There has recently been some gossip about Google’s project which involves 3D maps of San Francisco, as well as other cities. More details have been disclosed today (Kudos to Slashdot) including some pictures and related research papers (PDF).

An example of output maps, which can be generated by trucks with laser tracers

Polaroid-o-nizer applies a sequence of transformations and adds effects which create fancy images on-line. There is a simple yet flexible Web interface which enables you to customiseoutput images.

Let us put the famous Lenna to the test, as was done some months ago with the image-to-text transformer. Below is the result.

ome immensely powerful features will be included in OpenOffice.org version 2. I recently attended a live demonstration; therein it was shown that regular expressions are included in the package, along with other features that make OO.org more attractive than its commercial equivalent — Microsoft Office.

Open Office is composed almost purely of C/C++, which makes it fast. According to one source, Open Office performs better than a recent Office release.

The CPU load when closing and opening Writer (OO.org) and Word (Office)

lpha trial of one excellent Web-based aggregator is on its way. Yet another Web-based feed syndication service? Definitely not. Feedlounge features AJAX, tags, keyboard navigation and an excellent overall integration. The user experience equates to that of a native program.

I have recently come across a German site which cloned my theme. Looking at the similarity in terms of layout is somewhat surreal. Sadly, that site appears to have become dormant last year.

The world’s leading search engine breaks through boundaries and continues to expand, diminishing many smaller companies in its path. Google have already acquired many small companies; Among the list:

• Blogger
• Deja News (for Google Groups)
• Picasa (Photo organiser)
• Applied Semantics (for AdSense/AdWords)

Slashdot have just unveiled the fact that Google Maps now cover the entire world . There has been no formal announcement from Google, yet. Google Maps must already be gnawing at the share of giants like MapQuest, MapBlast or even more localised mapping sites like Streetmap in the UK. Google’s equivalent is simply by far better in terms of technology and hence its usability.

Only yesterday, the Wall Street Journal revealed that Google might put PayPal and eBay under threat by introducing Google Wallet.

Many of us are fond of Google, but it is worrying how much power they can gain so rapidly.

ne issue is particularly detrimental to OSS: the issue is branching. Implementation takes different directions (often due to third-parties involved) and compatibility begins to break. Linux and its distros are one valid example. Here is an example taken from skinning (AKA themes) to support the argument.

Different unique ‘skins’ for an application get distributed or different stylesheets written for a Web-based application. This gives a rich variety to choose from, but here is the snag:

• The user gets accustomed to the new interface
• A new version of the application comes out
• The user might have to re-install a new ‘skin’
• The user relies on the ‘skinners’ to carry on maintaining the project

Some may have heard of GIMPshop, which wraps the GIMP in a Photoshop-like environment. It can serve as a practical example for the pitfall.

The take home: it is safer not to be ‘distracted’ by minor components or release variants of main-stream systems.