Frog Up or Down

I recently read an excellent set of White papers issued by the RIBA re planning, and its almost antiquated approach to both the application method and its use of digital drawings and the data it contain. Its not the first time I have approached this subject, but I was so pleased to see the article in the Vol 25 issue 2 issue of TcT magazine . The White paper which the link above takes you to, consists of several different papers all loosely linked on the subject of digital planning. Quite rightly the author takes a look at the actual application process and takes it a little further to look at the file naming structure, and the ability for search engines to find and load the application, not so simple in current planning sites. The use of Digital applications at planning will encourage Smart City's a reality, the video below I think shows a way forward. They mention City GML, and IFC, GML an open city standard, together with IFC and its open standard between the differen...

In my last post, I took a quick look at Smart Cities, I have had a long time research project going on this subject, collecting articles and general web pages, to try and understand just what is meant by Smart City, believe me when I say it's not a clear subject, there are a lot of variables, and differing opinions. This video I have just come across, I think spells out a lot of my thoughts on the subject, interestingly one of the participants is the Ordinance Survey, OS, who I feel have a lot to give on this subject, from flood zones, paths, and marking interesting places and sights, I will be continuing this research, because I don't think its solved yet, but I like what I see and hear in this short video.

Most mornings, before I actually start work, I take a look at my news feeds, I start with Facebook, for no other reason than, I like to see what comments and post have been made, then I go to the serious stuff. First it's the BBC News app, always good, but then I go to my Google News App, this I like, it has a better format and display. Then I look at a new app I am using in Google Chrome for all my Podcasts. I use my iPhone to download the same ones for walking, but in my home office, I like to control them on my Screen, I could I suppose use the iTunes and this would sync with my iPhone, but it is not easy to use, and I get so fed up trying to make it work, I went else where, and this little app is just right, I can listen as I work, it tells me if new podcasts from my list are available and I can so easily stop and continue from the main bar. Google Keep, continues to be very useful, this morning I read a couple of interesting articles on Smart Cities, so clipped them to ...

I have my pass for the Google Cloud Next meet on the 4th May 2017, although as yet I have only the pass for one day, I would so like to attend on the 3rd, so here's hoping. But back to the subject matter of Data, , I have planned out a long day of lectures, and for once I am not giving a single second on stage, this is a chance for me to sit back and learn. the presenters methods of teaching, the subject matter, and the networking possibilities. A long time back, I wrote a blog on the old site about planning a day like this, just attending is a waste of time, to get the most of the day, I intend to prepare. First I have listed my lectures, the days is packed with so many alternatives :, 09.15 - 10.45 Keynote Brad Calder, Greg DeMichillie and Matt McNeil 11:30-12:15 Breakout three Google Cloud Functions and Firebase Speaker: TBC 12:30-13:15 Breakout one Cloud Spanner 101: Google's mission-critical relational database Speaker: Fausto ...

Jon Pickup has been prolific this month with his Vectorworks Video Lectures and tips postings. I have know Jon for a long time and watched his site with all his excellent videos and books, grow to one of the best repositories of Vectorworks help on the net. The list below is this months list and its a doozey, you have to be a member to view the files, buts thats only right and proper, Jon spends a life time getting his manuals ready and correct, plus the videos that go through the various work. Todays photo is of the moon creeping behind the earth, I recently gave a presentation on this, the way the moon was created and its effect on our weather even now. epodcast202 - Nudge Tips http://learn.archoncad.com/2017/04/30093/epodcast202-nudge-tips/ Nudge is where you move objects a small amount using the shift+arrow keys. it can be useful, but watch out if you need to measure the objects. There are also Vectorworks Preferences that control the nudging. In this extended podca...

One of the many reasons I stay with Google Drive, oh and by the way, I have updated my subscription to 1TB, is the way I can so easily share slides and papers. Not with actual copies, but electronic links, I suppose its a pass from the old Wave, what ever I like it a lot. I am currently doing a little research on Curzon Street Station , its now ben boarded up, following the go ahead, so no access, but there are a lot of photos about, and a lot of information, so I have been collecting it as and when I can, a lot comes from the web, and just some from other sources, like older paper archives I got from some where. I have used Google Slides to pull a lot together, for no other reason than I wanted to give a presentation to a few local friends, and like minded colleagues, but as alway it grew and grew. I plan to add a load of photos to the presentation, as a link from my Google photos, again its so easy to do this. So for all you local station lovers, if you have any informati...

I, like so many, have a lot of digital information, and its growing, from simple letters and emails, through to the vast number of photos I now have dating back to about 1989, Then there are a load of presentations, research documents and scans, and thats just my private side, the business is just as big, with drawings, letters and site photos, plus other research and industry digital catalogs. My private life is spread across several methods of storing all this stuff i keep, from Google Drive, to my Mac account, and evernote. Google holds the most, and what prompted this particular blog, was a note I got from Google telling me I am very close to my present limit of 116GB. I will increase it, I see no option, I rely og Google for so much, more on this later. Apple, I have used for so long, their iCloud is ok, but sharing in any form is just impossible, compared to Google, so all I have there are backup of photos and some email, but the more I use Google, the more I want back int...

At resent, I have several notes about books, my to read , my current reading list, and specific lists of book collections, my construction book list being huge and my Templar book collection not far behind. I want to now link my personal notes to the list, and have found a way to do this. So I make a new note and add my comments, thoughts and other items into the note its specific to that book, so I use the book title author and medium, ie paper or Kindle in the title. Then before I close, I make a copy of the URL After closing, I go to the specific book list and paste the url on the end of the book list item , see todays photo. I also add my usual labels, this time adding book comments as the extra label. For some reason, I find this satisfyingly acceptable, and perhaps a better way to record my thoughts rather than Evernote , ok there is probably a way to do this, but so far its eluded me. I plan to add this concept to my photos, saved in Google Photos , a specific...

I know Evernote is so good, and it just has the edge over Keep, but I am finding I like to save certain information to Keep, rather than Evernote, it is easier to find, edit, and use, my book lists for instance, I have several, all labelled "Books" links I want to use, again all labelled I put pdf documents into a Drive folder and take a link and again its put into Keep this time I add a note as to why I have kept it together with the links, and several labels if I feel it belongs to different subjects. In about a months time I am taking a Mooc Course with Warwick University looking at Data , they use "R"  its a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics, I want to be up and running with it, so have stated to collect examples of its use. Each note a separate link or comments all pulled together with my label "R". Is it not the way of life, somethings just become interesting, take Google Plus , I have not used or reviewed it ...