Tidbits: Google Earth Plugin, Vectorworks, CUDA and Texturefly

Google’s Earth Plugin for Mac OS X – New

Google finally announced that Mac users can enjoy the new Google Earth Browser plugin for both Safari and Firefox 3.0 and later. This is not the same as Google Earth for Mac, the application. That has been available for eons. Back in May 2008 Google released Earth Plugin for browsers on Windows which enables much of what Google Earth Application does but inside your browser. Then in October Google announced the plugin/app for the iPhone — making it the first mobile device to run Google Earth. 

Now Google Earth Plugin for Safari/Firefox Mac will enable the fundamental services of a navigable 3D globe with direct tie-in to website links that put locations right on the 3D earth. You can get the plugin here.

Vectorworks 2009 Localized Versions Available Now in Europe

Nemetschek North America has announced the availability of localized versions of the entire Vectorworks 2009 product line for European markets. European distributors have tailed Vectorworks 2009 products to meet the specific needs of their local marketplaces in addition to native language support. Versions are now available in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands will be releasing versions in the next few weeks. 

Nvidia’s CUDA Cleans Up at Supercomputing Awards

At the Supercomputing (SC) Convention this year Nvidia in conjunction with with university researchers won several awards for their achievements in GPU computation. Tesla GPUs and CUDA architecture were recognized in multiple categories, indexing the technology as making a real and significant impact in the high-performance computing (HPC) industry. 

Nvidia’s CUDA technology is very similar to Apple’s OpenCL parallel computing technology that has become a ratified industry standard managed by the Khronos Group. There are multiple parallels and commonalities between CUDA and OpenCL, which Nvidia has endorsed. 

Texturefly.com – Online Depot for architectural entourage

Texturefly.com is a new online store for textures to be used in 3D rendering applications. Trees, people, plants and backgrounds are available. The entourage is 2D. 

http://www.texturefly.com/