Technology Network]
How we look at our data forms our view of the world. Until recently most of us have ignored location because we lacked the tools (or the ability to use those tools) needed to acquire, manage, and present the spatial component of our data. This means we have missed the geospatial component of human experience. Everything that we do, think, or experience, we do, think, or experience somewhere.
Until recently it has been complicated to connect a spatially enabled database with a visualization engine: to put our customers (and whole supply chain) onto a map. That is now a solved problem. In this article you will get an introduction to spatial data, explore ways to add spatial attributes to existing data, and learn how to use the free Google Earth program to let us ‘fly’ over aerial imagery that includes your data.
The article continues at
http://www.oracle.com/technology/pub/articles/gibson-xe-googleearth.html