Month: March 2013

By Erica Ho, Lifehacker – May 03, 2010 at 12:00PM

You’re the computer whiz in your circle of friends and family, which means, inevitably, somebody is going to call for tech support. If you can’t fix it in person, these are the best approaches we’ve found for troubleshooting from far away.

Photo by bigpresh.

With distance being a formidable foe, and without the ability to see the computer in question, there are limitations to what you can do. You can, however, get Aunt Sally’s computer working again, regardless of whether you, or she, have a mastery of remote desktop software and command line codes. Here’s how to break everything down, step by step, in Plain Joe English.

Your Tools and Your Limitations

Basic Communication
First things first: you’ll need a communication method. The three available in most cases will be instant message, phone, or Skype. It’s easy to rely on instant messaging, but it is often the most inefficient—you’ll spend a lot of helpful time waiting for messages to be relayed back and forth. The best idea? Ring them up, then put them on speakerphone, or use a headset so you can free up your hands for using the computer.

Having your own computer handy, and one running the same operating system as those in need, is crucial. Some people need to be talked through each step, and most people, if not all, will have questions along the way. This way, you can help them navigate to a tool that they may need, and tell them exactly where to get the program on the web site. You’ll also be able to tell them what to do and where to go with certainty, and they’ll learn something, hopefully, for the next computer problem go-round.

Visual Screen Sharing
Skype offers a convenient combination of screen sharing and audio voice connection. There are several screen-sharing programs out there, but most people are familiar with, have installed, or at least know of Skype. You may take your well-known remote desktop and VNC tools for granted, but people can be wary of downloading and installing programs they’ve never heard of before.

If the person being helped already has an account, great. If they don’t have the latest version of Skype (4.2), help them download it, then tell them your Skype name. Once you two are talking, point out the “Share” option in the message box, and tell them to click on “Share Your Screen.”

Now you can see exactly what they’re doing, what’s happening, and be able to talk them through the problem. Skype doesn’t eliminate the phone completely, especially if the solution will require a restart at some point. If Skype doesn’t fit your style, check out our previous reviews of apps for remote tech support on any system, and our selection of the five best remote desktop tools.

If the other party has a dodgy connection, or setting up Skype is going to be more trouble than it’s worth, the tech-afflicted person on the other end can take print screens of things that aren’t clear, or to show you the difference between what you’re suggesting and what they’re seeing on their screen. Luckily, “printing” a screen is as easy as hitting one key on most keyboards, and even Windows’ default Paint application can accept Control-V pastes and save them as small JPEG files. Once they’ve got their screenshot, they can share it via IM, email, file-sharing service, or Dropbox, if they happen to have that installed.

Keep In Mind: You Can Only Do So Much
Remember, you’re still unable to get your hands on the computer in question, so you won’t be able to replicate the experience of being right there to see, and explain, exactly what’s happening. You can pretty much say goodbye to very advanced troubleshooting, or deep dives into the guts of the operating system. It’s possible to attempt things like these, but you run the risk of the person on the other end possibly botching it, only to be left with a computer that’s even in worse shape than before. Just because forcibly uninstalling an application fixed an issue with no problems on your own system doesn’t mean you should risk leaving the person you’re helping unable to, for example, open Microsoft Word.

If you’re on the phone for two or three hours, and still have trouble identifying the problem and/or applying the solution, chances are that there’s more going on with the computer than both of you can know at the moment. Those types of situations require hands-on fixing, so be prepared to wave the white flag and know it’s probably the best solution.

Those general tips will get you through most any remote tech support scenario, but let’s dig into two common examples to show how it should work.

Scenario One: The Computer Is “Slow”

The most common complaint I’ve received from family and friends is that the computer is being “slow.” It’s also the thing I like to hear the least, because it gives me no specific information about what the problem is. In this particular case, you have to be detailed with your questions, so you can narrow down what the problem is. So when you’re talking to the person on the other end of the line, it’s important to qualify what “being slow” means. Chances are there’s an easy solution to this one.

A few good questions would include:

• When you start-up your computer, does everything take a long time to load?
• Does it only happen when you open up a specific program?
• Is surfing the internet slow? Does everything else run fine?
• Last but not least, how many programs do you typically run after booting up, and what are they?

Here’s what to do for the most typical answers:

Answer: Booting Up the Computer Is Slow
If startup is slow, you’ll want to direct them to a program that cleans up startup application lists. My weapon of choice remains CCleaner. Not only does it offer this feature, but because it’s a multi-useful tool for removing junk files on your hard drive as well (and a program they’ll want to use in the future if they learn how to use it). You’ll want to go through with them step-by-step as they open the program. Navigate to the Startup Tool, which is under the Tools tab, followed by the Startup option. Visual aids, like screenshots and screen sharing, will only help speed up this process and clarify any possible unknowns. Depending on how tech-savvy they are, you might have to do some tech-lingo translation and go through each item individually.

At this screen, you’ll want them to disable (not delete) updaters, toolbars, and basically any programs that are unnecessary to starting up a functioning copy of Windows.

Answer: Browsing the Internet Is Slow
If the internet seems to run slow, ask them how many windows and tabs they have open. If the answer is somewhere above 20, suggest browsing with fewer tabs open, using helpers like the two-tab rule we previously covered, if necessary. Even better yet, if they’re somehow still stuck on Internet Explorer 6 or some equally antiquated browser, point them to Mozilla Firefox or even Google Chrome to speed up their experience. Both of those browsers can easily import bookmarks and settings from Internet Explorer during their installation process.

Another thing to consider is that their internet may also be just genuinely slow, which is something you can’t help them with. Aside from suggesting to upgrade their ISP or buying a better modem, there’s not much you can do—yet another bit of tech support zen you’ll have to get comfortable with.

Answer: They Run Too Many Programs At Once
Well, some computers can handle Windows Media Center, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, iTunes, Skype, AIM, email, browsing through 37 browser tabs, and editing a video file simultaneously easily. Some never will. If they’re running too many resource-heavy programs at the same time on an old processor, tell them to stop, but explain how to actually shut down the applications—particularly those that like to hide themselves in the system tray. Otherwise, it’s a behavior and hardware limitation that can’t be fixed over the phone.

Scenario Two: “I Think I May Have a Virus”

If the person on the other end claims they are having virus problems, clarify what they mean. Is it just software pop-ups and slow-downs, or is there evidence of a genuine virus? Even the slightest rash of pop-ups can set someone on edge if they don’t understand where they come from. Some pop-ups, especially on computers still running the pre-installed Windows they shipped with, ask users to upgrade software, or notify them that their software trial has expired. Visual aids, here in particular, become very useful. (If it’s a simple program pop-up, you should set their minds at ease and tell them what the problem is and why it’s occurring.) But what if it’s not a pop-up?

Answer: It’s Really a Virus
To check if it’s really a virus, have your family member or friend run an antivirus scanner on their system, or help them install Microsoft Security Essentials. Obviously, if the program detects the virus, it will alert you and attempt to repair the problem. Sometimes it will require a system reboot, so that the antivirus program can eliminate the virus from system processes, so you might have to work without a visual connection for a bit.

In the event that the antivirus program is unable to fix the program, try having your friend or family member boot into Windows’s Safe Mode (here’s a quick tutorial for every version) and run the antivirus program in that mode.

Answer: The Virus Is a False Alarm (or Fake Antivirus App)

We’ve covered fake alert and virus programs like XP AntiSpyware before in the past, and the various tools to remove them, but the removal process is often complicated, tedious, and laborious for these pesky buggers for even computer-savvy people. These programs masquerade themselves as antivirus programs, but really aren’t. Wikipedia has a partial list of these programs. Encountering this type of rogue security programs in the wild is not fun.

It’s just as likely that some files or programs may trigger a false virus alarm. Our own Lowell has offered the best ways of knowing if a download is really a virus or not.

Even with a step-by-step guide, and being able to fix the afflicted computer directly, I’ve encountered serious difficulty trying to remove a fake antivirus app from an afflicted computer. For those on the other end asking for help, it will be even more time-consuming, and potentially much more difficult. Solving this problem most likely requires more advanced techniques, such as registry editing. It’s often best to leave this type of problem in the hands of a knowledgeable person who can get their hands on the computer, versus a Plain Joe or Jane trying to walk through complicated steps with only your (likely patience-drained) voice as a guide.

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It’s going to vary case by case, and requires diligence and patience on both ends, but most problems that the average computer user runs into can be fixed, no matter where you and the afflicted happen to live.

Let us know your experience and tips in troubleshooting computer problems remotely in the comments.

By Marco Solazzi, Smashing Magazine Feed – May 03, 2010 at 09:52AM

Open-source content management systems (CMS) are a large family of Web applications, but if we’re looking for stability, performance and average technical requirements, we’ll come up with a handful of options. In the past, choosing the “right” CMS was a matter of the project’s requirements, but now this is not completely valid because the paradigm of extensibility had driven the development of major CMS’ towards a model of core features that are extensible with plug-ins that fill virtually any requirement.

Picking the right CMS is then a matter of “mental models”: choosing the one that best fits our vision of how a Web application should work and what it should provide to users and administrators. In this article, we’ll explore the main difference in the mental models: of WordPress and Joomla for theming and extending their core.

[Offtopic: by the way, did you know that there is a Smashing eBook Series? Book #1 is Professional Web Design, 242 pages for just $9,90.]

Background Thoughts

WordPress and Joomla are two of the most popular open-source CMS’ around. They offer large and active developer communities and excellent documentation.

WordPress is the first choice among the designer community mostly because of its well-designed back end and wide availability of excellent themes.

Joomla, meanwhile, suffers from Mambo’s legacy, which was notorious for low performance and semantically incorrect output (such as nested tables for layout). But since the release of version 1.5, Joomla has a completely rewritten core, with improved extensibility and better HTML output.

One difference between WordPress and Joomla is their theming model. A website developer migrating from Joomla to WordPress might feel that the latter requires too much theme coding, while a developer moving the other way might feel that Joomla is less flexible and customizable. The reason for this is the different models on which the themes of these CMS’ are based.

WordPress’ Theming Model

WordPress’ theming model is based on a per-view structure. This means that in each theme, you could have individual view files for the post list, the single post and the archive pages. These files are independent of each other, allowing the developer to customize each view but requiring them to duplicate many parts of the code. The only common parts in a theme are the header and footer, which can be coded directly in the individual view anyway.

The main drawback of this model is that different views will not always require a different presentation (for example, the archive, category list and tag list are just lists). To overcome this problem, a theme is organized in a hierarchical structure, in which more generic views are used as fallbacks for specific ones. The common fallback for a WordPress theme is the index.php file, which is actually the only required file (along with a style sheet) in a theme. A complete reference and visual diagram of the hierarchical structure of a WordPress theme are available here.

The Loop and Template Tags

To better understand how a WordPress theme works, we need to look more closely at the “loop” and template tags.

All data for a post or a list of posts is extracted through a loop. A loop is basically a while construct that begins with this declaration:

<?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?> 

// post output here 

<?php endif; endwhile; ?>

The most important part of this code is the_post(), which initializes a global $post PHP object containing all of the page data. The loop construct is also required for single post view, because all functions for presentation of data rely on the presence of the $post object. These functions are called template tags, and their main purpose is to output formatted data. Usually, they do not output HTML tags so that they can be used in different scenarios.

A complete guide to theme development is available here.

Joomla’s Content-Based Model

Joomla has a completely different theming approach. Joomla’s templates are built on a common structure defined in an index.php file.

This file contains both static content (i.e. content that is common throughout the website) and template tags, which serve as content place-holders and are replaced by HTML output during the page-rendering phase.

A common form for a template tag is:

<jdoc:include type="modules" name="right" style="xhtml" />

Template tags differ in the type of content they provide: component, message, module, head.

This structural backbone implies that each view in the CMS outputs not a complete page but just what’s needed to present content. At first glance, a developer used to the theming model of WordPress might think that there’s no way to customize this content block. In fact, Joomla relies on the MVC architectural pattern, meaning that data extraction and presentation are separated, the latter being rendered by the view part of the application.

Template Customization

To customize the default view, Joomla has a pattern called template override, through which the system scans the template folder for a custom view file to use in place of the default one. The image below shows the folder structure and naming convention of a default view and its override.

An example of the folder and file structure of a Joomla template override (from the “ja_purity” template).

Joomla overrides are an excellent way to customize a website template without hacks. Still, they are often overlooked, and Joomla’s support of legacy extensions make this pattern unusable, even for popular packages such as Virtuemart (which uses its built-in template system).

A complete reference for Joomla’s template system is available here.

Beyond Core

(Image by jared)

In the last few years, plug-ins have made a big difference in the software industry, one of the most notable examples being Mozilla Firefox.

As we noted, modern CMS’ are developed to be extensible, allowing us to use the core as a backbone and build specialized parts on top of it. This resulting modular design is an effective development model for many reasons:

• Better maintainability
  Developers don’t need to modify the core in order to add or customize functionality.
• Lightweight and safer
  Only features that are needed are included, resulting in less memory consumption, a smaller code base and fewer vulnerabilities.
• Separate development cycles for core and features
  By offering an extensions API, third-party developers can add new features while the core team focuses on the reliability and performance of the system.

With open-source projects, this last point is both a blessing and a curse. It benefits from shared development effort but leads to unverified work and a less organized workflow.

Joomla and WordPress have tried to overcome this curse by providing coding guidelines. Still, little effort is spent documenting the back-end and front-end UI design.

Aside from their different naming conventions, the extensions models of WordPress and Joomla differ in how third-party code interacts with the core by mean of the extensions API.

The key point to understand is that while Joomla is based on MVC pattern, WordPress relies on an event-like system to which extensions can be hooked. Let’s look at some details.

WordPress’ Hook Method

WordPress’ extensions model is based on the execution of a set of functions attached to the system flow by mean of “hooks.”

Hooks contain a list of functions that are triggered at various points as WordPress is running. They manipulate (in the case of filter hooks) and output (in the case of action hooks) database data and can be accessed from within the theme itself and from a specialized plug-in package.

WordPress lacks comprehensive documentation for hooks, but a list of hooks is available here.

To understand the mental model behind WordPress’ hook system, we can compare it to the sequence of actions in baking a cake. In the beginning, we have an idea of what kind of cake we want to bake, so we get our ingredients. We cannot just throw everything together and bake it. So, we execute an ordered list of actions, such as “filtering” egg shells and mixing the eggs in with flour and sugar. As we’re doing that, we might want to customize the recipe. So, we “plug in” some chocolate and perhaps reduce the quantity of another ingredient by half. The result is a proper cake, created from discrete ingredients and a touch of creativity.

WordPress bakes its pages the same way.

Sidebars and Widgets

While plug-ins are broadly related to hooks, a widget is a special type of plug-in. It provides a means of showing information in a theme’s sidebar. The main advantage of widgets is that they are configurable in the back-end interface, allowing quick customization even for novice users.

All available widgets are listed in an administration panel.

In terms of theme development, the sidebar is similar in its mental model to Joomla’s template tags. It is a placeholder for something. The misleading bit is that a sidebar doesn’t have to be placed in the actual sidebar of a layout. It could go in the footer, navigation, header or elsewhere.

To learn more about the new API for widget development, have a look at the official documentation.

Adding Functionality

Until now, the problem with WordPress’ extension API was that it gave you no simple way to add complex functionality, such as e-commerce carts and event listings. Most developers excused this shortcoming by pointing out that WordPress is a blog engine. This will hopefully be resolved with the release of WordPress 3.0 and its system for “post types,” which makes it possible to use the “post” and “page” interfaces for different types of content.

As for other popular CMS’ (such as Drupal), post types function as a kind of “Content Construction Kit,” giving you the ability to smartly add, manage and present specialized content. If you’re interested in trying this new feature, here is a good tutorial.

Other than post types (and until major plug-ins update support for this feature), the only feasible way to add complex functionality is to use already existing pages as containers, placing in the body a place-holder (called a “shortcode“) that is replaced with HTML output by specific filter hooks.

This approach is used by plug-ins such as Buddypress and WP e-Commerce, which extend the blog engine with social network and shopping-cart capabilities.

Another great example of shortcode implementation is Contact Form 7, a fully featured contact-form management plug-in.

Extending Joomla

An often overlooked aspect of Joomla is that it is built on the solid MVC framework. So, extending its core is really much like working with products such as Zend Framework and CodeIgniter, which give you an already designed back-end interface upon which to integrate your own extensions. This approach also gives designers the ability to use template overrides, even for third-party extensions.

A diagram depicting Joomla’s Model View Controller system flow.

To better understand MVC and how it works in Joomla, here is a complete reference.

Joomla’s Extension Types

Joomla’s extension model comes in three flavors, each with different tasks: components, modules and plug-ins.

Components extend the core by adding specific functionality, such as e-commerce carts, event listings and forums. From the user’s point of view, we can think of components as discrete sections of a website, not connected to other content. A popular example is JEvents, an events calendar.

In the theme system, a component’s output replaces the component placeholder in the template’s index.php file:

<jdoc:include type="component" />

Modules are like widgets in WordPress: they show a component’s information, which is extracted from the database. They are “attachable” to module positions and can be put on every page of a website.

Modules are primarily intended to be teaser blocks, but they can incorporate full text and image galleries, which makes them handy for static parts of a layout, such as footer notes. They are also useful for showing related content on a page. For example, you could highlight interesting products for Web developers as they’re browsing a list of barcamp events.

The template tag, which serves as module place-holder, looks like this:

<jdoc:include type="modules" name="right" style="xhtml" />

Plug-ins work similar to WordPress’ hook system, because they bind to specific system events to format, manipulate and replace HTML output. Possible fields of action range from content for articles (such as video embedding tools—AllVideos is a popular one) to HTML filtering and user-profile extension. Commonly used Joomla plug-ins include URL rewriting filters, which come bundled with administrative components such as Sh404SEF.

Compatibility Issues

One thing every developer should be aware of is that, despite efforts to provide a great extension API, Joomla 1.5 still suffers in its support of legacy extensions (built for v1.0), which do not have an MVC structure and which are sometimes hardly customizable. Furthermore, they break the API mental model.

The Joomla extensions library has a clear mark for 1.0 or 1.5 native extensions. But faking 1.5 native compatibility is easy, which would leave developers with nothing but legacy code. This method is followed even by big well-known projects like Virtuemart.

Hopefully, once Joomla 1.6 is released and legacy support is dropped, every developer will rework their code to fit the CMS’ specifications.

What’s Next

While the best way to choose a CMS is by trying it out on a real project, understanding its underlying mental model can make developers feel less lost in code and more aware of the design patterns they need to follow.

If you want to develop themes and extensions for Joomla and WordPress, here are some resources.

WordPress:

• How to Create a WordPress Theme from Scratch
• How to Write a WordPress Plugin: a complete reference on WordPress plugins development.
• Top 10 Most Common Coding Mistakes in WordPress Plugins: a must read for WordPress developers.
• WordPress 3.0 new features
• 8 Useful Code Snippets To Get Started With WordPress 3.0

Joomla:

• Joomla Developer’s Toolbox: a collection of resources for Joomla users and developers by Smashing Magazine.
• Creating a Basic Joomla! Template
• Developing a Model-View-Controller Component: a step-by-step tutorial on components development in Joomla.
• Creating a Hello World Module for Joomla 1.5: official documentation on Joomla modules development.
• Joomla Component Creator: a smart wizard for creating a “starter” component structure.
• Joomla 1.6 Updates: this article explains the primary objectives of the upcoming Joomla 1.6.

(al)

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Post tags: joomla, wordpress

By Andrew Liszewski, Gizmodo – March 27, 2013 at 04:20PM

Even with their outdated CRT displays, Apple’s old rainbow assortment of iMacs are just too damn adorable to toss. But what do you do if you have a few still lying around taking up desk space? If you’re Toronto-based travel and tour company G Adventures, you swap their heavy guts for bulbs and string them up in your offices as pendant lights. More »

By Adam Dachis, Lifehacker – March 27, 2013 at 04:00PM

We’ve looked at several ways to save on your energy bill, but among them all nothing does the job better than air sealing. Utility bill comparison site MyEnergy explains:

The EPA estimates that between 25 and 30 percent of the energy that we use to heat and cool our homes is lost due to the air leaks through the attic, the basement, and other gaps in the building envelope. The absolute largest return on investment when it comes to energy savings is quick air sealing using caulk or spray foam. Spray foam or foam-in-a-can has been proven to save up to $150 per year in heating/cooling costs, and to have a seven year ROI (return on investment) of 4400%. The living space is the easiest to airseal yourself, however attics and basements can sometimes require a contractor depending on the scope on the project.

If you want to seal the gaps in your home, this EnergyStar guide is a good place to start. GreenVideoAdvisor offers a series on sealing your attic and Building Science provides another.

Special thanks to MyEnergy for the tips!

Photo by digitalreflections (Shutterstock).

By Erez Zukerman, Download Squad – May 14, 2010 at 04:00PM

Filed under: Business, Finance, Productivity

When I wrote about Amazon price tracker Tracktor, commenter Accounts pointedly remarked, “camelcamelcamel.com blows this site out of the water.” Boy, he was right.

Despite its odd name, camelcamelcamel is a serious-looking Amazon price tracker, with a Firefox add-on and a Chrome add-on. The site uses a chart format similar to Tracktor’s (I don’t know who’s imitating who here, though).

They track other vendors, too. There’s camelbuy for Best Buy, camelegg for Newegg, and a couple of other sites.

The homepage offers four tabs that feature products with recent price drops. You can see Top Daily Drops in absolute numbers (USD) or by percentage. The same goes for Top Weekly Drops (absolute or percentage).

They also support local Amazon subsites: Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the UK. They also provide something they call “Camel Concierge,” which is a fancy name for a Twitter client that DMs you when items you want drop in price. That feature comes in handy if you prefer Twitter to RSS. However, you can also subscribe to a per product RSS feed that shows recent price changes in the product you’re interested in.

Thanks for the tip, Accounts! If any of you know of better options, leave a comment!

Comment follow-up: camelcamelcamel tracks Amazon prices originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 14 May 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Adam Pash, Lifehacker – May 14, 2010 at 01:00PM

Google’s handing out priority invites to their one-number-to-rule-them-all service, Google Voice, to any student with an email address ending in .edu. If you’re a student and have been waiting for an invite for a while, your priority invite should get there within 24 hours. Once you get it, get yourself up to snuff by reading our guide to easing your transition to Google Voice. [Google Voice for Students via Google Voice Blog]

By Jason Fitzpatrick, Lifehacker – May 14, 2010 at 08:30AM

If you’ve been having trouble with your wireless signal the culprit might be interference from other wireless routers in the area. Free web-based tool WiFi Stumbler will show you which channel is least likely to cause interference.

WiFi Stumbler uses your computer’s Wi-Fi antenna to scan local access nodes. You can do a wide open scan or narrow it down by the type of encryption, the manufacturer, the radio type, frequency, or channel.

When you’re done with the scan you’re presented with both a detailed listing and a chart showing the number of nodes. Using this information you can then switch your router to a less occupied channel—every router I’ve ever purchased has been set to Channel 6 for some reason and just getting it off 6 has been a huge help in every instance.

Have a favorite tool for tweaking your Wi-Fi? Let’s hear about it in the comments.

By (author unknown), Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine – May 13, 2010 at 10:00PM

Ready for a bit of a mental mechanical challenge? Try your hand at understanding how the D-Drive works. Steve Durnin’s ingenious new gearbox design is infinitely variable – that is, with your motor running at a constant speed, the D-Drive transmission can smoothly transition from top gear all the way through neutral and into reverse. It doesn’t need a clutch, it doesn’t use any friction drive components, and the power is always transmitted through strong, reliable gear teeth. In fact, it’s a potential revolution in transmission technology – it could be pretty much the holy grail of gearboxes… If only it wasn’t so diabolically hard to explain. We flew to Australia’s Gold Coast to take a close look at the D-Drive – and it looks to us like Durnin has pulled a rabbit out of his hat. Check out the video after the jump and see if you can work out if there’s a catch…
Continue Reading Video: Is Steve Durnin’s D-Drive the holy grail of infinitely variable transmissions?

Tags: Automotive,
CVT,
D-drive,
Durnin,
Inventor,
Transmission

Related Articles:

• D-Drive redux: about that holy grail thing…
• New seven-speed DSG gearbox
• Audi DSG manual gearbox arrives
• Torotrak’s new generation transmission is good gear
• Honda announces Dual Clutch Transmission for large-displacement sport motorcycles
• General Motors, DaimlerChrysler and BMW premiere two-mode hybrid technology

By admin, Columbus on the Cheap – May 13, 2010 at 08:54AM

Celebrate 100 years of scouting with Adventure Base 100 National Tour at the Columbus Zoo on May 22-23, 2010!  Zoo guests of all ages are welcome to explore Adventure Base 100, including a giant projection Dome, a ropes course, museum quality exhibits and more. 

This event is included with your admission or membership to the Zoo.  […]

By Saikat Basu, MakeUseOf – May 12, 2010 at 03:31PM

Google Earth is a fantastic simulation of our planet. You really can do without playing games on it. But games based on Google Earth do up the fun quotient.

You can spin the virtual globe with your mouse and have a lot of globetrotting fun from the comfort of your armchair. With air travel not being so much fun anymore, it’s quite a good idea to do some ticketless treks now and again.

Google Earth gives us a bird’s eye view on lots of things which we wouldn’t have seen in our entire lifetimes. Like the Nevada crop circles or the fantastic news of the mythic Loch Ness sighting.

Google Earth is the virtual face of a very real world. So, it’s not surprising that it has become a playing arena for lots of fun and games. Most of the free Google Earth games are based on the geographic power that Google Earth brings to our browsers and desktops.

Google Earth games are hardly launched with the kind of fanfare and media blitz that typify the genre. So, where do you go hunting for free Google Earth games?

The Google Lat Long Blog is kind of the official voice for Google Geo products, but there’s hardly any Google Earth games related information there. But there’s the unofficial Google Earth Blog which is a treasure trove of tidbits on the subject. My first steps into the Earth’s gaming zone were through the links laid down here. Take a look. Multi-player games like GEMMO or GE Football are always worth a round.

If you are a fan of the fun side of Google Earth, park yourself at the Google Earth Community. You might want to check out the discussion threads on Fun and Games.

Everyone knows about the Flight Simulator on Google Earth. If you don’t, read Leon’s post on it here.

Then there are others that you might not have played yet. Here are six of them –

Earth Contest

Earth Contest is a free travel game you can play with your friends. The site itself calls it an armchair travel game. You play against The GameMaster in this virtual world. You can choose to play the mystery game (Who Killed Gary Egerson?) or click on the trivia game (Entertainment & Gossip Trivia).

In the first, you start off with a fixed amount of Earth Contest dollars. The game gets played inside the Google Earth application. The idea is to go from one location to another with the help of clues. Along the way, you can help others with clues or even mislead them. And you get an airplane to hop from one location to the next.

The Trivia game is also about solving the quiz on celebrities and travelling from location to the next depending on the answer.

Tina also mentioned it in her post on Google Earth: Cool Resources and Plugins.

PlanetInAction

PlanetInAction has two games – one takes you to the heights of space and the other brings you to the sea level. Both can be played inside the browser with the Google Earth plug-in installed.

Moon Lander lets you experience the adrenalin rush of Apollo 11’s moon landing. You get to take manual control and land the Eagle spacecraft just as Neil Armstrong had done all those years back. He had limited fuel, you have unlimited supply. Are you a better pilot?

Ships puts you on the helm of your own cruise liner or tanker, or even a river barge. You get to be the captain and navigate the ship across many of the scenic seaboard locations around the world.

Virtual Submarine Dive

Sea-seek.com has a submarine simulator (among other choices) which gives you the choice between doing some coastline surveillance off the coasts of California, Gibraltar, or Greece. Or you can take the sub and dive deep into the Mariana Trench, Milwaukee Deep, or Romanche Trench.

You get to monitor a control panel and set things like speed and piloting controls. You can opt for a Cessna or a helicopter to do some simulated fly-bys over the oceans.

Google Earth War

GEWAR is a massive multi-player online game that you can play in your browser with the Google Earth plug-in installed. The game comes with lots of rules and laws that need to be followed. GEWAR is about building your own armies with the resources you have. The objective – to capture cities around the world. Each city has a value and the total value with each player decides his position on the leaderboard.

The currency for this online world is called Geos and there are a lot of activities you can do to earn them and fund your armies. You can even purchase a nuke and obliterate a city in one blast. Armies are pitted against each other and it can be literally, a scrap.

Where On Google Earth

Where On Google Earth is an online geography game. Pictures taken from locations around the world are posted and you can leave your guesses in the comments section.

Each contest lasts one week and you can refer any source to get to the answer. Get them right and place yourself on the leaderboard.

Google Earthing is a similar Google Earth based ‘guess the right answer from the photo’ game.

Google Earth games might not put you into the same kind of Avatar style immersive experience that many high end games give. But if you want to combine education with fun, then Google Earth remains a great tool. All net chatter on Google Earth signals the fact that these are very early days for the mashup of Google Earth and games apps. These games are also about the potential that remains to be tapped.

That’s for later, right now let’s fire up the blue globe and go around the world and try them all out at least once.

Which is your favorite Google Earth game?

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