Techno Babble

The Microsoft Web Platform provides a framework, web server, database and tools needed to build and run web-sites and applications on Windows.

One of the problems has always been the difficulty in configuring IIS to use tools such as PHP and MySQL so that you can easily use applications such as WordPress. Now, the Web Platform Installer takes care of all the necessary installation(s) and configuration(s) through (almost) a one-click installation process.

The Microsoft Web Platform Installer 2.0 (Web PI) is a free tool that makes getting the latest components of the Microsoft Web Platform, including Internet Information Services (IIS), SQL Server Express, .NET Framework and Visual Web Developer easy. The Web PI also makes it easy to install and run the most popular free web applications for blogging, content management and more with the built-in Windows Web Application Gallery.

A wealth of information is available from the web-site, check it out at

http://www.microsoft.com/web

Bokode: Imperceptible Visual Tags for Camera Based Interaction from a Distance

A paper presented by members of the Camera Culture Group from the MIT Media Lab at the recent Siggraph 2009, a Bokode is a new kind of small barcode.

Current optical tags, such as barcodes, must be read within a short range and the codes occupy valuable physical space on products. This is a new camera based interaction solution where an ordinary camera can be used to detect small optical tags from a relatively large distance. Tags can be shrunk to 3mm visible diameter, and unmodified ordinary cameras several meters away can be set up to decode the identity plus the relative distance and angle.

More details at the website

http://web.media.mit.edu/~ankit/bokode/

In the latest version of Picasa, there is a feature that uses face-matching technology to organise your photos according to the people in them.

Picasa 3.5 scans all the photos in your collection, identifies the ones with faces, and groups photos with similar faces together. It’s easy to add name tags to dozens of photos at once by clicking “Add a name” below a photo and typing the person’s name. Once you’ve tagged some pictures, you can make a face collage with one click, easily find all your pictures with the same two people in them, or upload your name tags to Picasa Web

Full details can be found at

http://picasa.google.com/

3DVIA Mobile is an application from Dassault Systemes that allows you access to your 3DVIA account from your iPhone.

Features available include:

• the ability to view (pan, zoom and inspect) 3D models in real-time using the in-built 3DVIA player.
• search through all the available models on 3DVIA posted by users and premiuum content partners,
• access your account on 3DVIA
• possition and overlay models from 3DVIA on your iPhone photos and email/share the results

Currently available as a free download from Apples App store

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=324682238&mt=8

Find out more about 3DVIA and register for your own account at

http://www.3dvia.com/

and more about 3DVIA Mobile at

http://www.3dvia.com/mobile/