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.

So, I'm sure we all have fun with Google Maps, punching in our addresses or places that we know and seeing what they look like from space. This page at Google shows a field (or a yard?) where someone has created a giant picture of TV goddess Oprah Winfrey. At first I thought it was one of those mazes you sometimes see, but it actually just looks like a picture.

This would be cool. Imagine having a picnic in Oprah's hair! Or playing baseball in her mouth or planting flowers in her eyes.

[via Metafilter]

HBO realizes that it's been a really, really long time since we've seen any new episodes of The Sopranos, so it has enlisted the assistance of Google Maps to help you remember. On The Sopranos website, the Google Map shows different locations in New Jersey where key plot points happened last season. Move your mouse over a red dot and a box will appear with a video clip, summary, and a link to an entire episode guide. A lot of the video clips are just conversations between Tony and other major characters like Tony B. (Steve Buschemi), Christopher (Michael Imperioli), and Sack (Vince Curatola) and really aren't all that exciting. They're used as a reminder of who got whacked and where the tensions lie between crime bosses. And, of course, it includes the scene where Adriana gets whacked.

Speaking of getting whacked, here's a way to kill time. It's The Sopranos' version of Whack-a-Mole.

HBO understands the viral power of the internet and is apparently hoping to get in on it with a couple of online promotions for the upcoming season of The Sopranos, which starts March 12. First, it's paying Google to use its maps to identify certain parts of New Jersey where key parts of The Sopranos have happened (does that mean we'll know where Ralphie's head is buried?). Starting February 27th, all you'll have to do is go to Google and type in "Sopranos Map".

HBO.com is also planning an interactive game called Whack a Soprano.

File this one under "things that you can do when you're bored at work." In case you can't get enough 24, then check this out.

It's called the "JackTracker" and it works like a juiced-up Google map. You can zoom in and get a bird's eye view of all sorts of landmarks from all five seasons of 24 including the oil refinery where Jack's alias Frank Flynn worked, the location of CTU, the lair of the mountain lion that "attacked" Kim in season two, and tons others. It seems like they'll be adding more locations as the new season progresses.

No wonder Jack was so easy to find...

[Thanks to Martha over at Cinematical]