Googlegeek - The Times are Changing

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My name is Ron Hall.

I live at the Funny Farm.

Went to a Bryan Adams (Canadian Bruce Springsteen) concert last night. Acoustical. Was great - at renovated Fox Theatre.

When I do presentations I often ask how many people were born after 1976, then I tell them that I graduated from college that year and that Bill Gates was still at Harvard (Bryan Adams was just getting started). My attempt at trying to put some perspective in our culture's involvement with computers and the web. Just noted that Google turned 11 years old yesterday - my daughter is 13 - part of generation "G" (you heard it here first).

Doing a Google Earth presentation this Friday evening - at a small old time theatre in a littlr town named Soap Lake (WA). Bet they never thought the theatre would host an internet/computer based presentation when it was built. Now it has WIFI.

The times they are a changing. By the way, Bryan Adams was headed up to Calgary, Alberta, today - supposed to perform for the Dali Lama. Told us he will sing "Imagine" by John Lennon.

Got to go. Make it a good day.

Imagine....

Google Geek - Life Beyond Google

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My name is Ron Hall.

I live at the Funny Farm.

I hope it does not surprise anyone that I do make frequent use of, and experiment with other software besides Google offerings. Sometimes I even buy it (this is also true of some of the Google "pro" versions). It started when I was back at school, taking various computer and web design courses. Continued when I moved to running a Mac and a PC. Lately I have been getting some great suggestions from my Super Modelers Google Group.

Some of the main "categories" of other software that I use include - Microsoft Office, Adobe/Macromedia, Autodesk, ESRI, and various MAC products like IMovie and ITunes. Nice thing is that Google integrates what it does with all of them. You can import data from many of these products directly into various Google offerings. Some Google offerings even make provision within them for using other applications.

Well time to get back to work.

Make it a good day. 

Google Geek - Staying Organizied

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My name is Ron Hall.

I live at the Funny Farm.

Spent yesterday afternoon cleaning out the barn, getting organized. Amazing how much better that makes me feel. Same thing is true about the studying I have been doing in/with SketchUp.

When I was at the Super Modelers conference I was struck by how fast some of the guys could model. It was not just hand eye coordination, it was how they went about the process - how they were organized.  They had a better understanding of the various ways SketchUP helps you in the modeling process, and how to employ them. If I was going to take my skill set to the next level I needed to rethink my approach. Have had to cross that bridge a few times before, but have learned that it is worth the trip.

Luckily Google gave me a great tool at the conference - "SketchUp for Dummies" - great resource. Am well into it - learning about section planes (great), the nuances of components/groups, and using Outliner to get organizied.

Feels good

But just like I only "started" organizing the barn yesterday, the job is never done - you are just trying to develope good habits. Amazing how much harder it is to develop a good habit that a bad one. However, long term outcome is where it is at - so good habits have the decided edge.

Back to work. Make it a good day.

Google Geekdom - What Interests Me

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My name is Ron Hall.

I live at the Funny Farm.

I can be a pretty boring guy at times. Over last couple days been reading/studing about (in no particular order) Layout presentations (3D aspects of), SketchUp compoments (new version of SketchUp Pro has the capability to do dynamic components), animation in SketchUp (for use in Layout),  and Lyndon Johnson (Doris Kerns Goodwins book). Also been running a big excavator and trying to organize the barn.

All of this is aimed at self improvement (that is what I have been telling my wife). In addition to teaching myself, will be working on a few screen captures (another thing I am learning). One is to help others see the potential of some of the work I have done in Layout (they just wanted Powerpoint slydes). Others will be support pieces for Google Earth content pieces I have done.

I told you I can be boring. But I still need to work on my typing skills, so here I am.

Enjoy the weekend. I always do.

SketchUp - Continuing Education for the Google Geek

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My name is Ron Hall.

I live at the Funny Farm.

Up to my eye balls in SketchUp and really enjoying myself. Couple of fronts I am pushing forward. I am trying to write up a grant for the use of SketchUp and Google Earth to aid in historic preservation. Second is I am expanding my knowledge/experience with Sandbox tools, Ruby scripts, animations, and components. Part of this process is being aided by my Google Group of Super Modelers (thanks guys). Part is from reading "SketchUp for Dummies" (Thanks Aidan). Part is from online user forums/sites run by world wide SketchUp community.

Want to improve my work flow/cut down modeling time. Also looking for new ways to use the models in communication process. Lots of changes to SketchUp since it first came out (new edition released yesterday). Now you can use Streetview to get images for textures.

Lots of work to do. Sorry if you do not find this as interesting as I do but....

Make it a good day.

Google Geek - Chores Never End

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My name is Ron Hall.

I live at the Funny Farm.

I started this post yesterday and got too busy to finish it. Monday, Monday.

Am not spending much time experimenting with new Google offerings, but am heavily involved with learning new aspects of old favorites. Some of this is to accomplish new tasks (animation in SKetchUP), some of this is about expediting work flow (organizing my SketchUp files/data), and a lot has to do with networking (screen capture).

Have a few presentations coming up - Google Earth - would like to spice them up with some fly throughs. Also have a grant application to work on and some contact/networking material to send out. Trying to do a screen capture to illustrate some of the 3D capabilities of Layout presentations. Working on a SketchUp model that requires a bunch of data editing. Need to send out a bill (nice problem).

You get the picture. They refer to it as "life."

Make it a good day. Grest sunrise here.

Google Sunday

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My name is Ron Hall.

I live at the Funny Farm.

Sunday for the Google Geek. Day to get organized for the week ahead, putter around.

Started reading "SketchUp for Dummies" by Aidan Chopra - got an autographed copy when we were at the Super Modelers conference. Looks like it will be helpful, and a nice read/reference book.

Updated my Calender - keep track of my billable time here (what there is of it). Take billable hours for various activities from here to a Google Doc spreadsheet when I generate a billing.

Got my files organized for my SketchUp modeling projects. Checked on my Google Groups. Puttered with Ruby scripts I just installed for SketchUp.

Got to get out and enjoy the weather.

Make it a good day.

Google Geek Rides Again

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.


Had a fun day as the Google Geek yesterday. Got my Ruby scripts going in SketchUp. Took a bit to figure out documentation from forum (also had some problems registering). Turns out major deal is to "unzip" files correctly, and place in proper "directory".

Then had an afternoon meeting with a couple individuals from History Link - an online resource on Washington State history. Demoed some of the capabilities of Google Earth and SketchUp. They are looking to do more with their content along the lines of curriculum development for local schools and universities. Something Jeff Jarvis talks about in his book. Both people were very computer/internet aware.

Discussed the possiblity of going after a federal grant - in area of historic preservation technology. Idea would be to use SketchUp/Google Earth to develop a pilot program that models a local Washington historic district. Models would be posted to 3D Warehouse with appropriate logo links. Would also do a custom piece of kml content in Google Earth Gallery for educational purposes. They could be used for a wide variety of purposes - planning. tourism, education.

Got to go. Make it a good day.

SketchUp - "Ruby" Tuesday

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.

Started this post yesterday but got sidetracked - by SketchUp.

Am working on a model to help someone visualize the construction of an earthen home - very green, very cool. The house is modeled, now I just need to modefy the terrain it sits in by adding a driveway. In SketchUp you use a tool called "Sandbox" for doing this.

Because the driveway is on a side slope and has maximum grade requirements - it is not your ordinary task to perform with Sandbox. So I reached out to my Google Group for help. Got a numbr of suggestions right away.

Turns out there is a website - sketchucation - that has a number of ruby scripts/extensions that might help. Ruby (which is new to me)is a programming language that one can use to write scripts or plugins for  SketchUp. They have to be installed (will be another new thing for me).However, they can add tools/capabilities, expedite repetitive operations - in short, make life easier with SketchUp.

Once you find them and get them installed.

Wish me luck. Make it a good day.

Google Labs - Test Driving Google

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.

Been a bit philosophical lately, so this morning I thought I would take a look at Google Labs - can access from Gmail or accounts page, under "even more..". This is a place where Google lets us use somethings that are in the experimental stage. An impressive list of Google offerings that started here then made the big time can be found at this link.

Kind of like browsing in s book store - see what "talks to me".

Immediately noticed the Checkout Store Gadget which allows one to sell items online - am helping a friend set up a site at Google Sites that wants this capability. Also noticed one that allows you to set up widgets for various Google products on you Mac desk top. Will check out and report back.

Go to run. Make it a good day.

Google Earth - Old Dogs and New Tricks

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.

Posting this late in the day. Had a good demonstration - lots of questions. Think almost everybody in the group was older than me (a rarity at these types of things). Really enjoy trying to bring out interest in such a group. After a general (but short) demonstration of the basics of Google Earth - usually show a few things that might pique their interest. In this case it was Street View (also runs in Google Maps), a 3D model of a local landmark with links to city website, a custom kml file for the Lions Club that opens in Google Earth/Google Maps, and a Google Earth presentation on the Spokane River.

Then I play table games - ask each table to see if they have something of interest they might want to see in Google Earth. Time went fast.

Want to putter with a few things.

Have a good evening

Google Geek - Spreading the Word

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.

First thing - found out pretty quick that Blogspot has a special feature called Blogger Mobile. Also appears to be a way to post via email. Will find out more when I get the chance and get back to you.

Having a busy Monday. One of the things on my plate is getting ready for a demonstration of Google Earth at a luncheon tomorrow. For the past couple years I have been showing (groups and individuals) Google Earth (sometimes SketchUp) and some of the things it can do. Will generally talk about it at the drop of a hat. Have done a number of conference presentations. Tomorrow it is for the local Lions Club.

As a Google Geek it's my version of marketing. Working on my communication skills while getting feedback/tailoring presentation. Biggest thing is getting people hooked enough (finding the reason that engages their personal interest) to make them persistent enough to climb the learning curve. Something I have had to do continually (or chose not to) in my life.

Got to run.

Make it a good day.

Google - Helping Each Other

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.

I had a great day in Boise yesterday, but was not able to access this blog from my Iphone to edit - could get to page to edit, but could not get to the keyboard to type. Need to research a bit.

This means spending some time out amongst the mass of Googlers like me. People that are helping each other to make the most out of the tools that Google provides for free. From the Google Mobile page, I can go to Mobile Blog (421 followers). From there -

• Google Mobile Help
• Google Mobile Discussion Group
• Google Maps for mobile
• Google SMS
• Google News for mobile
• Gmail for Mobile

Tip - for those of you that are lousy on the keyboard - "cut and paste" is something to get good at - I just did that from Mobile's blog - which is also at Blogspot.

Will start by simply googling what I need to know - "How do I access the keyboard on my Iphone to edit my blog on Blogspot?"

If all else fails - I will ask my daughter.

Make it a good day.

Google Mobile - The Geek to Go

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.

The first rule is there are no rules. If I haven't mentioned it yet - I always wanted to get good enough on a computer so I did not have to spend much time on one. I am not quite there yet,
but yesterday I took the day off from my blog, but not from being a Google Geek.

Played golf with a friend. One of the other guys in the group was a guy that worked in commercial real estate - nationally. I told him about StreetView and how you can use it in both Google Maps and Google Earth to check out different venues remotely. Even works on my Iphone.

Speaking of my Iphone - headed to airport right after this - day trip to Boise, Idaho - looking at a site for a proposed earth home that I modeled in SketchUp for 3D visualization. Taking Iphone (no laptop). Want to try out Google Mobile some more. Idea is to try and edit this post from the phone. Wish me luck.

More later - hopefully.

Make it a good day.

Google - Lets "Get 'er Done" Together

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.


Will be a short post today (already looking at the keyboard). Up late last night finishing a project in Layout that someone needed today - on the other side of the state. Great thing about the internet is how you can collaborate/work from remote locations. Google has a bunch of products that allow this in a variety of ways.

In it's base form, the fact that Google provides free software means that people that develope content in it can have it readily viewed by others. This is the case for me with SketchUp and Google Earth. Google also provides web server functionality via many of its products (so far I have used Google Docs, Panramio, Picasso, GoogleSites, 3D Warehouse, and Google Earth Gallery, to name a few).

Currently helping on 2 Google Sites. One with a person from across town. The second is with one from Kansas. Pretty cool.

Well got to figure out how to share my Layout project via Google Sites "File Cabinet" page - file currently exceeds size limit (10 MB).

Make it a good day.

Google Docs - Getting the Job Done

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.

Did a presentation/demonstration yesterday at a local university - Gonzaga Law School. Was for their newly formed Environmental Law Clinic. I met the guy who runs it earlier this year - I was impressed by him and what he was doing, he was taken by what I was doing with Google Earth. We also both love to play golf.

Point of the demonstration was to show his students - law students that work on real cases - the possibilities of what can be done in the field of environmental law with something like Google Earth. I have been back to school a number of times over the course of my career, but during the last stint, an interdisciplinary masters degree in computer science and urban planning, I was blown away by how engaged the students are in bring technology to bear in their education. Yesterday was no different. Everybody had a laptop going in front of them. Only difference was mine was hooked to the projector.

What was interesting for me was that they knew about Google Earth, but not all it's capabilities - they had not even scratched the surface. The same was true about Google Docs. I mentioned this to them because their work requires a collaborative effort, and Google Docs (along with a few other Google tools) facilitates this.

Google Docs (see tabs/buttons upper left of Gmail screen) allows you to do everything you do with Microsoft word processing applications - documents, spreadsheets, presentations - only on line. You can also set up these files so that you can collaborate on them with others. You can work from existing templates (there are tons - create things like forms). Upload your existing files - most popular file formats, including DOC, XLS, ODT, ODS, RTF, CSV, PPT, etc., are accepted. You can get access from any computer that has an inernet connection (I have even used my Iphone). You can even preserve them as web pages.

I use customizied versions that interface with Google Earth and Google Checkout to help run and maintain various pieces of interactive web content that I have.

Tip - many Google offerings interface with each other or other web applications you use. Example - at one point during the Google Earth demo I had created a sample piece of content - I right clicked on the content in the panel, showed them the option for "email" that appeared, had a student type in his address on my laptop (remember I am still working on my keyboarding) and I sent. Got a "Cool!" comment when he sat down at his machine again. Wish it was that easy to impress my 1 year old daughter.

Time to go.

Make it a good day.

Gmail - Old Dog with New Tricks

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.

You can learn something new every day. Was exchanging emails with a friend yesterday about our blogs (his blog) and he suggested I mention about the experimental portion of Gmail - "Labs".

I knew nothing about it.

It is under "Settings" - top right - Gmail task bar - click on to open. Look for "Labs" tab on right. Turns out there are all kinds of gadgets (use at your own risk) to spice up your Gmail page, or make it more useful. Best of all, to use you just click them on or off ("enable"/"disable").

Turned on one that shows sender's time zone/time. Because I am a GIS nut - also enabled one to show a map of my location with my signature. Since I use Google's Calendar - added that to sidebar as well. Will set up a to do list with Google Docs, then will add that.

If you use Gmail, check it out.

Cool. Thanks Google. Thanks for sharing Zoungy.

Make it a good day.

Layout - Powerpoint on Steroids

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.

Happy Labor Day. Up early, as usual, to get the most out of my day. I try and carve "my portion" of the day - things I like to do - out early. Makes it easier to deal with the daily curve balls life sends you.

Actually, "working" today. Good news it is something I enjoy - tweaking my experience with a piece of software - Google's "Layout". Good news is I get paid for it - if I get the project done.

Layout is part of Google's SketchUp Pro (Google charges you for this one - but it is worth it) package. It is Powerpoint on steriods. It allows you to use 3D interaction within a Powerpoint like frame work. While it is aimed at professionals like contractors, architects, designers, etc. that use 3D models in their work/demonstrations. I think Google could showcase this to many other applications. Unless you want to pay for it - you will have to take my word for it.

Why?

Trust me.

Big concept here. See more about this in the tail end of Jeff Jarvis's book "What Would Google Do?". Got into 3D modeling awhile back. Let's just say I really got into it. To the point my wife wondered about my priorities. But...... once again Google bailed me out.

In July, I got an email from Google - thought someone was playing a prank. Google sent me an invitation to a conference at their Boulder office - at their expense. In August, I was Google's guest for a 2 days. I was one of 20 "Super" modelers flown in from around the world (Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, Poland, Spain, Argentina , Brazil, Canada) to give Google's SketchUp software people feedback on their product. Note: I have several "collections" of buildings , but they chose to showcase Cheney, the small town that is my home. Was quite an honor and a lot of fun. Made new friends from around the world and at Google.

It was a life time experience that never would have happened if not for two things -

1. Google created something of value/interest for me to try and use.
2. I used it (not just tried it - used it). Like the "list" button in Blogspot I just tried.
   

Point is, it is Labor Day - our day. Give something new a try - within the bounds of reason.

Trust me.

Make it a good day.

Stand By Me - Google and the Social Network

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.

We watched the movie classic "Stand By Me" last night as a family. Lisa just happened to pick it up at Costco. Great song, great movie. Story, by Stephen King, is on Labor Day weekend, 1959 - 60 years ago as I write this. Film, by Rob Riener, is well crafted, ultimately full of Hollywood karma.

Had trouble reading the credits for song background - used Google to find out it was done by Ben E. King as an after thought at the tale end of a recording session. Made me want to reach out to my old high school buddy/friend - Danny Schliftman - aka Danny "Lewis" (middle name) the keyboard player for Govt Mule. Like the lead in the movie we could write a good book about our experiences growing up together.

Reading the end of Jeff Jarvis's book. In this morning's reading (I read about half hour first thing every morning, over coffee, in my favorite chair) he wrote that one of the most powerful things about the internet/Google is that it has changed the nature of our relationships. It allows the "G" generation to stay in touch and it allowed our generation (pre Google) to get back in touch. Danny knows what I mean (Give our best to Machan), and it has been great. So does my youngest brother Rich (hang in there Tiger).

Thanks Google.

Got to go and reach out to a few folks.

Make it a good day - for yourself and someone you care about.

Google Logo "Funducation"

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.




It is Saturday, Labor Day weekend. A day to putter.

Google must have felt the same way - when I opened up the machine (I always turn my computer off when I am finished) this was the Google logo of the day. I paused my mouse over it to see what it was all about (generally brings up a info bubble with explanation) - nothing happened. Being a curious type, I noticed that the mouse went to link mode, so I clicked (I used to like jumping off high places, this is much easier) and it took me to something interesting (try above - I modified slightly for more explanation).

I decided I wanted to spend my time today putting a link with a picture in this blog. Right clicked on the image at Google search page, (Tip - learn to right click or "Ctrl" Click with MAC - opens up a whole new world on the net) and saved to my machine. Used toolbar item for images to insert it. Clicked on it (highlight) and used link item from toolbar. Decided to check on web to see if there were any tips so I googled "add image to blogspot" and got a great demo from John Cena at BloggerTricks.com.

I thought I better ask Google's permission. I had the best intentions. Google's note about doodles stated that they "generally don't grant permission for their use by others". I decided to try the request form but it only applied to movies, sooo.... I jumped off the cliff.

Keep you posted. I hope.

Make it a good day.

Google Maps - Where It's At

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.

I have always been a road warrior, a devotee of Rand McNally maps.

Until I got my new IPhone which came with Google Maps.

Great stuff. On a recent cross country trip I used my phone and computer to keep us on course/schedule. At night I would research the next days activities on Google Earth and Google Maps. During the day I would track our progress, calculate our drive time/distance via Google Maps on the IPhone. It even had a GPS tracking unit that followed our vehicle.

I could "search" for various things on the fly - ie coffee, ATM's. Get directions "to there"/"from here". Use Street View to check out an area ahead of time. I could also save places with related content. I could archive items into various folders, and email if necessary. Could even post online for others to use.

Because of my overall interest in the web and some training in GIS (geographic information science) I should also point out that Google Maps has an API that can be embedded in a website to handle a particular site related purpose (same is true of Google Earth). Google Gadgets allows you to incorporate them into a Google Site.

Should also point out that my daughter (age 13 - no interest in road maps) found it interesting - hey it is technology - and actually helped with trip navigation when I was driving. She still found me boring.

Well got to go. Make it a good day.

Google Calendar - My Life at a Glance

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.

Opened my Google Account (from "My Account" button in Blogspot), hit my Google Calendar to check my schedule. In my "pre digital" life, I was a general contractor, used to keeping lists, job journals, coordinating schedules with subs/clients/employees - all in "long form". Google Calendar does all this and more.

I use it to set up/track my schedule. It sends me reminders and can be made available to others (could even post on my Google Site/website). I use it to keep track of my computer contract work (cut and paste entries into a Google Doc spreadsheet for client billings). I have access to it from my Iphone. A couple savy contacts have used it to sync me in or post their meetings with me on my calendar. It can be synced to other applications (Outlook) and it runs fine on both my Mac and PC. Can even get it offline. If I add the address of a meeting or event, it has a Google Maps functionality.

Well I see I have a dental appointment. Make it a good day.

Google Accounts - Where I am at

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.

Where to go next, what to do? Better check my Google Account. It is a unified signin system that gives you access to many different Google products. If you are using Gmail, you already have one. In Gmail, look at the top right corner of your screen, next to email/Gmail address -"Settings", then "Accounts and Imports" Tab, at bottom - "Google Account Settings". Can also find some access from most Google products, usually at the top taskbar. Account settings are stored in one place, but each application has its own settings.

There is a profile (public or private) section, settings, a list of products you use/have used with links, and a try something new section. It is like the "control panel" (typing this on a PC) of your relationship with Google products. You can check out and manage your "web history" and your "web purchases". You can also set up "subscribed links" - modifying and tailoring your search results.

I know this seems like a nuts and bolts topic, but it is my blog, and I like looking under the hood. Basic idea is that it is an organizational tool - means you might find it useful as you start using Google products more frequently.

Alright. First day of school for my daughter. Got to go.

Make it a good day.

Panramio - Your Window on the World

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My name is Ron Hall.
I live at the Funny Farm.

When I first got hooked on Google Earth. I started to experiment/explore various portions of the application/interface. That is when I stumbled into "Panramio" - Google Earth's version of Flicker.

I found it down in the "Layers" section of the content panels - under "Geographic Web" (expand/contract any entry by clicking on the dropdown carrot next to it). Note - the icon next to a layer corresponds to the icon on the screen. Make sure the layer is clicked on - fly to a favorite spot in Google Earth and see if any show up. Click on one, voila - a picture someone took of something in that area pops up. Gives you an increased understanding of what the area looks like.

Anyone can do this if they are interested. The service is free, the interface is simple. You can also just check out other pictures. You could use it to show far away friends what your home looks like, or post pictures of you latest trip - all up to you. It wasn't Google's idea, but they liked it so much they acquired the company back in 2007.

Check us out at the Funny Farm.

Make it a good day.