Hello All, With the advent of new technologies online we dialists are presented with new opportunities and tools all the time. When I first started to make sundials many years ago I had to use printed lists and cartographic maps to determine the latitude and longitude coordinates for new sundials, then came online mapping services like Mapblast, Mapquest and other cartographic sources where one could enter the site location address or postal code and get the coordinates for the actual spot. Better still, now we have Google Earth and other tools with satellite imagery where, in addition to getting the coordinates of the place, we can even begin to determine declination of a remote site and sometimes even see see nearby obstructions. As I have been making Spectra sundials these past several years I have been using Google Earth to do my remote site work, and every time I made a new sundial I left a placemark behind so I could see where they all are. For years I wondered how I might be able to use this information to document the global spread of Spectra sundials, to show how the vertical sundial as a dial type can be adapted for different locations and declinations, and to give prospective clients a way to see what their dial might look like and which hours of the day they could expect it to operate. Sundial documentation has come a long way from the print descriptions and hand-drawn sketches of the past. Now there are fixed dial registers, some available online, that add pictures to the mix of verbal descriptions. The next logical step is mapping these dials, and many list members have undertaken projects to do just that using new technologies such as geotagging and waymarking, clickable image maps on web sites, and Google Maps. I would like to direct you all to a new sundial mapping feature on my web site that Phil Walker and I have been working on for quite some time time - an integrated Google Earth window that shows where most of the Spectra sundials are currently located. These sundials are all custom made for location just like fixed vertical dials and face in many different directions, so I designed a special icon that indicates declination "at a glance" - clicking on the icons leads to thumbnail images of the individual sundial layouts, and clicking on the thumbnails lead to larger versions with links to sundial pictures or other places online to learn more about any particular dial. We have also incorporated a short opening sequence, or movie, to rotate the globe to bring all sundial locations into view and added a real time terminator so that the user can see which dials are in the light of day at any given time. The sun never sets on the Spectra sundial! You can see the new Artisan sundial page here: The World of Artisan Sundials - Spectra Sundial Locations <http://www.artisanindustrials.com/world-of-sundials/artisan-sundials-world. html> Worldwide - ( http://www.artisanindustrials.com/world-of-sundials/artisan-sundials-world.h tml ) You may be asked to install a plug-in to make the Google Earth portion of the page work. Phil and I have tested this page extensively on most of the current browsers and platforms, and some of you have had an advanced look to help us "test drive" it. I feel confident at this time that any major issues have been resolved, so... Have a look and enjoy yourselves, especially those of you who have one of my sundials in your home! Best, Jim Tallman www.spectrasundial.com www.artisanindustrials.com jtall...@artisanindustrials.com
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