Encompassing the Virtual Watershed

As we get bombarded with news of tragic global warming and climate change in general, it becomes more and more irresponsible to discuss the man-made world without considering the natural. So, I am sold on the idea that any virtual city had better be clearly modeled on the virtual watershed. The EPA provides a Surf Your Watershed application and the USGS provides some lovely GIS Watershed Layers in a KML format (nice for Google Earth presentation). The next step is to generate a complete 3-D model and place our cities within the watershed so we can better appreciate how much we affect the natural world with our building.

Kudos to Erica Naone

Erica's on-line article, entitled '3-D Design for the Masses', is the kind of article I think captures the promise of virtual city building by the masses. She reviews Dryad as the killer interface for mass participation and suggests the interface can only help companies like Everyscape catch on. I only wish I had responded to her e-mail message sooner to add a few quotes of encouragement to you all!

Getting the Word Out

Not too many readers have been engaging me on the concept of virtual cities as a community-builder and eco-friendly resource-saver. Let's see how many of you come to engage through my Technorati Profile.

Supposedly Technorati is the way to go, no? Sure sounds right. Thoughts?