Friday, 31 May 2013
Wednesday, 29 May 2013
Chris Jordan : Plastic bottles; Eco art
Who drank these drinks? How many plastic bottled drinks do you buy per day?
Saturday, 25 May 2013
Thursday, 23 May 2013
music instrument miniature/model/objet d'art making
Tu Pi Pa
http://larkinam.com/WalkingStickInstruments.html
Gourd mandolin
Xun (Clay flute)
http://pinterest.com/string10/musical-instruments/
Tuesday, 21 May 2013
Ubiquitous wearable computers, Google Glass, Digital Eye Glass Steve Mann, Vinepeek 6 sec film, micro version of film
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/05/glass-before-google.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8lScHO2mM0
Google Glass
Google Glass (styled "GLΛSS") is a wearable computer with a head-mounted display (HMD) that is being developed by Google in the Project Glass research and development project,[9] with the mission of producing a mass-market ubiquitous computer.[1] Google Glass displays information in a smartphone-like hands-free format,[10] that can interact with the Internet via natural language voice commands.[11][12] While the frames do not currently have lenses fitted to them, Google is considering partnerships with sunglass retailers such as Ray-Ban or Warby Parker, and may also open retail stores to allow customers to try on the device.[1] The Explorer Edition cannot be used by people who wear prescription glasses, but Google has confirmed that Glass will eventually work with frames and lenses that match the wearer's prescription; the glasses will be modular and therefore possibly attachable to normal prescription glasses.[13]
Steve Mann
Digital Eye Glass
Eye Tap
Vinepeek
“Posts on Vine are about abbreviation—the shortened form of something larger. They’re little windows into the people, settings, ideas and objects that make up your life.”
A Vine is a filmic phrase.
...because of its short duration ... all Vines loop endlessly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8lScHO2mM0
Google Glass
Google Glass (styled "GLΛSS") is a wearable computer with a head-mounted display (HMD) that is being developed by Google in the Project Glass research and development project,[9] with the mission of producing a mass-market ubiquitous computer.[1] Google Glass displays information in a smartphone-like hands-free format,[10] that can interact with the Internet via natural language voice commands.[11][12] While the frames do not currently have lenses fitted to them, Google is considering partnerships with sunglass retailers such as Ray-Ban or Warby Parker, and may also open retail stores to allow customers to try on the device.[1] The Explorer Edition cannot be used by people who wear prescription glasses, but Google has confirmed that Glass will eventually work with frames and lenses that match the wearer's prescription; the glasses will be modular and therefore possibly attachable to normal prescription glasses.[13]
Steve Mann
Digital Eye Glass
Eye Tap
An EyeTap[1][2][3] is a device that is worn in front of the eye that acts as a camera to record the scene available to the eye as well as a display to superimpose a computer-generated imagery on the original scene available to the eye.[3][4] This structure allows the user's eye to operate as both a monitor and a camera as the EyeTap intakes the world around it and augments the image the user sees allowing it to overlay computer-generated data over top of the normal world the user would perceive. The EyeTap is a hard technology to categorize under the three main headers for wearable computing(constancy, augmentation, mediation) for while it is in theory a constancy technology in nature it also has the ability to augment and mediate the reality the user perceives.
In order to capture what the eye is seeing as accurately as possible, an EyeTap uses a beam splitter[5] to send the same scene (with reduced intensity) to both the eye and a camera. The camera then digitizes the reflected image of the scene and sends it to a computer. The computer processes the image and then sends it to a projector. The projector sends the image to the other side of the beam splitter so that this computer-generated image is reflected into the eye to be superimposed on the original scene. Stereo EyeTaps modify light passing through both eyes, but many research prototypes (mainly for reasons of ease of construction) only tap one eye.
EyeTap is also the name of an organization founded by inventor Steve Mann[6][7][8][9] to develop and promote EyeTap-related technologies such aswearable computers.[4][10]
Mann has been described as the "father of wearable computing".[23][24][25] In 1961 Edward O. Thorp (with Claude Shannon) built a microprocessor timing circuit into a shoe, for covertly cheating at roulette, and referred to himself as inventor of the wearable computer.[26] However, there has been some debate as to whether or not Thorp's covert timing device is a wearable computer in the modern sense of "computer" as a general-purpose device.[27]
Mann has also been described as "the world's first cyborg" in Canadian popular press such as NOW, The Globe and Mail, National Post, and Toronto Life but has himself rejected the term "cyborg" as being too vague.[28] Mann has been described as the founder of the field of wearable computing based on his early work in personal imaging, although there is controversy surrounding the exact definition of wearable computing, and whether any one person can be considered to have invented it. For example, a wearable camera was described by Vannevar Bush in his essay "As We May Think" in the Atlantic Monthly in July 1945, though he never built any working prototypes of such a device. Mann has also been described as "the father of AR", in association with his early computer vision systems that helped people see better (e.g. while welding, or in other high-dynamic range situations, with dynamic range management, overlays, and augmentation as well as diminishment in both the additive and subtractive sense).[29]
Vinepeek
“Posts on Vine are about abbreviation—the shortened form of something larger. They’re little windows into the people, settings, ideas and objects that make up your life.”
A Vine is a filmic phrase.
...because of its short duration ... all Vines loop endlessly
Six seconds is not much time to catch a movie. But it only takes six seconds to watch the entirety of a Vine, a post from the quick-capture video service of the same name that Twitter premièred in January. Vine is, in a sense, the simplest and most portable film-production and distribution tool in the world, with a correspondingly short payoff. Its popularity—within a couple of months, it was the most-downloaded free app in the App Store—is as inevitable as its potential for elevation to something beyond the obvious impulse of self-documentary. This week, the Tribeca Film Festival is incorporating Vine into its program by holding a competition for the best six-second films. Robert De Niro, one of the festival’s founders,said of the app recently, “You can tell a whole story in six seconds.”
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/04/the-six-second-film-grows-up.html
Vine is the “micro-version” of film, she explained at her office one afternoon. “It has all the aspects of filmmaking, but a different order.” Terranova said of the judging, “It’s the same criteria we look at when we look at a movie: strong voice, good story, creativity.” Her staff watched every entry and selected forty top contenders for the judges to consider. The finalists have been announced on Tribeca’s Web site, and the winners will be named next Friday. The pre-jury screening is standard practice, but there is a difference in this case: “Everything’s online. It puts more scrutiny on what we’re doing”— she pointed her finger, imagining a critic—“ ‘How’d you miss that?’ ”
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/04/the-six-second-film-grows-up.html
Vine is the “micro-version” of film, she explained at her office one afternoon. “It has all the aspects of filmmaking, but a different order.” Terranova said of the judging, “It’s the same criteria we look at when we look at a movie: strong voice, good story, creativity.” Her staff watched every entry and selected forty top contenders for the judges to consider. The finalists have been announced on Tribeca’s Web site, and the winners will be named next Friday. The pre-jury screening is standard practice, but there is a difference in this case: “Everything’s online. It puts more scrutiny on what we’re doing”— she pointed her finger, imagining a critic—“ ‘How’d you miss that?’ ”
Monday, 20 May 2013
digital story telling
http://www.storycenter.org/
http://courseweb.lis.illinois.edu/~jevogel2/lis506/howto.html
Digital storytelling refers to a short form of digital media production that allows everyday people to share aspects of their life story. "Media" may include the digital equivalent of film techniques (full-motion video with sound), animation, stills, audio only, or any of the other forms of non-physical media (material that exists only as electronic files as opposed to actual paintings or photographs on paper, sounds stored on tape or disc, movies stored on film) which individuals can use to tell a story or present an idea.
Introduction [edit]
"Digital storytelling" is a relatively new term which describes the new practice of ordinary people who use digital tools to tell their 'story'. Digital stories often present in compelling and emotionally engaging formats, and can be interactive.
The term "digital storytelling" can also cover a range of digital narratives (web-based stories, interactive stories, hypertexts, and narrative computer games); It is sometimes used to refer to film-making in general, and as of late, it has been used to describe advertising and promotion efforts by commercial and non-profit enterprises.
One can define digital storytelling as the process by which diverse peoples share their life story and creative imaginings with others. This newer form of storytelling emerged with the advent of accessible media production techniques, hardware and software, including but not limited to digital cameras, digital voice recorders, iMovie, Windows Movie Maker and Final Cut Express. These new technologies allow individuals to share their stories over the Internet on YouTube, Vimeo, compact discs, podcasts, and other electronic distribution systems.
One can think of digital storytelling as the modern extension of the ancient art of storytelling, now interwoven with digitized still and moving images and sound. Thanks to new media and digital technologies, individuals can approach storytelling from unique perspectives. Many people use elaborate non-traditional story forms, such as non-linear and interactive narratives.[1]
Simply put, digital stories are multimedia movies that combine photographs, video, animation, sound, music, text, and often a narrative voice. Digital stories may be used as an expressive medium within the classroom to integrate subject matter with extant knowledge and skills from across the curriculum. Students can work individually or collaboratively to produce their own digital stories. Once completed, these stories are easily be uploaded to the internet and can be made available to an international audience, depending on the topic and purpose of the project.[2]
The most important characteristics of a digital story are that it no longer conforms to the traditional conventions of storytelling because it is capable of combining still imagery, moving imagery, sound, and text, as well as being nonlinear and contain interactive features. The expressive capabilities of technology offers a broad base from which to integrate. It enhances the experience for both the author and audience and allows for greater interactivity.
With the arrival of new media devices like computers, digital cameras, recorders, and software, individuals may share their digital stories via the Internet, on discs, podcasts, or other electronic media. Digital storytelling combines the art of storytelling with multimedia features such as photography, animation, text, audio, voiceover, hypertext and video. Digital tools and software make it easy and convenient to create a digital story. Common software includes iMovie and Movie Maker for user-friendly options. There are other online options and free applications as well.
Educators often identify the benefit of digital storytelling as the array of technical tools from which students may select for their creative expression. Learners set out to use these tools in new ways to make meaningful content. Students learn new software, choose images, edit video, make voiceover narration, add music, create title screens, and control flow and transitions. Additionally, there is opportunity to insert interactive features for "reader" participation. It is possible to click on imagery or text in order to choose what will happen next, cause an event to occur, or navigate to online content.
Additionally, distinctions may be drawn between Web 2.0 storytelling and that of digital storytelling. Web 2.0 storytelling is said to produce a network of connections via social networking, blogging, andYouTube that transcends beyond the traditional, singular flow of digital storytelling. It tends to "aggregate large amounts of microcontent and creatively select patterns out of an almost unfathomable volume of information,"[7] therefore the bounds of Web 2.0 storytelling are not necessarily clear.[8]
Another form of digital storytelling is the micromovie, which is "a very short exposition lasting from a few seconds to no more than 5 minutes in length. It allows the teller to combine personal writing, photographic images or video footage, narrative, sound effects, and music. Many people, regardless of skill level, are able to tell their stories through image and sound and share those stories with others."[9]
How to Create a Digital Story
"Digital Storytelling takes the ancient art of oral storytelling and engages the palette of technical tools to weave personal tales using images, graphics, music, and sound mixed together with the author's own story voice."-Bernajean Porter, Digitales.
Telling a digital story successfully depends on one's ability to plan the process first. Compiled below are several step-by-step methods, website links, and article abstracts that will guide an individual through the digital storytelling process.
PART ONE: Define, Collect, Decide1. Select a topic for your digital story.
2. Create a folder on the desktop where you can store the materials you find.
3. Search for image resources for your story, including: pictures, drawings, photographs, maps, charts, etc. -Save these resources in your folder.
4. Try to locate audio resources such as music, speeches, interviews, and sound effects. -Save these resources in your folder.
5. Try to find informational content, which might come from web sites, word processed documents, or PowerPoint slides. -Save these resources in your folder.
6. Begin thinking of the purpose of your story. Are you trying to inform, convince, provoke, question?
PART TWO: Select, Import, Create
1. Select the images you would like to use for your digital story.
1. Select the images you would like to use for your digital story.
2. Select the audio you would like to use for your digital story.
3. Select the content and text you would like to use for your digital story.
4. Import images into Photo Story (Note: Photo Story is free software available for download and use on Windows XP computers from Microsoft).
5. Import audio into Photo Story.
6. Modify number of images and/or image order, if necessary.
PART THREE: Decide, Write, Record, Finalize
1. Decide on the purpose and point of view of your digital story.
1. Decide on the purpose and point of view of your digital story.
2. Write a script that will be used as narration in your digital story AND provides the purpose and point of view you have chosen.
3. Use a computer microphone and record the narration of your script.
4. Import the narration into Photo Story.
5. Finalize your digital story by saving it as a Windows Media Video (.wmv) file.
PART FOUR: Demonstrate, Evaluate, Replicate
1. Show your digital story to your colleagues.
1. Show your digital story to your colleagues.
2. Gather feedback about how the story could be improved, expanded, and used in your classroom.
3. Teach your colleagues how to create their own digital stories.
4. Congratulate yourself for a job well done!
This above how-to method of creating a digital story is available athttp://www.coe.uh.edu/digitalstorytelling/. The above list provides a broad description of the methods involved that acts as the foundation of a digital story.
"Enter Here: Personal Narrative and Digital Storytelling" by Sara B. Kajder provides an insightful firsthand account on creating a digital story and its processes. Available in full text through UIUC's OPAChttp://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/?mode=J, Kajder establishes six steps of digital storytelling from her experience and the methods that was incorporated.
Accessible through TechSoup athttp://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/training/page6738.cfm, Brian Satterfield provides a Good Tools, Best Practices Eight Tips for Telling Your Story Digitally. Some tips include respecting copyright laws as well as using free or low-cost software to create a digital story.
Dusti and Deanne Howell provide some useful tips in their article "What's Your Digital Story" available through http://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/?mode=J. This article provides several broad suggestions to help get a digital story started by following the K.I.S.S principle (Keep It Simple to Survive).
This digital storytelling website provides a more software oriented approach. Using the software, Movie Maker, a detailed laden methodology provides the user with a guide that lists each step involved.http://www.umass.edu/wmwp/DigitalStorytelling/Digital%20Storytelling%20Main%20Page.htm
Digital Storytelling: Creating an eStory by Dusti D. and Deanne K. Howell provides a thorough how to guide for multiple software media. The book includes a step-by step methodology for the following software programs: Kid Pix Delux 3, Pinnacle Studio, Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Premiere, and Macromedia Flash. Each chapter contains an introduction to the software, materials needed, a look at the completed project, how to get started with a storyboard, building the project, adaptations and extensions, resources, and a glossary. Visual snapshots of the software screens are also incorporated into each chapter as a guide that a story maker may follow. Also provided are tips to creating a better digital story and a storyboard template.
Tools/Media available for use in digital stories:
(Note: the following list is from Bristol Stories' Resources pagehttp://www.bristolstories.org/resources.php)
Sounds:
•www.ljudo.com - Searchable sound effects site. Samples are free to use for non-commercial purposes.
•www.ljudo.com - Searchable sound effects site. Samples are free to use for non-commercial purposes.
•freesound.iua.upf.edu - Searchable sound effects site. The creator of each sound must be credited and a login is required (BristolStories has an account you can use).
•www.flickr.com/creativecommons/by-2.0 - A searchable selection of pictures from the Flickr site which can be used as long as the photographer is credited.
•openphoto.net - A selection of pictures than can be used as long as they are credited to the photographer and your story is licensed under the Creative Commons "Attribution-ShareAlike" licence.
Music:
•www.opsound.org - Wide range of music available for download and licensed under the Creative Commons "Attribution-ShareAlike" licence.
•www.opsound.org - Wide range of music available for download and licensed under the Creative Commons "Attribution-ShareAlike" licence.
Moving image:
•www.archive.org - A collections of moving image, sound and images, some of which is freely available for re-use. Check before downloading; if you cannot find any rights information, assume you do not have permission.
•www.archive.org - A collections of moving image, sound and images, some of which is freely available for re-use. Check before downloading; if you cannot find any rights information, assume you do not have permission.
•creativecommons.org/video - You can search for CC-licensed moving image media from the Creative Commons site.
•creative.bfi.org.uk - A collection of archive film material made available free by the British Film Institute for non-commercial use.
Maps:
•www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/freefun/outlinemaps/ - Large UK map images from the Ordnance Survey maps showing county boundaries or just the outline. The images are for non-commercial use only and the Ordnance Survey must be credited.
•World map jpeg image - A basic line drawing of a world map. The size is 6264 x 4161 pixels, so it is suitable for cropping, colouring and retouching. Right-click on the World Map link and save the file.
Software for digital storytelling:
•iMovie is included with Apple OS X
•MovieMaker is included with Windows XP
•Microsoft Photo Story (see www.microsoft.com) is free for Windows XP and newer.
•InAlbum (www.inalbum.com) is a slideshow maker for older versions of Windows, available as a free or shareware version.
•Audacity (audacity.sourceforge.net) is a sound editor with versions for Apple OS X, Windows and Linux.
•Gimp (www.gimp.org) is a free image editing program for Linux, Unix, Windows and Apple computers.
•Upgrading QuickTime player to QuickTime Pro (see www.QuickTime.com) enables you to cut and paste different media files together and add Dolby surround sound. The current version of QuickTime is usually only available for newer Apple and Windows computers.
Useful documents for story makers and facilitators:
•Bristol Stories rights information - a document telling you about Intellectual Property Rights and how they apply to digital storytelling.
•Ice breaker ideas for facilitators running workshops.
•Technology help and time-saving tips for digital storytellers.
•"How to become a master". People unfamiliar with the tools and techniques of Digital Storytelling sometimes think they'll never be able to understand them. This page of links will help you learn the jargon and become a Master yourself!
•"The Philosophy of Digital Storytelling" - A collection for those who want to look beyond the "Digital" and to consider the "Story"...
Bristol Stories provides a legal listing on various websites that one can copy and use in a digital story such as music, images, pictures, software, and some useful resources relating to copyright issues and tips. http://www.bristolstories.org/
Linda Joseph's article Digital Storytelling in MultiMedia & Internet@Schools is accessible through UIUC's Library Gateway athttp://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/?mode=J. Joseph supplies a brief description of several digital storytelling tools that include the following: Apple iMovie (Macintosh OS X), Audacity (Macintosh OS X and Windows), BubbleShare, Ken Burns PBS website, Microsoft Photo Story 3 (Windows), and Windows XP: Moviemaker 2,1 (Windows).
An example of a storyboard can be found at the following
http://courseweb.lis.uiuc.edu/~nkaffe2/Samplestoryboard.htm.
http://courseweb.lis.uiuc.edu/~nkaffe2/Samplestoryboard.htm.
You may also access the storyboard example athttp://www.umass.edu/wmwp/DigitalStorytelling/Digital%20Storytelling%20Main%20Page.htm.
Page completed by Nicole Kaffel
Nadene Eisner
Nell Fleming
Nicole Kaffel
Janet Vogel (webmaster)
Nell Fleming
Nicole Kaffel
Janet Vogel (webmaster)
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
LIS 506
November 2007
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
LIS 506
November 2007
SL10B birthday celebrations
XYZ Qin #1 in real life is almost completed.
Maybe I will make an SL version of the XYZ Qin and have it as a playable installation for the SL10B celebrations!
Sunday, 19 May 2013
Balin Primary School children at an Animation Workshop by Nanyi Students
Nanyi Students self initiation to teach primary school children near by.
Great project! *****
Friday, 17 May 2013
feather balancing act :: Sanddornbalance by Miyoko Shida Rigolo Circus flic flac
feather balancing act :: Sanddornbalance by Miyoko Shida Rigolo Circus flic flac
Thursday, 16 May 2013
growing plants upside down
Growing plants upside down
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/garden/20tomato.html?_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/garden/20tomato.html?_r=0
musical instruments made of wood, ask a scientist, electric violin, violin
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hi/hi_woodmi.htm
musical instrument made of wood
http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education/ask/?quid=890
ask a scientist
http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/jom/0708/roncone-0708.html
wood instrument, violin, electric violin
“There are no restrictions on materials used in building electric violins, but as weight is a major factor, choice must be made with this in mind,” he said. And, in the end, it’s not always about science. The choice of material in a musical instrument sometimes comes down to one important factor: looks. Brewer’s violins come in a range of colors and are outfitted with light-emitting diodes for illuminated playing.
“For aesthetics, materials play an important role,” said Brewer. “If the violins look great, they will sell well.”
musical instrument made of wood
http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education/ask/?quid=890
ask a scientist
http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/jom/0708/roncone-0708.html
wood instrument, violin, electric violin
“There are no restrictions on materials used in building electric violins, but as weight is a major factor, choice must be made with this in mind,” he said. And, in the end, it’s not always about science. The choice of material in a musical instrument sometimes comes down to one important factor: looks. Brewer’s violins come in a range of colors and are outfitted with light-emitting diodes for illuminated playing.
“For aesthetics, materials play an important role,” said Brewer. “If the violins look great, they will sell well.”
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