Frog Up or Down

On a very recent trip to Italy, I happen to see this excellent pair of clocks on a church, one was a solar clock, the other a mechanical clock. If you look carefully, you can see that the solar clock shows 12 pm, yet the mechanical clock shows 11 am, yet both are right. Let me explain, the solar clock is as the sun depicts, it can not be changed, well not on this stone solar clock, yet the mechanical clock can be altered, as we enter daylight saving. I like this a lot, it show how time works and how man has altered time to suite his needs, it opens up a lot for both shadow work, surveying and a simple yet fundamental view of our Solar system, the tilt of the earth to the sun, and its effect on weather. Such a simple photo yet so full of information. I will use this next year as I teach first year students in both simple surveying and detailing.

Sketchup has some great tools, but one them is the link to Google Earth and maps. This video below is  a classic video that shows so easily the way to build up a site model in 3D using these tools. I have watched this several times, but for the purposes of CPD time I have claimed only 2 hours quality CPD time making notes the second time.

You might remember, but some time back I wrote on the way Backscatter Technology, was taking my interest, big time, well a lot has gone on since, not only have I been writing Academic papers, but the really clever researchers have been expanding the technology. It now seems possible that we can program the sensor, and make it act like a simple computer, not so much it can run games, but more simple calcs acting like a small computer. From my research its seems to be in the low end of what you might find in a FitBit watch. The University of Washington have been looking at this and have a rather good website paper for your reading. Still this takes the whole concept of Sensors to the next level, and beyond. In one paper the researcher had made a simple black and white camera, all powered by Backscatter ambient energy. If you can't access academic papers, you might be missing out on a lot of research, I have written my research up into a 1 hour CPD program. So perhaps inst...

For so long I seemed to work on large projects devoid of trees , even when I worked in insulation, supporting Styrofoam insulation, the only trees I saw were growing in rain water gutters and I might add, doing very well. But they were not of interest to the local authority , and certainly not worth saving, it was only in later years when I started the extensions that I came up against TPO's, or Tree Preservation Orders . So what are we talking about, well trees have certain rights, the planning portal has a lot on this subject, but the general opening page gives it straight : A Tree Preservation Order is an order made by a local planning authority in England to protect specific trees, groups of trees or woodlands in the interests of amenity. An Order prohibits the: cutting down topping lopping uprooting wilful damage wilful destruction of trees without the local planning authority’s written consent. If consent is given, it can be subject to conditions which ...

This article on City Metrics , on creating Google indoor mapping, is interesting, for existing buildings it could be a boon to internal shop or office owners wanting to get an easy fix on an internal map, I still think adding our plans is the better way, as it allows easy updates, but still, its interesting. The kit is a little cumbersome. and a tad obvious, plus how long does it last without a charge. Adding specific graphics is also a problem, I can see so many shops wanting their logo of corporate graphic jpg. Apple getting in on the act is not surprising, but their map is not in the same league as Google so it's a watch and see for Apple Maps. But indoor mapping is going to be big business, emergency escapes, show me the way to Starbucks, loads of possibilities. I tried to get a route from home to JD Sports in the airport, it located it well and added a touch more info, then I asked it to show me a route from home, this it did well, till it got to the airport build...