Back in May Google got major attention with this video from Google I/O that outlined Google's attempt to recreate communication via the Internet called Google Wave. Well 100's of 1000's of users are now playing around with this limited preview and I was very fortunate to get invited by a friend and wanted to share my thoughts early in my testing.

For those of you who didn't spend the 80 minutes watching the spot from Google I/O, Google Wave is a live collaborative environment that incorporates many of technologies we use everyday into one sandbox. Think of one place to email, instant message and create collaborative, topical conversation in a threaded live document in the cloud. Sounds too good to be true, huh? Well, it is early and like many new technologies or services, Google Wave is still in the "Geek Stage" so many of it's users are people who enjoy the bleeding edge. So I thought as a good measure of the general public's ability to understand Google Wave I would try to explain this to my wife who is simply a user of technology and really doesn't care how it works, just that it does. She nodded in agreement that it made sense but I still felt that even though it made sense she would probably not be the first one to jump on the Wave.

E-mail but Not:

Similar to email, Wave has an inbox, folders and even an indication that new activity has occurred, however there are some fundamental differences that make Wave a much better tool for communicating with a group of recipients. When trying to send a message in email to your team, you add them to the "To:" area and then you type the message, essentially sending a read-only document to them for review. When they reply, they must reply to everyone in the team in order to keep the conversation contiguous. The problem grows when you want to add people to this conversation.

Wave is different in the conversation is centralized and it's recipients gather around the content, keeping it in sync with everyone in the group while extending editing to everyone. This makes the conversation resemble that of face to face meetings while ensuring everyone leaves with notes! Ever compare notes after a roundtable meeting only to find someone wrote something down you forgot?

IM but Not:

Whether it is Skype, AOL, Yahoo, GTalk, or Live Messenger, instant messaging has become a very common communication tool within teams due to the real-time nature of these services unlike that of email. IM is still mostly a 1:1 real-time tool, allowing two parties to chat and even video conference on a whim. Group chat can also be a productive way to sync teams but sometimes that content is not captured and has limited content creation tools available.

Collaboration is enhanced further in Wave by also making editing real-time. If more than one individual is editing the wave, others in the wave can watch them edit and even type each character in the instant it is happening in the Wave. This essentially brings chat into the communication when it makes sense; within the working environment about the topic at hand.

Gadgets, Bots and Extensions:

One of the things that makes the platforms successful is their ability to be extended through community need and programming. If you look at successful platforms in technology today, Firefox, iPhone, most computer operating systems, they all have a common thread; extensibility through applications. Gadgets are essentially embedded apps that perform a multitude of services as a feature of the conversation. I tested a few of these: Google Maps (maps with collaborative markup), Trippy (trip planning), Napkin (napkin sketching) all which extend the platform for various collaborative specialties. I can imagine once this platform is out, this is an area that 3D might be able to take into account, building interactive 3D markup and viewing gadgets like eDrawings (hint hint SolidWorks!).

Bots, on the other hand, can be added to the wave, similar to a contact, and will perform various actions based on activities happening within the wave. I have used four to date, Tweety (integrated twitter client) and Bitly bot (integraded Bit.ly shortening for URLs, Notify (Email notification) and XMPP (IM notification). In the 80-minute video, Google shows one that does real-time language translation while multiple parties talk called Rosy.

The Verdict:

It is still very early but after using it for the past week I really don't ever want to use email again. I use Yammer as an internal "CB radio" to allow group chat, fact finding and short topic conversation. Other projects are buried in a number of local tools that are shared via email which is slow hard to keep in sync with everyone involved. I can imagine using this platform for all sorts of projects but see a future as a cloud-based platform for all sorts of industries to build in real-time collaborative extensions into tools like CAD, Simulation, PDM/PLM and the like. The point is, providing a platform like Google Wave that could make design teams more cohesive and in sync, the more efficient they become. ~Lou

3dvia is a place where social media meets 3D modeling, allowing its users to upload, share and find 3d models. With over 6000 models and almost 75,000 users, 3dvia is the place to be when it comes to sharing 3d models. Content can be created in a variety of CAD tools including their own tool 3dvia Shape and uploaded in 3DXML format and viewed with 3dvia Player which can run as a standalone application or embedded inside the browser.

Even though SolidWorks has been able to export 3DXML for 2 releases, you were required to orient the model differently than the standard views that are native in SolidWorks.  Don Swavely wrote a great artilcle about how to property orient models so they don't come into 3dvia with the Front view facing upward.  This process was a bit painful to have to do just for the upload to be correct.

With the introduction of SolidWorks 2009 SP2 (as of 1/2/09 still in early visibility) publish to 3dvia is a new feature allowing a user to select "Publish to 3DVIA" from the File menu.  Once selected, a dialog will prompt for your user name and password to your 3dvia account.  Once you log in you will be presented with a nice dialog for specifying your publish settings. Among the options you can title, tag and type a detailed description of your model and specify the audience (public or private). This simplifies the upload process and streamlines the ability to share models to the web.

I hope this new addition will encourage SolidWorks users to share their models and helps reduce the barrier of entry for the SolidWorks masses. The key to many of these communities is keeping the interface simple but powerful, allowing their users to communicate and contribute without much effort. This is a great new addition and I hope it further diversifies the 3dvia community! ~Lou

However, the best experience for services like this are using a desktop client like Twhirl.  Twhirl supports many micro-blogging services like Twitter as well as Laconica.  By downloading this small Adobe Air desktop app you will be connected and updated as new posts come up on the HEaRD!

First you will need to visit herd.solidworksheard.com and setup an account by clicking "Register" at the top of the page. Once you are registered and have entered as much data as you like in your Profile settings you will be ready to use Twhirl!

Setup is extremely easy:

1. Download Twhirl and install.
2. Click on Configure (wrench icon)
3. Click "Open Accounts"
4. Pick "laconi.ca" from the selection list
5. Type in " This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it " and click the "+".
6. Then select your account and click "Connect"
7. All finished! Now start posting!

As I mentioned you can use the web interface and use almost all the features except SMS and XMPP for now but when I get some free time I will be trying to implement these services for posting your status  in the near future. For those of you not on Twitter, this is a great way to join the conversation without having to post to the masses.

So if you get a free second, vist http://herd.solidworksheard.com to register today and become a active member of "The HEaRD!" ~Lou

I know many of you have heard me talk about this online micro blogging platform before on the podcast but though I would take an opportunity to dive into some details of what is growing out of the conversation.

The Service: This service was launched in March of 2006 and really got picked up by a majority of bloggers and other tech media around the beginning of 2007 at CES and MacWorld Expo.  As many of these Web 2.0 services start to launch, it is always a mystery, not only how long will they stick around but what exactly their uses will be.  More often than not, these services are conceptualized one way, only to be used by the masses in ways never foreseen by their designers.  Twitter very much has fallen into this trend.

Twitter, as described on its homepage, "A service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"  The other challenging aspect of these "quick, frequent answers" is they are limited to 140 characters.  This limit is tied to that of the phone based short message service (SMS) since this is a way to easily update your status when away from your computer.

Currently there are three major ways to update your status with Twitter. One is through their website, via SMS or text message by sending your message to 40404 from your phone as well as many growing third party desktop and web-based applications. The best part of the third party applications is they bring some pseudo-stability to the Twitter service up-time is fragile, to be kind.  I currently use an Adobe Air application called Twhirl but there are so many so your best bet is to search for "Twitter clients" and pick the one that fits your needs.

The Community: When it comes to SolidWorks community, Twitter is beginning to play an important part of the everyday community chatter. The SolidWorks Twitter community really began with a couple of us geeks just testing the water at the beginning of the year and it has really grown into something that has an addictive nature.  The community thus far consists of some SolidWorks employees, various SolidWorks bloggers, growing numbers of users around the world, even the founder of SolidWorks himself Jon Hirschtick joined just a few weeks ago!

The Conversation: The conversation can range from "I'm out getting some coffee at StarBucks" to daily tips on using SolidWorks. What is interesting is how regular the community contributes.  People who are on Twitter are interested to know what others are up to and want to share what they are doing as well.  As soon as you start "following" a user on Twitter, meaning you will get updates to their status, you begin to read what others are up to that you are interested in.  What has spawned is a group of SolidWorks interested people who all want to contriubute and talk tech all day.  They can be extremely productive/distracting since it is a technology that can ping you as it comes in.  This can be even more disruptive than your email notification since the rate can be as high as a few minute or more depending on how many people you are following.

What is most interesting is how the community is growing and how you can "jump" into the conversation, update what you are up to, read what is going on and get out.  Once you leave, you feel like you are in the loop and up with the bleeding edge of SolidWorks breaking news. I use it to push out news like service pack releases, tech related news, and quick tips.

Who to follow: My buddy Josh Mings at SolidSmack did a great post on 60+ people to follow on Twitter that details his impressions of Twitter and who in on it. Searching Twitter for the keyword SolidWorks, you can see who is talking about it and if you look at their posts you can determine if they are worth following.

In addition to my @gol10dr (my Twitter account) I also contribute to @SolidWorksTips which are 140 character tips with both Josh Mings and Ben Eadie. The goal is to have a daily tip, well it averages out to a tip a day even though we usually push out tips in 2 or 3 at a time every couple of days.  So far we have received good feedback from many of the followers out there and look forward to giving back to the SolidWorks community 140 characters at a time! ~Lou