Well, OBL is dead, or so it seems. Mrs Behrendt isn't convinced.
I will say this on the jokes doing the rounds:
World Hide and Seek Champion 2001-2011 is pretty funny, and
OBL - He owed me 10 bucks (is my contribution).
Now if there is cynicism around the assassination then there is a reason behind that. I don't think we need to set up an investigation to find out why - people have yet to rebuild trust in the US government. So what if Obama is going for re-election, the country got their guy - OBL is dead. This isn't about OBL, it isn't about Obama - it is about doing what you say you will do.
Here is the message (no matter who the US president is) - be a terrorist, do nasty things, wreak death and destruction on innocents and then spend your life in fear because some of our guys with guns will come and find you. Your choice, but we will never give up, it might take 10 years but those will be hard years for you if you are a terrorist - you are on 'the list'.
So, regardless of our 'trust' issues, be they valid or not. Congratulations to the teams of people who have worked on this for almost ten years - you did it, thank you. Don't ever forget - when things are hard the group that prevails is often the one that doesn't give up - no matter what.
I give the demise of OBL a 5/10 in terms of changing the world. Apart from needing a new 'bad guy', the reason I wouldn't put this higher is that we all die someday........the death of OBL might be a 10/10 for some people but the rest of us will move on. We would all do well to remember Martin Luther King Jr: "That old law about 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing."
So, OBL owed me 10 bucks - what about you? Do you owe me money?
Watch it sunshine :)
Thanks for reading.
Pete
3 May 2011
ADVICE INSIDE: Formatting My Book for Kindle - Which Format?
Hi all,
I played around with formats quite a bit on my little test setup. I reckon I have probably generated my book 1000 times already and will probably do it 1000 times again before I'm happy with it. For info on my 'test rig' see the previous article on where to get your downloads and how to actually do it. If the steps aren't clear then let me know and I will put some more detail in there.
I guess the interest in kindle books is on the increase. Having played around with it a bit I can save you some time if you have a book to format for the kindle.
Formatting
Read on...........
So here are some things I tried and a comment on how well they worked.....
You might be aware that MS word inserts a bunch of additional info in a HTML file when converted. One thing to bear in mind if you are working with an editor like notepad after starting with an MS word file. You will need to 'clean' the HTML tags up quite a bit.
I will assume that most of you know a bit of HTML - if not then go and have a play with some of the language here.
Essentially if you can write a blog or webpage then you probably know as much as you need to know already. If not then concentrate on formatting text, how to use headings and how to italicise or bold your text.
Some things to note about kindle. I am not aware of the extent of the HTML tags supported by the kindle. If anyone knows of a list like this then let me know, this would be very cool. I do have an ambition to provide everyone with a file on this blog that you can download and use as a HTML formatting template, maybe we should have one for word also. This way you will be able to concentrate on getting it the way you want it instead of learning yet another new thing just to move on. Let me know if this would be useful.
Caveat: I'm not sure if some of the things I say below are attributable to mobipocket creator (thanks you guys) or to MS word (I guess thanks to you too). I suspect that mobipocket is 'smart' enough to take things that word does and turn them into appropriate HTML tags that the kindle can handle.
Headings
I almost exclusively used
I found it hard to get spaces between headings and paragraphs even if I inserted a HTML
or break (I think I inserted one on the line above to show what happens - it is just like hitting enter but you have a BR inside your < and > - if I actually do it here I will get a new line), essentially a new line. It seemed that Kindle only recognizes one of them and not 2 or 3 in a row. The way around this is you want to create some separation is to use the word feature of continuous breaks. You can find this under insert, break, continuous. Then you get a dotted line across your page which shows the break. Don't forget to put your word in the mode to view all the spaces and breaks etc so you can see the formatting.
What works? 2 continuous breaks after each paragraph heading, 2 between paragraphs, 1 after each bullet in a list (word bullets work fine). Like I said, mobipocket probably interprets that somehow - don't question the magic, just use it and insert enough to get the format you want.
You will need to decide on left or centre justification of headings. I used a bit of both, just to make the text line up nicely with the headings. Have a play with it. You can also add italics to your headings and see how that goes. Colour is ok too.
General text
The text format is pretty standard. I would just caution a few things. 1.5 line spacing seems to do something, double line spacing has no effect at all. Make sure that you have free flowing text in your paragraphs. You don't really get to control the line length on kindle. An example? The kindle user can set the number of words per line or the text size on their machine. Because we have no control over that the best thing to do it to make sure that whatever they do in terms of sizing - your format can still look appealing and easy to read. The best way to test this is to change the settings while you are testing your document on kindle for PC.
So, remove all line breaks etc - you know, don't press enter or return at the end of a line. Let kindle handle that.
What you can control is the paragraph break. Insert a return, enter or at the end of a paragraph to start a new one. I found that a continuous beak or two looks a bit better for my book but I imagine that a novel will be fine with just the new para immediately after the previous one. Have a play with it.
Bullets
You can use bullets. It took me a while to get it right and have the text 'wrap' properly. The secret was to make sure that the word bullet feature was applied properly. I saw some dots that I thought were bullets after an initial conversion to word. They weren't, they were just dots - these looked ok for a while, until I started to alter the line or page size in the kindle. Advice: if you need to use bullets then just use the word bullet feature.
I did notice that indenting made a bit of a difference on my bullets, also that when using a numbered list that the result of an A, B, C or 1, 2, 3 was a bit random. ie I would put A, B, C and get 1, 2, 3 as the output in kindle (even though word said the opposite - weird). In the end I played with it until I got A, B, C. How this worked was unclear :)
Images
I have had no trouble with images. Just copy them into word the way you usually do. I haven't found any special problems. Just note that some kindles are greyscale in the text, some are in colour. Make sure you consider your whole audience.
Using the Kindle Publishing website
One thing you can do is upload your HTML file to the publishing site and then preview it in a kindle reader (greyscale style). This looks a bit different to the Kindle for PC result you have been working with up until now. The benefit is that this reader is provided by Amazon as well so you know that it is correct (so is Kindle PC but in that version you are checking how your book will look on, well....kindle for PC)
So, without publishing your unfinished book you can go and check out how your book will look on the greyscale version. You even have the option of downloading the file from Amazon that is used to produce that preview - maybe start from there for your next round of editing.
Summary
I hope this was useful, as I learn more I will let you know. I didn't want to repeat the zipping up of files and images for final upload, we can go over that in a different blog. For now - maybe this can help you to use the things you already have on your PC (and a few that you can easily get) to get cracking on formatting your book for kindle.
For me - I will keep going with 'Five Ideas to Change the world' Issue 1 - at least the writing makes my wife laugh even if the formatting still has a few weeks work to go. Anyone want to try their hand at some cover art?
I give kindle, the apps, the business model and Amazon in general an 8/10 for potential to change the world. What next?
Thanks for reading.
Pete
I played around with formats quite a bit on my little test setup. I reckon I have probably generated my book 1000 times already and will probably do it 1000 times again before I'm happy with it. For info on my 'test rig' see the previous article on where to get your downloads and how to actually do it. If the steps aren't clear then let me know and I will put some more detail in there.
I guess the interest in kindle books is on the increase. Having played around with it a bit I can save you some time if you have a book to format for the kindle.
Formatting
Read on...........
So here are some things I tried and a comment on how well they worked.....
You might be aware that MS word inserts a bunch of additional info in a HTML file when converted. One thing to bear in mind if you are working with an editor like notepad after starting with an MS word file. You will need to 'clean' the HTML tags up quite a bit.
I will assume that most of you know a bit of HTML - if not then go and have a play with some of the language here.
Essentially if you can write a blog or webpage then you probably know as much as you need to know already. If not then concentrate on formatting text, how to use headings and how to italicise or bold your text.
Some things to note about kindle. I am not aware of the extent of the HTML tags supported by the kindle. If anyone knows of a list like this then let me know, this would be very cool. I do have an ambition to provide everyone with a file on this blog that you can download and use as a HTML formatting template, maybe we should have one for word also. This way you will be able to concentrate on getting it the way you want it instead of learning yet another new thing just to move on. Let me know if this would be useful.
Caveat: I'm not sure if some of the things I say below are attributable to mobipocket creator (thanks you guys) or to MS word (I guess thanks to you too). I suspect that mobipocket is 'smart' enough to take things that word does and turn them into appropriate HTML tags that the kindle can handle.
Headings
I almost exclusively used
H1
which is Heading 1 in MS word for the main chapter headings. For all sub-headings I usedH3
which is heading 3 in word.I found it hard to get spaces between headings and paragraphs even if I inserted a HTML
or break (I think I inserted one on the line above to show what happens - it is just like hitting enter but you have a BR inside your < and > - if I actually do it here I will get a new line), essentially a new line. It seemed that Kindle only recognizes one of them and not 2 or 3 in a row. The way around this is you want to create some separation is to use the word feature of continuous breaks. You can find this under insert, break, continuous. Then you get a dotted line across your page which shows the break. Don't forget to put your word in the mode to view all the spaces and breaks etc so you can see the formatting.
What works? 2 continuous breaks after each paragraph heading, 2 between paragraphs, 1 after each bullet in a list (word bullets work fine). Like I said, mobipocket probably interprets that somehow - don't question the magic, just use it and insert enough to get the format you want.
You will need to decide on left or centre justification of headings. I used a bit of both, just to make the text line up nicely with the headings. Have a play with it. You can also add italics to your headings and see how that goes. Colour is ok too.
General text
The text format is pretty standard. I would just caution a few things. 1.5 line spacing seems to do something, double line spacing has no effect at all. Make sure that you have free flowing text in your paragraphs. You don't really get to control the line length on kindle. An example? The kindle user can set the number of words per line or the text size on their machine. Because we have no control over that the best thing to do it to make sure that whatever they do in terms of sizing - your format can still look appealing and easy to read. The best way to test this is to change the settings while you are testing your document on kindle for PC.
So, remove all line breaks etc - you know, don't press enter or return at the end of a line. Let kindle handle that.
What you can control is the paragraph break. Insert a return, enter or at the end of a paragraph to start a new one. I found that a continuous beak or two looks a bit better for my book but I imagine that a novel will be fine with just the new para immediately after the previous one. Have a play with it.
Bullets
You can use bullets. It took me a while to get it right and have the text 'wrap' properly. The secret was to make sure that the word bullet feature was applied properly. I saw some dots that I thought were bullets after an initial conversion to word. They weren't, they were just dots - these looked ok for a while, until I started to alter the line or page size in the kindle. Advice: if you need to use bullets then just use the word bullet feature.
I did notice that indenting made a bit of a difference on my bullets, also that when using a numbered list that the result of an A, B, C or 1, 2, 3 was a bit random. ie I would put A, B, C and get 1, 2, 3 as the output in kindle (even though word said the opposite - weird). In the end I played with it until I got A, B, C. How this worked was unclear :)
Images
I have had no trouble with images. Just copy them into word the way you usually do. I haven't found any special problems. Just note that some kindles are greyscale in the text, some are in colour. Make sure you consider your whole audience.
Using the Kindle Publishing website
One thing you can do is upload your HTML file to the publishing site and then preview it in a kindle reader (greyscale style). This looks a bit different to the Kindle for PC result you have been working with up until now. The benefit is that this reader is provided by Amazon as well so you know that it is correct (so is Kindle PC but in that version you are checking how your book will look on, well....kindle for PC)
So, without publishing your unfinished book you can go and check out how your book will look on the greyscale version. You even have the option of downloading the file from Amazon that is used to produce that preview - maybe start from there for your next round of editing.
Summary
I hope this was useful, as I learn more I will let you know. I didn't want to repeat the zipping up of files and images for final upload, we can go over that in a different blog. For now - maybe this can help you to use the things you already have on your PC (and a few that you can easily get) to get cracking on formatting your book for kindle.
For me - I will keep going with 'Five Ideas to Change the world' Issue 1 - at least the writing makes my wife laugh even if the formatting still has a few weeks work to go. Anyone want to try their hand at some cover art?
I give kindle, the apps, the business model and Amazon in general an 8/10 for potential to change the world. What next?
Thanks for reading.
Pete
 |
| Visit the Five Ideas Store |
ADVICE INSIDE: Formatting My Book for Kindle - Get the Tools
Hi all,
It has been a couple of weeks, sorry for that. I had been travelling for work and then managed to take a bit of time off. No mobile, no email just the family - feeling quite refreshed thank you very much.
So I started to format one of my books for Kindle last week. This is a process that makes moving from one country to another seem like applying for a library card.....but after a little bit of research I am happy to report that it isn't that hard.
Read on........
As I found you have 2 options:
Option 1. Pay someone else to do it for you, and
Option 2. Do some research and try to do it yourself.
I have no experience with Option 1, although I will consider it as a comparison with one of the later books, once I do know something I will be sure to post it here. For now - all I know something about is the hard way!
So we will concentrate on Option2 - Do it yourself.
Step 1. Google it
I did and found a range of marginally helpful resources including free e-books (which were a bit more helpful). The best resource is actually the learning curve you enter when you start to have a go. I recommed starting with the google search and see what you can turn up.
Step 2. Your document
I started with a document in MS word format or in PDF format. Most of the anecdotal evidence suggests that PDF documents do not 'translate' very well so I opted to keep working with the word document. The key thing is to pick a format and then learn what you need to do from there. Some suggestions:
- If you understand HTML then perhaps notepad is just as good for you (if you start in notepad),
- If you started in MS word then this is fine as well, or
- If you started in some other format then try to convert it to text and then work with MS word or notepad.
If you are converting from another e-book format then try searching for a conversion tool - this might be easier for you than for those of us preparing a new e-book for the kindle.
Step 3. Using HTML and making the format work for your book
I still haven't found a complete list of the 'tags' in HTML that Kindle will support. In the next topic I will go through what I found with some of the MS word features, this will be a little bit of a mix of HTML advice and things you can use in MS word to get the resul tyou want. The easiest thing for me to do was to set up my workspace like this:
- Kindle for PC (for testing the output)
- mobipocket creator (for converting an MS word or HTML file into kindle files)
- MS Word (for editing an MS word document or HTML document)
- the Kindle digital publishing website (get a login NOW, I will explain why)
There are probably other ways you could do this but let me tell you what I found - it was quite easy after a little while. With this setup you can test different formats and then see how it will look in the kindle for PC. You can also see how things will look on a 'kindle' when you upload your files to the digital publishing site (you also have the option of then taking your converted file back from Amazon to keep working with it).
So - you format your HTML or word doc a bit, upload the latest version in mobipocket (see the link), build a new book in mobipocket creator and then move the 'kindle' files into your 'My Kindle books' directory. This is where your kindle looks on your PC for the book files. You can then open Kindle for PC and look through your book as if it has been downloaded from Amazon.
Lets break this down a little bit for you.
a. Go and download Kindle for PC from here
b. Go and download mobipocket creator from here
c. Go to the folder on your PC called 'My Documents'
d. Create a folder for your work - I call mine publishing, under there I have 'working' folders for each of my books and a folder for published book files. Set up your space so you don't confuse files - do this however you like
e. Mobipocket will create a folder called 'My published book' or similar - this is ok, you can make it call this folder whatever you like, essentially think of it as a temporary folder where you go to get the kindle files once created and move them to the kindle folder.
f. The Kindle for PC application will create a new folder under 'My Documents' called Kindle books or something similar - any kindle files (they look like little books) you put in here will be able to be read using Kindle for PC (which is just like any other kindle).
g. So go the mobipocket folder (the one where you tell mobipocket to send your kindle files when it has made the conversion - copy the files and put them in the 'Kindle files' folder. If you have images in your book then there will also be a folder with the images in it when mobipocket 'builds' your book - that should also be copied into the 'Kindle books' folder.
h. All you need to do now is open Kindle for PC and check the look and feel of your book! I promise that you will do this a thousand times. One method that works well is to build a new version, then open it in the Kindle for PC, then open your word document again and make fixes and adjustments as you go.
Step 4. Troubleshooting.
-If the Kindle for PC application is running when you put the new files in the 'Kindle books' folder then the Kindle for PC application will not see them until you restart it.
-You can't upload a document to mobipocket creator while it is still open in MS Word, so you need to save it and then close it before you import it into mobipocket.
-You will not see any images in your book unless you also copy the image folder to the 'Kindle books' folder as well as the actual book file. This image folder is probably called 'name of your book files' - copy the whole folder into your 'kindle books' folder.
Next article - actual formatting tips.
Thanks for reading.
Pete
It has been a couple of weeks, sorry for that. I had been travelling for work and then managed to take a bit of time off. No mobile, no email just the family - feeling quite refreshed thank you very much.
So I started to format one of my books for Kindle last week. This is a process that makes moving from one country to another seem like applying for a library card.....but after a little bit of research I am happy to report that it isn't that hard.
Read on........
As I found you have 2 options:
Option 1. Pay someone else to do it for you, and
Option 2. Do some research and try to do it yourself.
I have no experience with Option 1, although I will consider it as a comparison with one of the later books, once I do know something I will be sure to post it here. For now - all I know something about is the hard way!
So we will concentrate on Option2 - Do it yourself.
Step 1. Google it
I did and found a range of marginally helpful resources including free e-books (which were a bit more helpful). The best resource is actually the learning curve you enter when you start to have a go. I recommed starting with the google search and see what you can turn up.
Step 2. Your document
I started with a document in MS word format or in PDF format. Most of the anecdotal evidence suggests that PDF documents do not 'translate' very well so I opted to keep working with the word document. The key thing is to pick a format and then learn what you need to do from there. Some suggestions:
- If you understand HTML then perhaps notepad is just as good for you (if you start in notepad),
- If you started in MS word then this is fine as well, or
- If you started in some other format then try to convert it to text and then work with MS word or notepad.
If you are converting from another e-book format then try searching for a conversion tool - this might be easier for you than for those of us preparing a new e-book for the kindle.
Step 3. Using HTML and making the format work for your book
I still haven't found a complete list of the 'tags' in HTML that Kindle will support. In the next topic I will go through what I found with some of the MS word features, this will be a little bit of a mix of HTML advice and things you can use in MS word to get the resul tyou want. The easiest thing for me to do was to set up my workspace like this:
- Kindle for PC (for testing the output)
- mobipocket creator (for converting an MS word or HTML file into kindle files)
- MS Word (for editing an MS word document or HTML document)
- the Kindle digital publishing website (get a login NOW, I will explain why)
There are probably other ways you could do this but let me tell you what I found - it was quite easy after a little while. With this setup you can test different formats and then see how it will look in the kindle for PC. You can also see how things will look on a 'kindle' when you upload your files to the digital publishing site (you also have the option of then taking your converted file back from Amazon to keep working with it).
So - you format your HTML or word doc a bit, upload the latest version in mobipocket (see the link), build a new book in mobipocket creator and then move the 'kindle' files into your 'My Kindle books' directory. This is where your kindle looks on your PC for the book files. You can then open Kindle for PC and look through your book as if it has been downloaded from Amazon.
Lets break this down a little bit for you.
a. Go and download Kindle for PC from here
b. Go and download mobipocket creator from here
c. Go to the folder on your PC called 'My Documents'
d. Create a folder for your work - I call mine publishing, under there I have 'working' folders for each of my books and a folder for published book files. Set up your space so you don't confuse files - do this however you like
e. Mobipocket will create a folder called 'My published book' or similar - this is ok, you can make it call this folder whatever you like, essentially think of it as a temporary folder where you go to get the kindle files once created and move them to the kindle folder.
f. The Kindle for PC application will create a new folder under 'My Documents' called Kindle books or something similar - any kindle files (they look like little books) you put in here will be able to be read using Kindle for PC (which is just like any other kindle).
g. So go the mobipocket folder (the one where you tell mobipocket to send your kindle files when it has made the conversion - copy the files and put them in the 'Kindle files' folder. If you have images in your book then there will also be a folder with the images in it when mobipocket 'builds' your book - that should also be copied into the 'Kindle books' folder.
h. All you need to do now is open Kindle for PC and check the look and feel of your book! I promise that you will do this a thousand times. One method that works well is to build a new version, then open it in the Kindle for PC, then open your word document again and make fixes and adjustments as you go.
Step 4. Troubleshooting.
-If the Kindle for PC application is running when you put the new files in the 'Kindle books' folder then the Kindle for PC application will not see them until you restart it.
-You can't upload a document to mobipocket creator while it is still open in MS Word, so you need to save it and then close it before you import it into mobipocket.
-You will not see any images in your book unless you also copy the image folder to the 'Kindle books' folder as well as the actual book file. This image folder is probably called 'name of your book files' - copy the whole folder into your 'kindle books' folder.
Next article - actual formatting tips.
Thanks for reading.
Pete
3 April 2011
IDEAS INSIDE: Some tools for using your ideas
Some tools that might be helpful for you when using ideas
You could go and search for thinking tools or ways of expanding ideas and there you might find some research, some notes, some blogs or whatever on different innovation methods or ways of looking at things - great idea! That is probably how you found this.
Here is a list of some of my thinking tools you could try in order to expand or use my ideas in new ways, just take the idea and...
1. think about it in a totally new industry
2. think about it in space
3. think about it underwater and in other environmental conditions
4. think about it in different vehicles
5. think about it 200 years or 1000 years or 5 years in the future
6. think about it 20, 50 or 100 years ago
7. think about it if there was no money or other form of currency
8. think about it if all the barriers were removed
9. think about new barriers that could be created to stop this idea
10. think about how the idea 'feels' with the different senses
11. how would this idea be presented in a magazine or newspaper article
12. what new laws would this idea generate
13. how would this idea perform in zero gravity
14. how would this idea change if you used completely different materials
15. how would the idea change in different geographical locations
16. how would the idea look if it was made with software
17. how would the idea be evaluated on a personality test
18. would you make friends with this idea on a social networking site
19. what if this idea had children
20. is the idea the same in the dark
So take any idea and just work through the list - you should come up with at least a dozen more.
Thank you for reading.
You could go and search for thinking tools or ways of expanding ideas and there you might find some research, some notes, some blogs or whatever on different innovation methods or ways of looking at things - great idea! That is probably how you found this.
Here is a list of some of my thinking tools you could try in order to expand or use my ideas in new ways, just take the idea and...
1. think about it in a totally new industry
2. think about it in space
3. think about it underwater and in other environmental conditions
4. think about it in different vehicles
5. think about it 200 years or 1000 years or 5 years in the future
6. think about it 20, 50 or 100 years ago
7. think about it if there was no money or other form of currency
8. think about it if all the barriers were removed
9. think about new barriers that could be created to stop this idea
10. think about how the idea 'feels' with the different senses
11. how would this idea be presented in a magazine or newspaper article
12. what new laws would this idea generate
13. how would this idea perform in zero gravity
14. how would this idea change if you used completely different materials
15. how would the idea change in different geographical locations
16. how would the idea look if it was made with software
17. how would the idea be evaluated on a personality test
18. would you make friends with this idea on a social networking site
19. what if this idea had children
20. is the idea the same in the dark
So take any idea and just work through the list - you should come up with at least a dozen more.
Thank you for reading.
OPINION: iPad2 or not?
Well I have the original iPad so that is my perspective. The iPad in general is fantastic, very useful, almost un-put-down-able. I had the chance to check out the iPad 2 last week and here is what I think.
The new iPad is fantastically light, fast and attractive but.....
If you have the original: wait for the iPad 3 unless you need the camera
If you don't have an iPad: what are you waiting for? Go and get one.
Will ipad2 change the world? It doesn't need to - the original already has. Therefore the world changing score that I give iPad 2 is 3/10 (it would have been 2 but it is such a good looking machine).
What do you think? Post a comment if you like.
Thanks for reading.
The new iPad is fantastically light, fast and attractive but.....
If you have the original: wait for the iPad 3 unless you need the camera
If you don't have an iPad: what are you waiting for? Go and get one.
Will ipad2 change the world? It doesn't need to - the original already has. Therefore the world changing score that I give iPad 2 is 3/10 (it would have been 2 but it is such a good looking machine).
What do you think? Post a comment if you like.
Thanks for reading.
IDEAS INSIDE: Augmented Reality
This is not a tech blog but who can resist Virtual or Augmented Reality?
I have seen some interesting things lately, lets take a look.
I would have bought one of the AR flyers last week but it wouldn't fit in my baggage - you see, in the last 3 weeks I have been to New Delhi, Bangalore, Washington DC, Norfolk VA, Ottawa, Stockholm and Copenhagen. This is a heavy schedule even for me but my bags are full! Got it!
These are some VR goggles from a company called Vizux, I first started looking at their equipment in late 2008. You can find them at www.vizux.com. Nothing really all that special about these except that the price is coming down significantly and the technology is improving. They also make versions for the military that project a style of 'head up' display through one eyepiece.
Then the really exciting part - the AR or Augmented Reality. This is where you impose visualization of information over a real image of the world. In the case of these glasses, the AR version shows you what is in front of you (using a camera or just by being see through) and then projects information on top of it. Here is an augmented reality business card so you can see what I mean.
Here are some examples of people experimenting with the AR. A business card demonstration, a cityscape and a HUD for a vehicle.
Some other interesting things of note. Recently a company called AR Drone Flyers released a UAV (unmanned Aerial Vehicle) that can be controlled from your iPhone or iPad. The drone includes cameras that feed back to your device (AR) - there are a couple of AR games available to purchase on the Apple app store that make use of AR to create a real world/sim world gaming experience.
So what can be done with this? Here are some ideas:
Parent idea:
-Use Augmented Reality
Adjacent Ideas:
-Useful for activities where moving your eyes is unsafe or less safe (like driving)
-Attractive for just about anything
Child Ideas:
1. HUD display for motorbike riders (goggle version)
2. HUD display for all other vehicles
3. Put the now very common GPS display in the AR goggles
4. AR windows for the bridge of a ship
5. Obvious benefits for security services that have a track based information system
6. Ditto for military (who already uses what is called a BMS or Battle Management System or soldier system)
7. Gaming - use existing toys and bring them alive with AR (toy soldiers will never be the same)
8. Tours - historical tours will never be the same, you would be able to make them come alive
9. What about an underwater version that helps you identify the type of fish you are seeing
10. Speaking of animal identification - what about for birds, flowers, trees, people
11. What about feeding the 'reality' back to a central location and then.....
Lets say you are at a sports game and some people around the ground are feeding back the reality - could you then watch the game in 3 dimensions? Could you switch your viewpoint to theirs?
12. Could the AR flyer be used as a cheap security drone? Could the fed be used with AR technology to monitor exclusion areas over an event site (like a concert or tourist attraction)
13. Could we see the rise of virtual offices? That is - your office space is simply white, your customers don a pair of AR goggles and you put up your products or displays for them (in a nice, neat tailored way) - that way your office is a reception and white wall with some seats! I suggest also adding some water and a coffee machine - people will spend some serious time in your office!
14. What about AR gaming on a large scale? Could a city, a forest, a farm become a new AR gaming site where people, events and 'things' pop out of the ground, out of the air or whatever? There might be some safety issues doing this around cars etc but could you imagine the worlds scariest ghost tour with a pair of AR goggle on!
15. What about firefighting? Could you immerse a team of firefighters in a situation and then fully simulate (except for the heat and other effects) the spread of a fire.
Prediction:
The next stage of AR technologies will enhance the display of AR images
After that is perfected we will start to see interactive technologies being developed such as data gloves, joysticks, and other devices that allow you a range of ways to interact with the augmented reality presented to you.
Within 5 to 10 years many common services will include an option for AR or be presented only in AR.
What does this mean for the new economy?
Entry criteria to this virtual or augmented world will be the display technology:
1. AR goggles
2. Or a smartphone or tablet with a camera
If you are a software developer, an entertainer or in the security business this is coming your way fast. For the rest of us this will be a stepping stone towards the way we will work in 5 to 10 years - we need to be familiar with it so we can use the applications that will be common in our homes and workplaces soon.
Those who do not have the entry requirements will not be able to:
1. Access the new entertainment options (except on a rental on per usage basis)
2. Keep abreast of the new technologies stemming from the uptake of AR usage
Do I rush out and buy some AR goggles? No not yet....just be aware of what it is. If your kids ask you for an AR flyer I would consider it a fun thing but also a useful investment as a learning tool.
So, is this one of the five ideas that will change the world? Maybe, but not today. I give it 5/10 for world changing.
Tell me what you think - post a comment.
Thanks for reading.
I have seen some interesting things lately, lets take a look.
I would have bought one of the AR flyers last week but it wouldn't fit in my baggage - you see, in the last 3 weeks I have been to New Delhi, Bangalore, Washington DC, Norfolk VA, Ottawa, Stockholm and Copenhagen. This is a heavy schedule even for me but my bags are full! Got it!
Then the really exciting part - the AR or Augmented Reality. This is where you impose visualization of information over a real image of the world. In the case of these glasses, the AR version shows you what is in front of you (using a camera or just by being see through) and then projects information on top of it. Here is an augmented reality business card so you can see what I mean.
Here are some examples of people experimenting with the AR. A business card demonstration, a cityscape and a HUD for a vehicle.
Some other interesting things of note. Recently a company called AR Drone Flyers released a UAV (unmanned Aerial Vehicle) that can be controlled from your iPhone or iPad. The drone includes cameras that feed back to your device (AR) - there are a couple of AR games available to purchase on the Apple app store that make use of AR to create a real world/sim world gaming experience.
So what can be done with this? Here are some ideas:
Parent idea:
-Use Augmented Reality
Adjacent Ideas:
-Useful for activities where moving your eyes is unsafe or less safe (like driving)
-Attractive for just about anything
Child Ideas:
1. HUD display for motorbike riders (goggle version)
2. HUD display for all other vehicles
3. Put the now very common GPS display in the AR goggles
4. AR windows for the bridge of a ship
5. Obvious benefits for security services that have a track based information system
6. Ditto for military (who already uses what is called a BMS or Battle Management System or soldier system)
7. Gaming - use existing toys and bring them alive with AR (toy soldiers will never be the same)
8. Tours - historical tours will never be the same, you would be able to make them come alive
9. What about an underwater version that helps you identify the type of fish you are seeing
10. Speaking of animal identification - what about for birds, flowers, trees, people
11. What about feeding the 'reality' back to a central location and then.....
Lets say you are at a sports game and some people around the ground are feeding back the reality - could you then watch the game in 3 dimensions? Could you switch your viewpoint to theirs?
12. Could the AR flyer be used as a cheap security drone? Could the fed be used with AR technology to monitor exclusion areas over an event site (like a concert or tourist attraction)
13. Could we see the rise of virtual offices? That is - your office space is simply white, your customers don a pair of AR goggles and you put up your products or displays for them (in a nice, neat tailored way) - that way your office is a reception and white wall with some seats! I suggest also adding some water and a coffee machine - people will spend some serious time in your office!
14. What about AR gaming on a large scale? Could a city, a forest, a farm become a new AR gaming site where people, events and 'things' pop out of the ground, out of the air or whatever? There might be some safety issues doing this around cars etc but could you imagine the worlds scariest ghost tour with a pair of AR goggle on!
15. What about firefighting? Could you immerse a team of firefighters in a situation and then fully simulate (except for the heat and other effects) the spread of a fire.
Prediction:
The next stage of AR technologies will enhance the display of AR images
After that is perfected we will start to see interactive technologies being developed such as data gloves, joysticks, and other devices that allow you a range of ways to interact with the augmented reality presented to you.
Within 5 to 10 years many common services will include an option for AR or be presented only in AR.
What does this mean for the new economy?
Entry criteria to this virtual or augmented world will be the display technology:
1. AR goggles
2. Or a smartphone or tablet with a camera
If you are a software developer, an entertainer or in the security business this is coming your way fast. For the rest of us this will be a stepping stone towards the way we will work in 5 to 10 years - we need to be familiar with it so we can use the applications that will be common in our homes and workplaces soon.
Those who do not have the entry requirements will not be able to:
1. Access the new entertainment options (except on a rental on per usage basis)
2. Keep abreast of the new technologies stemming from the uptake of AR usage
Do I rush out and buy some AR goggles? No not yet....just be aware of what it is. If your kids ask you for an AR flyer I would consider it a fun thing but also a useful investment as a learning tool.
So, is this one of the five ideas that will change the world? Maybe, but not today. I give it 5/10 for world changing.
Tell me what you think - post a comment.
Thanks for reading.
Buy at Amazon.com
Kindle and Paperback
COMMENTARY: 5 years ago vs today
How long will it take before there are no more video stores, music stores or book stores? In my estimation - not very long.
We can already see the large book store chains starting to shut down. In Australia this is happening to Angus and Robertson. I wonder how long the others will last.
Much of what I blog about will include items of technology, some will be products (iphone, ipad etc), some will be processes (blogs, automated factories, email, tweeting) and some will be emerging ideas (new materials, new business models etc). I thought it might be good to look back 5 years and see what types of things I was using in my home or at work and then contrast that with today.
5 Years ago at home:
A mobile phone (but only just)
No credit card
An old desktop computer
A television that my grandparents bought me (I still have it!)
An old VCR
A stereo with a cassette deck and CD player
A dial up internet account (but broadband ordered)
No Facebook, Linked in or Twitter account
A digital camera at 2.8 Mega pixels
2 large bookcases for our books, another one on order for the books that don't fit
maybe some more 'stuff'
At work I had:
a laptop
Had just bought a GPS for the car for work
Had started using a web-service for managing the contacts in my business
A fax machine
A fax to email service (to receive faxes electronically)
A USB thumb drive with 2 Megabytes of data available (wow!)
A website
Write notes and other work items in microsft word and print them out for filing or sending
Lets have a look at today (at home):
We use a Home Theatre PC (HTPC) that I had built by our local computer shop
The HTPC has 1.5 Terabytes of storage locally and another 1 Terabyte in an external drive
We use 3 iPads for almost everything
An iphone with unlimited data and 2 spare mobile phone handsets
We have synchronized calendars across iPads, iPhone and desktop computers
All of our music is electronic
We don't buy books anymore, all our books are electronic (and read on the iPads)
2 credit cards for loyalty programs (frequent flyer points)
1 company credit card for travel expenses
A flat screen television that connects to the broadband TV receiver and HTPC
A 1 Terabyte hard-drive that contains all of our files and photos as a backup
A 12 mega-pixel camera and 2 spare 'old' cameras with 2 or 3 mega-pixels
A broadband account with unlimited data at about 100 times the speed of the dial up
Fully wireless in the house
A Facebook and linked in account
At work today:
Some 'cloud' applications
Secure wireless internet in any meeting room
No desktop phones, only mobiles
Book meetings only through Microsoft outlook or similar
No more word documents, only mind-mapper and powerpoint really
Very little printing
Almost always use 'wikis' or 'share point' sites to share information
An SMS is as good as an email
So what happened?
Nothing that special happened, things just moved on. In one sense it became necessary to work in a new way because that is what was needed to connect with other people. In the home sense we just opted for ways of doing things that seemed more convenient, less costly or more available.
An example:
5 years ago, if we liked a song we needed to:
Get in the car
Go to a music shop
Find the song
Buy the whole album unless it was a single
Go home
Play it
Today:
Go to itunes or some other music service like spotify
Click it
Download it
Play it
I'm sure there are many examples that show the difference just as well. We can do the same thing for books and movies.
How long will it take before there are no more video stores, music stores or book stores? In my estimation - not very long.
Thanks for reading.
We can already see the large book store chains starting to shut down. In Australia this is happening to Angus and Robertson. I wonder how long the others will last.
Much of what I blog about will include items of technology, some will be products (iphone, ipad etc), some will be processes (blogs, automated factories, email, tweeting) and some will be emerging ideas (new materials, new business models etc). I thought it might be good to look back 5 years and see what types of things I was using in my home or at work and then contrast that with today.
5 Years ago at home:
A mobile phone (but only just)
No credit card
An old desktop computer
A television that my grandparents bought me (I still have it!)
An old VCR
A stereo with a cassette deck and CD player
A dial up internet account (but broadband ordered)
No Facebook, Linked in or Twitter account
A digital camera at 2.8 Mega pixels
2 large bookcases for our books, another one on order for the books that don't fit
maybe some more 'stuff'
At work I had:
a laptop
Had just bought a GPS for the car for work
Had started using a web-service for managing the contacts in my business
A fax machine
A fax to email service (to receive faxes electronically)
A USB thumb drive with 2 Megabytes of data available (wow!)
A website
Write notes and other work items in microsft word and print them out for filing or sending
Lets have a look at today (at home):
We use a Home Theatre PC (HTPC) that I had built by our local computer shop
The HTPC has 1.5 Terabytes of storage locally and another 1 Terabyte in an external drive
We use 3 iPads for almost everything
An iphone with unlimited data and 2 spare mobile phone handsets
We have synchronized calendars across iPads, iPhone and desktop computers
All of our music is electronic
We don't buy books anymore, all our books are electronic (and read on the iPads)
2 credit cards for loyalty programs (frequent flyer points)
1 company credit card for travel expenses
A flat screen television that connects to the broadband TV receiver and HTPC
A 1 Terabyte hard-drive that contains all of our files and photos as a backup
A 12 mega-pixel camera and 2 spare 'old' cameras with 2 or 3 mega-pixels
A broadband account with unlimited data at about 100 times the speed of the dial up
Fully wireless in the house
A Facebook and linked in account
At work today:
Some 'cloud' applications
Secure wireless internet in any meeting room
No desktop phones, only mobiles
Book meetings only through Microsoft outlook or similar
No more word documents, only mind-mapper and powerpoint really
Very little printing
Almost always use 'wikis' or 'share point' sites to share information
An SMS is as good as an email
So what happened?
Nothing that special happened, things just moved on. In one sense it became necessary to work in a new way because that is what was needed to connect with other people. In the home sense we just opted for ways of doing things that seemed more convenient, less costly or more available.
An example:
5 years ago, if we liked a song we needed to:
Get in the car
Go to a music shop
Find the song
Buy the whole album unless it was a single
Go home
Play it
Today:
Go to itunes or some other music service like spotify
Click it
Download it
Play it
I'm sure there are many examples that show the difference just as well. We can do the same thing for books and movies.
How long will it take before there are no more video stores, music stores or book stores? In my estimation - not very long.
Thanks for reading.
We have to start somewhere...
Ideas can change the world but how do you start? Well, I plan to start by posting a few of my ideas here on the blog and we can see what happens. Before we do that I would like to mention a few things:
1. My Dad started blogging before I did - Backyard garden blog by my Dad
2. My wife had a second life Avatar and a blog before I did
3. I am proud of both of them!
The overall situation is: I have always wanted to share my ideas with people but there has always been the fear that someone would 'steal' the ideas. It is fairly easy to get over this when you decide that nobody can 'own' an idea (intellectual property lawyers are groaning as they read this - whatever), what people can 'own' is their attitude, their determination and their drive to DO something.
So, I was actually worried that someone else would DO something with my ideas and I would miss out. Let us be totally honest - there was no way I was putting my ideas for a new product, new service, new power generation technology, new military technology or new anything out there so that someone else who didn't have that idea could benefit. I changed my mind.
So what changed? I got married to my fantastic wife, we had 2 great kids and then I started to look around and see that I have all the wealth I need - not in money terms but in everything that matters to me. Now it bothers me that the world might miss out on my ideas.
So - my main aim is to get my ideas OUT THERE - because I am far too busy with my other ideas to DO something about the rest of them.
On the new economy. This is not something weird or mysterious, simply that in the Western world now (and growing in developing countries) almost every one of us has a digital device or 3, we are always connected, we can twitter, Facebook, and email (apparently only oldies like me use email). Very soon or right now depending on where you live, you can download movies, music, books and other media right to your device. You can even use your device to make payments for things. Now, depending on how closely you keep up with these things you might say one of two things:
1. Wow, that is pretty far out
2. That is so yesterday - yeah, we are already doing that
So, what characterizes the new economy is both the fact that it is new and secondly the fact that 2 groups of people operate in it - those who know about it and those who do not and get left behind by it. I hope to help you not to be left behind by it!
Summary
I hope that some of my ideas can change the world a little bit, I hope that if someone takes an idea for business that they can use it well. I also hope that this blog can be a resource for anyone who is also thinking - 'where are we going with the new economy?'.
Lets go in search of the five ideas that could change the world....
Thank you for reading.
1. My Dad started blogging before I did - Backyard garden blog by my Dad
2. My wife had a second life Avatar and a blog before I did
3. I am proud of both of them!
The overall situation is: I have always wanted to share my ideas with people but there has always been the fear that someone would 'steal' the ideas. It is fairly easy to get over this when you decide that nobody can 'own' an idea (intellectual property lawyers are groaning as they read this - whatever), what people can 'own' is their attitude, their determination and their drive to DO something.
So, I was actually worried that someone else would DO something with my ideas and I would miss out. Let us be totally honest - there was no way I was putting my ideas for a new product, new service, new power generation technology, new military technology or new anything out there so that someone else who didn't have that idea could benefit. I changed my mind.
So what changed? I got married to my fantastic wife, we had 2 great kids and then I started to look around and see that I have all the wealth I need - not in money terms but in everything that matters to me. Now it bothers me that the world might miss out on my ideas.
So - my main aim is to get my ideas OUT THERE - because I am far too busy with my other ideas to DO something about the rest of them.
On the new economy. This is not something weird or mysterious, simply that in the Western world now (and growing in developing countries) almost every one of us has a digital device or 3, we are always connected, we can twitter, Facebook, and email (apparently only oldies like me use email). Very soon or right now depending on where you live, you can download movies, music, books and other media right to your device. You can even use your device to make payments for things. Now, depending on how closely you keep up with these things you might say one of two things:
1. Wow, that is pretty far out
2. That is so yesterday - yeah, we are already doing that
So, what characterizes the new economy is both the fact that it is new and secondly the fact that 2 groups of people operate in it - those who know about it and those who do not and get left behind by it. I hope to help you not to be left behind by it!
Summary
I hope that some of my ideas can change the world a little bit, I hope that if someone takes an idea for business that they can use it well. I also hope that this blog can be a resource for anyone who is also thinking - 'where are we going with the new economy?'.
Lets go in search of the five ideas that could change the world....
Thank you for reading.
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