Archive

Virtual Earth Street Side Technology Preview

Published
by
Noel Jenkins
on September 10, 2009
in 3D visualization
. Closed

I stumbled across a preview of an interesting interface for Live Search Maps (or should that be Bing Maps?) today called Virtual Earth Street Side. The screen is split in two, with an eye level “Street View” image occupying the top half, and the map below, onto which is imposed a racing car icon. The car is moved via the keypad, and is able to track the street (at least some of the time) rather than driving over the buildings. Once the street view images are loaded into the browser, the keyboard gives a smooth and realistic driving experience; in my view somewhat better than Google’s Monster Milk Truck.

Virtual Earth Street Side

Virtual Earth Street Side

At the moment San Francisco and Seattle have been treated to this feature. I think it’s pretty slick, and I’d use it as part of my San Francisco decison making exercise – students can drive past their selected location.

hidden places – ROC posts (guest writer)

Published
by
Noel Jenkins
on August 27, 2009
in Photographs
. 1 Comment

Today my dad and I went on adventure. We were historian explorers for a day and we visited a Royal Observer Corps post. ROC posts are bunkers underneath the ground used during the Cold War; they are just like bomb shelters in World War Two. Here is some more information. The  ROC post’s usually occur in the middle of isolated fields, they have barbed wire fencing protecting them and they look like mini submarines. They are coated in green paint for disguise. It took us a while to find the post, but when we did it felt like Narnia. We climed down a long ladder, which took you about ten feet below the ground and there it was, a room with a bed, a sink, a fire blanket sign and what I think was an air raid siren. It was such a good feeling after going down there. I have to confess, I wasn’t too keen on going down after seeing all the big hairy spiders; well lets just say that I’m not exactly a big fan of them. And what a better way to end such an exciting day by having some cheese and toast at a local cafe. I would definitly recomend it to you (not the cheese and toast but going to see the ROC posts I mean). If you like to explore and you like your history, go and hunt for some ROC posts. Here are some photos to show you what it looked like.

Laura :)

Thanks Laura for writing this guest post and for taking the great pictures. Are there any ROC posts near you? Download this Google Earth file (there will be ;)

Sustainable redevelopment of Exeter’s CBD

Published
by
Noel Jenkins
on August 25, 2009
in Asides
. Closed
I’ve completed a new teaching resource about Exeter’s Princesshay redevelopment.
Princesshay

Princesshay rebirth by Noel Jenkins

The resource looks at the background to Princesshay, using old photos and video, and questions whether the CBD has been “revitalized” using a virtual tour and other evidence. It concludes by looking at issues of sustainability. There’s a task sheet suitable for GCSE, and some extension material for older students. Many people have helped with the preparation for this material – so thanks to all!

Bella Gaia

Published
by
Noel Jenkins
on August 12, 2009
in 3D visualization, GIS, Teaching resources and World Wind
. Closed

Information Aesthetics mentions an audio-visual work called Bella Gaia, directed by Kenji Williams that animates satellite imagery and spatial data. The production makes use of NASA’s World Wind virtual globe and might be useful as an introduction to a lesson on remote sensing.

The Zones

Published
by
Noel Jenkins
on July 19, 2009
in Student work
. Closed

Not digital geography at all – but I thought I’d publish these song lyrics by two Year 8 students. The work is one of the outcomes from the choose your own assessment activity from a few weeks ago and reveals a great many of the ideas from the preceding lessons.

Volcanoes,
With the magma chamber underneath,
The magma flows up through the layers of ash,
And lava,
But people died cuz,
Of the poisonous gases,
And the pyroclastic flows of pressured hot ash,
And tar,
I-I don’t know,
Why they live in danger zones,
They live by volcanoes cuz of tourists and farmland,
What about earthquakes?
How do people live there?
They build strong buildings, it’s cuz of tectonic plates.

(Chorus)
Tectonic plates are moving,
All of the countries used,
To be all together,
All together,
Don’t trust the zones,
Never trust the zones,
Don’t trust the zones,
Won’t trust zones,
Tectonic plates are moving,
All of the countries used,
To be all together,
All together,
Don’t trust the zones.
Never trust the zones
Don’t trust the zones
Won’t trust zones,

Earthquakes,
All around the world,
You never get a warning, there is no way to tell,
And buildings,
Collapse and fall down,
Bits inside break off and liquifaction occurs,
Liqui-liquifaction,
Is when buildings,
Turn to liquid,
What about tsunamis?
Tsunamis?
Earthquakes under the sea,
Produce big waves which get bigger by the shore.

(Chorus)

Move guys!
Move right now!
I know you have a reason for living there,
I said move guys!
Move right now!
I know you have a reason for living there,
I said move guys,
Move right now!
I know you have a reason but I don’t really care,
I said move guys !!!!!
Move right now,
I know you have a reason for living there.

(Chorus)

By Rachel and Lauren ( Year 8 )

Augmented Reality iPhone app

Published
by
Noel Jenkins
on July 18, 2009
in mobile
. Closed

Dan Swick kindly shared this YouTube video with me.

The app by developers acrossair will also be available for the London Underground and is currently awaiting approval from the App Store. It looks as though other cities including San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, Paris, Tokyo, Berlin, Madrid and Barcelona are in preparation.

Yorkshire landscapes as QTVR images

Published
by
Noel Jenkins
on July 12, 2009
in Photographs and Teaching resources
. 1 Comment

I’ve made some spherical panoramas of some classic limestone features of the Yorkshire Dales.


Malham Cove, Yorkshire Dales National Park, UK in England

Malham Cove
Limestone pavement above Malham Cove
Gordale Scar

These images will be added to my geographical panoramas page at Juicy Geography. I’ve managed to wear out my trusty tripod and need to buy a new one – so the usual plea about not embedding etc, without a donation applies. I’m working on an alternative way of displaying these images with more features, and without the distracting thumbnails when viewing at full screen.