June 7, 2009 by admin.

I’m loving the Ubiquity add-on for Firefox, a (nearly) natural-language command line interface that creates user mashups on the fly. It takes advantage of the power of language and open APIs. Brilliant!If this is their alpha, can’t wait to see the beta!

Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

Posted in techthang, usability, web 2.0, media, development, design | No Comments »

June 3, 2009 by admin.

Building sophisticated educational tools out of cheap parts, Johnny Lee demos his cool Wii Remote hacks, which turn the $40 video game controller into a digital whiteboard, a touchscreen and a head-mounted 3-D viewer.

 

About Johnny Lee

Researcher Johnny Lee became a YouTube star with his demo of Wii Remote hacks — bending the low-cost game piece to power an interactive whiteboard, a multitouch surface, a head-mounted display … Full bio and more links

Posted in media, public policy, social ventures, ventures, web 2.0, education, techthang, innovation, maker, just for fun, jobs, small business, development, nonprofit, investing, marketing, video, Linkedin, stimulus, schools, finance, design | No Comments »

May 30, 2009 by Robert.

When I first saw the TED demo of PhotoSynth by co-creator Blaise Aguera y Arcas, I was awed and intrigued (not at that unusual).

But, as with so many novel ideas, I didn’t really grasp what it was about, didn’t fully understand it, didn’t know what to do with it at the time.

 The idea of simulating 3-dimensional movement using a database of 2-D images intrigued me.

 To me it was a novelty, for sure. I imagined it as a way to archive history — not just  to simulate 3-dimensional spaces, but to travel backwards in time.

 Virtual time travel — maybe there’s something to that idea.  Or maybe not. Forensics? Crime scene investigation? Environmental monitoring?

 That was before I carried a digital camera around in my pocket, before I posted so many images to Picasaweb that I have a hard time managing them, before I became a regular user of a social network on which people are posting new images several times a day.

 And then I began to appreciate what PhotoSynth could do with “current” photo.  After all, time is just another dimension to consider: all the photos in any database are in a sense “historical” photos.  Each photo represents a point in time, a point in 3-dimensional space, a vector (directional view), a magnification factor, etc.

 We can intentionally attend to certain dimensions and filter-out others. We can create applications that assist us in filtering-out or enhancing certain dimensions. And we can index or otherwise annotate those dimensions with metadata (”Africa trip”, “Capetown”, “Eilene”, etc.)

Posted in media, web 2.0, ventures, Linkedin, development, design | 1 Comment »

May 29, 2009 by Robert.

This video is a very clever presentation and whimsical commentary on New Media, posted by Michael Wesch, professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University in 2007.Don’t read the comments on YouTube — they’re mostly vulgar spam.I find it humorous to see that the YouTube video attracted a storm of comments *protesting* and *correcting* the author on factual matters, leading the author to post a quick revision and promise a new version “soon.” Ahem.And now the YouTube video is an epithet to good intentions in a web 2.0 world.Notice that the author was also apparently inundated with inquiries about the music in the background. I wonder if that was their intention. Many indy bands have been made famous over the years by licensing their music to be used in videos that “go viral.”Note to self: be sure to prominently credit the source of all content, or at least post a companion website somewhere which leaves a breadcrumb-trail to the information, providing Wikipedia with a verifiable “source.” And remember to use a disposable email address.

Note that the project was:

If only they’d used a more “nimble” tool for producing video, they could have responded more rapidly and continued the conversation (affordably, or even profitably) rather than being overwhelmed/bored/whatever (used-up by The Machine).But it’s still interesting, effective and fun as anthropology, if not profound.Already, the “crowd” has taken ownership, and is advising, crafting, revising, innovating, and even promoting (as I’m doing here). With 9 million+ views and counting, copied-and-translated into many languages, could this “modern antiquity” become a classic?

Posted in media, web 2.0, education, Linkedin, video, design, wordpress, marketing, RSS | 1 Comment »

April 29, 2009 by Robert.

An interesting article by Kevin Jones of Good Capital, which appeared in the Stanfurd… I mean Stanford Social Innovation Review:

The real question is not whether social investing will become real, or whether it will become a more important asset class. Social investment is growing, and its growth is in line with societal trends that are both on the rise in their acceptance and in line with the realities of limited environmental resources and economic transformation.

Based on the trends I’m seeing, I’m declaring the question settled. Yes, social venture capital is both a valid emerging asset class and in the forefront in its ability to deliver scalable social impact at low cost and provide an actual financial return that helps support the mission and the enterprise.

About the Writer

Kevin Jones is a cofounding principal of Good Capital, an investment firm that accelerates the flow of capital to enterprises that use market forces to create large-scale social change. Jones is a successful serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and cofounder of Social Capital Markets, the groundbreaking conference on social venture investing. (Source: same as above, Stanford Social Innovation Review:)

Posted in ventures, social ventures, HVAC, Linkedin, design, nonprofit, Blogroll | No Comments »

April 28, 2009 by Robert.

“The key is fuel: The more of it a base uses, the more soldiers are exposed to deadly roadside bombs on fuel convoys.” (Source: LA Times article, Doug Smith and Saif Rasheed, Nov 22, 2007)   

I love how crowdsourcing innovation can lead to unexpected benefits.  The military expected to get some high tech, expensive gadgets.  But instead, they got barrels of goop.OK, so “barrels of petroleum-based goop” is not such “green idea” and it’s not cheap.  But it’s innovative.How could it be improved?  Maybe use lightweight re-inforced concrete foam instead of “plastic” foam.  Maybe use materials that are readily-available onsite.  Or, sink the tents 4 ft. down into the ground (i.e. in rows, with the excavated dirt/sand piled at both ends).  Prefab steel-reinforced concrete walls (poured onsite) could provide quick snap-together construction.The temperature is usually more mild underground, providing passive cooling during the day and heating at night.  Keeping a low profile provides added protection from flying shrapnel/debris.

Posted in affordable housing, shelter, energy, HVAC, military, development, Linkedin, design | No Comments »