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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Google Maps & Google Earth

Today I want to address Google Maps and Google Earth. I recently read a pretty amazing book that give a large amount of detail on the two, and since they are mostly the same thing just accessed through different portals I’m going to just refer to them as Google from here forth.  This book was unlike any other I have ever read.  In many ways it was more like interactive media experience than a book on line.  It was filled with audio and video clips on almost every page and they weren’t afraid to question controversial items like privacy.  The name of the book is “Using Google maps and Google Earth” by Michael Miller.  It is fairly new and was just published in January of 2011.
I won’t spend much time on the first few chapters since they are mostly a history lesson.  Instead I would like to talk about what Google is.  You probably know it as an email provider or maybe it’s been your favorite search engine for the last decade.  However this description doesn’t even begin to scratch the vast majority of what Google is.  In 2004 the then search provider purchased a newly created mapping technology from a couple of guys who thought that there could be a lot easy way to find things and get directions then what they got from MapQuest.  Google took their technology and invested in it.  They quickly began covering the world, but they didn’t just do what the other map companies did and make a digital version of an already mapped atlas.  Instead they put people on the road verifying routes and finding some roads that did not exist yet in other atlases and this was just the beginning.
They quickly expanded the power of their technology so that they could combine map views with overlaid roads and with satellite views.  They acquired the technology to sew it all together and give people a realistic 3D view of the whole world.  This however was not enough.  They also began a project to send vehicles down every possible road and route with cameras on top of them that take a picture of everything around them once every second.  Using technology to almost seamlessly join everything, they have literally mapped the entire world. 
This is where we really begin to see a different type of company.  They did something that killed almost every other map company in the country.  They made all this information free to anyone.  They wrote software so everyone can have Google Earth on their home computers for free.  They wrote applications for every type of smart device, cell phone, palm that was on the market.  Then they took things one step further by making there map soft were open to any developer who wanted to use their vast amount of information in their own programs.  They also made it so every time a person created a search there was a URL made for it that could be linked and emailed to anyone else.  They also did all this without making users join a sight and have to enter a password and username anytime they needed something.
They have now began to create the future with Google places, more advanced mapping and geographical features, the ability to search for landmarks with key phrases, in-depth real estate services and numerous other tools that will likely affect all of our lives and the way we do everything from traveling to deciding where we would like to eat or shop each day.
My favorite item that I discovered and would encourage everyone to try is the flight simulator available in Google Earth.  This is not meant to be a difficult to handle airplane like most video games, instead it is there to be used as a tool to find out what the world looks like.  With the Google flight simulator you can seamlessly travel through any part of the entire world and see what it looks like.  I have often dreamed of seeing very exotic locations, however between raising and supporting a family and dealing with both school and work the chance of me have the time and resources to get to the most remote parts of the world is very unlikely.  However tonight I tour New Zealand and tomorrow the Sahara desert.  And after I have seen all I desire I will go to the moon, and then Mars and the rest of the galaxy, since Google already has those mapped out for us too.  THANK YOU GOOGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

How to stop bleeding in an emergency.

There are many dangers and unexpected accidents in today's world.  If you saw some one hurt would you know how to help them?  If they were bleeding heavily would you know what to do?  Here is a quick lesson on how to create an improvised tourniquet, which can stop bleeding on any limb, no matter how heavy the person is bleeding.  Please click here "Tourniquet application slide show" for some basic step by step pictures.  One important item to remember is that a tourniquet can be used to apply pressure and stop bleeding anywhere above a wound.  Two to three inches is ideal, but upstream is all that matters.

There use to be a lot of fears about tourniquets causing damage, however they pose no risk unless left in place for greater than six hours.  After that the casualty may begin to suffer tissue damage from the lack of profusion to the cells.  Also never place a tourniquet on a persons head, neck, or torso.  For these areas just use your hands to push and apply pressure as needed to stop the bleeding. 

Please remember that even with excellent first aide and care a seriously hurt person should always be turned over to a hospital or higher echelon of care for a proper diagnoses and care regiment.