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Archive for the ‘Technology’ category
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October 18th, 2010GOOG-411
October 8th, 2010I hadn’t really used Google’s alternative to 411, but I did appreciate that it was free. Check it out before it’s gone on November 12.
The ability for it to recognize speech always amazed me, although it wasn’t too unbelievable that it came from Google. I used 46653, the texting service. You text Google your query, it sends back results. Many times I was able to find directions or help a sports fanatic find out what the score for a game was. I’m glad Google’s continuing that service. They say that 411 was a jumping off point for speed recognition. I use Google’s voice search on my Android phone and get decent results. (The Goggles app still baffles me with its elven magic.)
The text-to-speech app for typing is pretty cool, but I still find myself adjusting what I say to try and fool it into writing what I actually said and not what the computer wishes I said. I shall test it out by reciting the first line from A Tale of Two Cities. Maybe my words just aren’t poetic enough.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Not half bad! That’ll do, app. That’ll do.
Obama’s STEM Video Game Challenge
September 20th, 2010This past week President Obama announced the STEM Video Game Challenge to encourage students to pursue math and science through engaging activities. The contest will be accepting submissions from October 12 to January 5. The entries can either be a game design on paper or a playable game. There is a $50,000 prize pool for students and it provides some great opportunities for careers in video game design.
Future Professionals, this is what we’re going to tackle first. Check out Scratch from MIT. It’s like an intro program to Flash and actually has some pretty decent scripting. (It’s free, too, which is always nice.)
Here’s how the judges will be determining the winners:
Submissions will be judged on a combination of fun and balanced gameplay, creative vision and incorporation of Science TEchnology and Math (STEM) concepts in game design and play experience.
Click here for a game that took me ten minutes to create. In no way does it meet the STEM requirements but it does illustrate a tiny bit of what Scratch does (that would take me much longer to do in Flash ActionScript.)
Try and get the face to the flower. Click on the green flag to get the party started. Arrow keys move the smiley.
Google Instant
September 9th, 2010Autocomplete is a tricky thing.
In Word, I get frustrated when the computer automatically capitalizes new lines. I know that I can turn this off in the Preferences, but I’m usually working on a project when I sit down to Word and don’t want to take time to search the settings.
I think Google Instant will work better because it doesn’t change your text, it just tries to predict it. As long as the typing is not slowed down, I don’t think users will be annoyed.
When you do a Google search on google.com, it now will pull up results as you type, changing as the search words change – even before you press Enter.
How does it work? My guess is elven magic. But my second guess is that it uses the data for which searches are most popular and uses that probability to suggest the terms and results. On the main page for Google Instant, it mentions that it is only on certain browsers. I wonder if it uses cookies to remember searches or if the browsers were just a requirement for which version of HTML the site uses.
Either way, it will be interesting to see if this speeds up people’s searches, thus making people 2-5 seconds happier, or if it will go the way of The Wave.
Apple iBike
August 5th, 2010
The world of Smart Bikes just got sleeker.
Imagine being able to map out your ride and to wirelessly share exercise info instantly. I’m not a big runner, so I haven’t tried the Nike + iPod thing, but this is pretty cool. If this bike truly responds to voice commands, which Apple has the power to do, we’re one step closer to my flying cars.
In other tech news, Google Wave got canceled. There’s irony in using Firefly quotes, a show that was canceled before it had run its course.
“Can’t stop the signal.”
Piano Squall
July 20th, 2010
Piano Squall is cool.
- He does concerts for charities.
- He does those concerts dressed as the main character from Final Fantasy VIII.
- He does his own arrangements.
- He puts the sheet music for those arrangements online for free.
Go check out his site here.
ESRB BCC:
July 14th, 2010You know when you send an e-mail and forget to add the attachments? Or when someone on your staff hits ‘Reply All’ instead of ‘Reply’? Even the ESRB (the organization that rates video games) makes those mistakes. They sent a mass reply to people concerned about privacy on Blizzard (makers of World of Warcraft) software’s forums. The ESRB responded by revealing everybody’s e-mail addresses. Here’s the apology:
Yesterday we sent an e-mail to a number of consumers who wrote to us in recent days expressing their concern with respect to Blizzard’s Real ID program. Given the large number of messages we received, we decided to respond with a mass e-mail so those who’d written us would receive our response as quickly as possible – rather than responding to each message individually, as is our usual practice.
Through an unfortunate error by one of our employees, some recipients were able to see the e-mail addresses of others who wrote on the same issue. Needless to say, it was never our intention to reveal this information and for that we are genuinely sorry. Those who write to ESRB to express their views expect and deserve to have their contact and personal information protected. In this case, we failed to do so and are doing everything we can to ensure it will not happen again in the future.
The fact that our message addressed individuals’ concerns with respect to their privacy underscores how truly disappointing a mistake this was on our part. We work with companies to ensure they are handling people’s private information with confidentiality, care and respect. It is only right that we set a good example and do no less ourselves.
We sincerely apologize to those who were affected by this error and appreciate their understanding.
Sincerely,
Entertainment Software Rating Board
Free Amazon Prime if you’re a college student
July 13th, 2010You have to have a .edu e-mail address and you need to have a major (thus the college student part). But if you meet those qualifications, you get Amazon Prime for free for a year. I could have used this when I was working on my Masters degree and had to order all my textbooks online. Free 2-day shipping (or 1-day shipping for $3.99) as well as some other cool stuff. It’s worth a look.
Want to be a Tracker?
June 28th, 2010Do you think you have what it takes to become a Tracker? Are you one of the few who can read between the lines of code and see danger where others exist in comfortable ignorance?
Finn, Emily, Lewis, and Adam need your help. Check trackersbook.com in an hour and 45 minutes to see four missions. You’ll need your research skills in addition to twitch reflexes for success. Will you network with other Trackers or do you think you can take on the best of the Internet by yourself?
Trackers by Patrick Carman
June 28th, 2010Students know how much I enjoyed Skeleton Creek and Ghost in the Machine. Back in 2008, before the books came out, I had heard about the mix of video and print and knew it was going to be a hit at our school. I feel like Patrick Carman took a risk with the format of Skeleton Creek and now people are copying the pioneer.
What I love to see is an author that continues to improve throughout their career. Trackers is proof that Carman still takes his craft seriously.
This is a caution to students, though – don’t sit down expecting ghosts to jump out at you. I did and it took me a couple of videos to realize that Trackers has a different tone. It’s the story of a high tech team of teenagers that get caught up in an Internet crime scheme that is much larger than they can handle individually. Patrick Carman’s research/previous knowledge concerning technology is appreciated and it comes out in realistic dialogue between characters (and great passwords for the videos – the majority are computing superstars like Babbage and The Woz).
Trackers takes on a neo-noir feel. Much like detective stories from the 30s and 40s, main character Adam doesn’t know who to trust (one character, Lazlo, shares a name with someone from Casablanca). His confusion grows when he’s distracted by a beautiful girl who quickly betrays him. The focus of the book is figuring out who is tracking the Trackers and what they can do to reverse the situation.
So, instead of being afraid that Joe Bush is going to stalk you from the dredge, you’re now more paranoid about going online. If you liked the movie Eagle Eye, Trackers should already be in your queue.
It’s told in an interrogation format, so the whole time you’re trying to figure out who has brought Adam in for questioning. This is book one and obviously so (well, besides it saying that on the cover), but in great Carman style he leaves you hanging at the end of the book.
Online supplemental materials are becoming a requirement for books, especially teen ones. Many have games associated with them, like P.J. Haarsma’s Rings of Orbis game (Haarsma is another digital pioneer, an author who also creates his own tech content). Patrick Carman understands technology, especially engaging technology, and trackersinterface.com offers the videos but also a very challenging Glyphmaster game. You try and organize the icons to spell a sentence. I found myself saying, “Just one more round.” My recommendation is to make it a Facebook game.
Librarians, you need Trackers. Kids will read it. But what was awesome is that he included a transcript of each video in the back of the book. This helps students who are reading in class. You can’t interrupt silent reading with a video of Finn crashing on a ramp at the local skateboarding hangout. Now students can get the info and watch the video later. Many of mine had to come in at lunch and hope the district Internet filter hadn’t blocked the Skeleton Creek site. This streamlining of the experience is one sign that the author is growing and improving.
And, like any book that involves Jeffrey Townsend, I stay up too late wanting to keep reading.
The alternative reality missions are releasing later today. While I read the book, I had my laptop next to me so I could look up any sites mentioned. I hope to see more from the missions. I can easily see the lines of fiction blurring under Patrick Carman’s expert use of media.
