Yesterday, we told you about a publicity stunt that Maxim performed to celebrate its 100th issue. It involved a Nevada desert, a whole lot of mesh, and a gigantic picture of Eva Longoria. But it seems like, though the 75x100 foot cover exists, and may have been laid out in the desert and photographed, it wasn't actually picked up by Google Earth's satellite cameras. This article in Jossip breaks it down; it seems as if the picture was taken then overlayed on top of Google Earth's satellite picture, mainly because of timing issues (the Google shots are usually a number of days old).

Oh, well. I still wanted to make jokes about it, though. I mean, how could I pass up an opportunity to make a cheap "Eva's mounds" crack?

(Also, reader tozmervo mentioned this on a comment under the original post. Sorry I didn't believe you, tozmervo!)

[via Gawker, who was also sucked in by this]

Discovery Communications, the company behind the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, and a bunch of other networks with the word "Discovery" in them, has brought its video content to Google Earth, Google's tenacious mapping project. Right now the content can be seen by clicking a globe icon located next to ten of our National Parks. Users can select short-form videos featuring content from that particular area. More videos will be added in the coming months, as many as fifty, and will expand beyond just the United States. Finally, you can visit a National Park without exposing yourself to bear attacks. I assume that was the point of all this.

As part of a celebration commemorating its 100th issue, Maxim went to the Nevada desert and unfurled a 75-by-110 foot version of one of the lad mag's most popular covers, of Desperate Housewives' Eva Longoria. Of course, because this is Maxim, Eva isn't exactly wearing a cable-knit sweater on this cover. So, in essence, this is the first time this desert has seen mounds this big since the last sandstorm (ba dum bum).

The Maxim cover is SO big, (if this were Match Game, I'd be hearing "How big is it?" right now) it can be seen from space. Well, at least Google Earth was able to pick up the cover on its satellite cameras, as the magazine's web site proudly states. So there you go: all you need is Eva Longoria, a bikini, and a truckload of day laborers to create a newsworthy event. Nice going, Maxim!