Being a 3D expert I’m always keen to hear about new 3D object creation software. I was aware of SketchUp before, but now of course it is a Google product and the engine of choice for making new objects for Google Earth.

The program is a simple but powerful tool for rapid prototyping of objects. Just make the shapes and pull them around in the interface. Colour and texture are easily editable. And also lighting is easy to adjust and preview. In fact real-time shadow casting lets you see exactly where the sun falls on your object as you work.

There are a huge amount of pre-drawn shapes to get you going, so you get a leg up into a job rather than having to start from scratch all the time. Once you’ve built your models, you can place them in Google Earth or post them to the 3D Warehouse.

The program works with both Mac or PC and you can get it here.

I just had the chance to install and play with Nasa World Wind. It proves to be quite an alternative to the famous Google Earth in some ways. This is a program that will allow you to zoom in on any place you want on Earth, but also Venus, Mars, Jupiter…even the Moon.

You can select from various types of satellite map images, this would be very useful for anyone who’s into geology, geography etc. But you can also do much more, such as downloading live weather maps, which would be interesting for anyone into meteorology. It uses Shuttle Radar Topography Mission elevation data and high resolution LandSat imagery. Yes…this is a little more technical than Google Earth!

It has a similiar interface as Google Earth in some ways, such as being able to click and drag to spin the globe to the desired position. You can zoom in and out with the mousewheel,or by double clicking. You can select the map type you’d like to see from a menu on the top. Hint: The landsat one is the one to choose if you wanna zoom in on photo’s of streets, etc.

On many levels, World Wind is good for scientific, educational and research purposes. For driving directions, local information, exploring and other recreational activities, Google Earth might be a better options, as this program might be a little too scientific for most people.

You can check out much more info and download it completely free from the NASA site here.

Blender is an open source, cross platform suite of tools for 3D creation. It’s a 3D image and animation creation program that is very impressive for something that’s free. Just check out some of the example pictures and videos! It’s very capable of making the kind of 3D graphics and animations that are very popular nowadays in cartoons, advertising, etc. No doubt there’s even more powerful programs than this, but they come at a high price!

It takes a while to figure out, so this isn’t something you can learn overnight, but no doubt if you have the patience to stick with it, the results can be really impressive. So for anyone into this kinda thing, on a low budget or a no budget. This is definitely worth checking out and very powerful for something that doesn’t cost a penny!

Lots more info and the free download here.

Fake Progress Bar is an application which creates a fake progress bar! With this “tool” you will be able to look busy when in fact you are just being lazy.

This is by far the most useful program for anyone who wants to take a little break at work while the boss thinks you are being really busy! You will be able to create all kind of actions. If the predefined ones aren’t enough then you can create your own custom action for the progress bar.

Also it has a setting so your computer won’t go into screensaver mode keeping your computer looking really busy! ; )

You can grab it here, when ya get time outta your busy schedule of course!

InstantStorm is a free program for creating professional Flash screensavers.

How it works is, it allows you to use any SWF (Flash) file as a screensaver. This could be more useful than it sounds, for a variety of reasons. You could create a customized screensaver consisting of your friends or families pictures and distribute it to them, or you could make a screensaver for your company or product.

InstantStorm includes advanced features such as allowing you to fully customize your screensaver’s about box, installer and uninstaller including all texts. it’s 100% free with no nag screens or other annoying stuff. You can download it at the homepage here.

MB Free Tarot Dictionary is exactly that, a cross referenced dictionary of Tarot terms. But it’s a little more than that too. You get the meanings of different spreads, the layouts you do with the cards, plus you get information about decks, individual cards, and symbolism and other meanings.

It’s all very clearly explained, but I suspect you have to have an interest in Tarot to begin with or not much of it will make sense. This is not a beginners tool, although as a supplement to other tools like a really good book on the subject,it will be very helpful.

It’s more of a glossary that a reference guide, but will be of use to experts and intermediate users alike. Get it from the author’s web site.

Protopage is just one of the online applications developed using Ajax.
Ajax and Web 2.0 are the new buzz words in the Internet world these days.

Ajax, shorthand for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is a web development technique for creating interactive web applications… This is meant to increase the webpages interactivity, speed, and usability. There are some really practical projects going on using Ajax techniques to create online applications and this is just one.

What that translates to, is the existance of more and more web-based interactive tools, some of which are reviewed in this blog.But back to what protopage is all about. It allows you to create your own custom dynamic webpage full of fresh content, your own pictures, notes, links, RSS newsfeeds, etc. All of which can be moved around on the page and resized as you see fit. It’s fun and extremely easy. What makes it even better is that you can access this page (pages actually) from any computer and everything is exactly how you left it. You can even create public pages with stuff you want other’s to see while protecting pages that you don’t want people to see.

It’s very time saving to have all your bookmarks, newsfeeds,weather, notes, widgets etc easily available on one highly customizable and easy to use page or pages. That’s one of the best things i like about it when compared to other similar services, you never run out of space because you can use more than one page.

You can check it out here to get your own free page!

Just about everyone has at least one email address in these days of internet access available in virtually any part of the world. But there’s nothing too exciting about email these days. It seems it’s all been done, with todays accounts holding gigabytes worth of email in some cases.

What was once a high tech novelty is now as commonplace as having a phone number. Well it seems someone has thought of one more thing!
How about the longest email address in the world? Even though it won’t be believed by some people and wont be accepted by some internet forms! It’ll still be one that catches attention for sure!

http://www.abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijk.com

Yes its real! Click it for more info.

If you want to try one of the world’s TOP 3d programs for free you can do that right now. NewTek have released a trial version of their world class 3d modeling, rendering and animation package, Lightwave 3D in a freely downloadable 30 day trial version.

The software is fully functional so you can try out all the features of the new version 9, the same software used to make special effects for TV shows like Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Lost, Smallville, and Stargate Atlantis. You can make 3D objects, texture them, light them on a virtual sound stage, and render them in 3D to a very high level of realism, allwithin this one program.

Okay so if you want to use it after 30 days you have to pay for it, but to get to learn how to use it for free? You got to love that price.

Go to the trial web site for details. Works for PC and Mac.

OK! Here is a really cool software. Ever thought about having a program that can bring your texts to life, well DSpeech does just that, it brings voice to your texts.

DSpeech is a Text To Speech program with functionality of ASR (Automatic Speech Recognition) integrated into it. The cool thing is it is able to read written text aloud and choose the sentences to be pronounced based upon the vocal answers of the user. You could even save the output as WAV or MP3 file.

Another lovely feature is that it lets you select different voices, you get to even combine or juxtapose them in order to create dialogues between different voices.

You are really going to love it. It’s fun. Give voice to your texts , try out DSpeech and before you start checking your wallet, DSpeech is a freeware. It’ll cost you zero dollars. Go check it out!

One thing is worthy of note though, the program does not come with an installer so you’ll have to download the necessary files by yourself. The upside is it doesn’t write anything in your registry.

To learn more about DSpeech [and other products from the same publisher] and download it, CLICK HERE!