Peep it here.

Credits:

Let’s hope I’m not being too ambitious.

Currently code named collective consciousness, it is an api that will provide contextual emotional feedback based on information available on the internet.

The idea is inspired by works such as We Feel Fine, tweetfeel and others. I hope to build upon those in a more open manner so that as the technology changes, the api can adapt through the community. I’m also hoping that as we determine what types of data makes up a collective emotional state we can adapt the system to take these into account as well.

Also serving as inspiration is the Evri api, but it’s closed system doesn’t give me exactly what I have in mind.

From the development perspective, I’m currently debating between github and google code. I’m also debating signing onto the whole google hosted app engine…
I apparently have some catching up to do to find out where my niche community of developers are. I need to find out where those who are interested in working on this are hanging out online. I need to know what they are coding in and hopefully that will help me determine what the best technology stack may be.

Overall, I see the application taking on a plug-in type structure. The core of the application will be responsible for most of the data crunching. The plug-ins will be responsible for integrating the types of sources that the api will support, the output results (percentages, total list of data, etc) and the output format (xml, json, etc) for the api.
Examples of source plugins:
- weather
- popular news (CNN, NYT, FOX)
- comments from users on popular content
- music
- blogs
- comments on blogs
- status updates
- providing localized searches on criteria and sources

Outside projects that might be a good foundation to build into the app:
OpenAmplify

Please reach out to me if you are interested in helping, have some good advice on running an open source project or have insight to any of the issues I’ve been pondering above.

37Signals has now come out with their second book, Rework. I had 3 people in my social stream talk about it in the same day; two of said it was life altering. After reading it I have to agree. Needless to say, I’ve also gone back and started reading Getting Real as well. Both books are well written on point.

Bottom line? Pick up a copy.

View all my reviews >>

The difference between Infographics vs Data Visualization is the difference between using small vs large datasets.

Wonderlic Test

In most systems you will never have less data – determine better ways of hiding it by finding out what is relevant.
Remember, audience is everything.

aquire -> parse -> filter -> mine -> represent -> refine -> interact

KISS = Keep it Simple Stupid

Visualizations create conversations.

No exploring – doesn’t get anything done. Get to the point – do it.

Acid Girls – Lightworks OFFICIAL VIDEO dir. Steven Ilous from Steven Ilous on Vimeo.

“Let them eat cake!”

Credits:

This is where you buy tickets.

This is where you go to see the show:

View Larger Map

This is a full listing of credits of the people who put it together, but only look at this after you go to the show.

The Eye Writer Initiative

It is a low-cost eye-tracking apparatus & custom software that allows graffiti writers and artists with paralysis resulting from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to draw using only their eyes.

There are a couple of reasons why I especially love this project:

1. it helps someone to use other means of expressing themselves
2. it’s open source – I can build my own and then build on top of it
3. it demonstrates great work across multiple disciplines and art forms

So far, I haven’t found too much detailed information about the of this next project (i.e. who is working on it, where the software/source code can be accessed, etc) – but I think it’s an interesting concept and could definitely see it’s application to the EyeWriter project above.
This short video demonstrates how eye writing software can be coupled with shape generation software to help create different design suggestions for the end user.
Take the time to view the short video here.
If you have any more information about this project, please leave it in the comments below as I would love to see the two projects grow from one another if possible.

The two pieces of artwork I created using his software represent productive vs non-productive time.

The first shows a visual of what my mornings are like – mainly checking email, meetings (represented by the big black circle in the lower left corner when my computer is in sleep mode), time tracking and keeping up with various other managerial tasks.

The second piece represents my more productive points in the day – namely when I’m crunching through code.

See more artwork generated through this application here.

Aside
He is also my new favorite person for creating this video:

Me too (doing some AR stuff)! from Anatoly Zenkov on Vimeo.

So as not to let my one hour go to waste I’m posting it here for my own amusement. If you find this, then I hope you enjoy it :]

The Challenge:

THEME:
One Hour+ Design Challenge: Core-Toon the Future

DOORS OPEN:
January 5, 2010
9 PM PST (4PM GMT)

DOORS CLOSE:
January 28, 2010
9 PM PST (4PM GMT)

BRIEF:
Now that we’ve finished off the first decade of the Millenium, it’s time to start thinking about where we’ll be
in another ten years. Which trends will dominate? Which brands will rise and which will fall? Who will
fill the Billy Mays vacuum? Answer these questions and more by showing us what you believe will be
THE HOTTEST PRODUCT OF 2020.

HOW TO ENTER:
Download the Photoshop file here (http://www.core77.com/1hdc/2020_template.psd.zip). Use this template to create your vision of the hottest product of 2020. Provide background and context where necessary to convince us that yours is the most compelling vision of the future.

Use sketches, renderings, storyboards, comics, or diagrams to explain your idea.

Reduce your final artwork to a 550 pixel-wide gif or jpeg, and upload it to the forum.

JURY:
LunchBreath, FueledByCoffee, and Core77.

CRITERIA:
Judging will be based on inventiveness, amusement, originality, and the whims of the CoreToon panel.

PRIZE:
Twitter avatar caricature of yourself made by the Core-Toon crew!

My Entry:

Bauhaus has always served as an inspiration and this exhibit helped to put it into perspective.
Exhibit ends this week – be sure to catch it if you can. If you can’t, then may I suggest the following Bauhaus Book, written by the curators of the show.

This survey is MoMA’s first major exhibition since 1938 on the subject of this famous and influential school of avant-garde art. Founded in 1919 and shut down by the Nazis in 1933, the Bauhaus brought together artists, architects, and designers in an extraordinary conversation about the nature of art in the age of technology. Aiming to rethink the very form of modern life, the Bauhaus became the site of a dazzling array of experiments in the visual arts that have profoundly shaped our visual world today.

The exhibition gathers over four hundred works that reflect the broad range of the school’s productions, including industrial design, furniture, architecture, graphics, photography, textiles, ceramics, theater design, painting, and sculpture, many of which have never before been exhibited in the United States. It includes not only works by the school’s famous faculty and best-known students—including Anni Albers, Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, Marianne Brandt, Marcel Breuer, Lyonel Feininger, Walter Gropius, Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, László Moholy-Nagy, Lucia Moholy, Lilly Reich, Oskar Schlemmer, and Gunta Stölzl—but also a broad range of works by innovative but less well-known students, suggesting the collective nature of ideas.

Bauhaus 1919–1933: Workshops for Modernity
November 8, 2009–January 25, 2010