3DConnexion, exhibiting at MacWorld Expo this week, have just added the Mac driver for their SpaceNavigator 3D controller to the download area of their site. It’s an 0.1 beta, but very real. Install it, and the SpaceNavigator will light up with its familiar blue hue when you restart the Mac — a wonderful sight to behold:-)

SketchUp 6 for the Mac now works with it, and there are also drivers for Maya (which I haven’t tested). No word yet as to when Google Earth support arrives.

Um, the new Sketchy Edges styles in Google SketchUp 6 quite simply rock:

Who’d have guessed — SketchUp 6: Must-have free tool for web designers and graphic artists.

Here in Europe, Google’s SketchUp site has now been updated to announce SketchUp Pro 6 ($495). The site update is still in the process of being rolled out — there is a navigation tab for the free SketchUp 6, but no link there yet to a download page. The download page in the Help Center, meanwhile, doesn’t lead to a live link yet.

But perhaps that’s enough of a tease to watch those spaces like a hawk:-)

[Update: The download links for the free version now definitely work.]

In the meantime, SketchUp Pro 6 has a new announced feature that’s only available in the Pro version, and which may tempt pro users to buy the full version: Layout (beta), a very slick-looking presentation tool aimed primarily at architects and CAD designers. There’s an 8-hour free trial of SketchUp Pro 6 available, which includes Layout.

Other announced features for SketchUp 6, in both the Pro and Free versions:

Photo Match: “Photo Match allows you to designate lines in a photograph that correspond to the axes in Google SketchUp. Then SketchUp calculates the camera position and field of view to equate the modeling environment to the photograph.” Well, WOW. Just in time to populate that 3D Warehouse default layer in Google Earth.

3D Text: “Converts text to 2D outlines, filled surfaces, or extruded 3D objects. It’s easy to create signs and letters directly in SketchUp…” All you need now is to find out what typeface the Hollywood sign is in:-)

Watermarks: Either create backdrops to create landscape effects, or proper watermarks in front of the image.

Sketchy Effects: Make your model look hand-drawn. Cheats!

Styles: Watermarks and “Sketchy Effects” are in fact saveable styles, and these can be applied to any model with a single click. Reminds me of the Styles palette from my QuarkXpress days.

One final note while rooting around the new site: Vista isn’t fully supported yet.

One Final final note: The Mac version is Universal!

• A few days ago, Ben Sinclair wrote an article outlining different ways to use a Garmin GPS device with a Mac.
• Ben also created DiscoverMachine, a brand new community mapping site whose niche advantage is easy integration with GPX files. Register to make maps, then add waypoints with descriptions and images or else upload a GPX or KML file. You can also download the result as a GPX file. Here’s my quick map of Rome. Lovely understated design, quick execution, with USGS topo maps and photo overlays. I’d like to see the ability to embed a map in a web page and a way to view a map’s contents as a KML network link.
• Digital Globe buys GlobeXplorer in a move to make it more attractive ahead of a planned IPO, reports Reuters.

Yet another great GPS tool for Mac users: GPS Automator Actions by Austria’s Sigurd Buchberger lets you use Mac OS X’s built-in scripting tool to download data from connected GPS devices, convert that to KML and many other formats, and also upload to GPS devices. Like so:

It’s open-source, uses GPS Babel, and the source code is available.

Then, if you like, use the downloaded GPS data to georeference photos with Sigurd’s GeoTagging Automator Actions. They come as a two-week trial, and cost $15 thereafter. Here’s how to geotag iPhoto images:

(Once you’ve done all that work, why not export them as a KMZ file using Craig Stanton’s iPhotoToGoogleEarth?)

One cool feature in Sigurd’s geotagging actions is the concept of the Trackpool. From the info box:

The trackpool is a database where a user can store all his tracklogs. This allows more efficient workflows because you don’t have to explicitly name the gps tracklog and you can use multiple tracklogs at the same time.

The ensemble pretty much completely automates the geotagging workflow on a Mac.

• Directions Magazine’s Top 10 for 2006 features GeoRSS, ArcGIS Explorer and… Declan Butler!
• What looks like the final release candidate for NASA World Wind 1.4, RC3, is out (Windows download). The Earth is Square is blogging some of the new features and mentions that the .Net 1.1 version (1.3.6) is on hold. The Java version of NASA World Wind is still forthcoming, reports Bull’s Rambles.

  Meanwhile, here’s what’s new in 1.4. Here’s the page listing the remaining bugs in 1.4 RC3.

• In London for the weekend, I managed to pop into the British Museum, where, until 11 February you can see The Past from Above, an exhibition of absolutely amazing aerial photography by Georg Gerster. I only wish I had the opportunity to buy a CD with the images, georeferenced, as a KML file in the shop at the end. No such luck.
• Google will become the archival experts for the 30 terabytes of daily data the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is set to produce when it goes live in 2013. Also on the agenda: making this data accessible to the public. Google Sky, anyone?
• Christian Spanring dissects the latest rumors regarding Apple Mac OS X 10.5 + GPS integration.

University of Alaska Fairbanks’ John Bailey writes:

Since the sessions at AGU highlighted an interest in and need for this, I have put together a website that provides details on events involving the use of virtual globes in science:

http://conferences.images.alaska.edu/

The idea is that these are conferences, conference sessions, workshops, short courses, etc, that are specifically targeted at scientific use of virtual globes, rather than the technical aspects (e.g. Where 2.0, GeoWeb).

If anyone has an event that they think should be listed please let me know. [Email upon request — Stefan]

Also, please note a couple of impending deadline for currently listed events, most notably 15th Jan for those who wish to submit abstracts and present at the 2nd annual virtual globes scientific users conference (at the 5th ISDE).

Thanks

John

Such conferences certainly seem to be proliferating, so this site is a great idea.