Just about each day, a portion of my Journalism training is deployed for sitting in meetings. Lots of them. Some of them are conference calls — some vital, and some where you’re not quite sure why you’re there.

It’s in those kinds of calls when I try my best to find something to multi-task on. Often, I end up taking a tour on Google Earth. Some of the thing I find are useful for work. Some aren’t.

Let me share a few of the things I’ve found — productive or otherwise. I’ve included the latitude and longitude coordinates — click and drag them into your Google Earth template, but be sure to put the “minus” sign in there, or you’ll literally be taken to the other side of the world:

51 22 24 -68 41 03 Homer Simpson would love this — a huge lake shaped like a donut. Quebec’s Lake Manicouagan is the result of an asteroid impact millions of years ago.

40 16 59 -73 59 19 You’ll see your Tax Dollars At Work. The US Army Corps of Engineers has spent billions on seawalls and other ways to artificially preserve coastlines and protect beaches and million-dollar homes. This shot of the Jersey Shore gives you an idea of what a fake beach looks like. Then, about 50 miles to the Northeast…….

40 52 05 -74 14 43 Look closely at this mansion in North Jersey. The long, curving driveway. The white stucco. The kidney-shaped pool in the back. It’s Tony Soprano’s house.

Remember that this kind of satellite and high-altitude photography hasn’t been out there for all that long. If you had these kinds of images in your possession twenty years ago, you would likely either have a high-level security clearance, or you’d be headed to prison.

Maybe even this one: 38 55 22 -77 03 59 It appears to be the only spot on Google Earth that’s intentionally blurred out. See if you can figure out what it is. Google Earth has said it’s an oversight, soon to be corrected.

– Peter Dykstra, executive producer, Sci-Tech