Friday, January 29, 2010

Space Navigator Mouse - New Toy

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

Ever since I first heard about it at the Super Modelers conference in Boulder, I have been dying to try one - 3D Connexion's Space Navigator Mouse. It came in the other day and it did not disappoint.

About the size and weight of a good old style paper weight (remember when they said computers would make paper go away), it is a device you use in conjunction with your conventional mouse to enhance onscreen movement. There are various models to chose from - I chose to start with the Space Navigator because it is the simplest and least expensive (my Scottish heritage).

Bought it online (is there any other way), shipped direct to my door (I know I payed, but thanks UPS - "our" driver is a great guy). It is designed to turn your mouse operation into a two handed event. You do need to dedicate a USB connection to it (think the more expensive Notebook one might be wireless).

Takes a little bit to get the feel - you can vary the settings. tried it out in Google Earth - very fluid, precise. Looking forward to doing some screen capture animations (come fly with me). Supposed to able to use with SketchUp as well -  there are various drivers/plug ins.

Got to try it in SketchUp now (working on a model of Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge.

Make it a good day.

Postscript - when I tried navigator with SketchUp Pro in Mac - ended up needing to download the latest driver from the website to make it run - one they sent on disk with the mouse did not work. Everything cool now. Very nice capabilities.




Monday, January 25, 2010

Google Geek - Back In The Saddle


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

Got home late last night from trip to the east coast for a memorial service for Lisa's father. Quite a trip. Still trying to "get my head around" all this. On top of all this - got a 24 hour flu bug.

So taking it easy today, but needed to work on my keyboarding. Since I started this blog last summer, this is the longest gap between posts. Going to putter with a few things today. Took pictures of Washington's headquarters at Valley Forge for a model on my trip. Need to get going on my preparations for my presentations. Lots to do.

Nice snow falling outside. Make it a good day.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Google Geek - Life Goes On


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

Sorry for the respite from the blog. Quite a bit going on here. Lisa's (my wife) dad passed away Friday AM after a long decline. Luckily she was able to be there (PA) with him at the end. He was quite a guy (and humble about it). You  might  find this article (one of many) on him interesting/inspiring (he was a high school math teacher and coach - high school and college). http://www.pennlive.com/hssports/boyshoops/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/1262399106182810.xml&coll=1

Lisa is out east with her mom. Shaelyn (our daughter - 13) and I will be headed out to PA next week for a day of remembrance by the community.

That said, life goes on.

Have a number of things on my plate. Reviewing material to get ready for my SketchUp workshop and presentation at the NCCE conference in Seattle in March. Working on my end of a "dog and pony" show presentation for the local IAFI chapter in February. Will be doing tech support for the author of Bretz's Flood - trying to mimic some of the features of this Al Gore piece. Have to fill out a description form for an auction item (3D SketchUp model) I am donating to the Spokane Preservation Advocates annual gala.

Have had time to putter/investigate a couple new (to me) Google items, Stumbled into this Google Earth Outreach support site - Trainer's Corner. All kinds of material for teaching and training.
 
Time to roll. Make it a good day.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Google Chrome


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

Decided to act on my new year's resolutions right away. I installed Google Chrome on my
Mac laptop. Had been waiting for it to come out for the Mac, and noticed that my "cub reporter" had installed it on her IMac. Unlike the other browsers she had used (Safari, Firefox at home - Internet Explorer at school) chrome allows you to chose a theme.

The install was a breeze. It imported all my bookmarks from Safari. I used "Preference" settings to set up my preferred start page. Picked out my theme. On initial text drive went to one of my Google Sites and noticed that Chrome does not support the Google Earth API yet. Will take it for a longer test drive and get back to you.

Make it a good day.