In my post below about the online game “Fold.It“, I referenced Jane McGonigal – the speaker I heard at Greenbuild in San Francisco last week. Here’s a TED Talk she gave in March 2010 about gaming making the world a better place. Enjoy!
Category Archives: Technology
Solve Puzzles for Science – FOLD.IT
Heard Jane McConigal speak last Friday morning at the Closing Plenary of Greenbuild 2012 in San Francisco where the discussion was about gaming being a great resource for solving real world issues. Take a look at fold.it for a perfect example. Get your game on.
CAPTCHA repurposing + duolingo.com
I’m a TED junkie. It’s equivalent to potato chips for me. Can’t just eat one. Instead I eat the whole bag. So in my recent TED binge I came across Luis von Ahn’s recent talk about CAPTCHA (which I now no longer find annoying) and his new adventure with DuoLingo [video at bottom of post]. If you didn’t find this talk at the very least interesting…well…I just don’t know what to tell you.
Measuring Social Media (by @amyjomartin)
Social Media Scientist, @amyjomartin, walks through Digital Royalty’s means and methods of social media metrics in this video:
Evernote
When I get asked what my favorite app on either the iPhone or iPad is, Evernote is the first app that I tell people about. Immediately they ask “what does it do???”, thinking I’m going to give some amazing explanation about the wildly technological gizmo gadget of an app. Once I get done saying “you use it to take notes” it’s pretty clear and further interest in any suggestions about apps is questionable. However, I can safely report nearly 100% of the people that take me up on the suggestion to download it come back and say something in the neighborhood of “I get it, and I love it.”
Took this screenshot using Evernote clipping tool
My usage of Evernote goes beyond just note taking, even though that is a primary use for me. Before finding this amazing tool (which is used daily), I had a pretty significant crush on Dropbox (still a very useful, still use daily) because of my constant switching between PC and Mac platforms. And by constant…I mean constant. I paid for the Premium Account because it allows me to upload files in any format (like Dropbox does), along with any notes, photos, or anything I can dream up to include in the same place. So, if I’m any of my offices (I’m still not sure how many there are) working on a project in any application, I can dump it into Evernote, jump in the truck or on a plane, and pick up where I left off on my iPhone or iPad without missing a beat.
Sharing notebooks within Evernote has proven to be one of the best collaboration tools I have at my disposal as well. And if you’re working with someone else, or a group of people, it’s a great way to setup a list of task (big fan of the little check boxes), write a letter or author a document together, or even post photos, screenshots, or whatever you can draw a box around on your screen. I even use it for a daily blog post collection from Seth Godin (tip: I used my Evernote email address to sign up for the daily posts, keeps my inbox a hair less full).
So until I can come up with a better elevator speech besides “you take notes with it”, it’s probably best if you just give it a try and see what you end up using it for. I promise, you’ll find some use for it. Check out their Quick Intro video. www.evernote.com
The Beginning of Infinity
“…the role of human imagination is to conceive of all these delightful futures. Choose the most amazing and exciting and exstatic possibility and then pull the present forward to meet it. That is what we do. We bring our imaginings into existence.”
Social Media Sessions
I’ve had a number of conversations lately about various social media applications and how I’m using them in the businesses and non-profit organizations that I’m associated with. After a handful of people made the comment that I ought to consider providing consultation or even running social media campaigns for other people, I decided to schedule a few sessions where people can come together and learn in more detail about the various options and how they can be used. There’s more information available on the Sessions page, along with links to register for those interested in joining. Hope to see you there!
Timelapse with the Glif
This timelapse was taken using the Glif on a tripod, using the Timelapse Pro app.
Glif is eminent
Studio Neat sent me an email saying my Glif is on its way. Pretty excited about it. Seriously. I’m feeling pretty good about being one of the contributors for this project via Kickstarter…my name is really on there between my good friends Byron Sheppard and Francois Nguyen.
Occipital’s 360 Panorama app
It didn’t take long, but I have found another app that has distracted me recently. It’s Occipital’s latest creation (the guys that made the RedLazer app, sold it to eBay, nice) called 360 Panorama. I give credit to Michelle Kaufmann‘s twitter feed (@mkaufmann), she was messing with it a few days ago and posted a 360 deg view from her house. What caught my attention was the viewer that gives you the ability to pan back and forth. It got me thinking about how great it would be to show a client their project during the construction process with a panorama that they can pan back and forth. Once you upload your image, Occipital has made it very simple to tweet the link for anyone to view. Although I need some practice to get a good match once I’ve done a full rotation, I think that my (hopefully) soon to arrive Glif will really improve the quality of imaging! Sheesh…this post has a lot ‘o links…better work one more in here…
Here’s a quick video from Occipital’s website showing the app in action -> 360 Panorama App in action
My New Fav iPhone App “HeyTell”
I have a lot of apps on my iPhone. Probably more than I should. The good news (for my wallet, and wife) is that most of them are free, which are my all time favorites. Especially when I find a free app that does something so great that you wonder how in the world could it possibly be free in the first place. There’s one in particular right now that I’m really having fun with called HeyTell. In fact, since downloading it I don’t think there has been a day that I haven’t used it! (Disclaimer: Not all uses have been for productive activities, e.g. sending Nacho Libre movie quotes to co-workers in my poor imitation). In short, HeyTell is “instant voice messaging” or “Push to Talk, Starting at $0.” Trust me on this, you and your other iPhone or Droid carrying friends+colleagues will find a way to use or abuse this awesome app. And it’s free. So stop reading this post already and…Oh, fine, see ya later I guess…sheesh.
(Yeah, my battery is about spent and AT&T doesn’t have great signal here. You can’t be surprised by either facts.)
Ustream vs Qik
Construction projects in Wyoming are more often considered “remote” and at times many of the owners, architects, engineers involved aren’t located in close proximity to the jobsite. For years we’ve been able to take digital photos and email them in a relatively short amount of time to anywhere necessary showing project status or issues that need input or comment from people at a distance. Recently, however, mobile phones apps have surfaced that give a leg up on simple digital photos. Live video streaming from a mobile device is rapidly improving and becoming somewhat of a real tool in these remote situations. Two apps stand out at this point: Ustream and Qik. If you have a video capable phone and haven’t tried either of these apps out, you should. The possibilities in construction projects are numerous, as I’m sure is the case in any industry where showing a live video feed of what is happening would be beneficial. From my standpoint, the jury is still out as to which app is preferred since I see pros and cons to both programs, but are there others that I’ve missed?