Virtual Earth 3D brings you another step closer to knowing "what it is like out there". You can search, browse, and organize local information viewed in three dimensions, just the way it exists in the real world. download - comments - 19.11.2006
Watch 3D objects in random sizes and colors as they spin and transform. You might not see the same morphing twice. This updated version is smaller in size and has fixed a system key bug in Windows 95B. screen_savers - comments -
This screen saver features a 3D Santa Claus performing a variety of acrobatic acts (and a few unusual stunts, too). If you have a sound card, you can listen to some accompanying effects, as well. screen_savers - comments -
Some of you remember how it was possible to change the boot logo screen of Windows 95/98. I'm not sure why anyone would go into the trouble of actually doing it, but it seems that it is possible to do the same for Windows Vista. windows - comments - 19.11.2007
Chris Holmes, Windows Enthusiast and blogger, has posted a short and somewhat blurry video of the new Windows 7 boot screen in action. windows - comments - 4.12.2008
Some people found a way to change that black boot screen of Windows Vista RTM to a high quality one, the one that was supposed to be in before it was cut from the final version. download - comments - 19.11.2006
Tired of the pathetic boot screen in current Vista builds? There is a new trick that will allow you to see what may be the new boot screen for Windows Vista. windows - comments - 12.5.2006
Microsoft revealed that it is targeting a 15 seconds boot time for Windows 7 in laboratory conditions, but the fact is that the Redmond company is cooking even something better. windows - comments - 16.10.2008
The homicide detectives from the Melbourne department have recently started investigating a murder case, which seems to be taken out of a thriller that cannot be broadcasted before midnight. The body was found wrapped in plastic bags and dumped in the front yard of an empty Melbourne house that had an overgrown lawn, which covered the body all too well. common - comments - 13.12.2007
Microsoft is collaborating with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a division of the Department of Defense, on its Virtual Earth technology.
The NGA wants to use the Virtual Earth technology "to provide geospatial support for humanitarian, peacekeeping and national security efforts," Microsoft said in a statement on Thursday. microsoft - comments - 19.5.2006
Microsofts MSN.com is kicking off its sponsorship of the upcoming Live Earth concert series with a host of promotions, including earth-friendly premiums and sweepstakes. microsoft - comments - 29.6.2007
Bill Gates is an improbable humanitarian. He built a reputation as a nightmare boss at Microsoft, a totalitarian who screeched at employees he thought were stupid. He bludgeoned competitors with his illegal monopoly. common - comments - 3.9.2007
Microsoft is permitting end users of Virtual Earth that are not happy with the content offered via the service to introduce patches with imagery. microsoft - comments - 1.8.2008
After 13 years on top, Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world. That honor now belongs to his friend and sometimes bridge partner Warren Buffett. common - comments - 6.3.2008
Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips. common - comments -
Microsoft indicated early that Vista will feature a three-dimensional interface with transparency, moving objects, anti-aliasing and other effects. Thanks to portos for this download. download - comments - 10.7.2007
Do you ever wish that the computer graphics in recent science-fiction TV shows had more air time? With the Star Trek: Voyager Screensaver, you can watch a 3D rendition of the beloved ship as it soars through the galaxy. screen_savers - comments -
In an email from MSDN Microsoft silently mentions the UniveRSS reader. After a look i actually was quite surprised. Microsoft took the RSS possibilities from IE7 and put them into a really stunning 3D interface! download - comments - 4.12.2006
TopDesk is a quick and easy way to switch between applications. With a single key press, you can instantly view thumbnails of all open windows, display thumbnails of windows belonging to the current application, or hide all windows to quickly access the desktop. download - comments - 2.2.2007
Creative Labs has opened up the doors to its ALchemy Project to enable hardware acceleration for DirectSound and EAX audio algorithms in Microsofts upcoming Windows Vista. The Alchemy Project is currently in its beta stages and intends to work around Microsofts audio limitations in Windows Vista due to the removal of the Hardware Abstraction Layer, or HAL. download - comments - 23.1.2007
Whether you're a newbie or senior software engineer, you want your screen savers to look cool, and this one fits the bill. It emulates the green Matrix code you see in the movie, with characters running vertically down the black background. You can set the resolution, the speed of the falling glyphs, and other options. screen_savers - comments -
Whose life can't be uplifted by the site of rows of dancing sumo wrestlers? Life's not so bad once you get to know these guys, as rows of them dance, bounce, and stomp to a goofy tune. screen_savers - comments -
Watch flying saucers zoom across a virtual cityscape. To preview the screen saver, unzip both files and put them in your c:windowssystem directory. Then go to the Control Panel, click the Display icon, and select the Screen Saver tab. screen_savers - comments -
Adorn your desktop with some turkeys strutting across a simple black background. As the turkeys amble across the screen, they show a little knowledge of what will become of them Thanksgiving day--making for a poignant scene of innocence the moment before all is corrupted. You can choose from one to ten turkeys; the program also offers password protection.
Note that the screen saver shows the vendor's name on your desktop, and although this brash self-promotion can seem a bit annoying, it is tolerable--especially since the program is free, and because it's seasonal, you'll probably want it on your desktop for only a short time. screen_savers - comments -
Tired of the pathetic boot
screen in current Vista
builds? There is a new trick
that will allow you to see
what may be the new boot
screen for Windows Vista.
This new boot screen
is still not what we have been
expecting but is a move in the
right direction compared to
the white progress bar screen
currently used.
Enable New Boot Screen:
1. Click on the
start orb and type in
"MSCONFIG" in the textbox.
2. Once the
System Configuration tool
loads, click on the Boot tab.
Chris Holmes, Windows Enthusiast and blogger, has posted a short and somewhat blurry video of the new Windows 7 boot screen in action. The latest
sign of changes for Windows 7 signals a departure from the Vista boot up screen. Microsoft kept the boot screen simple with Vista after asking BIOS
makers, PC makers, and video card makers to remove product advertisement screens at system boot. Microsoft created a simple boot method which it
claimed took 6 seconds off initial boot compared to the more graphical boot that it had originally planned with the Longhorn betas.
Microsoft on Monday took the
wraps off Virtual Earth 3D, a
new version of the company's
mapping application that
enables users to "fly"
through three-dimensional
models of cities from directly
within their Web browser -
complete with virtual
billboards. Photos:
View images from
Virtual Earth 3D.. betanews.com - 07.11.2006
Chris Holmes: So last week, winfuture posted about Windows 7 build 6954 having a new boot screen. Ever since then, people have been wanting to see
exactly what this new boot screen looks like. I can tell you it looks pretty nifty. It is basically 4 animating balls that come together and form a
glowing windows flag, making for a pretty cool effect.
I recently had a chance to film this boot screen in action, so without
further ado, watch the video of the new Windows 7 boot screen...
Virtual Earth 3D brings you another step closer to knowing "what it is like out there". You can search, browse, and organize local information
viewed in three dimensions, just the way it exists in the real world. This enables you to more effectively find the data that is relevant to you,
making Live Maps more useful than ever. Even better -- it's just plain fun!
Virtual Earth 6.2, a big new update to Live Maps, and new access to a 3DVia content library where you can download, mash-up, and include 3D content on
your 3D maps collections just went live. Lots to tell you about, and well be going into more depth on Virtual Earth soon, but heres some highlights.
Thanks to Virtual Earth Evangelist Chris Pendleton for keeping us in the loop on this one...
In an attempt to level the playing field with Google Earth, Microsoft has scooped up Caligari, makers of 3-D rendering software... betanews.com - 08.02.2008
This morning at the Google IO conference, the company announced a new browser plug-in that enables users to get the same high-flying experience
they've been getting in the standalone geography software application Google
Earth.
The diminutive plug-in, which weighs in at just 300k turns Firefox 2 (3 RC1 is not currently supported) or IE6 and 7
into 3D-capable mapping solutions. The technology ties into the Google Earth API, and the current example found here lets you zoom around all of earth, complete with 3D topography. The controls are a little
more stripped down, with one button that scrolls around and right click contextual menus that let the user control which angle they're viewing the
map from. In the future, developers will be able to build their own tools on top of this platform, and drop it right into their sites.
Get ready for online games set in your favorite Google Earth locations.
Virtual-worlds platform developer Multiverse Network is
set to announce a partnership Tuesday that will allow anyone to create a new online interactive 3D environment with just about any model from
Google's online repository of 3D models, its 3D Warehouse, as well as
terrain from Google Earth.
The idea is simple: Multiverse's technology--which gives game developers tools to design custom
virtual worlds--will let those designers pick and choose from most of the millions of 3D models created using Google's 3D software tool SketchUp, and
to import pieces of terrain, as defined by entering specific longitude and latitude data, from Google Earth.
If you want to build
a virtual world centered on, say, downtown San Francisco, you could use the new technology to create the area itself and populate it with the digital
versions of real-world buildings that have been created and uploaded to the 3D Warehouse.
Google on Tuesday announced
the purchase of yet another
software company to add to its
growing portfolio. The six
year-old @Last Software makes
a tool called SketchUp for
creating, viewing and editing
3D designs, and attracted the
attention of the search giant
with a Google Earth plug-in... betanews.com - 14.03.2006
It might seem like something right out of the Jetsons, but Japanese researchers are hoping to have a commercially available 3D television on the market by the year 2020. The images would be projected upwards from a screen that lies on the floor... betanews.com - 20.08.2005
Microsoft Virtual Earth has become OnStar's software platform for merging GPS location and 3D aerial imagery. Companies ranging from Microsoft to
Intel and Google have all been participating in various ways in the integration of automobiles with Web 2.0 technology.
Fujifilm has launched a new compact digital camera which is capable of capturing 3D images and video. The camera, named the Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D
W1, is Fujifilm's first camera to be able to do this, and does it through the use of two lenses and two 10MP CCDs. The camera will be launched in
the UK in September, according to a statement from Fuji. The camera is held securely inside an aluminium die-cast frame, and has a 2.8 inch 3D LCD
screen at the back of it, capable of displaying the 3D images and video clips that are captured by the camera.
As of today, Google Earth can finally tell you what the weather is like while you zoom
around the 3D representation of our planet. The app has a new layer that lets you toggle cloud cover, Doppler radar, and conditions and forecasts,
which will show you what's on tap in each region using information aggregated from Weather.com.
There's also an
"information" link that has more background about each of the services and links to download the 6- and 24-hour cloud animations, which can be
controlled using playback buttons in the top right of your screen. It looks just like you've seen on any TV weather report, except you have complete
control on the playback slider, and can drag is backward and forward ad nauseum to bend the clouds to your will (it's great fun).
One of the features that was initially shown off about Windows 7 was the touch capability; that talk seems to have died down lately, amongst the beta
and RC releases, but an announcement today has brought it back into the limelight. A post over at the Windows Team blog has just revealed the
Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7. This pack brings a range of touch-friendly applications, of which we will detail below. Microsoft Surface Globe:
The first of these applications is called Microsoft Surface Globe. This, as you can imagine, is a multi-touch capable globe (think Google Earth) that
uses the Virtual Earth 3D engine to display a rotatable 3D version of the world.
The technology comes from UbiqWindow and lets a computer screen be projected in mid-air.
They have devised a touchless way to interact with the "hologram", and Google Earth is a great way to show off its capabilities. it's not a 3D
projection, just 2D. But, it sure looks cool. via
Google Earth Design
Unless you have to, it is many
times advantageous to warm
boot, or rather warm reboot,
Windows. In a warm reboot,
Windows restarts, but the
computer doesnt, skipping the
whole pre-Windows boot
screen/BIOS/startup sequence.
You an
easily specify a warm boot
in both Windows XP and Windows
Vista. Just hold down SHIFT on
your keyboard before clicking
Restart in Vista, or before
clicking OK in the restart
dialog in XP. Enjoy the extra
20 seconds!
Technically, the use of
the term warm boot is a bit
misused here, but the small
amount of time saved by not
re-running the BIOS can be
worth it.
So many blogs, so little time. There are over 112 million blogs on the Internet! How do you keep up? You can take Live Spaces Vision for a spin! Yea really, a spin! Beware not to get dizzy
while this shows you all recently updated Windows Live Spaces. Watch that Virtual Earth globe go round and round and round....
You can watch in 2D or 3D, the first time you start 3D mode you will be asked to install Virtual Earth 3D. To tilt and rotate the map, hold the
'CTRL' key on the keyboard whilst pressing your left mouse button. Scroll the mouse to rotate the globe on its axis.
MapCruncher Beta for Microsoft Virtual Earth makes it easy to publish maps overlaid in an application using the Virtual Earth map control. Once you
are familiar with the tool, it will take you about ten minutes to generate a new tile layer.
Just find 5 to 10 corresponding
landmarks on your map and on the Virtual Earth map view, and MapCruncher will register your map to the global coordinate system, warp it to fit a
Mercator projection, and generate a set of image tiles that can be seamlessly layered on top of Virtual Earth map control's standard road, hybrid, or
aerial imagery. It even makes a sample HTML page for reference.
MapCruncher accepts a variety of vector formats (PDF, WMF, EMF)
and raster formats (JPG, PNG, TIFF, GIF, BMP).
Michael Arrington: Googles Marissa Mayer gave a deep dive presentation on Google Earth at the DLD conference in Munich yesterday (see our coverage
from the first day here). Her presentation is embedded
below. Lots of interesting stats and creative use of the technology: Hundreds of millions of Google Earth downloads and activations, and the
equivalent of 1,000 human lifetimes have been spent looking at Google Earth. Many people are now using sketchup to build 3D models.
Virtual Earth 3D (Beta)
