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7 years ago
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Social Network: aka the Facebook movie
Watching movie trailers is like a drug for me, so when I took a few minutes in the midst of a particularly drab workday to check out this one, it was well worth it. "The Social Network" is about the creation of Facebook and the scandals surrounding it, and if the eerie trailer featuring a children's choir rendition of Radiohead is any indication of what's to come, the movie is going to be powerful, revealing and all-round fantastic. I'm a lover of social media and I'm fascinated with the way it's shaped an entire generation of people and changed the way we live, love, build relationships, do business, communicate, and project ourselves on others. And so many other things. It would be cool to see a movie—maybe a documentary, for that matter—with a larger scope, covering more than just one social media outlet and how it shapes the lives of people from different generations. It may already exist, I just haven't heard of it yet.
The Social Network trailer
The Social Network trailer
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Obsessed with
iMovie. When I said I wasn't going to make a slideshow for our wedding, what I really meant was....I'm going to dramatize the past 5 years of our relationship to music using iMovie.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The end is nigh but the road is still long
The week is coming to an end, and so is my final year of school. By no means am I completely finished (hello internship and thesis...), but tomorrow we're wrapping up our big term projects and saying au revoir to course work. We got out of our offices at school before sundown for the first time this week and there was even a rainbow to greet us. The pot of gold was waiting for me at home - it took the shape of the Canucks winning their first playoff game. Hallelujah.
If all goes well tomorrow in the unveiling of the editorial workflow system prototype we've been building online for the past 9 weeks (if you're interested the presentations will be live blogged HERE beginning at 1:00pm tomorrow afternoon), I should be settling into my second glass of wine by about 4:30pm and prepping for the first weekend without papers and readings lurking in my subconscious.
If all goes well tomorrow in the unveiling of the editorial workflow system prototype we've been building online for the past 9 weeks (if you're interested the presentations will be live blogged HERE beginning at 1:00pm tomorrow afternoon), I should be settling into my second glass of wine by about 4:30pm and prepping for the first weekend without papers and readings lurking in my subconscious.
For those of you interested in technology, WordPress, magazine publishing, workflows, content management systems (have I bored you yet?), or if you just have that insatiable curiosity to learn about anything and everything, check out our final report below. It's chockfull of interesting screenshots, so if you don't want to read the whole thing, you can still see what it is we crazy grad students were doing!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Facebook, you don't know me!
Ever notice how Facebook and Gmail read your content to customize the ads they display for you? Ever get annoyed that they're judging you? These days it's pretty much all the same - bridal this, wedding that...but then..."trying to conceive"? WHAT? Not so fast there, let's get this MPub degree and get married first, then you can pander to me with your baby ads and monthly conception charts.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Distinctly 21st Century
A while back I told a friend that every time I bring my laptop charger to school, I forget it there. Every time. I really don't think I'm that absent-minded, though. I think it's become some sort of strange, self-fulfilling prophecy. Subconsciously I want to leave my charger at school to validate that comment I made months ago. Weird, right? Nothing is ever not weird when you try to psychoanalyze your own actions.
So there I was, a weekend's worth of schoolwork to do in one Sunday afternoon, battery power in the single digits, and Luc's friend arriving within the hour to watch the Superbowl. I had to leave the apartment if I was going to get anything done, but I needed a computer. It wasn't until I got in the shower (where I do all my best thinking) that I thought to ask the neighbours. And it makes sense; neighbours have always been the outside support network for household emergencies. Cup of sugar, couple of eggs, ladder to get the cat out of a tree. Neighbours are the quintessential go-to people, so why should my technological conundrum be treated any differently?
A wander across the hall, and a minute later my laptop was formatting presentation slides and scanning library databases. It also got me thinking - even just five years ago, how likely would it have been that my neighbours had an Apple laptop charger to lend out? It says a lot for the prevalence, and even the homogenization of technology. But it's later now and I've returned the charger, so I'd better not waste any more power bars on a blog post!
So there I was, a weekend's worth of schoolwork to do in one Sunday afternoon, battery power in the single digits, and Luc's friend arriving within the hour to watch the Superbowl. I had to leave the apartment if I was going to get anything done, but I needed a computer. It wasn't until I got in the shower (where I do all my best thinking) that I thought to ask the neighbours. And it makes sense; neighbours have always been the outside support network for household emergencies. Cup of sugar, couple of eggs, ladder to get the cat out of a tree. Neighbours are the quintessential go-to people, so why should my technological conundrum be treated any differently?
A wander across the hall, and a minute later my laptop was formatting presentation slides and scanning library databases. It also got me thinking - even just five years ago, how likely would it have been that my neighbours had an Apple laptop charger to lend out? It says a lot for the prevalence, and even the homogenization of technology. But it's later now and I've returned the charger, so I'd better not waste any more power bars on a blog post!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Let's see if you can follow my train of thought
It's quite remarkable the amount of inspiration and ideas that I draw from my daily bus rides. Today in class we were talking about new technologies and what the future looks like. More specifically, we were ruminating on the idea of whether or not eBooks will eclipse the printed book, much like the mp3 has done to the CD. Somehow that general seed of 'current and future technologies in society' led me to this:
Today a woman had each hand gripped on either door handle and was aggressively shaking them before the bus had come to a full stop. I thought to myself - "does she know something that the rest of us don't? Is this baby gonna blow? Not much else would call for such fervent shaking when the bus is still in motion."
No, the bus was not on the verge of exploding - she was just ignorant to the steps required to exit the bus. It's not even one of the more confusing technologies to grasp, but so many people seem to be stumped by it. Why is this? If you're not familiar with the bus door-opening technique in Vancouver transit, it's quite simple (as listed step-by-step below).
Step 1 - Wait until the bus has come to a complete stop.
Step 2 - Look for the illuminated green light directly above the doors
Step 3 - Lightly push the door handles
Step 4 - Step off the bus
I don't know why this vexes me so?!?!! But every time I see someone white-knuckling the handles and shaking them like they're in an argument with the doors, I want to scratch out my eyeballs. It makes me think of the people who get angry or judge, but never take the time to understand; and stretching it a bit further (in relation to our technology discussion), it makes me think of the people who are in denial of the progress happening in the world and who are ignorant of the transitions being made in our everyday lives. There are people who abhor technology and live their lives in its periphery - coming into contact with it when necessary, but even then, not taking the time to understand it. I can't relate to these people, because I grew up with technology and I love what it does for my life. So I can't understand the people that aren't even interested in learning about it before they push it aside or criticize it. However, because I can't relate to their position, I try not to judge them too harshly. That's one of the problems though - we condemn what we don't understand. It's a classic problem that is manifested in a myriad of situations. Taking the time to understand before you judge is a critical step, but it seems like when that step requires too much effort we cop out.
People have been blogging a lot about New Years Resolutions, and I think I mentioned that I didn't really bother making any. Like I often do, I've changed my mind: I'm resolving to take more time to understand before I judge. My first step was reading this article posted to a class website about twitter, then opening my own account. But I guess what I'm really trying to say is, the people that reef on the bus doors represent everything that is wrong with the world.
Today a woman had each hand gripped on either door handle and was aggressively shaking them before the bus had come to a full stop. I thought to myself - "does she know something that the rest of us don't? Is this baby gonna blow? Not much else would call for such fervent shaking when the bus is still in motion."
No, the bus was not on the verge of exploding - she was just ignorant to the steps required to exit the bus. It's not even one of the more confusing technologies to grasp, but so many people seem to be stumped by it. Why is this? If you're not familiar with the bus door-opening technique in Vancouver transit, it's quite simple (as listed step-by-step below).
Step 1 - Wait until the bus has come to a complete stop.
Step 2 - Look for the illuminated green light directly above the doors
Step 3 - Lightly push the door handles
Step 4 - Step off the bus
I don't know why this vexes me so?!?!! But every time I see someone white-knuckling the handles and shaking them like they're in an argument with the doors, I want to scratch out my eyeballs. It makes me think of the people who get angry or judge, but never take the time to understand; and stretching it a bit further (in relation to our technology discussion), it makes me think of the people who are in denial of the progress happening in the world and who are ignorant of the transitions being made in our everyday lives. There are people who abhor technology and live their lives in its periphery - coming into contact with it when necessary, but even then, not taking the time to understand it. I can't relate to these people, because I grew up with technology and I love what it does for my life. So I can't understand the people that aren't even interested in learning about it before they push it aside or criticize it. However, because I can't relate to their position, I try not to judge them too harshly. That's one of the problems though - we condemn what we don't understand. It's a classic problem that is manifested in a myriad of situations. Taking the time to understand before you judge is a critical step, but it seems like when that step requires too much effort we cop out.
People have been blogging a lot about New Years Resolutions, and I think I mentioned that I didn't really bother making any. Like I often do, I've changed my mind: I'm resolving to take more time to understand before I judge. My first step was reading this article posted to a class website about twitter, then opening my own account. But I guess what I'm really trying to say is, the people that reef on the bus doors represent everything that is wrong with the world.
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