Article: How to design book covers in a digital age

How to design book covers in a digital age
http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/28/3047745/digital-book-covers

Sent via Flipboard, your social magazine for iPad and iPhone.

 

--Brad

Article: Adobe Creative Cloud now available for $49.99 per month, includes access to Creative Suite 6 and Adobe Muse

Buried at the end is that you can also subscribe to cloud versions of earlier versions of CS. 

Adobe Creative Cloud now available for $49.99 per month, includes access to Creative Suite 6 and Adobe Muse
http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/11/3013636/adobe-creative-cloud-launch-priced-49-99-per-month

(Sent from Flipboard)

 

--Brad

From The Dayton Daily News Mobile News Reader App:

I found this story on the Dayton Daily News Mobile News Reader App:

#justsayin'

IT job fair scheduled for June 6
http://www.daytondailynews.com/story-1372960.html

Learn more about the Dayton Daily News Mobile News Reader App at
http://www.daytondailynews.com/iphone

--Brad

First Look: SoundCloud Gets an Overhaul

First Look: SoundCloud Gets an Overhaul
READWRITEWEB | MAY 9, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/94uwS

The growth of SoundCloud has been astonishing. In only three years of existence, the social sound-sharing service has blown past 15 million users and ... Read more

Article: What Your Klout Score Really Means

Do you know your score?

What Your Klout Score Really Means
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2012/04/ff_klout/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: The 'cloud' is shifting tech-based education

The 'cloud' is shifting tech-based education
http://www.communitycollegetimes.com/Pages/Technology/The-cloud-shifts-tech-based-education.aspx

(Sent from Flipboard)

 

--Brad

New iOS app allows anyone to make 3D model from real object

Schweeeet!

New iOS app allows anyone to make 3D model from real object
TUAW - THE UNOFFICIAL APPLE WEBLOG | APRIL 20, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/8pfDR

Arqball Spin is a strangely-named iOS app that does something pretty magical: It will create fully spinnable 3D models from real-life objects. The app... Read more

Daily iPhone App: Sketch Nation Studio opens up game dev on the App Store

Have an idea for an iPhone game? You might want to check out this game development tool.

Daily iPhone App: Sketch Nation Studio opens up game dev on the App Store
TUAW - THE UNOFFICIAL APPLE WEBLOG | APRIL 20, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/8pV1I

Sketch Nation Studio started out as Sketch Nation Shooter last year, a "game" on the App Store that actually let you make your own shooter game by usi... Read more

Dropbox Sharing Gets Ridiculously Easy With Links

I didn't think it would be possible, but sharing files from DropBox is getting even easier.

Dropbox Sharing Gets Ridiculously Easy With Links
TECHCRUNCH | APRIL 23, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/8vD41

In the words of Dropbox CEO Drew Houston, sharing documents and other files online is "bafflingly, still really difficult." I ... Read more

How the iPad Is Changing Education

"Engaging" is the key word. The touchscreen interface is inherently more engaging than a traditional mouse-keyboard setup, but the software (content) must be organized and presented in an engaging and intentional manner.

How the iPad Is Changing Education
READWRITEWEB | APRIL 23, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/8uUVD

The iPad may only be two years old, but it's already begun to change many things. Reading is one of them. Work is another. It is selling like crazy, b... Read more

Reader

YouTube steps closer to a true online video editing platform. http://www.google.com/reader/i/?hl=en&gl=us#stream/user%2F12857850095717931967%2Fstate%2Fcom.google%2Freading-list

--Brad

3 Reasons Why Everyone Needs to Learn Markdown

If you've ever suffered with the "wysiwyg" editors in most content management systems, you might want to have a look at this.

3 Reasons Why Everyone Needs to Learn Markdown
READWRITEWEB | APRIL 17, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/8gqeL

You've probably heard of Markdown. Maybe you've heard the name for years. Perhaps you just encountered it, since it's enjoyed a renaissance lately. B... Read more

Solving College With Big Data

The Internet is always present. Maybe the real value to being on campus, the one worth paying for, is the part that happens offline.

Solving College With Big Data
READWRITEWEB | APRIL 17, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/8j7uI

College is stuck in the past, and tech is always trying to tow it out of the mud. The trick is finding a solution that provides more access to higher ... Read more

Article: Breaking: Facebook's Buying Instagram for a Billion Dollars

Instagram is cool and all, but a BILLION? Is that cool, Mark? This can't be right, can it? Somebody say this is a hoax. 

Breaking: Facebook's Buying Instagram for a Billion Dollars
http://gizmodo.com/5900352/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: How to create stunning panoramic photographs with your iPhone

Nice how-to for using your iPhone camera to shoot panoramic images.

How to create stunning panoramic photographs with your iPhone
http://www.imore.com/2012/03/31/panoramic-photography/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Video: The Impact of Kickstarter, Creative Commons & Creators Project | Off Book | PBS

A very nice video of how the Internet is changing the funding of, distribution of, and even the creation of art.

If this is typical of the quality of PBS's Off Book series, that will be worth a subscribe click.

The Impact of Kickstarter, Creative Commons & Creators Project | Off Book | PBS

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: Even Old Media Institutions Are Acting Like New Media

Even Old Media Institutions Are Acting Like New Media
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/03/even-old-media-institutions-are-acting-like-new-media/255088/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: Study Smarter, Not Harder! New Apps for Students

Study Smarter, Not Harder! New Apps for Students
http://www.campustalkblog.com/study-smarter-not-harder/

(Sent from Flipboard)

 

--Brad

Best Practices For Writing For Online Readers

Best Practices For Writing For Online Readers
READWRITEWEB | MARCH 16, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/74zEK

I have less than 30 seconds to capture your attention with this post, so here goes: if you read some, most or all of the next 750 words or so, you wil... Read more

Article: Newspapers Are America's Fastest-Shrinking Industry

Newspapers Are America's Fastest-Shrinking Industry
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/03/newspapers-are-americas-fastest-shrinking-industry/254307/

(Sent from Flipboard)

 

--Brad

Article: Twitter Buys Posterous; It’s Not Quite an “Acqhire” as Product Won’t Be Shut Down

Ah, well, bugger. 

Twitter Buys Posterous; It’s Not Quite an “Acqhire” as Product Won’t Be Shut Down
http://allthingsd.com/20120312/twitter-buys-posterous-its-not-quite-an-acqhire-as-product-wont-be-shut-down/

(Sent from Flipboard)

 

--Brad

How tablets will transform the construction industry

http://www.google.com/reader/i/?hl=en&gl=us#stream/user%2F12857850095717931967%2Fstate%2Fcom.google%2Freading-list

--Brad

Article: Sometimes, the weird picture is REAL

Sometimes, the weird picture is REAL
http://www.skeptic.com/doubtful-news/sometimes-the-weird-picture-is-real/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: Shifting Students Out of Community Colleges and Into For-Profits

" cash-strapped state schools are cutting courses that cost more to teach, which unfortunately also happen to be the classes that are most likely to get students jobs"

Shifting Students Out of Community Colleges and Into For-Profits
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/out-of-community-colleges-and-into-for-profits/

(Sent from Flipboard)

 

--Brad

Article: Dayton Community College Trains Students for the Exciting Kind of Drone Jobs

This is kind of cool, actually.

Dayton Community College Trains Students for the Exciting Kind of Drone Jobs
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/2012/03/05/dayton-community-college-trains-students-for-the-exciting-kind-of-drone-jobs/

(Sent from Flipboard)

 

--Brad

The future of online work is here

http://www.google.com/reader/i/?hl=en&gl=us#stream/user%2F12857850095717931967%2Fstate%2Fcom.google%2Freading-list

--Brad

Interneternity?

QR scan tags on memorial headstones, and online condolences - you can't escape the Internet, even in death.

--Brad

Article: MIT launches free online 'fully automated' course

The future of education, the university as a "freemium" service.

MIT launches free online 'fully automated' course
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17012968

(Sent from Flipboard)

Video about Social Media

Nice video - shout out to Ruth for sending me this link:

On "Apple's Sweatshops"

A colleague sent me this email (quoted in it's entirety):

> I am interested in your take on the current controversy about Apple's China sweat shops. Thanks.
I'll post my reply here. At the bottom of the post are two URLs: one for a recent article about worker raises and increased attention of the factories; the other perhaps the best article I have read on the issue, from the New York Times. I urge you to read the Times article in its entirety - it contains some very insightful observations about globalization and America's place in the new economy.

My response to my colleague follows:

---

Well, first, other that having a tremendous appreciation for Apple products, I am no industry expert, nor an economist, nor a social philosopher.

I assume you are referring to Foxconn, and specifically its plant in Shenzen which has around a quarter million workers, many of whom live in company dormitories.

While the working conditions and expectations for a factory worker at Foxconn probably sound alien (and harsh) to an American worker, but global standards perhaps not. Six-day work weeks and 12-hour shifts for the American equivalent of $20 a day may be interpreted as a "sweat shop" here, but Foxconn's factories are modern, well-lit and ventilated, clean and safe.

It should also be pointed out, in the context of your question, that the factories are not Apple's. Foxconn and the other suppliers in Asia, South America and Eastern Europe make components for and assemble virtually all the electronics Americans consume - not just iPhones but televisions, stereos, computers, automotive electronics, home energy controls, and on and on and on.

Largely as the result of Apple's success in the smartphone market and Foxconn's central role in iPhone manufacturing, the company is getting a lot of attention. A few years ago there was a "rash" of worker suicides that many were quick to ascribe to the "inhumane" working conditions. But with a worker population of a quarter-million, the number of suicides in that period were within the background frequency.

From the point of view of the worker, Foxconn is a pretty good deal. Most of its unskilled or semiskilled laborers are fleeing an agrarian - and largely unmechanized - lifestyle. A 12-hour shift in a well-lit and clean factory with wages above the regulated minimum plus overtime and bonuses must sound pretty decent to someone who is slogging pig shit by hand into a muddy field for 14 hours a day.

It is not a fair comparison to judge Foxconn's working conditions and wages in China (or Brazil or Mexico or the Czech Republic) against American middle-class sensibilities. American workers recoil at descriptions of Foxconn's working conditions, but only because they would prefer to spend more time with family, coaching their kids' soccer teams, and watching football on TV. But those are not choices workers in most of the world get to make. Their choices are often between working and starving.

There is also the matter of whether Apple (and others) really have a choice whether to employ Americans or go overseas. According to the NY Times article linked below, they really do not. The supply chain is in Asia. The Chinese government is willing to invest in factory expansion to enable Foxconn and other suppliers to bid and win contracts. They have a vast and willing population of appropriately-trained skilled and semi-skilled workers.

Foxconn workers are not slaves, and they are not children. They stood in line to apply for their jobs. They do this because factory work is their best option for a better life. I'm not claiming that Foxconn is Willy Wonka and everybody is happy and singing all day - I know I would not much like working in those conditions. But not that many generations ago, our own ancestors stood in line to work in the coal mines, or the garment shops, or meat packing plants. I would argue that a worker assembling glass screens for an iPhone in 2012 Shenzen is better off than a meatpacker in 1906 Chicago. And I would also argue that they are both in the same position economically and morally - because those conditions are better than the ones they left, and because middle class demand for inexpensive products, whether gadgets or beef, is driving the supply chain.

Upton Sinclair exposed the brutality and profit-driven conditions of the Chicago meatpacking trade, and that eventually led to better conditions for the workers, for the cattle, and for safer products for consumers. Today, the technology bloggers serve that role - calling out the Apples and Foxconns when profits seem to trump humanity, and forcing by strength of public opinion changes when changes are warranted.

Chicago and America emerged from the industrial revolution to build the largest economy the world has ever known, and has sustained that for more than a century. China (and other emerging economies) are poised to do the same in this century.

For what it's worth... Thanks for the question. Do read the Times article.

Article: The Internet is a Major Driver of the Growth of Cognitive Inequality

"Moral of the story: the internet makes dumb people dumber and smart people smarter. If you don't know how to use it, or don't have the background to ask the right questions, you'll end up with a head full of nonsense. But if you do know how to use it, it's an endless wealth of information. Just as globalization and de-unionization have been major drivers of the growth of income inequality over the past few decades, the internet is now a major driver of the growth of cognitive inequality. Caveat emptor."

Indeed. Access to a vast reserve of information, uncataloged and mostly uncurated, without a robust set of critical thinking skills and information literacy techniques, is a recipe for hyperstupid.

The Internet is a Major Driver of the Growth of Cognitive Inequality
http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/02/internet-major-driver-growth-cognitive-inequality

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: Forbes Among 30 Clients Using Computer-Generated Stories Instead of Writers

Uh oh. 

Forbes Among 30 Clients Using Computer-Generated Stories Instead of Writers
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/forbes-among-30-clients-using-computer-generated-stories-instead-of-writers_b47243

(Sent from Flipboard)

 

--Brad

Everything That's Wrong with Patent and Copyright Laws in One Brilliant Video [Video]

A very nice recap of the original intent of copyrights and patents, as well as a scathing condemnation of the litigious free-for-all they have become.

Everything That's Wrong with Patent and Copyright Laws in One Brilliant Video [Video]
GIZMODO | FEBRUARY 16, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/62ZOK

Read more

Article: ‘App economy’ job prospects booming

‘App economy’ job prospects booming
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/app-economy-job-prospects-booming-1327623.html?cxtype=rss_ece_frontpage

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: The iPad Dominates the Future of Retail Point-Of-Sale Purchasing | PadGadget

This article underscores the rapid shift toward off-the-shelf hardware and downloadable apps for point-of-sale support in retail.

"According to Aruba’s survey, 56 percent of businesses plan to implement mobile technology systems using the iPad and 38 percent plan on using iPhones. The big news in business-related mobile solutions is mobile PoS solutions."

The iPad Dominates the Future of Retail Point-Of-Sale Purchasing | PadGadget
http://www.padgadget.com/2012/01/16/the-ipad-dominates-the-future-of-retail-point-of-sale-purchasing/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: Buffalo Wild Wings Plans to Go iPad in its Restaurants

I have a feeling those are going to be some gamey touchscreens...

Buffalo Wild Wings Plans to Go iPad in its Restaurants
http://www.padgadget.com/2012/02/08/buffalo-wild-wings-plans-to-go-ipad-in-its-restaurants/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: Hand Over Your iPad – The Cat Is Bored

You know who you are...

Hand Over Your iPad – The Cat Is Bored
http://appadvice.com/appnn/2012/02/hand-over-your-ipad-the-cat-is-bored

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: What Have You Built?

What Have You Built?
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/what-have-you-built

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: Rice University announces open-source textbooks

Rice University announces open-source textbooks
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/02/07/rice-university-announces-open-source-textbooks

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: Crack this: How to pick strong passwords and keep them that way

Good advice about passwords.

And if you don't like all the reading, XKCD covered this back in August. Http://XKCD/936

Crack this: How to pick strong passwords and keep them that way
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/crack-this-how-to-pick-strong-passwords-and-keep-them-that-way/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Assistant

There's a new icon on my keyboard at the microphone and with this microphone I can dictate the contents of an email using the Siri assistant for the Apple iPhone 4S using just my voice I can create compose and send an email. This email can be sent anywhere and we'll post to Facebook and twitter. And in fact this particular post was done entirely as a dictation with no editing. I see if you Meyer errors but probably no more than I could make what I'm typing especially on the small keyboard and I can do this virtually hands-free. This seems to work at least as well as some of the dedicated text to speech applications I've used. In fact it seems to be a little bit smarter about contractions and alternative words. I'm really looking forward to wear this Siri assistant can go in the near future. --Brad

Article: Web economy 'to double by 2016'

Web economy 'to double by 2016'
http://digg.com/news/technology/web_economy_to_double_by_2016

(Sent from Flipboard)

Life in a Day, and why YouTube and Wikipedia matter

Life in a Day is, at its core, a documentary film. But its scope is what sets it apart - it is nothing less than a global snapshot of humanity.

The project asked people all over the world - and in places where "media" is not as ubiquitous as in the West, the film's producers and editors sent cameras - to video record their lives on a specific day: July 24, 2010. The producers expected to receive perhaps 15,000 submissions; they got more than 80,000, a total of 4500 hours of images mundane and extraordinary.

Through a process of cataloging and culling, the editors present the finished film in 1:35. It is available for full viewing on YouTube, and is also now available on NetFlix or DVD.

Life in a Day is sponsored by YouTube, and took advantage of YouTube's massive video servers to collect and catalog the clips. The clips were shot by amateurs - ordinary people - using HandyCams and $100 flash memory cameras, iPhones, what have you. Some clips are grainy, poorly lit, jittery, out-of-focus - it doesn't matter. The content is so compelling in aggregate that the intercutting and juxtapositions become lyrical.

The structure is loose, the themes broad, and there is no plot. The entire film may be summed up as "Life happens." There are funny moments and inspiring ones, profound moments and tragic ones. It's like, you know, life.

I picked out one particular contribution, about an 11-year-old shoeshine boy from Peru. His story is woven through other stories. He appears briefly, we move on to something else, and just about when we have forgotten him, he reappears, framed in his doorway holding his green and white laptop, supplied by the One Laptop Per Child project. This boy lives in conditions the poorest Americans would consider appalling. He works because his mother has died and he must help support his family, and he finds both refuge and escape through Wikipedia. "Wikipedia has everything," he says. "It has stories, and history, and maths, and science." He uses his laptop to play games, to draw, to write stories. "It is my friend," he says, "like my sister."

We leave him, believing - or wanting to believe - he will make it, will succeed, escape the tragic conditions life has dealt him. His worldliness and joie de vive, despite his core sadness, seem well beyond his years, and too strong to fail. That is, if disease or hunger or street thieves after the coins in his pocket don't do him in first. He has connected to the larger world, a world he might never even know of if not for the OLPC and Wikipedia. We in higher education can bemoan Wikipedia's "amateur" nature all we like, but for millions, and soon billions of people, it may be the closest they ever get to a library, or a school.

The internet is not for Americans only, or for the well-to-do. It's not just shopping and friending and World of Warcraft. It is a lifeline, a potential rescue out of desperate conditions, perhaps the only chance millions upon millions will ever have.

It is incumbent upon us - the internet wealthy - to not just focus on how the web can entertain us, or make us richer, but how it can make the world better. Life in a Day helps us remember that, and more.

Article: Codecademy and The White House Announce Code Summer+ Youth Education Program

Codecademy and The White House Announce Code Summer+ Youth Education Program
http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/17/code-summer-plus/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: iPad a Solid Education Tool, Study Reports

iPad a Solid Education Tool, Study Reports
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/01/ipad-educational-aid-study/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: can changing how we teach make our kids smarter, more creative?

First the $50 tablet and now self-organized learning... The education revolution is happening in the slums of India, and in America we keep building cathedrals to 1950s-style worker factories and call them "schools."

can changing how we teach make our kids smarter, more creative?
http://blog.ted.com/2012/01/24/new-ted-book-asks-can-changing-how-we-teach-make-our-kids-smarter-more-creative/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: iPads in Education: Wake up and Smell the Future

From what I've seen of it, iBooks Author is a game changing piece of software.

iPads in Education: Wake up and Smell the Future
http://ipadinsight.com/ipad/ipads-in-education-wake-up-and-smell-the-future

(Sent from Flipboard)

iTunes U Puts Entire College Courses on Your iPad

http://m.gizmodo.com/5877532/itunes-u-puts-entire-college-courses-on-your-ipad

--Brad

Article: Tech giant unveils iBooks2, iBook Author, and upgraded iTunes U

Tech giant unveils iBooks2, iBook Author, and upgraded iTunes U
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/01/19/digital-textbook-world-awaits-apples-education-announcement

(Sent from Flipboard)

 

--Brad

Article: U.S. Department Of Education Calls For Action To Develop 21st Century Citizens, Strengthen Democracy | National Service-Learning Clearinghouse

U.S. Department Of Education Calls For Action To Develop 21st Century Citizens, Strengthen Democracy | National Service-Learning Clearinghouse
http://www.servicelearning.org/news-notices/news/us-department-education-calls-action-develop-21st-century-citizens-strengthen-demo

(Sent from Flipboard)

 

--Brad

Web Video Gets Real-Time Translation In 50+ Languages

If this works, even kind of sort of a little bit, it's a major WOW from CES!

Web Video Gets Real-Time Translation In 50+ Languages
FAST COMPANY | JANUARY 11, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/4TRgl

Canadian startup Ortsbo's new product can instantly translate Internet video into more than 50 languages in real time. And Gene ... Read more

Infographic: The Growth of Enterprise Mobility

Some really interesting numbers here...

Infographic: The Growth of Enterprise Mobility
READWRITEWEB | JANUARY 11, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/4Tn8f

No industry vertical has been more disrupted by the evolution of the smartphone than the enterprise. Since Apple released the ... Read more

Hybrid HTML5 Apps Are Less Costly to Develop Than Native

Hybrid HTML5 Apps Are Less Costly to Develop Than Native
READWRITEWEB | JANUARY 9, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/4P3kX

It seems like a fairly straightforward question: As a developer, business and enterprise, do I develop Web apps, native apps or ... Read more

Article: More Left Brain / Right Brain Nonsense

More Left Brain / Right Brain Nonsense
http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/more-left-brain-right-brain-nonsense/

(Sent from Flipboard)

 

--Brad

Why College Is Still Relevant in the Age of Free Information

Why College Is Still Relevant in the Age of Free Information
MASHABLE! | JANUARY 6, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/4JNgV

Hansoo Lee is co-founder and CEO of Magoosh, an online test prep company with products for the SAT, GRE, and GMAT. The ... Read more

Article: Small Demons — Welcome to the Storyverse

A new way to think about books as an immersive experience!

Small Demons — Welcome to the Storyverse
https://www.smalldemons.com/#request-invite

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: Meeting the demand for workers with social media skills

Meeting the demand for workers with social media skills
http://www.communitycollegetimes.com/Pages/Technology/Colleges-adjust-program-to-meet-demand-for-workers-with-specialized-online-skills.aspx

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: Job Board

This could be fun! Looks like a web designer internship (unpaid) at Fifth Third for the Dragons.

Job Board
http://www.creativesyndicate.org/blog/job-board

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: Win $1,500 in ED’s College Net Price Calculator Student Video Challenge | ED.gov Blog

Win $1,500 in ED’s College Net Price Calculator Student Video Challenge | ED.gov Blog
http://www.ed.gov/blog/2012/01/win-1500-in-eds-college-net-price-calculator-student-video-challenge/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Website Design Contest!

ChooseOhioFirst.org wants you to design their new website!

http://www.chooseohiofirst.org/

The purpose of the website is to recruit talented Ohio students into STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine) fields. The website should encourage students to pursue a degree as part of the Choose Ohio First scholarship program.

Do it!

Article: The 11 Best Innovation Essays We Published In 2011

As good a collection of essays on creativity, innovation and change as you will find. 

The 11 Best Innovation Essays We Published In 2011
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665706/the-11-best-innovation-essays-we-published-in-2011

(Sent from Flipboard)

 

--Brad

The No-Resolution Resolution: How to Really Be Happy in 2012

The No-Resolution Resolution: How to Really Be Happy in 2012
GOOD | DECEMBER 30, 2011
http://pulse.me/s/4uFo8

In mid-December, I celebrated my 30th birthday at a little Scandanavian restaurant in a quickly-changing part of DC. I was ... Read more

Codecademy Builds ‘Labs,’ A Web-Based Code Editor

Codecademy Builds ‘Labs,’ A Web-Based Code Editor
TECHCRUNCH | DECEMBER 22, 2011
http://pulse.me/s/4fFpH

Smoking hot startup Codecademy, a service which teaches you how to program online has launched its Labs feature today, as a ... Read more

This New App Turns Your iPad Into Your Classroom

This New App Turns Your iPad Into Your Classroom
GOOD | DECEMBER 22, 2011
http://pulse.me/s/4f3On

Thanks to the popularity of the Khan Academy's simple video lessons, millions of people around the globe have learned ... Read more

Tweet by Mindset Digital on Twitter

Here are a couple of new job titles to keep an eye on. 

Mindset Digital

(@mindsetdigital)

Posted at 2:26 PM December 21, 2011

 on Twitter

"We're Hiring! Two positions: Social Media Strategist and Community Manager/Trainer: http://t.co/NG1ckRJc #socialmedia #jobs #smjobs"

(Sent from Flipboard)

 

--Brad

Article: MITx: The Next Chapter for University Credentialing?

MITx: The Next Chapter for University Credentialing?
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/mitx-next-chapter-university-credentialing

(Sent from Flipboard)

 

--Brad

Article: YouTube for Schools and Lecture Capture

YouTube for Schools and Lecture Capture
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/youtube-schools-and-lecture-capture

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: SylvanSport Go Camper Trailer

These are really cool camper/haulers, and they are built in Sidney at Hydro!

SylvanSport Go Camper Trailer
http://uncrate.com/stuff/sylvansport-go-camper-trailer/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: Brand Madness, Round 4 Match 2: Teradata vs. Midmark

Almost 5,000 votes cast and it's a dead heat! Show your support for Midmark, one of Edison's great community partners. 

Brand Madness, Round 4 Match 2: Teradata vs. Midmark
http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/blog/brand-madness/2011/12/brand-madness-round-4-match-2.html

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: Why Schools Need to Get Social, Local and Mobile

Faculty - be honest. How many of you read this and don't know what these services are or do, let alone how they can potentially impact teaching and learning?

Get out there! Mix it up. See what works and what doesn't. We area in a Cambrian Explosion of SoLoMo apps, and no, not every one will succeed. But some will, and they will dominate the landscape for the next decade and beyond.

Why Schools Need to Get Social, Local and Mobile
http://mashable.com/2011/12/01/education-social-mobile/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Kepler Team Confirms First Earth-like Planet in a Habitable Zone, And Finds 1,094 More Worlds

This is seriously cool! I think we're starting to get the idea - there's a whole bunch of planets out there, and a big chunk of them are going to be life-friendly. 

Kepler Team Confirms First Earth-like Planet in a Habitable Zone, And Finds 1,094 More Worlds
POPULAR SCIENCE - NEW TECHNOLOGY, SCIENCE NEWS, THE FUTURE NOW | DECEMBER 5, 2011
http://pulse.me/s/3LG6z

Kepler 22b Kepler-22b, just 2.4 times the size of Earth, is the first planet known to comfortably circle in the habitable zone ... Read more

Article: Tim Pool

Those of us old enough to remember the "Scud Stud" and those night vision images from the 1991 Persian Gulf War may recall how, regional politics aside, we were witnessing the rise of a New Thing - the 24-hour news channel as "something important". We can debate about whether cable TV is still relevant, and whether CNN et al squandered their legacy. But in this report about Occupy Wall Street "live stream" Tim Pool, I sense the rise of a new New Thing.

Tim Pool
http://pressthink.org/2011/11/occupy-pressthink-tim-pool/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Study: More Than 15% of Workers Get Hired Through Social Networks

Connect, connect, connect!!!!

Study: More Than 15% of Workers Get Hired Through Social Networks
READWRITEWEB | NOVEMBER 16, 2011
http://pulse.me/s/3dKQd

In a survey released today, recruiting software platform Jobvite noted that more than 22 million Americans used social networks ... Read more

Photographer Annie Leibovitz recommends iPhone as a camera

Uh-huh, uh-huh! See what I'm saying???!!!

Photographer Annie Leibovitz recommends iPhone as a camera
TUAW - THE UNOFFICIAL APPLE WEBLOG | NOVEMBER 16, 2011
http://pulse.me/s/3dANa

In the world of photography, there's one person who stands out for her classic portraits of such ... Read more

Networked Society - a new short film about connectivity

A very interesting and insightful perspective on how we stand just at the brink of a truly networked society.

"We are the last generation that grew up in a dumb society, where things were stupid and uninteresting."

"All of the devices we make today have the potential to communicate with each other and have a reason to do it."

"When the light bulb was the thing, they dug up New York so that everyone could have lightbulbs in their houses. They didn't really see the extension of light bulbs, that you could have other electrical appliances. ...Jeff Bezos of Amazon ... thinks we are at the lightbulb stage of the internet."

Not a lot of "new" technology here, but a step back to look forward.

--Brad

We've covered most of these, but good tricks nevertheless....

Use Photoshop to alter reality

http://gizmodo.com/5857150/how-to-use-photoshop-to-pop-pimples-change-facial-...

Wired.com to begin releasing images under Creative Commons licensing - Dig in!

Like many other sites across the web, we’ve benefited from CC-licensed photos at Wired.com for years — thank you, sharers! It seems only fitting, and long overdue, to start sharing ourselves.

http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2011/11/creative-commons/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29&utm_content=Google+Reader&pid=1358

This should be good! It will expose Creative Commons licensing to a much broader audience. Please read the article to determine what is off limits and what you can "remix" for yourself.

Siri hype, backlash and the long view

But the thinking here has to extend beyond the present and your own self. It reminds me a bit of the people who used to say that they needed a physical keyboard on their phone. And that Apple would eventually have to add one to the iPhone. It was a certainty.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/05/that-iphone-keyboard-is-still-coming/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Article: Codify – iPad

This looks really cool. I'm going to spring for the eight bucks and give it a try.

Codify – iPad
http://twolivesleft.com/Codify/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: New Software System for Realistically Adding Objects Into Photos

New Software System for Realistically Adding Objects Into Photos
http://laughingsquid.com/new-software-system-for-realistically-adding-objects-into-photos/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: Steve Jobs: “Death Is The Destination We All Share”

Full text of Jobs' 2005 Stanford commencement address.

Steve Jobs: “Death Is The Destination We All Share”
http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/05/stay-hungry-stay-foolish/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Apple' Steve Jobs has died

Sad, sad day.

http://www.apple.com/

Reporting events

NET225S Writing for Electronic Media

Blogging and Reportage


A great number of blogs, maybe most, are reporting blogs. Some are affiliated with established publishing companies, and a great many more are independent.

When reporting an event, you can take a number of approaches. One is the “objective” report - that is, you attempt to report the event as it happened with no particular point of view expressed on your part. This is both difficult to do and largely a fallacy. With all due respect to Fox News (not much) “fair and balanced” is almost exactly NOT what they do. Fox has a clear point of view, and their reportage reflects that point of view.

Not long ago, newspapers openly declared their point of view, and in some cases were even named for political affiliation or philosophy. Did you know there used to be a newspaper in Sidney called the “Shelby County Democrat.” Can you imagine such a paper existing today?

Driven in part by backlash against how the Vietnam War was being reported, the major television networks in the 1970s attempted to instill a “values-free” reportage philosophy. Walter Cronkite’s signature sign-off phrase “And that’s the way it is...” is a declaration of what Bill O’Reilly now laughably calls a “spin-free zone.”

For individuals, it is all but impossible to separate one’s personal point of view from the reportage of events. After all, it is through our own point of view that we witness, process, recall and retell events. Studies show that human perception is incomplete, and memory is flawed, and changes over time.

The only way to be truly “fair” then is to admit up front - to your audience and to yourself - what your point of view is. You don’t have to go into a formal analysis, but if you are pro-Ohio State football, for instance, that should be reflected in the context of your blog. That way, when your audience (who will tend to think like you) reads your report of the trinkets-for-tattoos scandal, they will understand the context in which you present it.

Your assignment is to cover an event, gather information, photos, etc., and then report the event on your blog.

One approach is the “live blog,” where you write short entries and post them immediately as they happen. Another approach is to gather information, process and organize your thoughts, and then post a longer, more crafted blog entry some time after.

What I do NOT want is what Fox often calls reporting, which is repeating what others are saying about the event. That’s just conflict mongering, and is about as useful and interesting as listening to dogs bark.

You can pick your event, but it must be one that you can attend in person. If you are witnessing something via television, then you are already (at least) one filter removed from reality. It can be a sporting event, a meeting, or other event public or private.

In your report, which you will post to your blog, describe the event - date, location, who is there and why. Then establish a point of view for the event - are you an active participant, an interested bystander, a critic?

Decide whether you will live blog or write your report after the fact (you could, I suppose, do both). Use proper spelling and grammar.

If you have difficulty picking an event, let me know and I’ll help you find something.

Have your finished reports posted no later than class time October 5. This week’s class time September 28 will be open lab and optional, if you need my help.

Please email me with any questions.

Article: Word as Image

Oooh, this looks fun!

Word as Image
http://www.coolhunting.com/design/word-as-image.php

(Sent from Flipboard)

list of QR software

Student Barb asks:

Are QR codes a form of a web app? I know what they do, my son showed me last night, I've been seeing them popping up everywhere but didnt know how to use them.

http://www.qrtists.com/s/

Have you ever tried any of the software on this list?

I thought I would answer on the blog, as this could be of interest to a number of you.

I have experimented with two types of scannable tags - the classic QR code (black square pixels) and Microsoft's mobi tags, which are generated using colorful triangles.

Here's an example of an application for mobi tags:

http://smartdoor.weebly.com/

The photo description panels for my iPhone Photography art gallery exhibit have QR codes. Users with smartphones can scan the tags and they take are directed to web pages for more information about the images.

QR codes are not really a form of web app. They are more related to the URL shorteners Bit.ly and others.

The classic QR codes generated by Kaywa (free to use, no account setup necessary) can forward to a URL, display a text message, dial a phone number or send an SMS message.

The Microsoft mobi tag types are URL, app download, free text, vCard and dialer. Microsoft tags are free to create and use, but do require an account setup.

By setting up an account, users can track statistics about how often the tags are scanned and when.

[cid:B5D285F1-D03D-4B03-A922-99220E8BDEA8@edisonohio.edu]

There are three parts to implementing QR tags: Tag creation, tag management, and tag scanning.

Scanning tags

Users download an app, usually to a smartphone, to be able to scan and interpret the codes. Some readers are generic, able to read several formats, while others are specific to a single format. This may be a temporary barrier - a number of technologies are in the works to both make tag scanning an integrated function of the smartphone camera so no additional app is necessary, and to extend the concept to real-world images, not just generated tags.

Creating tags

When a company, organization or individual wants to implement scannable tags, there are a number of questions to answer. First, of course, is who is your audience? If you are implementing tags for an internal audience, then specialized or even proprietary systems may be appropriate.

However, if you intend to use codes in a public forum, then you need to take into consideration what your audience knows about scannable codes and how they will be placed. For instance, I chose the Microsoft mobi tags for the Smartdoor project because it is part of an art exhibit and the colorful tags were more appropriate to the venue, even though I knew few people had the Microsoft tag reader app installed before seeing the sculpture.

However, for the art gallery exhibit, I decided to use the more generic QR tags from Kaywa because more readers are capable of interpreting the codes, the exhibit would be in place for just one month, and black and white worked well with the display's aesthetics.

Tag creation software can be free or paid, depending on the level of customization and management needed.

Managing tags

If you do not want user statistics and the tags are "one use" then a free service like Kaywa may be enough. Microsoft is climbing uphill against the larger QR community, so they are making their service available for free to build market share, but they offer a pretty decent set of tag management and analytics tools.

For the Smartdoor, one advantage to using the mobi tags is that when the exhibit closes I can redirect the tag URLs and repurpose the Smartdoor for other events.

Conclusion

This is definitely something to explore, and thanks for the questions, Barb. Scannable tags and related technologies are strategies for integrating the real world with the online environment, and those who understand and can apply theses technologies will have a competitive advantage.

On Sep 22, 2011, at 7:07 AM, Schwarz, Barbara wrote:

Huge spider web!

Must be close to Halloween!

--Brad

Zuckerberg To Give Teachers $10k Each In Two Year Grant Program

Here's an idea I can get behind!

Zuckerberg To Give Teachers $10k Each In Two Year Grant Program
READWRITEWEB | SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
http://pulse.me/s/1MZSw

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will be giving $10,000 grants to Newark teachers who come up with innovative programs as a ... Read more

g.reedonly@gmail.com sent you a link to content of interest

g.reedonly@gmail.com sent you a link to the following content:

With Version 2.0, Instagram Focuses On Re-engineering The Camera
http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/20/instagram-version-2/

The sender also included this note:

Instagram - a social media tool for images - has just launched a major upgrade!

NET225S - Getting Started

NOTE: I'm reposting this so that everyone catches it. Please read the post, then post responses to your own blog.

OK, we're all set up with our blogs and social media accounts. We'll start looking at ways that writing for electronic media differs from "traditional" media. We've already talked about some - location awareness, atemporality (time factors), chunkiness, non-linearity....
Here's the first question, though. What are you reading? What do you read online? How is that different from what you read in print? Is your process of reading different online than it is offline?
One of my favorite things to read online is a blog written by Dr. Steven Novella called Neurologica. The blog focuses on critical thinking, skepticism, and investigating incredible claims in science and medicine. (I also regularly listen to Novella's weekly podcast, The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe.)
One of the things I like are how over time the blog entries have been linked together, so that Novella only has to provide a brief sentence or two of background on a topic covered before. This allows him to focus his readers' attention on the new claims or new data being examined.
In the last two years, my online reading has perhaps quadrupled, while my offline reading is about a quarter of what it was. I am reading more, and more broadly, now.
How about you? Post to your blog.

Article: Javascript Class For Programmers Online (Big Savings)

Javascript Class For Programmers Online (Big Savings)
http://www.women2.org/blazing-cloud-offers-javascript-for-programmers-online-class/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Hidden Super Powers of Apple's Preview utility - Image Editing

Using Preview Advanced Features - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E8vMmpVtqjoJ5j515mClLb1o32lRbWSBlkJG5All2O8/edit?hl=en_US

Photographer turns to iPhone to break from the pack

A photographer covering the Tour de France tries to break free from the pack of photographers covering the event by using his iPhone as his camera and taking the "outsider's" view of the race.

Challenge seeks mobile photos or videos

What urgent problem or need do you foresee becoming especially important in 2012?  Submit a compelling photo or video taken on a mobile device that reflects the World in 2012.

https://www.innocentive.com/ar/challenge/9932925

Article: Get Textbooks on your iPad Using Amazon’s Textbook Rental Service

Game-changer...

Get Textbooks on your iPad Using Amazon’s Textbook Rental Service
http://www.padgadget.com/2011/07/18/get-textbooks-on-your-ipad-using-amazon%E2%80%99s-textbook-rental-service/

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: The value of college

Or as John Adams put it like 230 years ago: "There are two types of education... One should teach us how to make a living, And the other how to live." 

The value of college
http://www.dailyillini.com/index.php/article/2011/06/the_value_of_college

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: A politician stays on message. Weirdly.

Bwaaaaah-hahaha aha!

Oh, and these strikes are wrong...

A politician stays on message. Weirdly.
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/politics/-nbsp-var-a2a-config.html

(Sent from Flipboard)

Article: Blackboard Gets Bought

MORE focused on earnings? Doubtful. BB is already run like they get paid by the click.

Blackboard Gets Bought
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/07/05/blackboard_bought_by_providence_equity_partners

(Sent from Flipboard)

10 Creative Bar Code Designs [PICS]

Interesting if for no other reason than the documentation of Troy's place in retail history.

10 Creative Bar Code Designs [PICS]
MASHABLE! | JUNE 26, 2011
http://pulse.me/s/oa8A

On this day in 1974, Clyde Dawson made history as the first consumer to buy a product which had been scanned into a till by its ... Read more

Dear Photograph

This is such a great idea!

Dear Photograph
DARING FIREBALL | JUNE 17, 2011
http://pulse.me/s/95gX

“Take a picture of a picture from the past in the present.”  ★ Read more

6 Free E-Books and Tutorials on HTML5

6 Free E-Books and Tutorials on HTML5
READWRITEWEB | JUNE 4, 2011
http://pulsene.ws/1PuTJ

HTML5 is popular for building rich Web sites as well as cross-platform mobile applications. And it looks like with Windows 8 ... Read more