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Innovative AR Use

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Ever wish your business card could say more about you than just your contact information?  This “new” (to me – it’s actually from 2009) application of Augmented Reality helps take the lowly business card into the world of interactivity:

AR Business Card from James Alliban on Vimeo.

You could imagine adding the same sort of thing to your résumé header to play an introduction to potential employers or a sample reel of your work.  Or in the middle of a written paper for a class assignment as a way to embed a supporting video or audio project.  Really, I’m surprised we aren’t seeing MUCH more of this already.  

I’d also recommend checking out James Alliban’s other immensely creative projects like Konstruct over at his site.

MC 101 Wrap Up: Altoona

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Despite many highway repairs, road closures and detours, I made it to Altoona today for MC 101 session #3 in 148 Hawthorn, a room I wasn’t even aware of until 9:30 this morning!  The space is generally used for music practice and theory classes but worked fantastically as a presentation space.  Again, the windows really made for a light, airy feel and the tall ceiling kept it seeming more like a gallery than a traditional classroom.  (A slightly more powerful projector would have been the only improvement to the set up that I would suggest.)

Thirteen attendees made it out today for the overview session with a few more coming in to join us for lunch as a few left to tend to office needs or FTCAP obligations.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the overview session and peppered me with lots of questions about topics like the Mobile Media Pilot, the One Button Studio and the EGC.  I also had a few faculty folks who were surprised to learn that our MC training and support carries no cost for their departments. 

My personal favorite part of the day was learning about a Norwegian TV project being filmed and live streamed from 20+ HD cameras attached to a mail ship sailing around the country right now – which Paula Ford posted to our Facebook page after telling me about it and sharing videos clips on her iPad.

Update: Evaluation< Same as Harrisburg and Shenango, MC 101 participants were asked about their experience of the entire event.

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Eight of the thirteen participants responded to the evaluation in just 24 hours.  Of these, all but one ranked the quality of the Overview session to be Excellent, with the remaining respondent ranking it as Good.

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All respondents felt that MC 101 was Interesting to them professionally (5 Strongly Agree, 3 Agree) and most felt that it was Relevant to their work (5 Strongly Agree, 2 Agree, 1 Neutral). Since this was a mixed crowd of faculty and staff, the emphasis on course projects may not have been entirely applicable to support staff from all departments.

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Communications and Pacing received the highest marks of all event logistics (5 Excellent, 3 Good) while Organization was also highly ranked (4 Excellent, 4 Good).  The Venue and Refreshments were generally marked as acceptable and I did receive one comment that the projector was not bright enough for the room, as I expected I might.  

As before, we had 100% of attendees respond that they would attend an event like this again in the future or recommend it to a colleague.

One respondent also provided the following commentary on the Media Commons in general:

You people there are the most helpful of any department at the university. I’ve been here for 2 years now and had a video project, sometimes 2 every semester and was always able to get help either on the website or by placing a phone call. 

No matter how stupid my questions were, and trust me, in the beginning they were pretty bad, your people were always pleasant and explained to me either how to do what I wanted to do or took control of the computer and showed me. 

You don’t usually find that kind of excellent service anywhere and I applaud all your efforts.

Wear this

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Parts are cheaper, knowledge and sharing are happening more than ever, and it’s easy to find people who have the skills you may need to work with. Even 3D printing is becoming more common. When you combine all this, I think we might just be entering a wearable electronics era.

Phillip Torrone provides an exhaustive (if exhausting) rundown of his experiments and the experiments of other within the realm of wearable technology. Notable mentions include the iCufflinks and Project Runway‘s Diana Eng.

(io9)

MC 101 Wrap Up: Shenango

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My second MC 101 session was at Shenango today and was another successful event, if anecdotal attendee response is used as any indication.  All 8 registered participants made the trek out on a day threatening rain and joined me in Sharon Hall 314 (a room I hope to use again in the future for its airy set up and great windows overlooking town). 

Lunch provided an opportunity to talk with the two faculty attendees who I have worked with in the past, Dr. Joy Perrine and Dr. Lisa Reeves Bertin. Joy is very interested in working on gamification concepts in her Fall courses and will be getting in touch with the EGC to discuss this further while Lisa is strongly considering an iPod touch pilot for her Fall MIS 204 class.  Both Joy and Lisa are hoping to also book an MC open house event in conjunction with the student-run computer club on campus – around which training for their courses and a new faculty orientation to the Media Commons could occur.

Because most of those who registered were past MC clients, the focus of the afternoon session became a tour for the single newcomer.  This tour proved to be very productive conversation opportunity as ideas were swapped for ways the Media Commons could be better integrated into the Library which is currently under renovation. I hope to have assessment results posted here in a few days!

Update: Evaluation

Like Harrisburg, I asked the attendees to rate their entire experience with MC 101 from beginning to end.  

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Overall, respondents (5 of 8) thought the Overview aspect of the event – the core of our material – was well done (4 Good, 1 Excellent).

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Of the attendees who evaluated the event, all said they Agree that the event was Relevant to them professionally and all thought the event was Interesting from their viewpoint as educators (1 Strongly Agree, 4 Agree).

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Event Organization and Communications received highest praise (3 Excellent, 2 Good each) and Pacing  (3 Good, 2 Excellent) and Venue (3 Good, 1 Excellent, 1 Okay) were also rated positively.  Refreshments were least well-received anecdotally and ranked with 1 Okay, 2 Good and 2 Excellent.  Compared to the meal options provided by C&J Catering at the Harrisburg event, I would have to agree that I would make different choices with catering were I to plan it again.  Something to file away for next time.

Most importantly, 4 of 5 respondents would attend an event like MC 101 again or recommend it to colleagues – and the one who would not only wanted there to be more hands on opportunity at a future event, having already covered this overview.  This response coupled with anecdotal feedback makes me confident future MC/EGC programming at Shenango is highly desired.

Ready, aim, fire

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Well, this ought to be entertaining:

Salutations Lulz Lizards,

As we’re aware, the government and whitehat security terrorists across the world continue to dominate and control our Internet ocean. Sitting pretty on cargo bays full of corrupt booty, they think it’s acceptable to condition and enslave all vessels in sight. Our Lulz Lizard battle fleet is now declaring immediate and unremitting war on the freedom-snatching moderators of 2011.

Welcome to Operation Anti-Security (#AntiSec) – we encourage any vessel, large or small, to open fire on any government or agency that crosses their path. We fully endorse the flaunting of the word “AntiSec” on any government website defacement or physical graffiti art. We encourage you to spread the word of AntiSec far and wide, for it will be remembered. To increase efforts, we are now teaming up with the Anonymous collective and all affiliated battleships.

Whether you’re sailing with us or against us, whether you hold past grudges or a burning desire to sink our lone ship, we invite you to join the rebellion. Together we can defend ourselves so that our privacy is not overrun by profiteering gluttons. Your hat can be white, gray or black, your skin and race are not important. If you’re aware of the corruption, expose it now, in the name of Anti-Security.

Top priority is to steal and leak any classified government information, including email spools and documentation. Prime targets are banks and other high-ranking establishments. If they try to censor our progress, we will obliterate the censor with cannonfire anointed with lizard blood.

It’s now or never. Come aboard, we’re expecting you…

History begins today.

Lulz Security,
http://LulzSecurity.com/

I’ll be keeping an eye out for all manner of juicy leaked documents.  If governments thought WikiLeaks was a nuisance…

Got 2:15 to spare?

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I know that the vast majority of people cannot sit through countless hours of financial documentaries like I’ve been doing recently (I realize I’m some sort of anomaly or glutton for punishment but I really do like them!), so this brief video explanation of what gives with the American economy is brilliant. Watch former Labor Secretary and economist Robert Reich explain it with pictures.

MC 101 Wrap Up: Harrisburg

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Today marked the first of our MC 101 sessions, this one in Harrisburg.  I met Shivaani Selvaraj early for a quick cup of coffee before setting up in E314 of Olmsted, which was a great room for the event, with its tiered seating and buffet-approved curved tabletops.  The gorgeous day probably cut into our attendance a bit, but 15 people made it out to hear about all that the MC has to offer, discuss their upcoming project ideas and tour the Media Commons and Library learning spaces.

One nice thing about today’s session was the tour of the ever-evolving HBG Library.  As it moves towards becoming more of a Knowledge Commons, the push for flexible spaces and furniture is making the Library a vibrant resource.  (It doesn’t hurt that the building itself is lovely to begin with…)  John Hoh and Greg Crawford graciously led a tour through some of the newest rooms and arrangements and shared their plans for the coming move of the MC studio and equipment lending to the Library this Fall.  This will go along perfectly with the already-moved MC editing space that is prominently positioned in the Library entrance.

I met a lot of new faculty and staff contacts and discussed some exciting projects for the coming year today – and now I can’t wait to get started on the Fall consultations and training!

Update:  Evaluation

I asked the attendees of MC 101 at Harrisburg to rate their experience from start to finish.  

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Of the 5 respondents, 4 thought the Overview – the heart of the event – was Excellent overall while 1 found it to be Good.

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All thought MC 101 was Interesting (3 Strongly Agree, 2 Agree) and most thought it was Relevant to their work (2 Strongly Agree, 2 Agree, 1 Neutral).  < MC101_AspectsCL.jpg

From a logistics point of view, attendees generally though the event exhibited clear Organization and Pacing and information was shared through clear channels of Communications.  Not everyone was a fan of the Venue, which was a classroom in the round but the Refreshments from C&J Catering were well-received.

All respondents said they would attend or recommend MC 101 in the future.

Plasticity

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I’m not entirely convinced I agree with the premise of Daniel Wilson’s essay for The Wall Street Journal, “The Terrifying Truth About New Technology“.  

In the piece, Wilson explores the notion that the stagnation of learning potential in maturing adults is the catalyst of dreading new technologies.  Except he does this with humor.  To wit:

The fear of the never-ending onslaught of gizmos and gadgets is nothing new. The radio, the telephone, Facebook–each of these inventions changed the world. Each of them scared the heck out of an older generation. And each of them was invented by people who were in their 20s.

My reason for disagreeing is that I have actually worked with a number of people well-outside their twenties who are far more into technology advancements than I am.  And there’s of course the most famous 50-something CEO on the planet, Steve Jobs.  That guy probably likes new tech.

I ended up coming back around to Wilson’s side, though.  His advice for staying positive about the high tech onslaught was resoundingly correct:

I’m not saying you have to keep up. But at the moment you choose to stop growing, your world will begin to shrink. You’ll be able to communicate with fewer people, especially the young. You will only see reruns. You will not understand how to pay for things. The outside world will become a frightening and unpredictable place. 

 As they say, the only constant is change.