Take a look at this video, where Google explains Project Spectrum, an effort by Google to help those with autism take advantage of their gifts for working and expressing themselves visually using Google SketchUp, its free 3D modeling software:
It’s really great of Google to be working on this, and I really enjoyed seeing the various models the children had come up with. And really, who doesn’t think a semi truck with teeth is an improvement?
On a seperate note, Aidan Chopra has written one of those “For Dummies” reference books on how to use SketchUp. He’s also got over 60 videos on YouTube, which you can use to teach yourself how to be a better SketchUpper, especially if you’re too cheap to buy the book. If you aren’t use this referral link to buy the book at Amazon, currently available for $13-16.
(via Boing Boing)
Google is going to announce today a partnership with Multiverse Network, maker of virtual world platforms (like Second Life), that will let anyone create a virtual 3D environment using Google Earth terrain and Google SketchUp 3D models. Using the technology, you could grab an area from Google Earth, like the Grand Canyon, and populate it with your favorite landmarks, tossing in the Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower and Wrigley Field, creating a unique 3D world quickly and more easily than ever before.
The article also discusses SceneCaster, a new feature that allows the creation of 3D “scenes” in SketchUp that can be uploaded to the 3D Warehouse and embedded in blogs, Facebook pages or shared to Flickr. The article is not clear of the exact implementation of the Multiverse 3D virtual world product, or even if it will be free (though it appears it will), but it does say that each virtual world can have up to 1,000 users running around, which should make it fun to use as soon as we get our hands on it.
(via Ogle Earth)
Google has launched a new blog for SketchUp, its free 3D modeling software. They’ve actually been blogging for almost two months in almost secret, so there are a lot of posts to catch up on, including:
The little guy who appears in the beginning of a SketchUp project is a picture of a member of the SketchUp team, and he doesn’t like it when you delete him.
Adobe Labs has released a plugin for Photoshop CS3 Extended that lets you work with Google’s 3D warehouse, its repository of 3D models for Google Earth created in Google Sketchup. The plugin, available for both Macs and PCs, lets you search the 3D Warehouse from within Photoshop. Find the model you want, load it into Photoshop, and you will be able to rotate it within Photoshop and edit all of its textures. I imagine this would make it real easy to take photos of a building and get those photos to work exactly right as textures on your building, and that’s just groovy.
The Google Store has added a 3D navigation mouse ideal for use flying around Google Earth, and moving around the interface in Google SketchUp. It looks extremely useful for working in 3D (something regular mice are not great for).
The Google Store is selling it for $73.70. Amazon has two editions of it, the Personal Edition and Standard Edition, one of which is cheaper, one more expensive, and Google isn’t clear which one they are selling. Here are the two at Amazon:
Google had announced that it would be flying over parts of Australia on Australia Day, last week Friday, in order to take photos for Google Earth and Google Maps (Microsoft was doing it, too). Australians were excites, with people planning to build giant signs and write words on the ground, or just wave at the sky, in order to live on for a while in Google’s maps of the country. Now, reports are coming in that things didn’t go as well as planned.
One guy had hoped Google’s flyover would help him convince his wife to come back to him. She had moved out a few weeks ago after their marriage fell apart, and he figured she’d see his giant message of love in Google and come running back, but it was not meant to be.
Google’s plans fell apart due to no-fly zone restrictions due to air safety on low-flying planes. Google’s plane was too low for the government, which did not let it fly over Sydney, although some of the other areas were photographed. Microsoft’s plane was fine, since its photographic equipment allowed it to fly higher, but many who had planned to be seen by Google were out of luck.
Among those missing out on the photo opportunity of a lifetime was a company that had spent $10,000-plus on a sign, an environmental group which organised 200 supporters to form themselves into a slogan on Bondi Beach and a man who drove from Wollongong to Sydney with a message that he hoped would help win back his estranged wife.
Among those missing out on the photo opportunity of a lifetime was Sydney software consultant Adam Cogan.
He had spent $10,000 on a 50-metre sign featuring his company’s logo and website address and had organised 30 of his employees to come along to Queens Park in Waverley on Friday morning and help assemble the installation.
Google advised those at Queens Park to be ready around 8.45am-9.15am. Mr Cogan waited at Queens Park for the flyover until about 4.30pm before giving up.
“Google have over-promised and under-delivered,” Mr Cogan said. “They should have sorted this out before creating the expectation.”
Bonus items:
Google has sued copyright moron Leo Stoller, who trademarks words and then sues those who use them (words like “Stealth”, “Ambush” and “Annihilator”). Stoller had tried to lay claim to the word “Google”, and Google finally sued his ass to make him pay for dragging them through years of frivolous litigation.
Google is asking college students to create 3D representations of their university campuses and upload them to Google Earth and SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse, with the best ones getting a free trip to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. The judges are from companies like Apple and Electronic Arts, and I’d assume the winner would have a good shot at a job at Google. Let’s just hope the college students aren’t running Windows Vista, since SketchUp still won’t run on Microsoft’s new OS.
Google has topped Brand Channel’s list of the top brand worldwide of 2006, by impact, beating out Apple. Third place belongs to Google’s YouTube, too, giving Google a cool hold on the top of the list. Their list of top brands in North America, though, puts Apple at #1, with Google dropping to third, and YouTube in second.
Somebody runs a goof video blog on YouTube called Inifinite Solutions, a pitch-perfect spoof of self-help shows, complete with public access graphics and a host that just lies to you. Their latest episode revealed how to get into the new beta of “Google TV”, which doesn’t exist. Judging by comments on several blogs and Digg, there were a lot of people logging in and out of their Gmail accounts in a desperate attempt to get an invite to a service that doesn’t exist.
Amit Agarwal reports that Google has released version 6 of its 3D modeling software, the free Google Sketchup and the not-as-free $495 Google Sketchup Pro (which is a free upgrade for purchasers of most previous paid Sketchup versions). While the new version still does not have support for Windows Vista (curious, with Vista coming out in a mere three weeks), it does have a bunch of new features.
The coolest new feature has got to be its ability to create a 3D model from a photograph. While I won’t be able to test this out (the Vista thing, again), it is obvious how much easier and convenient the program can be if you can take a picture of your house and start with that, saving a lot of time in the beginning of your project. Other new features include themed styles, watermarks (for branding or logos), atmospheric haze (for realism), 3D text, and more natural native support for Google Earth and the 3D Warehouse.
Irvine Googleplex and AdSense Audio
Zachary Applegate of Plumber Surplus posted at SEOmoz a first-person account of his team’s recent visit to the Google offices in Irvine, California. Besides describing the office, which has the typical Google search ticker and a new Google Earth display, he also recounts their description of the in-development AdSense Audio system. Highlights:
Most radio ad buys start at $20,000. AdSense Audio will let those with $200 to spend get in on audio advertising.
Timing is everything. If a heat wave starts, AdSense Audio may switch ads from hot foods to colder foods, for example.
AdSense Audio will target radio, IPTV and podcast markets.
Check out the interface they are currently using. It doesn’t look anything like a typical Google interface, and it looks great. Looks like a pretty cool visit. Digg it.
We do not associate any of the information that Toolbar sends with other personal information about you. However, it is possible that a URL or other page information sent to Google may itself contain personal information. For information about how some web sites embed personal information in web requests, click here.
That could be a pretty big deal. I’d like to know if things I do with the Google Toolbar are specifically associated with my Google Account, especially since Google lets you login to your Google Account with the more recent versions of the toolbar. This is the sort of thing a Scoble-type would probably try to answer for us…
Dell Using Google Earth For Tech Support The Detroit News reports that Dell is enhancing its tech support service by integrating it with Google Earth. Customers will be able to see in Earth the status of their support requests, visualized as to their location on the globe. I hope Google has good imagery in India.
All kidding aside, Dell’s customer service has been crap for a while. First off, I don’t think Google would want to be associated with the next story of a Dell customer getting angry in a very public way. Second, I’m not sure Dell wants its customers to know the extent of their support outsourcing. Third, if Dell wants to improve its service, there are other areas they need to pay attention to first. This is purely a money deal, part of their deal with Google to promote Google products.
German Lawsuit Against Google Book Search Withdrawn WBG, a German Publisher, dropped their lawsuit against Google Book Search last week, after being told by the judge that they were probably going to lose. The court said it was going to side with Google’s arguement that showing snippets from in-copyright books is no worse than showing snippets from websites in Google web search (an already accepted practice). Google would probably have been better off if the lawsuit had not been withdrawn, since that sort of ruling would have set a very useful legal precedent, one that they will have to prove all over again in the next lawsuit.
Google SketchUp: Now For Macs Google just released the first Mac version of Google SketchUp. The Mac version is for the older PowerPC systems (no Universal Binary yet) and requires OS X 10.3 and an OpenGL graphics card. It also only works with the latest version of Google Earth (version 4). SketchUp is an excellent 3D modeling program, and will do a great job extending the capabilities of your Mac. Download it here.
Larry’s Pics Left Out There Philipp found Larry Page’s Picasa Web Album. Turns out there are no real privacy settings for PicWeb, just “public” and “unlisted”, and unlisted just invites you to guess the URL. That’s not the best way of handling online photos, many of which people don’t want to share with the rest of the world.
Maybe I’ll be heading to a few people’s PicWeb collections and try seeing if there is a “xxx” or “nudity” album? Page’s photos were far more innocent, and have been removed, but hopefully this taught the Google founder that, in the future, don’t release products without some real privacy options.
