Moving to Django

• posts

After weeks of learning to use a new technology, the time has come to finally migrate this web to it's new code. Some things (comments) are not working yet, but should be soon. More about moving from WordPress to Django follows, but recommended more for the technical types among you.

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Douglas Rushkoff's Testament

• reading
• review
• posts

As Douglas Rushkoff belongs among the most enlightening present-day thinkers and writers (blog, interview in BoingBoing podcast), it's worth noting that the final part of his last work, Testament (Amazon), has recently been published (free first issue in pdf). I've now finished reading it, and can safely say that it really is one of THE psychedelic comic books, achieving a place alongside works like Alan Moore's Promethea and Grant Morisson's The Invisibles. Well recommended. And now I'm off to actually buy the whole thing - both this piece of inspiring mythology in a contemporary appearance and it's author pertain among the scarce phenomena of today that are worth supporting.

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Feature request for Google Earth

• posts

Wouldn't it be nice, if you could not only save places, but also bookmark your favorite content simply by marking it with a star, like in Google Reader and GMail? And what about sharing? Having a RSS feed of your shared places and items, no uploading hassles, all automatic, perhaps with some more social features, like those you're most probably adding to Google Reader right now - statistics of most shared/starred items with global tagging...

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Flight mode in Google Earth

• posts

Just a little tip for your next Google Earth visit. Besides the normal Google Earth navigation mode (Ctrl-T) there's a "flight mode", which can be turned on by pressing Ctrl-Alt-A or just Ctrl-A to start from current position.

You can control your plane using arrows, but usually you'll need more precision. In flight simulator mode, when you click the left mouse button, your mouse cursor will take the shape of a cross, and every mouse movement now controls the plane. Another left click will switch the control mode off - the cursor will be an arrow again.

It takes a while to get hold of the controls, because even with the mouse everything is really sensitive, and you have to count with certain inertia. Basically, first you'll want to make your plane fly straight. Using Ctrl-A to start from a flat angle, and then levelling the plane using just up and down arrows is a safe way to start, although in order not to loose height you might also want to increase throttle (using Page Up), close flaps (using Shift-F), and retract landing gear (using G). You can then use Ctrl and arrows to just look around instead of changing direction.

Use Ctrl-H to reach the complete help for GE flight simulator. There you can find more help and all the keyboard shortcuts. Enjoy!

UPDATE: With the release of Google Earth browser plugin, more interesting "simulators" are available - for example, you can visit http://www.paraglidingearth.com/ for a worldwide directory of paragliding sites, and use Google Earth as a paragliding simulator by clicking on "Fly this site"!

Another interesting use of the GE browser plugin, not a simulator, but a rather interesting visualization of various statistics, can be found at http://www.earthatlas.info/

Need more help with Google Earth? Visit Video tutorials for Google Earth at Google Earth Blog or Google Earth Basics page 

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Evaluation of 'Influence of Web 2.0 on Business'

• writing
• posts

The evaluation of my Senior Project (Influence of Web 2.0 on Business) has arrived some time ago, and although I've received a C+, the evaluation mentions its because of finishing half a year after the deadline. On the other hand, I believe it was worth it -the paper may not be perfect, but the reviewer obviously liked it :)

Mr. Matysek chose to do his final paper on “The Influence of the Internet on the Business Community”. His topic examined how the Internet has changed the landscape of business and what current trends seem to be indicated for the future. A major focus of the paper discussed how the Internet has grown in its use as a marketing tool and the future growth expected in this area. The sources in support of his topic were gathered from current literature and the internet and were documented appropriately throughout her presentation. He included several supportive grafts and charts which nicely depicted certain elements of the presentation. The final presentation reflected a carefully written presentation that was not only informative but also well organized and developed. He gave good examples and illustrations, describing the history of current practices and what circumstances exist today that have brought about the proposed changes. Overall, he provided a good objective analysis the strength and potential of the internet and its influence on the business community. The major deterrent was the lateness in which it was submitted.

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