Monthly Archives: October 2010

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28
Oct 10

Harrisburg’s New Media Commons

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Penn State Harrisburg is about to open the doors to its brand new Media Commons space.  Located in room 112 of the Library, just past the main entrance and circulation desk, the Media Commons is now in a highly visible corner of a busy campus resource.  

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The new Media Commons features three 27″ Apple iMac computers loaded with software for editing video, audio and images.  It also houses two WhisperRoom recording booths that offer one-stop sound capture in a quiet space – for both you and for library patrons – via built-in computers and microphones.
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Check out all that the new Media Commons has to offer to the Harrisburg community in the coming days.  For more information about the MC Harrisburg, contact Mike Lackey or Nick Smerker.

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26
Oct 10

Will Wright, Game Developer TV Producer

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Will Wright, of SimCity fame, has embarked on his very own augmented reality game (ARG) project called Bar Karma.  Partnering with Current TV, Mr. Wright is asking audience members to submit their own storyboards and scripts via an online community each week.  Winning entries will be turned into the next episode each time, allowing the viewers to take control of the direction of the entire series.
I turned this up on ARGNet while researching for the upcoming MC Tailgate and think it really holds potential for the classroom, too.  Imagine a semester long series of videos created by vote, with teams in the course submitting a storyboard per week to be voted on for each short installment.  When thought of as a “creative writing” exercise, you can see the immediate value so much practice would bring to the development of stronger storytelling skills.
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25
Oct 10

Remembering the Learning Curve

So, I do a lot of blogging and have worked with a variety of platforms over the years, from Blogger to TypePad to WordPress to Tumblr.  However, using this Movable Type installation has again reminded me what it’s like to be on the outside looking in with a technology.  It’s JUST similar enough to what I know to send me careening down the wrong paths for large swaths of time.  All I wanted to do was install my own Blip.fm widget (which I did, mostly successfully) in the sidebar.  The act of doing so was a good reminder of what my clients feel like when learning something I consider entirely old hat…and an opportunity to practice my patience on myself!

Enjoy the music recommendations – they were hard-fought!
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22
Oct 10

The iPadification of Mac

It was inevitable, really.  The brave, new, multitouch-capable world pioneered by the iPhone and polished by the iPad was going to become a reality of the venerable Mac.  We had seen patent applications proving Apple was leaning this direction and we are all quite familiar with the glass trackpads that have been adorning MacBooks since 2008, eventually becoming their own peripheral, the Magic Trackpad.  However, with Apple’s recent Back to Mac event, the tide has begun to come in with force.

Not only did we receive a clear statement that the iPad has begun influencing future Mac development straight from Steve, we also saw a preview of Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) that features a number of iOS elements, an upcoming Mac App Store, full-screen modes on the iLife ’11 suite that mimic the iPad.  More importantly (and most lust-worthy) was the introduction of an entirely flash storage-based MacBook Air.  With the new software changes coming down the pipeline – and with the all new 11″ model coming in at just $1000 – you can see a future where your Mac is nearly as thin as your tablet and serves to be a like-minded back up and loading dock when you aren’t lounging on the couch in a more casual habit form.

If I could justify replacing that 2008 MacBook of mine, I would get started on this future today. 

(From my Case for the iPad blog.)

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18
Oct 10

Watch history come to life

New-old coworker, Hannah, just sent me this über cool video of a Czech clock tower being brought back to its former glory in Prague. Wouldn’t it be cool to try this with any number of historic buildings in small towns across the country? I can imagine this being an outstanding history project – just wonder how difficult it would be to actually pull off?

(Posted also at my personal blog.)
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14
Oct 10

A first entry…

Hello there.

It’s a grey and rainy Thursday here in State College and I find myself in my office for just the second time, though this is my fourth day of work at ETS.  And it’s not even really just my fourth day, to be honest: I have an overwhelming sense of déjà vu here in Rider (II) as I spent the first almost-four years of my career stationed in this very building.  A lot has changed since my first go round (2003-2007) and I’m finding exciting new projects and direction everywhere I turn.  I’m ready to get started and I’ve even got my office set up:

New Office

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