A little bit of ABC

I feel like a little light music...

So here is Booty of Choice. There is a technological mashup, but the music mash came first.



tags : YouTube, dunproofin, Fat Boy Slim, Jackson 5, mashup

Thanks Conn and Mike

The thing I found most interesting thing about the last Open Coffee Cork event wasn't that it was livecast on uStream.tv (recording available) or the conversations which followed but watching Conn Ó Muíneacháin and Mike "Festoon" Kiely set up the system for the live feed.

Which goes to prove that I focus on the wrong thing most of the time.

Oddly, I don't think anyone changed much with the arrival of the camera (as the number of people not looking at the camera probably attests). Part of this was due to the delay in setting things up. The part one: meet and greet was buffeted with microphones moving around (turned off) and a camera being connected and disconnected... so by the time everything started, we were used to the bloody things.

Sorry, but the microphone problems meant that everyone was comfortable with the things being there (the chat at the table has been going for some time before the stream let alone the recording started). That and the fortunate positioning of the "type 2"s next to each other.

I'm not too sure about who gets the stream next, but use the set-up to calm the nerves.

I can only say thanks for the livecast and congratulations on what happens next.

Will

p.s.
Are Podcamp Kilkenny and Barcamp Galway going to be livestreamed too?

tags :
Open Coffee Cork, Open Coffee, edgecast media, uStream.tv, edgecast, Conn Ó Muíneacháin, Mike Kiely

snarky

"Only through perfectionism can we convert the non-believers who are content to mark up sites like MySpace." -- Lisa Price on Carsonified

overheard, code, web standards

Draw the line

A while back I came across the game Line Rider. The idea is that you draw a line, and a little man on a sled goes sliding down it. To be honest I didn't think much of it.

Then I discovered that some people are much more creative with this game than I could be. For example... getting dumped (or the best ride ever).



Some people simply have better artistic talent than I have. For example, wouldn't you like to slide through the world of Escher.



But it never occurred to me that you could use something so simple for machinima. Machinima is the term for using the in-build engine of a game, to tell a story not supposed to be in the game.

So how about a story about escaping from a one eyed giant... (with a ska soundtrack)


Or an episode of Stargate Atlantis? (Some might argue that the acting is more or less up to the show's standards.)


Oddly enough, I was thinking about a delivery company advert... You know about the post getting through rain and snow and one eyed giants... And it would make a change from those bloody snowman adverts at Christmas.

I'm just waiting for the t-shirts.

take care,
Will

tags : Line Rider, creative, Escher, machinima, one eyed giant, Stargate Atlantis, delivery company

SMesS

"Twitterhoea" -- Lexia

It describes it so well, but Ewwww. And for the record, I've finally succumbed.

tags :
overheard, twitter

Colliding with Irish VCs

Most of you know by now that the Limerick Open Coffee meeting had an interesting pair of visitors, namely Patrick Collison and John Collison of Auctomatic.

The talk was Livestreamed on Ustream.tv by Conn Ó Muíneacháin and Bernie Goldbach has a podcast available.

I would comment about it, but I'm late to the party so I'll let Aidanf Conor O'Neill and James Corbett do a much better job. Besides I'm mostly be repeating their comments), but right now you can see the potential value of the Paddy's Valley tour. Remember that the pair left Limerick to go to the Valley in order to get things started.

On the other hand... there is Walter of Pixenate (who suspiciously suffered from a DOS attack after these comments, no connection I'm sure) commented on Twitter about the really weird offer being made by the Irish Venture Capital Association. On Thursday 27th September 2007 the IVCA training programme is 'How to Raise Venture Capital' developed in conjunction with the Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship. In otherwords, the IVCA is telling bright and talented Irish Startups how to get money off the IVCA. And is charging the people they might give money to... is that circular logic or recursion?

I'm sure someone would be willing to comment and explain this to me?

take care,
Will Knott

tags : Open Coffee, Limerick Open Coffee, Patrick Collison, John Collison, Auctomatic, Ustream.tv, Conn Ó Muíneacháin, Bernie Goldbach, podcast, Paddys Valley tour 2007, Pixenate, Irish Venture Capital Association

Read, Write, and Recycle the Web with Marcio Galli

Well that was fun.

I suppose I should post a review of the event, but Mark Crowley did a much better job at it than I ever could so I'll leave it to him.

I know it looks like cheating, but I know when I've been beaten.

take care,
Will Knott

tags : IT@Cork, Web development, Mozilla, Firefox 3, FireFox, talk, Marcio Galli, Blacknight, National Software Centre, Cork, Mark Crowley

Not just a man but a platform

IT@Cork are hosting a talk on August 8 2007 about Web development and advanced applications with upcoming Mozilla Firefox 3 called "FireFox - A Web-browser, a Platform, a Framework". Impressive title. From the blurb it sounds as if Marcio Galli will highlight all the goodies just waiting the the jar when Firefox 3 is released.

The event is sponsored by Blacknight so things might be even more interesting than the talk. Everything starts a 6pm in the National Software Centre.

See you there?
Will Knott

tags : IT@Cork, Web development, Mozilla, Firefox 3, FireFox, talk, Marcio Galli, Blacknight, National Software Centre, Cork

I have the heart of a young man

and not in a jar on my desk. Picked this Real Age Clock meme thing up from Kathy Foley.

Simple idea... enter your real age and details about you and (accidents not withstanding) it will calculate your body's real age (and life expectancy).

Well, my real age is almost ten years younger than my biological age. So maybe my toy collection is actually a reflection of my age (I will admit that I would dread a "mental age" test).

Me smug, no,
Will Knott

tags : real age clock, real age, biological age, Kathy Foley

Looking at your Johnson

Recently I posted about the short comings of stereotypes (and when they are necessary).

Well Lee Hopkins points out the shortcomings much better than I did, and gives a similar reason... attention span.

While I pointed out that a stereotype in necessary for a 30 second advert (even if you intend to show that the stereotype is incorrect) Lee does one better... he tells a story.

---quoting Lee Hopkins...
“Johnson!” barked the bulldog-like senior manager, “Get in here NOW!”

But Johnson failed to appear.

“JOHNSON!” screamed the bulldog.

Still no appearance of the missing subordinate.

Who immediately feels some sort of pity for Johnson? Who feels some form of anger towards the bulldog-like manager?

Why? You don’t know the context.

For all you know Johnson could have been away photocopying confidential information to pass to a competitor; the bulldog’s shouts might have been a cry for help because they’re having a heart attack — the screams no louder than a whisper to an outsider’s ears.

But this is the Age of the Instant Judgement, when we make snap decisions that can affect lives without taking the time to understand the context.

---

He goes on to point out that a lot of the blogging world and the entire Web 2.0 world means that there is a lot of first reactions. With the high output of posts and blogs, we skim posts. We skim information, a long post tends to be something put aside for later digestion (and might be removed from your reader, or memory when the next nugget of information arrives.

Slightly depressing, eh?

Will

tags : stereotypes, Lee Hopkins, story, Instant Judgement, attention, Web 2.0, blogs, skim