Trapit Promises Better Browsing And Targeted Content On IPad | Co.Create: Creativity \ Culture \ Commerce

Via FastCompany.com:

'...Why is it innovative? Because Trapit for iPad finds articles on very specific topics that you’re interested in rather than just serving up content from your own social feeds, like competitor Flipboard. As the folks at Uncorked Studios say, “born from DARPA-funded research at SRI and a sibling to Apple’s SIRI assistant tech, Trapit’s machine learning bypasses the web’s SEO-driven priority by harnessing peoples’ behavior to hone discovery of articles that match the user’s passions.”

“Trapit combs through its hand-picked sources using relevant keywords,” explains Alvarez. “At first it provides you with a huge list of content it thinks might be relevant to you. The case of ‘apple’ is a good example. There are multiple uses of apple out there and more often than not it’s going to be the tech focused Apple but it might also give you results for the food. So when it delivers the first batch of content you can specifically train it find just find articles about Apple the tech company. And then even more so, if you’re interested in apple iPad apps, you can get very granular with what you’re searching for.”...

read the full article here:

http://www.fastcocreate.com/1681437/trapit-promises-better-browsing-and-targe...

Excellent Article: Dispelling The Eureka Myth: Big Ideas Take Time And Space | TechCrunch

By Peter Arvai - excerpt from Techcrunch.com:

"Editors Note: Peter Arvai, CEO of Prezi, is passionate about helping people create and communicate big ideas. Peter is a serial entrepreneur, prior to joining Prezi, he established healthcare startup omvard.se and was part of creating the first mobile news reader.

Big ideas fuel the entrepreneurial spirit. An idea passionately pursued through a labyrinth of “what-ifs” can be the launch of the next great company, the new skyrocketing startup. Apple, under the leadership of Steve Jobs offers an example of a company built on a foundation of big ideas. With a storied reputation of innovation, Jobs and Apple seemed to have captured the magic of having the right idea at the right time over and over again.

But this magic is misleading. We applaud the genius of those like Steve Jobs for big ideas that transform our perceptions about what is possible. However, we fail to recognize the work that got him there. For every ‘Steve soundbite’ we remember today, there were weeks of intense development, preparations and actual rehearsals – all that just to present the idea. It was never the right idea at the right time but an idea that was thoroughly explored and improved over a period of time....'

full post here:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/11/dispelling-the-eureka-myth-big-ideas-take-ti...

Alt-Minds and the promise of 'transmedia' | Conspiracy Thriller will play through 10 Webisodes

Technology | guardian.co.uk

The term 'transmedia' has been derided in the past, but a Parisian developer reckons it may be the future of gaming, and Alt-Minds is the first instalment.

Developed by French studio, Lexis Numérique, Alt-Minds is a conspiracy thriller about the abduction of several young scientists. When the government shows little interest in their retrieval, their agency decides to investigate itself. The main narrative will be told via ten weekly 'webisodes', but players will also be able to subscribe to a newsfeed on their PC or tablet, providing background information and updates....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2012/aug/10/alt-minds-transmed...

Are fan fiction and fan art legal?

By Lauren Davis:

'Fan fiction and fan art are both enormous components of our popular culture, a way we retell our favorite stories just as humans have always retold myths and legends. But sometimes creators, publishers, and studios claim that works of fan art and fan fiction violate their copyright. So is that Supernatural fanfic you're working on legal, or should you worry about the lawyers coming a-calling?
Top painting: Besame Mucho by Isabel Samaras, and a fine argument for fair use.

This is a question that gets asked a lot in the comments and warrants a detailed discussion. Fan works are an important part of our cultural landscape. Retelling stories and remaking artworks offers us new perspectives on familiar cultural works, and it's part of our nature as human beings to imagine different versions of the same stories, "what if" scenarios, and old tales given fresh voices. Many content creators recognize the value of fan works in creating a thriving fan community; they see that fan fiction and fan art can create a further market for their creative products. But there are plenty of creators who resent fan works across the board, and sometimes even the most understanding creator may encounter fan works that step over the line from homage to competition. So how can you tell when you're legally in the right?

In addition to looking at US statutory and case law, I consulted Professor Rebecca Tushnet for this piece. Professor Tushnet is a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, where she teaches intellectual property, advertising, and First Amendment law. She also happens to enjoy writing fan fiction and is a board member at the Organization for Transformative Works, a nonprofit organization that promotes, supports, and provides legal advocacy for fan works. Professor Tushnet has also spoken and written a great deal on fan works, including an article for the Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Journal titled "Legal Fictions: Copyright, Fan Fiction, and a New Common Law," which informed some of the information herein and which I highly recommend reading. Huge thanks to Professor Tushnet for taking time out of her busy schedule to talk fan works....'

read more here:

http://io9.com/5933976/are-fan-fiction-and-fan-art-legal

Very Cool Interactive Social Film: The Beauty Inside Official Trailer - Audition Now for the Lead!

WATCH ON FACEBOOK STARTING 8/16. The Beauty Inside is an interactive social film, presented by Intel and Toshiba, directed by Drake Doremus, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Topher Grace, and all of YOU. It's Hollywood's first film that gives the audience a chance to play the lead role.

Audition Now at http://www.facebook.com/thebeautyinsidefilm/

AweSummit Boston: You don’t know what you don’t know - Global Business Hub

Great summary post from The Awesome Summit:

'The Awesome Summit occurred for the very first time at the end of last month. Aside from a great name, the AweSummit is the culmination of years of work by the Awesome Foundation, which gives $1,000 micro-grants to awesome ideas once a month in each of its many chapters. Seriously awesome. Not knowing what to expect when I arrived at the MIT Media Lab, I went with some mild expectations for the talks around micro-giving, crowdsourced funding and investing, philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, collaboration, branding and more. I got significantly more than I bargained for....

...The Harry Potter Alliance: The most entertaining speaker of the day, and one of the most insightful was Andrew Slack, founder and creator of The Harry Potter Alliance. He had some great advice for organizations based on his experience founding a nonprofit that “takes an outside-of-the-box approach to civic engagement by using parallels from the Harry Potter books to educate and mobilize young people across the world toward issues of literacy, equality and human rights.” If it was obvious through the founding principle of his organization, he is a firm believer in playfulness. On the panel he stated that, “if playfulness isn’t baked into your organization then it’s time to re-bake it.” That resonated with me as someone who works with a few non-profits, particularly around engaging young members. The more fun you’re having the more people are likely to join and actually support a cause or movement....'

read the full post here:

http://www.boston.com/business/blogs/global-business-hub/2012/08/awesummit_bo...

What Hunting For A Mate Teaches You About Great Design | Co.Design: business + innovation + design

WRITTEN BY: Ayça Çakmakli

IF SOME OF THESE IDEAS SEEM FAMILIAR, YOU’RE RIGHT: WHAT YOU LOOK FOR IN A PARTNER IS ALSO WHAT YOU WANT IN A PRODUCT, ARGUES SMART DESIGN’S AYÇA ÇAKMAKLI.

...To better understand the attributes of a product or service that matter most to people, I studied the traits we look for in an ideal mate or long-term partner. I combed through scientific studies from the fields of sociology, anthropology, and psychology, bubbling up seven universal traits that most of us look for in a mate. Then, using my experience as a design researcher, I mapped these traits directly to people’s experiences with brands, products, and services:

1. SOCIAL STATUS

We are often drawn to partners that project the type of lifestyle to which we aspire. Brands understand this desire; they create elaborate worlds for us to be a part of. For instance, there is truth in the saying, You are what you drive. A Prius owner predictably has a different set of values than someone who drives a Mercedes. So if it turns out a brand doesn’t align with your core values, the relationship will inevitably fail. That’s the difference between a short-term and long-term relationship....

Read the full post here (one of a series!):

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670458/what-hunting-for-a-mate-teaches-you-about...

Super Hi-Vision Will Transform the TV Landscape (via thenextweb.com)

via thenextweb.com

No sooner are we getting to grips with 3D and HD, and we’re already being told about the “next big thing” in televisual technology. But keep your hat on, this next one is some years away yet.

Super Hi-Vision (or Ultra High Definition) has been getting a fair bit of coverage of late, largely due to the BBC’s partnership with Japanese broadcaster NHK for the 2012 Olympics.

The technology underlying Super Hi-Vision has been developed in large by NHK’s Science and Technology Research laboratories, which the BBC borrowed to showcase its potential as a broadcasting medium. While the BBC did a tentative test with the technology back in 2010, it was all really gearing up to the Olympics.

Super Hi-Vision defined...'

full post here:

http://thenextweb.com/media/2012/08/03/with-super-hi-vision-the-tv-landscape-...