A360. Blog

wired: futurejournalismproject: Why It’s Time to Rethink Web...

Fri, 24 May 2013 23:00:58 +0200

futurejournalismproject:

Why It’s Time to Rethink Web Video Entirely

Producer Adam Westbrook recently built an essay called The Web Video Problem about how cinematic video content is wrong for the web, and that we can and ought to recreate the visual storytelling experience on the web entirely. Toward that end, he’s working on web publishing house (Hot Pursuit).

He writes:

In visual storytelling on the web we are still talking about images in deliberate sequence. We are juxtaposing these images, either over time (in a linear audio/visual way) or in space (like a web comic might).

If we accept this definition of visual storytelling (in the purest sense) then it doesn’t matter if it’s video, a web comic or even an animated GIF - or a combination of all these and more.

Combine this with the growing capabilities of the web browser, and the connectedness of the internet, and potentially we have the ability to tell dynamic, visual stories in a way that hasn’t been done before.

This excites me very much.

The essay is nicely built and designed with bold, scrolling visuals (using the curtain jquery plug-in, which yes, is very popular these days and can be downloaded here for your own building pleasure) so that you can choose to read the whole thing or just get the highlights. It’s worth checking out.

Bonus: He provides some great resources on visual storytelling:

A good briefing on the principles of visual storytelling are featured in the second issue of Inside the Story Magazine, available here. If you don’t want to pay for the whole thing, this free articlecovers a lot of the same ground. Scott McCloud’s comic book on comic books is an essential read for visual storytellers. Craig Mod’s essay on Subcompact Publishing informed some of the ideas about thinking web-natively, as did this article by John Pavlus and this piece by Bryan Goldberg. Finally, Steven Benedict’sanalysis of Spielberg’s cinematic storytelling skills demonstrate what visual narrative can acheive, and let Steven Soderbergh tell you why this new thing shouldn’t become like the movie business.

Image: Screenshot from The Web Video Problem

Today in good reads.

mrgan: “Work” icon

Fri, 24 May 2013 22:34:57 +0200

mrgan:

“Work” icon

futuramb: A Real-Life Tricorder Is Now Available For You To Buy...

Wed, 22 May 2013 22:59:58 +0200

futuramb:

A Real-Life Tricorder Is Now Available For You To Buy And Scan Yourself | Co.Exist: World changing ideas and innovation

Today, the Scanadu Scout tricorder is available for pre-order on Indiegogo. It’s a chance for early adopters to check out Scanadu’s technology, and an opportunity for Scanadu to gather some of the data it needs for FDA approval.

thisistheverge: Why won’t Bitcoin die? The virtual currency has...

Tue, 21 May 2013 22:42:24 +0200

thisistheverge:

Why won’t Bitcoin die?

The virtual currency has had many near-death experiences in its short four year life, but it just keeps bouncing back

thisistheverge: Xbox One: Microsoft unveils its next-generation...

Tue, 21 May 2013 22:29:45 +0200

thisistheverge:

Xbox One: Microsoft unveils its next-generation console

After months of rumors and speculation, Microsoft’s next-generation console is finally here. During a special event at the company’s Redmond headquarters today, Microsoft is unveiling Xbox Now.

thisistheverge: Google Glass apps: everything you can do right...

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:21:11 +0200

thisistheverge:

Google Glass apps: everything you can do right now

We test every Google Glass app so you don’t have to

smarterplanet: The Art of Data Visualization | Off Book | PBS...

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:39:35 +0200

smarterplanet:

The Art of Data Visualization | Off Book | PBS

Humans have a powerful capacity to process visual information, skills that date far back in our evolutionary lineage. And since the advent of science, we have employed intricate visual strategies to communicate data, often utilizing design principles that draw on these basic cognitive skills. In a modern world where we have far more data than we can process, the practice of data visualization has gained even more importance. From scientific visualization to pop infographics, designers are increasingly tasked with incorporating data into the media experience. Data has emerged as such a critical part of modern life that it has entered into the realm of art, where data-driven visual experiences challenge viewers to find personal meaning from a sea of information, a task that is increasingly present in every aspect of our information-infused lives.

smarterplanet: Human Clone Embryonic Stem Cell Lines - Business...

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:28:33 +0200

smarterplanet:

Human Clone Embryonic Stem Cell Lines - Business Insider

Researchers announced Wednesday, May 15, in the journal Cell that they’ve been able to make stable colonies of embryonic stem cells by injecting the DNA from ‘adult’ human cells into a human egg cell emptied out of its genetic material.

“Our finding offers new ways of generating stem cells for patients with dysfunctional or damaged tissues and organs,” study researcher Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health & Science University, said in a press release. “Such stem cells can regenerate and replace those damaged cells and tissues and alleviate diseases that affect millions of people.”

This technique they used to make these stem cells is called somatic cell nuclear transfer, and is the same technique used to clone animals, like Dolly the sheep.

To put it in very simplified terms: the researchers first harvest a human egg from a woman’s ovaries and completely remove her genetic material from the egg. Then, they take a human skin cell and insert it into the egg using an inactivated virus which fuses the two cells. The embryo that grows from this would be a genetic copy of the person that donated the cell.

Read more:

futuretechreport: MakerBot & RoboHand Make DIY 3D Bionic...

Wed, 15 May 2013 21:54:44 +0200

futuretechreport:

MakerBot & RoboHand Make DIY 3D Bionic Prosthetics a Reality

Richard Van and Ivan Owen are on a mission to make DIY 3D Printed hands a reality with their Indiegogo project Robohand. The Robohand is a set of mechanical fingers that open and close to grasp things based on the motion of the wrist.

The crowdsourcing project recently received a boost of support from leading 3D printer company MakerBot 2, who donated 3D printers for the team to use for prototyping which collapsed the time to create the prototypes as well as drastically reduced the money required to create one.

According to their Indiegogo page: “The first hand was fitted to a 5 year old boy Liam who has come leaps and bounds with using his Robohand. This was done for free. Robohand has helped 4 children in total in South Africa with Robohands but we have run out of funding to continue to provide this device for free”.

Their Indiegogo campaign is raising funds that will supply the necessary materials, like Orthoplastic/Thermoplastic, hardware for putting the hands together (nuts, bolts, bungi cord), rolls of PLA plastic for the 3D printer to print the actual hands, plastidip for the fingers, anodizing materials (like sulphuric acid, desmutting liquid, colourant/dye and distilled water) the time and committment from Rich to create these hands.

What’s fantastic about this project is that Robohand is “Open Source” and the file is available for download from Thingiverse.com.

Visit their blog at www.robohand.blogspot.com for more information.

l2chartoftheweek: Internet usage by device between January 2012...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:57:18 +0200

l2chartoftheweek:

Internet usage by device between January 2012 and January 2013 (by % reach).

smartercities: This High Concentration Photovoltaic Thermal...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:52:41 +0200

smartercities:

This High Concentration Photovoltaic Thermal System (HCPVT) can harness the energy of 2,000 suns and provide fresh water and air conditioning in remote locations. The prototype HCPVT system under development uses a large parabolic dish, made from a multitude of mirror facets, which is attached to a tracking system that determines the best angle based on the position of the sun. Once aligned, the sun’s rays reflect off the mirror onto several microchannel-liquid cooled receivers with triple junction photovoltaic chips — each 1x1 centimeter chip can convert 200-250 watts, on average, over a typical eight hour day in a sunny region.

Read more: http://huff.to/11vTQGE

Google Now for iPhone and iPad

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:22:27 +0200

Google Now for iPhone and iPad

Adapteva Launches $99 Parallella Open Computing Platform

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:53:11 +0200

Adapteva Launches $99 Parallella Open Computing Platform

Sphero – Robot Ball You Control With Your Smartphone

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 11:52:07 +0200

Sphero – Robot Ball You Control With Your Smartphone

laughingsquid: A Remix of Daft Punk and Skrillex Songs by Jack...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 22:29:03 +0200

laughingsquid:

A Remix of Daft Punk and Skrillex Songs by Jack Conte

futurescope: Update Petman by Boston Dynamic tl;dr: Petman has...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 21:33:52 +0200

futurescope:

Update Petman by Boston Dynamic

tl;dr: Petman has a gasmask now.

The PETMAN robot was developed by Boston Dynamics with funding from the DoD CBD program. It is used to test the performance of protective clothing designed for hazardous environments. The video shows initial testing in a chemical protection suit and gas mask. PETMAN has sensors embedded in its skin that detect any chemicals leaking through the suit. The skin also maintains a micro-climate inside the clothing by sweating and regulating temperature. Partners in developing PETMAN were MRIGlobal, Measurement Technology Northwest, Smith Carter, CUH2A, and HHI.

[via nerdcore]

smarterplanet: Could Minuum finally evolve the virtual QWERTY...

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 23:17:26 +0100

smarterplanet:

Could Minuum finally evolve the virtual QWERTY keyboard? | Crave - CNET

Did you know the QWERTY layout originated in the 1870s? It might be time for a makeover. The up-and-coming Minuum virtual keyboard minimizes the de facto standard into something far sleeker and sexier.

When in use, a virtual keyboard shouldn’t take up half of your smartphone or tablet screen, but it does, and it sure is ugly. If you’re tired of keys hogging up precious screen space, check out Minuum — a simple, yet intelligent single-row reinvention of the QWERTY layout.

Simply put, the Minuum keyboard, which is gaining traction on crowdfunding Web site Indiegogo, seems attractive as it doesn’t require much space to use. It intelligently predicts what word you’re going for through auto-correction algorithms, similar to a full-size virtual keyboard.

Hyper-Realistic CGI Is Killing Photographers, Thrilling Product Designers

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 22:41:57 +0100

Hyper-Realistic CGI Is Killing Photographers, Thrilling Product Designers:

singularitarian:

Computer-generated images are moving out of theaters and onto store shelves and catalog pages, thanks to software that makes it nearly impossible to distinguish the real from the photorealistic.

new-aesthetic: “Stop The Cyborgs’ was founded in response to...

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 22:02:45 +0100

new-aesthetic:

“Stop The Cyborgs’ was founded in response to the Google Glass project and other technology trends. The aim of the movement is to stop a future in which privacy is impossible and corporate control total.”

About | Stop The Cyborgs

NB Addendum: “Two things are quickly lost in any internet debate: humor and nuance. So in retrospect we should have guessed that people would find it hard to read past the name ‘Stop The Cyborgs‘. We thought it would be a bit of fun – a suitably cyberpunk sounding opposition group. However we have been variously accused of hating technology & hating anyone who isn’t 100% biological. This is not the case. We love technology and we love people. Indeed we even wear clothes and create technology ourselves. Some of us might even have metal bits.” Read more…

digithoughts: 60 billion mobile apps where downloaded in...

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:46:02 +0100

digithoughts:

60 billion mobile apps where downloaded in 2012

Google Play and the Apple App Store together accounted for nearly 40 billion of the total 60 billion mobile app downloads in 2012. The rest of the downloads were mostly Android downloads from third party Chinese app stores. The mobile app market mirrors the smartphone hardware market: The largest volumes come from Android, while most of the money comes from iOS. One important difference. When it comes to apps, developers — not the hardware vendors — take the lion share of the money.

A few good outtakes from the Berg Insight report:

Revenues from applications, including direct revenues and in-app ad revenues, reached € 6.4 billion in 2012. Apple’s App Store is the clear leader in monetisation of mobile apps and will keep the number one position during the forecast period.

Third party app stores pushed Android to become the leading platform in terms of app downloads during 2012. While many Western third party app stores are struggling, the situation is different in other parts of the world. Third party app stores are especially popular in China and other markets where Google Play hasn’t become the default on-device app store.

Every app can find its own way to success, but common strategies today among many of the top revenue generating app developers are to publish apps featuring a social layer on more than one platform using free to download monetisation.

Like almost no other digital product, mobile apps represent a global opportunity with more or less instant worldwide distribution.

For those of you with extra interest in this market, the summary of the report contains pretty detailed data on download numbers, revenue split between direct and in-direct (ad) revenues, Google Play and Apple App Store revenues etc.

Source: Berg Insight, report summary (pdf-link)