Today I checked out Crisis in Darfur, which is a joint project of the U.S. Holocaust Museum and Google. It provides Google Earth layers that document the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

It's a pretty remarkable effort; the vast scale of the genocide in Darfur has never been more apparent. The overview screen is littered with red and yellow icons; each one represents a village that has been partially or utterly destroyed. The project has collected photos, videos, and testimonials from victims and displaced people, in addition to high-resolution satellite imagery that provides undeniable evidence of the destruction.

It's all part of the Genocide Prevention Mapping Initiative, which seeks to collect information on potential genocides and present it to world governments and humanitarian organizations. That's the worthiest use of technology I've heard of in a while, and I'm in the business.

Kudos to these folks for an incredibly moving and compelling piece of work. See for yourself - go get Google Earth, install the Darfur layers, and get educated.