Albay in Google Earth

In the most recent Google Earth update last month, several towns and one city in the province of Albay now have high-resolution satellite imagery. These newly high-res areas include Ligao City, Guinobatan, Oas, Libon, Tiwi, Manito, Jovellar and Malinao. Camalig is also on high resolution but is partly hidden by clouds.

Among Albay's municipalities and cities, only Rapu-Rapu, parts of Polangui, and Pio Duran remain in low resolution. Legazpi City and Daraga first went high-res back in June 2006. The city of Tabaco and the towns of Sto. Domingo, Bacacay and Malilipot followed suit a few months later.

Browsing Google Earth is one of my favorite time wasters. Exploring both familiar and unfamiliar places through satellite imagery is what I call Google Earth sightseeing. It certainly provides a different perspective of the world around us. A great blog about Google Earth sightseeing is Vista Pinas, which features Filipino sights as seen from satellite images found in Google Earth and Google Maps.

Here are some screen grabs (click to enlarge) of newly high-res areas in Albay. Screen shots won't do justice, though. The best way to view these satellite images is through Google Earth.

Ligao City

Guinobatan

Manito

Jovellar

Tiwi

3D Model: Beach House with Infinity Pool

The sweltering summer heat inspired me to create a new 3D Sketchup Model. This time, a modern Beach House complete with beachfront, garden and infinity pool. Like my other 3D models, I made this beach house without any clear vision in mind. Every detail came from scratch and just flowed naturally as I played around with Sketchup's myriad features. So please, be gentle to the newbie. :-s

The house is a two-story structure with an interesting interplay of geometric figures. I used stone and wood materials that give the house a solid but homey look. Since it's a beach house, I put in wide windows to let in the expansive views of the sea. I also used a lot of glass to take in as much natural light as possible. There's a wide multi-faceted bay window at the back to take advantage of the excellent beachfront location.

A flagstone deck connects the main house to the infinity pool with a whirlpool tub or jacuzzi. A balcony at the second floor is a perfect location for lounging around while watching the sun set or breathing in the sea breeze. I also inclued a lush tropical garden with fruit trees and gazebo to the left of the house.

Here are some more screenshots of my 3D Beach House model (click to enlarge):

Overhead view from the back, above the waterfront

View of the house from the beach

Deck and infinity pool

Back view

Right-side view

Left-side view

Next time I'll try to experiment with elevations and probably start doing interiors. This 3D Sketchup Model is available for download here. You can also view my other 3D models here.

Legazpi on SkyscraperCity's Banner

Legazpi City made it to SkyscraperCity Forum's banner for today, 17th of April 2008. SkyscraperCity, fondly called SSC by members, is a forum dedicated to architecture, development, urbanity, photography and travel with over 180,000 forum-ers from all over the globe.

SSC has a very vibrant Philippine sub-forum which has become a rich source of information about various developments in the country - from up-to-date news about upcoming skyscrapers in the Metro to spellbinding photos of unspoilt beaches and islands.

Legazpi is only the fifth city featured on SSC's banner, which changes daily. The photo, taken by Arnold Faller, is a panoramic view of Legazpi with the majestic Mayon Volcano in the background. You can view the original photo here.

PicLens: 3D Image Viewing Experience

If you love browsing through media-rich sites such as Flickr or deviantART, here's a cool add-on you can install in your browser to enrich your image browsing and viewing experience. Now you don't have to just click through online photo galleries or a boring parade of small thumbnails. PicLens by CoolIris transforms your browser into a cool, full-screen 3D picture wall.

I found the PicLens interface quite fast, easy-to-use and intuitive. When you install PicLens, it adds a small 'play' icon on the images which you can click to open the superb full-screen 3D experience. Here you can drag, click, scroll and zoom through images with ease.

PicLens view of My Flickr gallery

PicLens is best viewed on Mozilla Firefox but it is also available for Internet Explorer and Safari. It works with a growing number of websites including Facebook, Friendster, and Image Searches for Google, Yahoo, etc.

For Firefox Users, click here to install PicLens. Visit the PicLens website for more details.

Stoked at CWC

The CamSur Watersports Complex (CWC) is only roughly two hours away from my city but today is only the first time we've been there. And we're glad we did. CWC rocks! To the uninformed, CWC is touted as the best wakeboarding cable park in the world today. This makes CWC and CamSur the mecca of wakeboarding enthusiasts from all over the globe.

Even though we had to wait a few hours for our turn on the cables and boards, it was all worth it. It's my first time to do extreme sports and I'm not even that athletic. Haha. We were stoked to see all those wakeboarding virtuosos doing their stuff on the lagoon with such skill and agility. But as newbies, we had to go through kneeboarding first. Kneeboarding "is an aquatic sport where the participant is towed on a buoyant, convex, and hydrodynamically shaped board at a planing speed".

It was fairly easy to do but quite tiring especially on the arms and legs. My first time on the kneeboard was a disaster. Haha. Let's just say I learned my lesson to keep my shorts tight enough. Hahaha. Too bad we only booked for an hour. But it was quite an experience and I definitely want to go back and finally learn how to wakeboard. Now that would be really cool.

Check out our photos at CWC:

I've Upgraded to Flickr Pro

I finally decided to get myself a Flickr Pro account. Why? For no serious reason, really. I've been a Flickr user since 2005 and I think it's still the best photo sharing website today. Unlike other services such as Photobucket or Imageshack, Flickr is not just another photo storage facility.

What I love about Flickr is the interaction with other users, from professional photographers to amateur shutterbugs like me. I get a kick out of random people appreciating my humble photos (all taken with an old point-and-shoot digital camera) by leaving a comment or even adding them to their 'Favorites'.

Flickr is also home to a mind-blowing collection of images from around the world (over 2 billion). I can waste hours just ogling at the impressive photos, wishing I can also take such awesome shots. There are also other cool stuff to do with my photos using third-party Flickr toys. By the way, I made that 'Dextr' logo using this Flickr logo maker.

Flickr Pro comes with additional features and privileges not available to free accounts, such as unlimited storage, unlimited sets, unlimited bandwidth, permanent archiving of high-res original images, ad-free browsing and sharing as well as account and photo stats. I like the last feature since I'm a bit of a stats freak.

Please do check out my Flickr photos. And if it isn't too much to ask, don't forget to leave a comment. hehe. ;-)

The MBS Tek - Legazpi Christmas Party

Last Friday, the MBS Tek (US Auto Parts) - Legazpi gang momentarily put aside auto parts, web content and search engine optimization, donned their best 'fantasy' costumes and partied like there was no tomorrow. It was indeed a bright time and right time to rock the night away.

Though excitement had been building up over the past few weeks, I didn’t expect it would be such a blast. What a fun way to break the monotony of work and celebrate Christmas. MBS Legazpi peeps definitely know how to party! It was so cool to see everyone come in different costumes and show their talents in the various presentations. (I came as a pharaoh, by the way - a last minute decision, haha).

I didn't know my colleagues would pull out all the stops for this party, but dressed to the hilt, they came. It made me see them from a different perspective, literally and figuratively. LOL.

Even thought it hasn’t really been a smooth path leading to last Friday’s party, with some glitches, conflicts and misunderstanding along the way, I’m happy that the event turned out to be a success. My only regret is that I was too busy preparing for the two presentations we performed, that I had no time to just sit back, relax and take lots of pictures and video footage. Haha. Here are some scenes from the party:

Merry Christmas!!

Update: Check out my Multiply gallery for more pics. Click Here

3D Model of Legazpi Railway Station

Finally, I have a new 3D Model created through Google Sketchup. It's been over a year since I made my last model (which has already been featured in Google Earth's Best of 3D Warehouse Layer) and at last, I now have a new one to add to my collection. Making this model was actually a spur of the moment. With all the bad news that came crashing down on me earlier today, I felt I needed a diversion. Hehe.

Well, I found myself ‘exploring’ my hometown, Legazpi, through Google Earth (which has updated its database of satellite imagery, recently, by the way) and I figured maybe it's time to make another 3D model of a Legazpi landmark.

I chose to create a model for the Legazpi Railway Station mainly because I thought the building is structurally simple and thus, easier to model. The building is also an important landmark because it is the southernmost terminus of the Philippine National Railways.

So there, I started making the model at, say, quarter past 8PM and finished it by 1AM, Haha. I’m a consummate geek when it comes to Sketchup; it must be the frustrated architect in me kicking in. I wanted a more detailed 3D model so I consulted some photos, courtesy of Yves, one of the city's best photographers.

The real thing

Of course, the model is only a rough approximation and it’s not really an accurate representation of the real building. That's because I relied mainly on common sense and my memory of this edifice, instead of actual measurements. There are slight mistakes that almost made me want to start from scratch. But overall, I think I made a fairly convincing 3D model. More importantly, I had fun making this model and was totally engrossed with it for a few hours.

If you have G. Earth please do visit our city and check out my new model. Legazpi now has seven 3D buildings on Google's 3D Warehouse; just activate the 3D Buildings mode so you can view them. Meanwhile, here are some more pictures of my 3D Legazpi Railway Station:

Close-up of facade
Front view
Rear view
On Google Earth

On Google Earth (with Mayon Volcano)

Three of the Coolest Ads Ever Made

Some TV ads are so well-designed and superbly executed that they cease to be just ads but become works of art. Among them is the series of ads for Sony Bravia, a brand of high-definition LCD TVs. The first ad is actually a bit old but I think it is still one of the coolest and most memorable ad spots ever created.

Imagine 250,000 real (no computer-generated effects) brightly-colored rubber balls bouncing down a San Francisco street - simple but iconic. The song is great too - 'Heartbeats' by Jose Gonzales. This is easily one of my favorite TV ads.



Meanwhile, another ad, launched last year, is a literal outburst of colors. A total of 1,400 timed explosions covered a tower block in Glasgow, Scotland in 70,000 liters of environment-friendly paint. It's quite a spectacle, an exuberant fireworks display of color dancing to classical music. Like in ‘Balls’, the paint is all real and no computer-generated effects were used. Expectedly, it made such a ginormous mess, but it is quite a beautiful mess.



The latest spot for Sony Bravia instantly blew me away. Using stop-motion filming technique, the ad features hundreds of Play-doh bunnies frolicking all over New York to the tune of ‘She's a Rainbow’ by the Rolling Stones. This is pure genius, and a lot of hard work -- 40 animators worked on 2.5 tons of plasticine for about three weeks to create this 60-second spot.



There's another Sony Bravia ad spot, actually. Probably aimed towards the African market, this time they draped the freakin’ Great Pyramid of Giza with hundreds of yards of colored threads.

Makes me wonder what they’re going to do next.

* * *

By the way, these three ads were conceptualized and created by Fallon. Watch how they made these ads: Bouncing Balls, Exploding Paint and Play-doh Bunnies. Coolness.

Groovy Dancing Girl

I can't get enough of this video lately. Love the song (Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by Daft Punk), love the moves, love the girl. Hehe. I wish the inmates in Cebu will do a routine just like this. Haha.