Google's O3D - Browser based 3d

I got a tweet yesterday about Google's O3D, their new in the browser 3d engine.

All I can say is OMG! Finally, something that is 3d, that is not overly complicated or is a crazy 800 pound gorilla of a client. Not that Unity3d has not been the browser based 3d client, which has been around for a while, but the thing with Google's O3D, is it is FREE.

The O3D is actually a Javascript API to the plugin, making the learning curve much less than other proprietary scripting languages. You can check out a video here




If you want to check out O3D download the plug-in here.
More in-depth can be found here (for developers too).

After you get the plug-in, check the visualization of google trends.

I will be doing a follow post on this code, so look for it.

Enjoy and be well,

Jeffrey

Another Magic Monday

Another Magic Monday (not manic!). Looking at my plate of "ToDo" items, it is easy to get over whelmed. Where does one start? Which is next in priority? How do I handle something extra thrown in for good measure at the last minute?

It is easy to just go into analysis paralysis when dealing with the Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD). That said, my friend Stavros gave me a way to overcome FUD.

Replace Fear with Focus
Replace Uncertainty with Collaboration
Replace Doubt with Doing

I think we all innately know the above, but sometimes it sits just beyond our vision to articulate. That articulation is the magical portion of an idea.

~Jeffrey

Perpetual Motion

After 36 years of perpetual motion,
He will smile and say,
Some of it is magic and some of it is tragic,
But I had good life all the way....

Edison Inventors Association - April Meeting

Great meeting this past Wednesday (I know, I am a little late on the posting, but hey, it is my blog so :P ). The meeting had a presentation by Bill McHenry on branding your invention. Also, I was able to meet Ronald Sargent - an inventor of many things that you see in everyday life.

Mill McHenry's presentation on Branding came out with two key points. Not only does one need to invent, one needs to be an entrepreneur. It was even mentioned by one of the members, that Thomas Edison was not only a great inventor, he was an even better entrepreneur, recognizing gaps in the market. To get in touch with Bill McHenry and his company Entrepreneur Sales and Marketing click the link.

Ronald Sargent has been inventing for a long time. He is the founder and owner of Ideation Institute. Some of his inventions include the Port-a-Potty, the jumping fountains at Disney's Epcot center and his newest is a mechanism that can turn any sealable plastic bag into a vacuum sealed bag (which he did with his father that is over 100 - fantastic in my book). He has also taken his method for creativity and created a seminar/training course. I plan to at least obtain a copy of his book for the seminar. Great stuff!

I have to say, the amount of inventor/entrepreneur's in the Southwest Florida area has surprised me. I am glad I stumbled upon the Edison Inventors Association. I will post about next month's meeting then.

~Jeffrey

Met the Moon today

Today, I had a fruitful day, did a bunch of errands, got my software working more so for the ASP.NET project, had several productive conversations with business partners on several websites, and then filed the taxes! W00t! Return coming to us (thankfully!).

As for the errands, one of them was getting some locks rekeyed for my new tenant. Well after the fiasco with the "big box stores" (em, Lowes or Home Depot), I went to an independent. Ace Hardware on Cape Coral Parkway in Cape Coral, FL.

Well, there were 2 guys behind the key counter. One was the locksmith/key salesmen (interesting job, would you have thought there was someone that just sold keys and rekeying kits?). I got his card.

The interesting guy that rekeyed my lock was named - get this - Moon! Like the celestial body orbiting the earth. Turns out his parents were surfer's from California. Very Nice guy.

Such was my day. More on this tomorrow. I think I will talk about some of my 3d ventures that are coming up this week.

Be Well,

~Jeffrey

The Monday after Easter - getting in the groove

I woke up early today as my wife kissed me good bye at 6:45AM. Stayed in bed for a bit longer reading Duma Key by Stephen King. Some good stuff, especially for someone that is infatuated with FL like I am. Did you know this? SK winters in Naples (or did at one time). He perceptions and observations of many things in the book are spot on.

What do I today I thought? Well, I got the mailbox up for the new tenant. They seem to be good people. Country folk, fair and hard working. I am still cautiously optimistic after the last bunch, but I have some faith.

I installed the tax software today (TaxCut) to get the taxes finished this evening. I should have it done tonight and submitted. Two days before they are due. Nothing like waiting to the last minute, but I love modern technology.

I will be working on some software using MS-SQL and ASP.NET and Visual Basic 2008. Wow, how that stuff changed since I used VB6.

However, tomorrow will be in part job hunt day. Looking to post my resume on all the job boards. I also plan to stock up on the freelance sites. I am looking forward to the skill tests to show me where I stand. So much to do on multiple fronts. I am still leaning toward my own business. Kinetic Thoughts Consulting again? Sounds good to me. The site needs updating.

I must get up and head out to the bank. I think I will ride my bike. So much for the blog entry. I still hurt in my neck sitting in this chair. I am looking forward to getting that fixed. A little scared too. Mixed emotional bag I guess.

I have rambled enough. Looking good out there in the SWFL sunshine. Getting my groove back.

~Jeffrey

Ping.FM and social media

I have recently been toying with Twitter and Plurk. I was at one time pushing my Tweets to Facebook and pushing my Plurk's to Twitter (and thus up the chain to Facebook).

It was messy and strange (since they all had different character limits, or would attach URL's). I had to find a new way.

My colleague turned me onto Ping.fm. From it I can push to Twitter, Facebook, Plurk, AIM, Yahoo 360, Friendster, Blogger, and many others. The Blogger push is part of the reason for this post. The two short posts were in fact ping.fm pushes. I have turned that off, because I want this blog's entries to have more substance than a micro-blog.

Check out some of the above and follow me! Enjoy the social media of web 2.0.

~Jeffrey

Working on some more ASP.NET stuff. MS-SQL has not been my friend.

Testing my first Ping.FM to all the social networks. Thanks Lee, Robi, and Charisse for the tip!

Comcast and Linksys Router BS

I awoke today to start working (well job hunting and side business). I depend on multiple devices going out on my Comcast cable address. Well, today it was not working. I tried the usual power cycle things. Called in, got a snotty girl that had me turn everything off (no real reason for this) and plug into my PC directly. After doing so, it worked on my PC. I was like Hmmm, guess I was wrong and I apologized.

I plugged into the router after hanging up. Nothing. Didn't work. I called back not satisfied. He walked me through a few things that didn't work. I said thank you and I would figure it out. Well first off, I changed out the cable, that was not it. I could connect to other machines on the network and the server. That was not it. So I plugged it into my machine directly again and restarted.

After getting a connection I did a search for Comcast and LinkSys. This link came up. Aparently Comcast found a way to thwart users that are not using Comcast router equipment. After following the instructions of cloning my MAC address, everything worked well. Here is the kicker, I asked repeatedily on the phone if anything had changed. "No sir, nothing here." I won't be too indignant, read the EULA and you will know why. Here are the instructions:

1. Plug your computer directly into the cable modem.
2. Use "ipconfig /release" and "ipconfig /renew" from the windows command prompt to get a new IP address from the cable modem.
3. Unplug your computer from the cable modem.
4. Plug your computer into the router, leaving the router unplugged from the cable modem.
5. Use ipconfig /release and ipconfig /renew to get an IP address from the router.
6. Enter the router's configuration with your web browser.
7. Tell the router to Clone your Mac Address. wait a few seconds.
8. Plug the router into the cable modem.
9. In the web interface, tell the router to ask for a new IP address from the cable modem. (This is the "DHCP Renew" Button) The cable modem should think that you are the PC that just spoke with it and will let your router work again. You might have to ask it to renew a couple times.

~Jeffrey