Microsoft’s 3D Virtual Earth

Microsoft’s Virtual Earth is the online competitor to the Google Earth software. Recently, Microsoft added the ability to see certain cities in 3D. According to the webpage, the following cities are available in 3D: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Fort Worth, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle. However, a fellow blogger found more.

From the photos I had seen online of the 3D feature, it looked amazing, so, of course, I had to check it out for myself. I had to switch to Internet Explorer before I could begin the install of the Virtual Earth 3D feature.  Strangely, my installation errored out. According to the error message, I had a beta version of the .NET 2.0 software installed on my computer (how did that get there?) and I had to uninstall it first. I went to Add/Remove programs and chose the option to uninstall, but the uninstall errored out as well! The error message said something about me having programs on my computer dependent on this software. Jeez. Now I had to start Googling. I found a forum where someone had posted the same problem and another person had responded by offering this link from Microsoft that would uninstall the software. I gave it a shot.  Surprisingly, it worked and I didn’t even have to reboot.

Installing the new, non-beta .NET Framework took forever, but eventually it was done and I had a link to Virtual Earth on my desktop. I double-click and IE opens to yet another error message. This time, I’m informed that I have hardare accleration turned off. Quick check…no I don’t! I’m also told how to check my DirectX settings (Start –> Run –> dxdiag). I ran some tests, and one failed. Hmmm...OK, fine…reboot.

Finally it worked, but it killed my CPU usage to run Virtual Earth in my web browser. Unfortunately, my computer is a couple of years old, so I guess this was a bit much for it to handle. (It does run Google Earth just fine though). As Virtual Earth zoomed in to street level, the 3D renderings slowly filled in, looking more like artist renderings than actual photos, which I guess they kind of are. I suppose this would look better if my computer could keep up with the technology.

For comparison’s sake, I launched Google Earth 4.0 beta. This version of Google Earth shows 3D buildings, but only in certain areas, and, for the most part, they are non-textured buildings rendered in boring grey & white. Virtual Earth certainly beats Google here. However, some enterprising Google Earth users have been rendering textured buildings for import into Google Earth. For example, this guy. The trick is to open the files they’ve created in Google Earth. Here’s how. Right click this link: http://www-video.eecs.berkeley.edu/~avz/DowntownBerkeley.kmz and choose "Save Target As" (IE users) or "Save Link As" (Firefox users).  Save the file somewhere handy, like the desktop. In Google Earth, go to File –> Open –> and open the file you just saved. Trickier than Virtual Earth, but still cool.

The bottom line,  if your PC can handle running Virtual Earth, the 3D buildings look much better than in Google. In addtion, with Virtual Earth, all of Microsoft’s Live Local features (traffic data, e-mail integration, bookmarks) are available. Microsoft has upped the ante, I hope Google plays catch up because, overall, I prefer the Google application. I love the way the globe spins and slowly zooms in on your chosen location. It’s as if you’re controlling a real satellite. I have to stick with Google for now, since my computer is just too old for this, but when I can afford my next laptop, I’m sure Virtual Earth will be a breeze to use.

Subscribe to this blog's RSS feed

I found this new blog posting service via the LifeHacker weblog and I thought I would give it a shot. The service is called  BlogMailr (no "e", of course) and it allows you to post to your blog from any email address or addresses of your choosing. According to the BlogMailr F.A.Q., they support major blogging platforms like WordPress, TypePad, Community Server, Blogger, and " others." With BlogMailr, you can post images along with your posts or send in pictures from your camera phone.  Additionally, you can add tags to your blog post by adding a line of text to the top of your email like so: .

Since I’m always looking for easier ways to post, I’m testing Blogmailr with this post. I was disappointed with the blog-posting ability of the Flock web browser, since it was not able to resize my images or wrap text around the image the way TypePad does by default. I’m curious as to whether BlogMailr will be able to do so or not. 

Update: the image posting didn’t work the way I wanted it to — the image ended up being large & at the bottom of the post. I logged back into TypePad and added the image using TypePad’s default settings & I removed the image at the bottom of the post. Oh well, I’ll just stick to posting via TypePad!

Sometime in early 2007, Yahoo will offer their Yahoo Mail users the ability to chat via instant messenging directly from the Yahoo email service. With the integration of IM in Yahoo Mail, you will be able to see whether your contacts are online, and, if so, you can start an IM session with just one click. Although Yahoo was not first out of the gate with the service - that honor goes to Google’s Gmail - it’s likely to catch on faster than Gmail’s IM service since there are only 10 million Gmail users, as compared to Yahoo Mail’s 250 million. Also, the IM in Yahoo Mail will allow users to chat with not only Yahoo user, but also Windows Live Messenger contacts as well. I’m still waiting for an embedded universal IM with "set me as invisible" capabilities. Is that so much to ask?

Bill Gates recently hinted that Microsoft is planning to launch an online Office suite. When pressed for more details, Gates would only say "we’re going to cover 100 percent of the productivity needs," and that Microsoft "keeps innovating." The online Office suite is clearly an attempt to compete with Google’s latest offerings, which include "Docs & Spreadsheets" as well as an online calendar. Gates poo-poos the current offerings, claiming their quality level is comparable to Microsoft Works — that is, very basic. For that reason, he doesn’t think that the currently available services will really take off.

Hmm…an online Office suite may be nice, but it’s doubtful that it will be free. Products like Docs & Spreadsheets may be basic, but for home use, that’s all most of us need. Plus, unlike Works, Google’s offerings are compatible with Microsoft Office file formats (without having to "Save As"!) Maybe they’re not ready for the office yet, but they’ll certainly do for the average user.

Would you use an online Office suite from Microsoft? Would you pay for it?

A new type of search has arisen over at Riya’s Like.com website. The site allows you to do visual searches to find things that look similar to each other. Currently, the search site focuses on shopping. You can search for jewelry, handbags, shoes, or watches. Another interesting feature is the "search celebrities" option. You can search through photos of your favorite stars to and then use the like search engine to find jewelry, handbags, shoes, or watches similar to theirs in their photo. Even though this site sound like it would have little appeal to men at the moment, for tech’s sake, it’s worth a look from everyone, regardless of your gender. (via Google Blogoscoped)

I’ve seen a couple of articles today about the status of the blogosphere since Technorati released their latest findings, complete with charts and graphs. Here’s what I learned:

• 100,000 new blogs were created each day (lots of splogs, I’d imagine)
• Around 55 percent of all blogs are active
• 1.3 million postings per day
• English and Japanese are the two most popular languages in the blogosphere
• The blogosphere is doubling in size approximately every 230 days

Google Blogoscoped responded with a hilarious chart of their own. With all those blogs out there, I’m surprised that people ever find the time to drop by this one.

Zamzar is a new web service that offers free, online file conversion. Whether it’s an image file, a document, music, or video, Zamzar can make the conversion. It’s easy-to-use, too. You just upload the file, Zamzar converts it, then emails you a link to download the converted file. The site is supported by well-placed, but not obtrusive Google Adsense ads. A lifesaver for small businesses as well, using this service saves you from having to purchase file convesion software for basic tasks, and everyone knows that, these days, every penny pinched helps!

Meebo, the popular online instant messaging site, got a revamp and removed the "alpha" tag from their site. I guess alpha is the new beta? There are several changes to Meebo, and all for the better, I say. The most noticeable change is the new look. The visual quality of the new meebo.com site is a big improvement over the old look. The site’s new design is sleek & visually appealing.

Other big changes include:

• the ability to pop-out the IM window from the main site
• drag & drop buddy list management
• skinning
• individual sign on and sign off of your different screen names
• tons of localized languages supported
• chat log facelifts
• AIM profiles
• optimizations for speed

This started as an attempt to find a hack to get the new Gmail app working on my T-Mobile Razr V3, but that was not meant to be. I have it on good authority that without the $20/month full internet plan, I’m out of luck. However, delving into the hacker forums, I did find a way to get the Opera Mini browser to work. The hack also enabled some of my other apps, like Google Maps & BluePulse, which had never worked before either. Sweet!

This wasn’t an easy hack, but if you really want to get your geek on, here you go:

1. First, you need to purchase the Motorola Phone Tools kit from T-Mobile, which gets you the data cable you need, plus some other nifty software with which you can back up your phone’s data.
2. Create an account at MotoModders, login, and head over to their P2K Downloads page.
3. Download and install the P2K Menu Editor 2.3 to your Windows XP PC (other OS’s may work, I don’t know.)
4. Plug in your phone to the PC.
5. When Windows is detecting the "new USB" device that’s been plugged into the computer (your Razr) and needs drivers, point it to the "drv" subfolder in the folder where you installed the P2K Menu Editor (C:\…\P2KMenuEditor_v23\drv). Windows will ask for a couple of different drivers. Finally, the "new hardware is installed & is ready to use."
6. Open the Phone Tools software and use the "Synchronize" option to back up your phone (just in case!) Exit when done.
7. Open the P2K Menu Editor software. The bottom-left hand side of the screen should say "Connected" next to a green dot. If not, something went wrong. Troubleshoot & good luck with that.
8. On the Tools Menu of the P2K software, choose "Hidden Menu Items". A window will display.
9. Click on the "Open SEEM" button and select the option "Open from Phone."
10. Some boxes will be checked, others not. You want to check the box next to "Web Sessions."
11. Then click the "Save SEEM" button and select the option "Save to Phone." The file will be copied to your phone.
12. Exit the software and restart the phone.
13. Browse to the Office Tools Menu –> WebAccess Menu. In this menu, you’ll now have a new 6th option called "Web Sessions." Select that option and choose "[New Entry]".
14. Create a new session using the following info (thank you, Steevo for posting this info):
    • Name: Java Session
    • Homepage: http://wap.myvoicestream.com
    • Service Type 1: WAP
    • Proxy1: 216.155.165.050 <– on my phone, it was GatewayIP1
    • Port 1: 9201
    • Domain 1: (leave blank)
    • Service Type 2: HTTP
    • Proxy 2: 216.155.165.050 <– on my phone, it was GatewayIP2
    • Port 2: 8080
    • Domain 2: (blank)
    • DNS 1: 000.000.000.000
    • DNS 2: 000.000.000.000
    • Timeout: 5 minutes
    • CSD No 1: (blank)
    • User Name 1: (blank)
    • Password 1: (blank)
    • Speed (Bps) 1: 14400
    • Line Type 1: ISDN
    • CSD No 2: (blank)
    • User Name 2: (blank)
    • Password 2: (blank)
    • Speed (Bps) 2: 14400
    • Line Type 2: ISDN
    • GPRS APN: wap.voicestream.com
    • User Name: (blank)
    • Password: (blank)
15. Set the new session you just created as the default.
16. That’s it - with the new session as the default, everything works!

Yesterday, Google announced the introduction of a new service for mobile phones - a new and improved Gmail for Mobile Phones. According to the press release, this new application "brings users the same great Gmail experience — complete with search, conversation view, and automatic synchronization with the desktop version — with the following new benefits:

• Up to five times faster access and use, thanks to automatic pre-fetching of messages
• Drastically reduced clicks and scrolling to access email
• Fewer keystrokes for reading, composing, or searching mail
• Attachments, including files and photos, viewable and automatically resized to fit the user’s phone

Although I’ve been previously been able to access my Gmail from the URL http://m.gmail.com, I thought I would give it a try.  You can download the app at gmail.com/app. Here’s what I discovered: yet another app that doesn’t work on my phone without a data plan!! GRRRR.