I’m a big fan of Google. If I need to find something quickly, Google is my search engine of choice. It even works as a spell checker for cities, famous people, and so on—names that may not be in a dictionary. Want to check the spelling of Zambezi (as in the Zambezi River in Africa)? Just enter it into Google and it will suggest an alternative spelling if it’s incorrect.
Over the past year, I’ve found Google Maps to be an excellent tool. Previously, I would use MapQuest, but not anymore. Google Maps is better. If I need to find a map or location, it’s a few seconds away. When trying to locate a soccer field in Denver, Colorado, I entered the cross streets “Oxford Ave and Lowell Blvd” into MapQuest. It needed more information, so I entered “Denver.” Still not enough information. It wanted the state or postal code. In Google Maps, I entered the cross streets—nothing else—and it found the location. And, it displayed a map immediately. No need for additional clicks.
Want to know where Palm Cove, Australia is located? Just enter Palm Cove. Google Maps will immediately display a map of the small village. Want to view it as a satellite image? Just click the Satellite button and you’ll get a beautiful picture. Where is Palm Cove in relation to Cairns, Brisbane, and other cities in Australia? Just drag the slider bar to zoom out and a new view appears quickly. And, if you wish, click and drag the current view to pan around. For me, the tool is very useful. If you’re not familiar with Google Maps, give it a try. You probably won’t go back to MapQuest.
I bumped into a guy recently at an industry event that had the following to say: “The single most important piece of information I picked at this time last year was the availability of Google Alerts.” The tip came as a response to a question from a CEO that asked, “What can users of 3D printing do to stay up-to-date and educated on some of the latest announcements and events in our industry?”
I’ve been using Google Alerts for years. The free service works like this: At www.google.com/alerts, indicate the term(s) that you’d like to have the service track for you. You can indicate the frequency (as they occur, daily, or weekly) and ask that it consider news, blogs, video, or groups. Or, you can request that Google follows all of these categories. Google then emails to you a link to the web page that contains the term, along with a couple lines from the page that includes the term.
Google Alerts is one of the most useful web-based tools. The fact that it is free is surprising to its users. It is easy to use and the information it uncovers is invaluable. It’s like having an army of researchers at your disposal, around the clock, seven days a week. Even they would not be able to canvas the world in such detail and breadth.
A short time ago, I downloaded and installed PdaNet on my Treo 700. It allows you to use the smartphone’s broadband Internet connectivity as a wireless modem for your laptop computer. So, anywhere you get a cellular signal, you have free Internet access on your laptop. This includes hotels, airports, and traveling down a highway.
The download and installation of PdaNet was fast and simple. The product is available for a one-time cost of $34 at junefabrics.com. It works with several smartphones, including devices from Palm, Motorola, Samsung, T-Mobile, Cingular, and others. After installing PdaNet on my Treo 700, I was surfing the web within seconds with my laptop. The connection between the Treo and laptop is made using the sync/charge cable. One click (tap) on the Treo connects your laptop to the Internet.
Using the Treo 700 with Sprint cellular service, my laptop registered download speeds of about 150–250 kilobits per second, which is almost 3-5 times faster than the best dialup connection. Upload speeds were about 25–70 kbps. I did the speed tests at speedtest.net, an excellent website for checking the speed of an Internet connection. PdaNet also works with the older Treo 650, although speeds are closer to a dialup connection.
If you have a smartphone and are tired of paying Internet fees at airports and hotels, consider PdaNet. I found it to be much easier than using the Internet services offered at most hotels, which can be a hassle. You could even use it as your regular Internet connection at your home office or as a backup in case your regular Internet services go down. It is the best $34 I’ve spent in a long time.
In March, Google announced that it had acquired @Last Software, the makers of the popular SketchUp software. At the time, many people—including me—wondered why the search giant bought this small Colorado-based company. As I learned more about the strategy at Google, it began to make sense.
Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. With Google Earth, the company expects to play a dominant role in making companies, sports stadiums, shopping mails, airports—you name it—available on the Internet in 3D graphical form. For instance, suppose you are interested in attending a professional football game in Denver, Colorado. Google Earth would take you to the USA, then to Colorado, and to Invesco Field at Mile High. You could then explore restaurants, retail stores, and so on, and review the products and services at each the businesses in the stadium. Much of it would appear graphically.
Describing the content of the earth is a big job, even for Google. Therefore, the company has decided to solicit the help of others. Anyone with an Internet connection can download the SketchUp software to “sketch up” the structure of a business in 3D. I downloaded the free version a few weeks ago and created basic but interesting 3D buildings within about three minutes. No joke. They could not have made it easier to use. Google hopes that if you want to be found within Google Earth, you will submit a SketchUp model of your business for inclusion.
InformationWeek and CADWire.com published details on the acquisition of @Last Software in March. Both articles provide insight into the business deal between the two companies. If you’re interested in giving SketchUp a try, go to the Google page that permits you to download it. If you’re like me, you’ll find SketchUp impressive and easy to use. Within minutes, you too will be a candidate to help Google fulfill its mission.
On January 4, 2006, CNNMoney.com published a thought-provoking article titled “Tech’s New Resolutions: What Google, Apple, Microsoft, and others should shoot for this year.” Author Erick Schonfeld, Business 2.0’s editor at large, subtitled one part of the article “Amazon.com’s resolution: Let customers design their own products.” In five paragraphs, he explained why Amazon should offer part fabrication services to anyone with an Internet connection.
Schonfeld explained how Amazon could give customers the opportunity to use web-based tools to design custom products, such as kitchen cabinet hardware, cell phone cases, and action figures. He said that “tight design parameters would ensure a basic floor of quality.” He went on to say that Amazon could set up CNC machines, 3D printers, and other rapid prototyping tools, or could outsource the production of the parts to machine shops and service providers.
I agree that the idea could work. Amazon would not want to offer a blank screen from which to conceive a new product. Instead, it could provide basic shapes of new designs—a starting point—with specific dimensions that could be changed to a point. These limits would prevent amateur designers from making features of a design too large or too small. The design experience could be somewhat analogous to piecing together a new computer configuration at dell.com. You are offered many combinations of options, but limits are built into the system so that you configure a computer that is manufacturable. The same is true at nikeid.com where you can very easily and quickly produce a semi-custom pair of shoes.
Schonfeld continues by explaining how Amazon could expand the service to include a design marketplace where customers, and even engineers and designers, could trade and sell designs. I believe that all of this will probably occur in the future. However, a small start-up will likely pioneer the idea. After lots of trial ‘n error by the small company, an established corporation, such as Amazon.com, will then enter the business. And it could grow into something very big.
At wohlersassociates.com, visitors can search for articles, press releases, technical papers, and other documents using our search engine. In the month of March 2003, 550 searches were conducted using 256 terms and 229 phrases. Among the top terms were prototyping, 3D, casting, investment, tooling, historical, RP, and sale. Top phrases were rapid prototyping, historical development of rapid prototyping, rapid prototyping and tooling state of the industry, Z Corp, investment casting, cosmetic packaging, reverse engineering, Aaroflex, buy now next year or never, case studies, Objet, and 3D printing. This information tells us that people are indeed searching for specific information in this industry and it gives us some indication as to what people are hoping to find. We continually add content to the site, hoping that visitors find it of interest. If you are looking for something in particular and cannot find it, let us know.
Few Internet tools are as useful as Google. I don’t recall a day in recent weeks that I haven’t used it at least a few times. Whether it’s searching for a hotel in Osaka, a dive boat operator in Thailand, or red wines in South Africa, Google finds what I am looking for. It’s also helpful in finding the correct spelling of a person, place, or thing.
If you are looking for an image to use in a publication or presentation, click the Images tab and enter a name in the box. You will be surprised at what Google finds. Looking for news on a specific subject? Click the News tab and plug in the subject.
Some other search engines are good, but nothing compares to Google. It has found a permanent home at the top of my Favorites.
I certainly am! Yes, Spam filters and other measures can be taken. However, it will never go away until the recipients of the Spam stop responding to it. It’s a fact that a sufficient number of people respond favorably to it, making the idea of sending these mass emailings an attractive option. Where there is a demand, there is a supply. So, ignore those unwanted email messages and delete them immediately. Also, do not asked to be removed from their mailing list. Doing so confirms that they are sending to a valid address.
