Google Streams in your web browser

[Fish]

OK, I've been playing with this for only about an hour and it's working pretty well already:

http://www.ozarkpages.com/cgi/geserver/gstreams.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Zoom in a bit. You'll see all the stream data as well as current radar data. Pretty slick in a web browser! It requires that you download and install the Google Earth Plugin - it should prompt you to do that when it loads. You may have to restart your browser to get it working. It is beta software right now, so it may have some issues and it will currently only work in Windows (no Mac just yet - they're saying it will be soon) and only with Firefox and IE 6 and 7. This technology is very new, and it will only improve from here.

I'm just playing with it right now, but I should have a full interface pretty soon and I think it has lots of potential. Why? Well, first off you won't have to install Google Earth itself and then follow lots of instructions to get things going (Like you had to do here: http://www.arkansascanoeclub.com/mb/vie ... php?t=6225" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). This will make it a lot more accessible for most folks. Second, when I have the time (hopefully soon), I can make it do many things I can't with the Google Earth program itself (well, not without a lot more work at least). For example, it should be possible to look at radar data in new ways and over animate them over longer timeframes. Also, I may be able to superimpose river level data here too (either in the main interface or as a sidebar). Really there are dozens of things I can potentially do with this, and they're all a lot easier than trying to bang away at the Google Earth program itself.

Finally, they *might* get a mobile version of this plugin someday, and that would be extremely cool. To get this on a cell phone would be revolutionary. :)

So, for you Google Streams users or wannabes, try this out now and I'll post updates here as I figure new things out.

- Fish

[Clif]

No MAC?!? That ain't right. That means I can't sit here at work wishing I wuz out there.

[Fish]

Patience grasshoppa... it is early release software... all things in due time.

Soon you will be cussing the mid-week rain with the rest of us.

- Fish

[RomanLA]

Patience grasshoppa... it is early release software... all things in due time.

Soon you will be cussing the mid-week rain with the rest of us.

- Fish

I don't cuss the mid-week rain. I cuss the lack of mid-week paddlers. I missed out on another run this morning.

[Eric Esche]

WOW!!! I just flew over the Buffalo section from Carver to Woolum and recognized both put in and takeout, but had never seen what was in between before. That is amazing. All I need now is a stick and rudder petals... That was great .... even did some turns around a point with no wind drift...

THANK YOU BILL !!!

Eric Esche

[okieboater]

any of you guru's out there got this working on Vista and Firefox.

I cannot get the plug in to download -- comes in with a zero record length and I get a error message?

dave

[RomanLA]

I'm running Vista and Firefox and I didn't have any problems downloading it. After I installed it, it took a little while for Firefox to recognize it though. You might want to make sure you're running the latest version of Firefox. There was an update a week or so back I think. Good luck!

Roman

[DaveIrvin]

Very cool , Fish.
I particularly like the watershed outline. That will be a great tool combined with the radar.
The only thing I don't like is your line thru the falls at the Tot. Remind me never to follow you down the falls.

[RandyJ]

Yes, very cool - thanks! Questions - will we:
1) Be able to control which radars are turned on?
2) Toggle between radar and rainfall totals?
3) Be able to control transparency of radar overlay?
4) Ask you so many questions you won't be able to work on it?

[Fish]

Randy et al,

Start making a list of features you'd like to see and I'll see what I can do.

To answer your questions Randy, yes, yes, maybe, and most likely.

I'm busy right now with paying work, but I will find some time to hit this again soon and get the radars toggling and possibly animating. I have a lot to learn about how it all works.

- Fish

[ARzach]

Fish,

Could you figure out a way to get Google earth to control our weather patterns as well. That would make it a bunch easier for those of us in school to guarantee that we can go creeking on days that don't equal missing out on homework, tests, etc and setting ourselves back a week in a wee 36 hour period.

Thanks,

Zach