Undesigned Web

The Undesigned Web will facilitate critical thinking, sharing information and disseminating knowledge more widely than has ever been previously possible. That’s because it will be easier than ever to separate content from the, ahem, bullshit with which it is frequently cloaked.

Wired reposted an Atlantic article on the supposed death of design in the modern age of gadgets like the iPad, Kindle, etc and software like Instapaper. While the old notions of print and web design are certainly fading away, the essay goes on to clarify that its more of a shift from Design to design (emphasis on the capital) or even a push for undesigned content.

The thinking is that as we move from reading on fixed devices to reading on multiple, reconfigurable devices, content will have to be ever easier to re-contextualize and repackage to suit the given gadget or app.  A very keen observation and entirely true: as anyone who has ever used Flipboard knows all too well, even a mundane Facebook post looks better when gussied up as a digital magazine piece.

The Future of the Internet (and Its Past)

I attended a talk this morning by Dr. Glenn Ricart on the future of the Internet, which it did deliver upon.  However, it also provided a highly entertaining tour of the Internet’s past from Dr. Ricart’s point of view – one that included stops at the first virus (written by his roommate), the best technique to endure the phosphor erasing flash of an old terminal (well-timed blink) and development of key technologies (IPv4 sure seemed like a good idea!)  There’s something so energizing about hearing the bearded sages of the early Internet talk through their contributions to its creation.  They all seems like they were just good people trying to figure out ways to get things done without being scared of the unknown – a style that goes far in technology.

Penn State’s Digital Ecosystem

I just attended an afternoon talk on the topic of the digital tools that are available to the Penn State community hosted by Cole Camplese (my director) and Bart Pursell (of Schreyer’s.) The presentation focused on Blogs@PSU and Wikispaces, two facets of the entire media publishing ecosystem that is being grown at the University.  While there were a whole lot of numbers, facts and figures being shared with us today, the analyses put forth by both presenters were really enlightening.  As an example, I was surprised to learn that so much of the activity on the Arts & Architecture blogs has taken the form of commentary – which was attributed to critiques of fellow-students’ work as well as other materials posted for this purpose by faculty.  

Harrisburg’s New Media Commons

Penn State Harrisburg is about to open the doors to its brand new Media Commons space.  Located in room 112 of the Library, just past the main entrance and circulation desk, the Media Commons is now in a highly visible corner of a busy campus resource.

The new Media Commons features three 27″ Apple iMac computers loaded with software for editing video, audio and images.  It also houses two WhisperRoom recording booths that offer one-stop sound capture in a quiet space – for both you and for library patrons – via built-in computers and microphones.

Check out all that the new Media Commons has to offer to the Harrisburg community in the coming days.  For more information about the MC Harrisburg, contact Mike Lackey or Nick Smerker.

Will Wright, Game Developer TV Producer

Will Wright, of SimCity fame, has embarked on his very own augmented reality game (ARG) project called Bar Karma.  Partnering with Current TV, Mr. Wright is asking audience members to submit their own storyboards and scripts via an online community each week.  Winning entries will be turned into the next episode each time, allowing the viewers to take control of the direction of the entire series.

I turned this up on ARGNet while researching for the upcoming MC Tailgate and think it really holds potential for the classroom, too.  Imagine a semester long series of videos created by vote, with teams in the course submitting a storyboard per week to be voted on for each short installment.  When thought of as a “creative writing” exercise, you can see the immediate value so much practice would bring to the development of stronger storytelling skills.

Remembering the Learning Curve

So, I do a lot of blogging and have worked with a variety of platforms over the years, from Blogger to TypePad to WordPress to Tumblr.  However, using this Movable Type installation has again reminded me what it’s like to be on the outside looking in with a technology.  It’s JUST similar enough to what I know to send me careening down the wrong paths for large swaths of time.  All I wanted to do was install my own Blip.fm widget (which I did, mostly successfully) in the sidebar.  The act of doing so was a good reminder of what my clients feel like when learning something I consider entirely old hat…and an opportunity to practice my patience on myself!