March 31, 2009
Arduino Sketchup Model

Geeky. But I will no doubt need it for an in-world demo. So it's come to this.

Arduino Sketchup Model | Bussoli

Posted by Dave at 11:25 PM
iPhone Dev 101

I made some progress a year ago but this could be the refresher I need. If I were a coder...

iPhone Dev 101: Creating Xcode projects, brief Xcode UI overview

Posted by Dave at 03:13 PM
Webduino

Thanks to Ben Combee who is contributing to the Arduino community by making it easier to use the "official" ethernet shield.

webduino - Google Code

Posted by Dave at 01:38 PM
Tendril reviewed

I saw their website last fall, but could not tell what the product was. This review shows that it requires a particular wireless utility meter, and provides its own smart-grid type of service.

Technology Review: Dumb Meters Get Smarter

Posted by Dave at 10:23 AM
March 30, 2009
Park Invaders near Tikal

A large part of El Zotz biosphere next door has been cleared.

Prensa Libre - Edición electrónica - Nacional - Invasores se aproximan al Parque Nacional Tikal

Posted by Dave at 10:42 AM
March 29, 2009
Back to basics - Arduino

I was reminded of this great set of tutorials, combining Arduino with Processing.

arduino meets processing - PUSHBUTTON

Posted by Dave at 10:19 PM
OpenFrameworks on iPhone - easy way

More from my "if I were a coder" series. Memo makes it as easy as he can - no objective C programming.

Simple openFrameworks application on iPhone Sample 1 | memo.tv

Posted by Dave at 09:51 PM
March 27, 2009
VNC in VW's

Starting to get interesting here.

Real time application sharing for virtual meetings | CyberTech News

Posted by Dave at 06:54 PM
Ancient news, Future History

Like I said...

Built-in Obsolescence | Serial Consign

Posted by Dave at 03:35 PM
OpenFrameworks on iPhone

In case some iPhone dev should wander by here. We're not worthy...

Developing for iPhone using openFrameworks and ofxiPhone | memo.tv

Jeff Crouse » Archive » openFrameworks on iPhone

exploration » Blog Archive » openFrameworks iPhone libs

And the new v0.06 release, with iPhone support

openFrameworks: download

Posted by Dave at 12:18 AM
March 26, 2009
Fulldome After Effects tutorial

Thanks to David McConville and Elumenati for a good tutorial on converting cylindrical equidistant to fulldome projection. Passing this along to our new After Effects expert.

fulldome_demo2.mov (video/quicktime Object)

Posted by Dave at 06:43 PM
Two iPhone App Dev Stories

Insights into the creation of two very different iPhone applications. Geeky but good reads on how they think. And coders are only human.

Official Google Mac Blog: Using Google APIs in an iPhone App

Wolfenstein 3D Classic

Posted by Dave at 12:06 AM
March 25, 2009
Google Grids

Mashup of Google Earth and Power grid information, being done at Oak Ridge National Labs.

Global Dashboard » Climate and resource scarcity Influence and networks » Google Grids

Posted by Dave at 01:39 PM
Energy Blueprint

How renewables could cover energy needs and save costs at the same time.

Energy Blue Print team: homepage

Posted by Dave at 10:52 AM
Vis/Space

Strange but evocative 3D browser. Try it. Java download for all platforms.

Vis / Space

Posted by Dave at 01:28 AM
Processing and Chrome

If I were a coder...

REAS.com / Blog » Blog Archive » Twitch, Chrome Experiments Launch

Posted by Dave at 01:11 AM
March 24, 2009
Creating terrain from Satellite images

From my Spanish cybernaut counterparts. We'll disappear down the rabbithole together. Conjunto amigos!

HispaGrid - Ver Tema - Creacion de terrenos usando imagenes de satelite

UPDATE: They based it on this:

Darb Dabney's OpenSim Blog - Case Study: USGS terrain in OpenSim, a GIS approach

Posted by Dave at 06:17 PM
Ada Lovelace Day

And I didn't even have to pledge. Highly recommended - reread "The Difference Engine" by Sterling and Gibson.

Ada Lovelace Day - Bringing women in technology to the fore

Posted by Dave at 01:04 PM
Sensor swarm in buildings

Watching for these start-ups as they come online. Could beat my DIY approach.

Sensor 'swarm' converges on energy use in buildings | Green Tech - CNET News

Posted by Dave at 12:25 PM
March 22, 2009
The Big Takeover

This goes in my Underworld category, bigtime. Matt Taibbi nails it.

The Big Takeover : Rolling Stone

Posted by Dave at 03:25 PM
Sensor networks and virtual worlds

The future. Live it or live with it.

More like Philip K. Dick every day.

Sensor networks and virtual worlds « No there there

Posted by Dave at 01:09 PM
March 21, 2009
More Sketchup to OpenSim

No, I can't do this without help from a skilled hacker and yes, there is a method to my madness.

Tutorial: Using the streamlined tool chain for importing Sketchup models into realXtend 0.4 « No there there

RealXtend - OpenSim

ModRex - OpenSim

UPDATE: I underestimated my own persistence and the work that the realXtend developers have put into making it easy to install the server. See comments on the first link above. Give it a try - it's not too hard.

MORE UPDATE: This is actually an exercise in getting Sketchup into RealXtend. For Opensim, I found the Windows install very simple, the Mac install of latest builds next to unknown. In any case I will start leaving relevant links here:

Network Settings - OpenSim

Posted by Dave at 12:47 PM
Sketchup and Augmented Reality

The far out begins to be mainstream - GE has a demo also.

Official Google SketchUp Blog: Cool technologies to help visualize your models

Posted by Dave at 09:14 AM
March 19, 2009
Day of Action for Rivers

...was last Saturday, but the Lower Eastside Girls Club and Club Balam were way ahead of the pack, doing their action on the Usumacinta on February 16th. Video is on the way, here's a photo from that day, and the page at International Rivers.

2009: Mesoamerica | International Rivers

Posted by Dave at 06:32 PM
Cisco and Flip HD

A play to push more HD video on the web and trigger upgrades in the router business.

Why Cisco's Flipping Into Consumer Video - Forbes.com

Posted by Dave at 03:37 PM
Information Shadow

Interesting conversation from ETech, via Tish Shute.

Dematerializing the World, Shadows, Subscriptions and Things as Services: Talking With Mike Kuniavsky at ETech 2009 | UgoTrade

Posted by Dave at 11:40 AM
March 18, 2009
Ernest delivers a baby

In Penn Station. The brother of my daughter-in-law is a real-life New York hero!

A Boy Named Penn, Born at the Station - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

Posted by Dave at 09:43 PM
Hakkos Soldering Iron

Recommended by the hacker cognoscenti. Good enough for me.

Hakko 936-12 - ESD-Safe Soldering Station, 60W with C1148 Medium Soldering Iron

Posted by Dave at 03:39 PM
Kissing the Lightbulb goodbye

It'll go the way of the gas lamp - Thanks Edison, it was fun while it lasted.

Kissing Edison's Light Bulb Goodbye - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com

Posted by Dave at 11:32 AM
Update on Xalala Dam

Ron Canter sent in this update on the emabattled Xalala dam on the Chixoy River in Guatemala. An excerpt:

Cancelled twice before, the proposed 82-meter-high Xalalá Dam proposed for Northern
Guatemala found no bidders on its third try in early November. A number of prominent
companies – including US firms AES International and Duke Energy, the Brazilian firm Odebrecht,
and others – purchased the project bidding rules, but none offered a proposal for the estimated $400 million project.

International Rivers - December update (pdf)

Posted by Dave at 10:39 AM
March 17, 2009
UCLA Wireless Internet Smart Grid

Conference is tomorrow. Only slightly out of the loop.

2009 UCLA Wireless SmartGrid Forum

UCLA Wireless Internet Smart Grid

Posted by Dave at 02:41 PM
Persistence of Vision Watch

Nice gadget. Now who has the kits for us hobbyists?

Grand Idea Studio » Archive » Persistence of Vision Watch

Posted by Dave at 02:04 PM
March 14, 2009
CurrentCost developments

Still waiting for the US standard CurrentCost meter that all the UK guys are hacking, but this code and hardware setup looks useful.

curcostardethpac - Google Code

Posted by Dave at 10:06 AM
March 13, 2009
Cisco server revamp

Why I will wait until the building is built to figure out this part of the puzzle.

Cisco's expected server splash raises data center ruckus | Business Tech - CNET News

Posted by Dave at 02:58 PM
Economics of Electric Cars

Looks good to me.

Electric Cars--How Much Does It Cost per Charge?: Scientific American

Posted by Dave at 01:39 PM
"Raiders" Story Conference

Raiders of the Lost Ark - transcript of the 1978 story conference. Will we ever get over it?

Mystery Man on Film: The Raiders Story Conference

Posted by Dave at 12:04 PM
March 12, 2009
March 11, 2009
More home monitoring

I may look more closely at this one when CurrentCost comes out with their US standard version.

Andy Stanford-Clark's home monitoring

Posted by Dave at 08:57 PM
Electricity 2.0

The right version of Tom Raftery's etech presentation on the Smartgrid. Apparently the etech people posted the wrong one on their site.

Electricity 2.0 @ Etech

Posted by Dave at 08:53 PM
Final Cut News and Sports tutorials

I found this last summer and passed it on to a producer friend moving to FCP. It includes two introductory videos for TV (read Avid) editors moving to Final Cut. Best tip - I looked again today for this - is

x o delete x i delete

what the instructor calls top and tail editing, perfect for today's "throw everything on the timeline and trim it into shape" style of editing.

Apple - Seminars Online - News and Sports Editing - Infinite Possibilities with Final Cut Pro

Posted by Dave at 03:10 PM
AMEE

Next on my list to learn about. Pachube has an app to hook into AMEE.

AMEE - The world's energy meter » FAQ

Posted by Dave at 12:20 PM
The Daily Duino

Geek on the case. Arduino lifestyle.

The Daily Duino

Posted by Dave at 11:55 AM
March 10, 2009
Shipping Data Simulation

Can't help seeing this as the Usumacinta simulation I wanted to make a few years ago. No shipping there. But other things to note.

Naked Imagination · Visualizing live shipping data in OpenSim (Isle of Wight Ferries)

Posted by Dave at 04:01 PM
If I don't DIY it

Can be done for half the price or less DIY. But there should be many options coming out over the next 2 years.

SensorProbe2 - 2 Port IP Sensor Monitor on Sale $245.00, 2 for $480.00, 5 for $1,175.00 1-800-975-4743 USA

Sensors & Cameras 1-800-975-4743 USA

Posted by Dave at 12:08 PM
March 09, 2009
Visualizing Proximity sensors

Visualizing Sensor With Arduino and Processing | uC Hobby

Posted by Dave at 06:34 PM
March 08, 2009
Informing Ourselves to Death

Neil Postman's 1990 speech.

Informing Ourselves To Death

Posted by Dave at 11:46 PM
Planetary Skin - Cisco, NASA

Project to create global sensor network to monitor earth and climate.

:: Planetary Skin - Resources ::

Posted by Dave at 02:26 PM
March 07, 2009
Toward the Sentient City

Exhibit in September, NYC, featuring Usman Haque of Pachube.

Situated Technologies: Toward the Sentient City | Situated Technologies

Posted by Dave at 04:00 PM
Carbon Capture Redux

I first ran across the word "sequestration" in 1997 when I did the Discovery News story on carbon capture. There may be ways to do it now beyond growing more trees.

Carbon capture and storage: absolute necessity or crazy scheme?: Scientific American Blog

Posted by Dave at 12:13 PM
March 06, 2009
Reverse sequence learning

Novel approaches to sequences of learning « John W Lewis

Posted by Dave at 12:40 PM
Mr. Green - Arduino Robot

Nice CD wheels, paper driver.

Mr.Green (aka Bean) | Let's Make Robots!

Posted by Dave at 11:11 AM
Packing Heat

Effectiveness of simple weatherizing.

Firepower of the Lowly Caulk Gun - WSJ.com

Posted by Dave at 10:41 AM
Servos Today!

With ITP's help as usual. We begin the new "Make Break and Burn" class with a step towards robotics - our first servos.

Physical Computing at ITP | Labs / Servo Motor Control with an Arduino

And a great link on that page, to the Flying Pig animations of mechanical motion.

Mechanisms and Movement

Posted by Dave at 12:10 AM
March 05, 2009
Computer in a wall wart

Tiny, Linux, USB and GigE.

Marvell: SheevaPlug Development Kit

Posted by Dave at 02:29 PM
March 03, 2009
Open the Future

Blog of Jamais Cascio, one of the contributors to WorldChanging. Thoughtful and surprising. And a bit more hopeful than the lecture we heard tonight. Okay, we are screwed. Let's live and work on it.

Open the Future

Posted by Dave at 09:17 PM
March 02, 2009
Home Camp

A conference on "home hacking, automation and green technology community". Pachube is one of the participants, and there is a virtual home camp being set up in the OpenSim world, an open source version of Second Life. Since I want to display building monitoring data in an online display based on Sketchup and Google Earth, this sounds intriguing.

Home Camp (website)

homecamp / FrontPage (wiki)

homecamp | Google Groups

The Future is Here: Full-Scale Architectural Model from Revit Imported into a Virtual World « The ARCH

Tutorial: Using the streamlined tool chain for importing Sketchup models into realXtend 0.4 « No there there

realXtend

Posted by Dave at 09:29 PM
Steampunk Workshop

I just re-read "The Difference Engine" by Gibson and Sterling, and I am amazed how little I remembered from the first time around. Today I ran across this gem of a site. Might try some etching of Altoids tins myself. The rest I have too little patience for.

The Steampunk Workshop | Technology and Romance - Sustainable Rebellion

Posted by Dave at 06:17 PM
March 01, 2009
Google - Panoramio in Street View

Google LatLong: Explore more with User Photos in Street View

Posted by Dave at 01:43 PM
More Pachube/Enet/Twitter tutorials

Very clear and well illustrated.

Living Architecture Spring 2009 Columbia: Tutorial 2: Pachube.com

Living Architecture Spring 2009 Columbia: Tutorial 3: Ethernet Shield and Twitter.com

(Tutorials are images - click on them to enlarge)

Posted by Dave at 10:38 AM
Peltier Junction

Solid state cooling or heating element. Can also generate electricity if heat is applied to it.

Peltier Junction Thermo Electric Heat Pump

Thermoelectric effect - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Posted by Dave at 10:09 AM