I have tried a couple of photosynths inside today and I have got some better results. I photographed the lab I am working along with all of its mess, I took panoramas of the room in the centre and from various points around the room, I then took some detail shots of different things.
I have now got to synths of the same room on my profile because the system doesn’t allow you to edit existing work, what would be good is if it could detect similarities between your work and combine them.
The better one of the two is embedded below.
Yesterday I went to a National Trust property called Sissinghurst Castle Gardens, this is an amazing enclosed garden with hundreds of different type of plants where I was able to get a number of decent photos.
While I was there I took almost 200 photos for a Photosynth, I didn’t take the photos in the garden but behind the garden next to a lake. The Photosynth software seemed to do some pre processing of the images before they were uploaded, I don’t know to what extent the process was completed on my computer vs on Microsoft’s servers what I do know is the upload took hours and hours on my slow connection.
Today I am going to try another Photosynth but this time in doors, I will photograph my lab at university but hopefully in a more structured manor.
My Photosynth is embeded below
A wile ago I came across Microsoft’s Photosynth, at the time I thought it was particularly strange; sometime after I came across it again and finally realized how amazing it was, since then I have been eagerly awating the release of the system to the public.
This morning I noticed several posts about Photosynth but I was in a rush so didn’t realize what had happened, it was when I got into work that I received the amazing news that Photosynth is finally here.
If you have no idea what Photosynth is I suggest you go an take a look although if you have a Mac you can read about it instead at Wikipedia, no Mac or Linux support I am afraid.
Rather than uploading the photos to Microsoft through the website you need to install a piece of software, I am unclear at this stage wether the software processes the images locally or acts as a facility for uploading them although I suspect it just uploads them, this then leads to the question of how long will Photosynth’s take to generate when they have been uploaded.
I will have the answer to all of these questions and more at the weekend, I was planning on spending the day taking photos and trying out my new tripod anyway now I have an even better task. Hopefully weather depending I will have my first Photosynth up at the weekend.
Last night I received an email invitation to the Microsoft Tech Preview of there new Live Mesh service, this is Microsoft’s attempt at getting back on top and having some relevance. There Mesh service is designed to connect things together, such as your computers, phone, and I would imagine in the future other computer type devices.
The Tech Preview seems fairly limited as it only seems to support Windows PCs, not Macs and no mobiles, apparently there coming soon. When you log into the service you are shown a ring and on this ring are all your connected computers along with a Live Desktop.
When you connect a computer you need to install a small piece of software which allows synchronisation of files and what appears to be remote desktop connection software although I haven’t tried this yet. When the software is installed you can create Mesh folders on your PC, you then place files into here to sync between PCs and the Live Desktop. Rather annoyingly you don’t appear to be able to make an existing folder a Mesh folder it has to be a new one, this means I am unable to sync my whole My Docs folder I have to copy out files into a new folder first.
The other part of the service is the Live Desktop, this is a virtual desktop which does a good job of modeling the look and feel of Vista; the Mesh folders you create on your PCs are visible here along with the files. Simple files like images and audio files can be opened and played or viewed on the Live Desktop but when I tried to open a word document it tried to get me to download it.
The next step for a service like this is to integrate office type software, so when a word or an excel document is opened it opens on the desktop in an online version of the software, even a viewer would do.
I think in the long term something like this would be good, I have a problem moving files between work and home and this may solve that problem, the mobile aspect may be useful as well but I rarely find myself moving files between these devices, I usually just email the files to myself that way I can pick it up on any of my devices.
Update:
I have been using the service for a few days and it seems fairly good, the remote desktop connection system is simple and easy to use and great for downloading files at work where p2p connections are very fast, when the file is downloaded I can then use the mesh folder synchronisation which uses http connections to move the file. The only annoyance I have come across is a problem with Visa machines with UAC disabled, this means for the time being I can’t connect my main home PC.
Google launched there long awaited Google Health product a couple of days ago and I have been filling in information to see what it’s all about.
Late last year Microsoft launched there rival product HealthVault, this is a service I tried to sign up to but as I am in the UK it wouldn’t let me. Google doesn’t seem to have any problems with my location, after visiting the Google Health site I signed in with my existing Google account there was a standard terms and conditions box to agree to and my health profile was created for me and ready to be populated with data. The service can import records from a number of medical services, several hospitals, lab testing places and pharmacies, all of which were American which meant I had to enter my data manually.
The service is primarily aimed at the American market, the height and weight options are all in imperial and there are no global localisation options, this is a little annoying but its much better than preventing access entirely.
The system allows you to enter different medications you are taking or have taken along with allergies and conditions and any tests or procedures you have had. Data entry is by way of a free text box, as you start typing the system will display a list for you to choose from if you select one you can then easily view further information about the condition, procedure or medication but it will let you enter whatever you like. Once the record has been created you can add details such as dates or for medications times and quantities. I have an awful memory for this kind of information so I was only able to enter current information the rest I will get from my GP and enter later, once this is done it should be a useful reference. When completed I will be able to look back and see what vaccinations I have had and when as well as pull up detailed information on any of the conditions or medications I have entered.
In the UK the government and health service are rolling out a computerised system for medical records, all your details will be accessible anywhere using the NHS’s CRS (Care Record Service); at the moment this is only in use in some locations but will be rolled out to the rest of the country. The CRS also allows patient access through a website called HealthSpace although only to those patients in the trial areas. From reading the information they provide when it is complete you will only be able to view a basic summary so it doesn’t seem like it will be a replacement for the Google or Microsoft service.
