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"The Zoombak Universal A-GPS locator helps you stay connected to the things that matter the most by allowing you to actively locate what you are tracking in real-time and on-demand. It is a simple and ingenious way to keep track of items that need keeping track of - including children, bicycles, pets, backpacks and more!" Is there an equivalence between the list of those things?!
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"An intelligent, mobile-phone-based social network is being tested by researchers at Hewlett Packard. Friendlee analyses calls and messages to build up a picture of a person's closest correspondents." Bernardo Huberman is at it again, a quantitative algorithmic analysis is s'posed to give a reflection of your social life. An interesting experiment, possibly a disaster in personal privacy.
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Neat and simple visualisation of wirelessly communicable objects.
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Testing M$ 'natal', good review (with video) if a little gushing: "I haven't been quite this blown away by a tech demo in a long time. It looked neat onstage at Microsoft's keynote. Seeing it, feeling it in person, makes me want to believe that this what the future of gaming looks like—no buttons, no joysticks, no wands. The only thing left to get rid of is the screen, and even that'll happen soon enough."
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More ubicomp near-futurism: "One coming change in the cityscape that I’m expecting will be subtle, but pervasive: technology folks call it “ubiquitous computing.” The city will be alive with information, even more so than it is now. Every object—street signs, food carts, trains and busses, and especially people—will be digitally connected into an “internet of things.” It sounds Buck Rogers but in many ways it’s here already: Metrocards are connected to bank accounts, cell phones know where you are (and what’s nearby), signs on some subway platforms know when the next train is due to arrive."
Archive for June, 2009
links for 2009-06-13
Saturday, June 13th, 2009links for 2009-06-09
Tuesday, June 9th, 2009-
Scientific spectac-ulation "To generate this list of contributors, I approached some of today's leading scientists and asked them to name some of the rising stars in their respective disciplines: those who, in their research, are tackling some of science's toughest questions and raising new ones. The list that resulted amounts to a representative who's who of the coming generation of scientists." Scientists have all the 'answers'…
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"Changing the model of pedagogy for this generation is crucial for the survival of the university. If students turn away from a traditional university education, this will erode the value of the credentials universities award, their position as centers of learning and research, and as campuses where young people get a change to "grow up.""
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Hmm. "“The technology will provide the location of the individual wearing the shoes within 30 feet, anywhere on the planet,” said Andrew Carle, an assistant professor at George Mason University who served as an advisor on the project."
Neologism ~ “spectaculation”
Monday, June 8th, 2009
I’m no fan of coining neologisms, but(!) I think I have a need for a word that pithily and succinctly allows me to cast mild derision at certain forms of speculation. It seems to be possible to carve out a career by publicising one’s work by stretching beyond the conventional limits of the remit of a particular project and making grand claims about ‘progress’. This is often identifiable by the monotonous use of phrases such as “in the future you/we will…”. Sometimes this is excusable, people get excitedly exuberant about their research and ideas (sometimes it’s done for you!), but other times it is clearly a deliberate tactic. Thus, I think we can describe what they’re up to as ’spectaculation’. For it is not idle speculation but taking a speculative claim and widening its application, making it sound more important and thus more news-worthy i.e. spectacular. So we arrive at spectaculation, and of course somebody else (probably lots of people actually) has thought of this already (in a slightly different sense): credit where it’s due.
Image credit: Flickr user ‘Unhindered by Talent’.
links for 2009-06-02
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009-
Fun and jolly empire building with a smile: "You're invited to take the Day in the Cloud Challenge, the first-ever online scavenger hunt to be played simultaneously in the air and on the ground. We've teamed up with Virgin America to sponsor this challenge on June 24, 2009, the "Day in the Cloud." At Google, we've gathered a small group of gamers extraordinaire to come up with unique puzzles, trivia, and brain teasers, many of which use Google Apps"
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Mapumental is launched as "a realtime version of our lovely transport journey time maps … As well as being realtime generated, they include house price and 'scenicness' data, generated by the web game ScenicOrNot." The aim is to "take the nation’s bus, train, tram, tube and boat timetables and turn them into a service that does vastly more than imagined by traditional journey planners."
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"Housecoats and electronics are set to meet in a research project led by Northern Ireland academics. University of Ulster researchers are examining how hi-tech clothing could improve the lives of older people. The three-year project could see electronic devices built in to clothing that could provide information ranging from heart rate to bus timetables."
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Radio 1's very light-touch 'news' programme engages in some frothy envisioning at a 'house of the future' show: "When it comes to technology in the home if you've got the cash there's plenty of stuff out there - flat-screen, high def TVs, surround sound with MP3 docking stations, video game consoles galore - the list is endless. For a look at the very latest hi-tech gadgets Newsbeat went to see a "future house" at the Grand Designs Live exhibition in London's Excel Centre."
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BBC "Click Online" engages in some envisioning of near-future 'advances' in modes of interaction with a variety of devices. Lots of: "In the future you will…"
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"Quickly emerging from the fast-paced growth of mobile communications and wireless technologies, pervasive games provide a worldwide network of potential play spaces. Now games can be designed to be played in public spaces like streets, conferences, museums and other non-traditional game venues – and game designers need to understand the world as a medium—both its challenges and its advantages.
This book shows how to change the face of play—who plays, when and where they play and what that play means to all involved. The authors explore aspects of pervasive games that concern game designers: what makes these games compelling, what makes them possible today, how they are made and by whom. For theorists, it provides a solidtheoretical, philosophical and aesthetic grounding of their designs."
links for 2009-06-01
Monday, June 1st, 2009-
"Each month, we'll propose a scenario, and present some initial ideas and concepts. Then it's up you: Sketch out your vision, and upload your ideas (below). We'll use the best suggestions as inspiration for a future Found page, giving kudos to contributors. We'll add our favorite submission to this story."
