Cats That Look Like Hitler and Other Links

1. Cats That Look Like Hitler!
2. Stage6: The Last Stop: Videos (public domain videos for free download)
3. Block Posters - Create large wall posters from any image for free!
4. DailyLit: Read books by email and RSS.
5. Open Source: Blog Archive: No Artist Left Behind
6. Open Source: Blog Archive: Pharma: The New Drug Lord?
7. Open Source: Blog Archive: Bug Week (Part 2) with Bernd Heinrich UVM professor and the author of my raven books.
8. Open Source: Blog Archive: William James: Son, Brother, Hero Brother of Henry James.
9. The Story of Spider Web Farm - Williamstown, Vermont
10. Will Knight's Spider Web Farm, Williamstown, Vermont TODO
11. Vermont Scrap Wood: While we are talking beverages Vermont Vodka?
12. eBird || Vermont Institute of Natural Science A Database for Vermont Bird Records
13. Google Earth Hacks - File Downloads - Vermont

London - Our Temporary Playground at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place

London - Our Temporary Playground at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place
Bob and Marcy spent a couple of wonderful, expensive days in London to see some shows and go shopping. There are photographs of Harrod's, the theater, and the gates at Kensington Palace where people left tributes to Diana (it being the 10th anniversary of her death).

I told Bob in my comment that his trip reminded me of my trips to Washington, DC. It is an expensive, huge city with history everywhere you turn. Bob's description of Harrod's created a dessire in me, of all people, to go shopping. There is also a curious Congestion Charge that Marcy and Bob had to pay because they drove their car into the city: it was £8 a day.

I went to Google search and typed "convert 8 pounds to dollars" and it returned that £8 is $16.1264 U.S. Approximately two U.S. dollars for each pound. Bob lives approximately 140 miles from London and I learned that a "British mile is the same distance as an American mile but a British pint is an imperial pint, 20% larger than an American pint." Here's a country I can deal with easier than my neighboring Canada (which is metric). A shameful confession for a math teacher.

One more thing: Bob always gives a kmz file on his posts for you to download so that you can use your copy of Google Earth to tour these places yourself.

Somerset Bob always writes Google Earth Challenge posts that are so intereseting you want to go visit the places yourself. Go and read!

Technorati tags: Harrod's Kensington+Palace London Google+Earth+Challenge
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Glastonbury - Van Morrison & Corinne Bailey Rae at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place

Glastonbury - Van Morrison & Corinne Bailey Rae at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place
Another great Google Earth post from Bob. Bob and Marcy went to a concert at the site of an abbey that was built in 1191. New Englanders are proud and boastful of our old dates here. We go back to the seventeenth century and think that's pretty ancient. We got nothing on the United Kingdom.

My father and I read a book that described life in England in the year 1000 AD. I think most people should read it because it is fascinating. So go check out Bob's post on ancient (and modern) England.

Technorati tags: Glastonbury+Abbey Google+Earth+Challenge
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Banwell Bone Cave at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place

Banwell Bone Cave at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place

In 1824, in Banwell, England, a cave full of prehistoric animal bones was found. Somerset Bob relates the history of this cave from 70,000 years ago until now and takes us on a tour with his camera. I so much enjoyed this post: so many prehistoric animals died in that cave, leaving their bones, that the Bishop of Banwell regarded the cave as proof of Noah's flood. Go to Bob's site and read the rest. Click on his photos and watch the slideshows. The geologic and social history are engrossing! Thank you, Bob for this post.

Technorati tags: Banwell+Bone+Cave Google+Earth+Challenge
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Google Earth’s Hidden Surprise: A Flight Simulator

Google Earth’s Hidden Surprise: A Flight Simulator: "Hidden inside Google Earth is a secret Flight Simulator that takes full advantage of Google’s extensive satellite imagery."

The reviewer says it is "as good visually as the paid Microsoft Flight Simulator, and in terms of actually presenting real objects it was better."

Click the link for directions.

technorati tags: Google+Earth, flight+simulator

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Halp! Backlinks Don't Work!

Safari does not see the Lat Long backlinks.

I want my backlinks to work on my blog. Right now, I am using the "related article" in the post-footer that gives an actual link to an article that I may have done a "blog this!" to. Or to any article that I want to put in the link field when I create a post.

But there is supposed to be a way to get backlinks to show up on your individual post page and mine don't. And before you ask, yes, I have enabled backlinks in the settings section of my blogs.

• I have asked the blog template designer for help. They acknowledge the problem and said they would work on it. No word yet.
• I have started three threads on the Blogger Help Group. No response.
• I have asked Vin at Dummies Guide to Google Blogger Beta but his response is not do-able.
  

Firefox sees the Lat Long backlinks.
Early in August, I posted a Google Earth Challenge story about Google Earth and am still getting a lot of traffic off of that (over 200 hits because of my article). The reason? The backlink at the Lat Long Blog. Using Safari, I went to see the backlink to me on the original post and could not see any backlinks. I went there with Firefox and saw all the backlinks. Sometimes Safari does see the backlinks (sometimes it sees them but they don't work, too).

Safari sees the Blogger Buzz backlinks:
Part of the problem is the browser. Hopefully that will be fixed in October with OS 10.5.

But the basic problem is still my template. Firefox does not see any backlinks (and I know they are there after a Google blog search for links). Vin has told me to use Firefox on a PC to see my backlinks. That isn't going to work. I only see a PC at work, and the school took Firefox off of all the PCs after we had huge problems with java scripts.

Google has the backlink code but I haven't been able to figure out where to insert it in my template. I always get parsing errors because I put it in the wrong spot. The instructions are not clear about where to put it.

Ever try to get in touch with anybody at Google with a question? It don't work. There is no e-mail spot to ask. The moderators on the Google Groups are becoming rude and unmangeable. So if any of you know how to fix this frustrating backlinks thing, please let me know.

Google, Blogger, backlinks, trackbacks, related+article

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Wordless Wednesday: Flume Brook, Dixville Notch, New Hampshire

Visit this site on Google Maps.
Please click on the photo to view it full size on a new page.

Technorati tags: Flume+Brook Dixville+Notch New+Hampshire Wordless+Wednesday

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The Barton Fair: Create Personalized Google Maps

Google Street Map - map-generator.net

This is an interactive, clickable, zoomable map of the Orleans County Fairgrounds in Barton, Vermont. The fair, usually called the Barton Fair, opens tomorrow and goes through Sunday. My favorite parts of the fair are the poultry exhibits and the demolition derby. (Yes, I want chickens!)

The fair has a notorious history. You can read about it in this lengthy but excellent article that I found that gives you the flavor of my area. Edward Hoagland wrote in the article "Natural light: Life among Vermont's hippies, hunters, bears, and moose" about his life in Barton for Harper's Magazine in October 2000 that :

In Barton we had a wild, cruel county fair with (deleted) girlie shows--$3 for (deleted) – famous among carnie types as far south as Alabama, that the Quebecois poured across the border by the thousands to see.

In her book A History of Barton, Vermont, Darlene Young writes that the Vermont attorney general's office "concluded that the shows at the Orleans County Fair were 'the roughest of any in the state' and included illegal activities." She continues:

The fair did eventually eliminate the "girlie shows" [in the last half of the 1970s] from its attractions, but it was only partially in response to the public outcry. When Canadian spectators decreased, the fair directors lost their main justification for the "girlie shows": the shows simply weren't making as much money.

By that time, the fair had discovered a new moneymaker. In 1975, the Orleans County Fair hosted its first demolition derby.

+ + + + + + + + + +

I am experimenting tonight with an embedded Google map of the location of the fairgrounds (about 3 miles from my house). I read in Create Personalized Google Maps: "The Google Operating System Blog" (it is not an official Google blog) that Google announced today that next week embedded maps will be available for blogs. You will be able to embed an interactive map just like you embed a YouTube video. That will be great because right now you have to jump through hoops to get a map here on Blogger. (See the Google Earth Challenge posts to see what many of us have done).

At this time, according to another post on this blog, Embedding Google Maps, you have two methods to embed a map in your blog post. I tried them both. Both are free.

Map Generator is the easiest to use if you know the exact address of the location you want to map (often very difficult in this area). After I found the address of the fairgrounds on Google Maps and put that address into Map Generator, it was a snap to get the code to embed my map here. However, I had to alter the code for the embedded map so that it would fit within the middle blog column. If you are not willing to do that, you could end up with a very messy blog. My Maps Plus was very difficult for me to use. I did not like the map it created at all.

However, if you can wait until Google makes embedded maps available, you won't need to use either of these sites. Have fun with your maps! Watch the Google Earth Blog and Google LatLong Blog for announcements.

If you are able, come to the fair. It's clean and fun!

Technorati tags: Google+Earth Google+Maps Orleans+County+Fair Barton+Fair demolition+derby Barton Vermont embedded+maps

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Nobody Important: Google Earth Challenge – Where do you Work, Live and Play

Nobody Important: Google Earth Challenge – Where do you Work, Live and Play

JMB has posted her Google Earth Challenge. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. The maps for Vancouver are pretty amazing. It seems as if there are cliffs at the edge of the ocean. Also, you can see the silt that is washed into the ocean from the Fraser River. I thought Vancouver was much bigger than it seems to be (and it is a good thing that it is not huge!). There are huge green spaces there. Another example of the beauty and wise planning of Canada.

Be sure to go look at JMB's challenge. The Fraser River is very big and active. There are log booms to look at and you can even see snow on the huge mountains there (much taller than our Vermont mountains). JMB's commentary is very informative and interesting.

Be sure to visit the other people who have participated in this challenge!

Technorati tags: Google+Earth JMB Vancouver British+Columbia Canada Google+Earth+Challenge

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Stratford-Upon-Avon: Shakespeare’s Birthplace at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place

Stratford-Upon-Avon: Shakespeare’s Birthplace at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place

You must visit Somerset Bob because he has done the Google Earth Challenge on behalf of W Shakespeare. He and his wife dropped by Stratford so he got great photos of Shakespeare's house, canal boats and baby swans. Be sure to click the photo of the baby swans and look at them because they are a riot.

Somerset Bob has also posted a .kml file that you can download. When you open this file, it will unzip. Click on the unzipped file and it will open your copy of Google Earth and take you directly to Stratford.

I am going to learn how to do that file thing. And I'm going to find a place to host the file for downloads. I want to find historic places that are known world-wide and are here in New England, of the stature of Shakespeare's birthplace. And finally, I am going to create an OPML blogroll that can be easily downloaded to your RSS reader (like my long blogroll on the right sidebar). Then all of the participants can easily be reached from one spot.

Thank you again, Bob.

Be sure to visit the other people who have participated in this challenge!

Technorati tags: Google+Earth SomersetBob Shakespeare Great+Britain Google+Earth+Challenge

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Google Earth City Lights Layer

Sky & Telescope: Google Earth @ Night is a great article that taught me how to create these jpegs.

These are views from Google Earth that show light pollution. I seem to live in the most heavily lit area on earth even though it is so dark at night that it can feel suffocating. I also notice that this light seems to be traveling north and west across North America.

Above is India: not much of a problem at all.

Here is Great Britain: another problem area.

Blogs about GE:

• Google Lat Long Blog
• Using Google Earth
• Google Sightseeing

Be sure to visit the other people who have participated in this challenge!

Technorati tags: Google+Earth city+lights Google+Earth+Challenge

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Google Earth Challenge At scan man’s notes

Google Earth Challenge at scan man’s notes

We have been to Vermont, Nevada, Utah and Great Britain.

Now we travel to India!

scan man is "a radiologist practising in Salem, a city in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu" and a Mac user. That is what attracted me to his blog. I have already learned some Mac stuff from him. Today he worked on his Google Earth Challenge and you can find it here.

What I love about scan man's challenge is that when you follow his links in his posts about the places on his map, you can see India more personally. It is an awesome way to learn about each other. Scanman's photos are great and accompany his commentary and maps.

Thank you so much, scan man.

Be sure to visit the other people who have participated in this challenge!

Technorati tags: Google+Earth+Challenge India Google+Earth

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Google Earth at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place

Google Earth at ‘Somerset’ Bob’s Place

Somerset Bob has some great ways to integrate Google Earth in our posts. He is the inspiration for my Google Earth Challenge. He motivated me to learn more about this app and now I would love to see other places in the world (and now you can see them in sort of 3-D!).

Please read Somerset Bob's two posts where he uses and discusses GE:

• Sand Bay and Woodspring Priory
• Walking To Fitness

Don't forget to look at the other Google Earth Challenge folks here!

I think it would be exciting if in the future Google would serve our kml files for our blogs.

Technorati tags: Google+Earth+Challenge Great+Britain Google+Earth

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Google Sightseeing

Google Sightseeing

A blog with interesting news and views from Google Earth and Maps. .kml files are included on their posts. You have to see this blog if you use GE at all.

Technorati tags: Google+Sightseeing Google+Earth

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"We're all mad here," said the Cheshire Cat to Alice.: Google Earth Challenge

"We're all mad here," said the Cheshire Cat to Alice.: Google Earth Challenge

Alisonwonderland has posted a wonderful Google Earth Challenge from Utah. I find the mountains on her Google Earth to be very dramatic and so different from the green mountains here. Go have a look, grab the button and try your own challenge!


Technorati tags: Google+Earth+Challenge Utah Google+Earth

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Annalee Blysse: Google Earth Challenge

Annalee Blysse: Google Earth Challenge

Annalee's Google Earth maps show a wonderful contrast of Nevada and my area in Vermont.

Grab the button now and try it yourself!

Technorati tags: Google+Earth meme Google+Earth+Challenge Annalee+Blysse Nevada Vermont

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Town of Barton, Vermont (Google Earth Challenge)

Here is part of Barton Township with the village of Barton. The village of Orleans is to the north. You can open each image to view them large in a new window. Each was grabbed from Google Earth with Skitch. I also used Skitch to annotate the second image. (Mac only, 4 beta invitations left!)

I give you a Google Earth Challenge: where do you live, work or play? I would enjoy seeing your Google Earth images. You can annotate them or not. I have no idea what Windows software you would use to do what Skitch does. Please leave your link to the Challenge here in the comments! Be sure to grab the button above!


Technorati tags: Google+Earth Skitch Barton meme Vermont Barton+Mountain Crystal+Lake Willoughby+Lake Google+Earth+Challenge

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