Shakespeare is Better with Popcorn (Mozilla that is) - demo video

Shakespeare is better with popcorn

This project proposes an alternative way to learn Shakespeare interactively and comprehensively, which combines video, text, and glossaries through jQuery and popcorn.js.

You can see an example of the data structure here.

start: 15
                                                                end: 17
                                                                orig: [defn]why > Wherefore[/defn] art thou Romeo?
                                                                modern: Why are you Romeo and not someone else?

The format allows for teachers to encode cue times for blocks of text using popcorn, as well as two separate translations (orig and modern) and in-line definitions (defn) for difficult terms using a simple syntax. The application grabs definitions and puts them in a sidebar.

Any location in the video can be accessed with a unique url (try clicking a term)

Very very cool: Nimble - Augmented Reality book-based library

Description from vimeo.com

"One of the places where the tension between searching and browsing is readily apparent is the library. We go to search for a book, do research, or just read and work. However, we often find ouselves getting lost among the shelves of books, spending time browsing, and hoping for a serendipitous discovery or two.

Nimble shows what a mixed touch, digital, projection, and book-based library might look like. This is relevant because people still like the tactile feel of books and other printed media and they also like to browse. The project also allows to collect and sort out notes and highlights from the books you are reading.

Rather than trying to find a book in the x^-15 decimal place with the Dewey decimal system, you can navigate spatially and orient yourself in the direction of your search using the digital search compass."

For more info: sureskumar.com/?p=134

Knowledge is the new start-up capital: Networks, Mentorship & New Ecosystems – by Jon Bradford – The Kernel

Media_httpkernelwpeng_eyipg

Excerpt from a longer original post:

"...Investment capital is controlled and distributed by a very small number of people, and it comes with a series of terms and conditions. Intellectual capital, on the other hand, is widely distributed, and individuals can choose the terms on which it is shared. It can be given away freely, or charged for.
In our fast-moving society, the free exchange of information creates more value to both the provider of the information and the recipient than a proprietary approach. We are moving from a time when knowledge distribution was restricted and proprietary to an open source, collaborative future.
This is the fuel on which Silicon Valley has operated for decades. Now, others are cottoning on..."

read the full post here:

http://www.kernelmag.com/comment/opinion/2011/12/its-the-intellectual-capital...

Very Very Interesting: Could ‘Watched On’ Facebook News Feed Stories Save Netflix? | Excerpt from TechCrunch

Original post bey Josh Constine:

"After a disastrous Q3 2011, Netflix stands to replace some of the 800,000 subscribers it lost. It’s savior? The Facebook news feed. Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed a revised bill to change the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 to allow people to opt in to having their movie rental activity shared. This Act had delayed the Netflix Facebook app‘s launch in the US. Now the Facebook news feed is beginning to show “Josh Constine watched The Walking Dead on Netflix” stories that point back to the Netflix site. After being enticed by something a friend has watched, Facebook users might sign up and pay on Netflix.com so they can watch too.

So far we’ve only spotted these stories coming from Facebook employee profiles. Above you can see how they look (ignore the Netflix logo I added). They would appear in the Ticker, news feed, and Timeline. They may just be tests in preparation for the official US launch of the Netflix Facebook Open Graph app. Regarding the roll out of the news feed stories, Facebook declined to comment and we’re awaiting a response from Netflix.

The Facebook Open Graph platform launched at f8 in September has helped Spotify gain millions of daily active Facebook users. This contributed to the 1.5 million new paying subscribers it pulled in this year. That kind of growth could help Netflix bounce back from a price hike that scared off subscribers, an embarrassing scrapped move to spin out its DVD rental business, and its plummeting stock price...."

Read the original here:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/29/netflix-facebook-app/

TY Greg Landgraf! Museum Game Thought Experiment, part 2: ARG Examples | Excerpt via Museum Beyond Post

REXplorer: A mobile cultural heritage game at the Rex Regensburg Explorer Museum in Regensburg, Germany. The game encourages exploration of the city: players use a Wiimote-like device to interact with the city’s monuments, solving puzzles along the way. The game’s story involves helping a professor understand and research Regensburg’s “perpetual magic.” (In reality, exploring the history of the city.) The game also automatically blogs the experience for players to revisit as a memento of the experience.

Jewel of the Valleys: A mystery puzzle from the National Civil War Museum that could be solved using Civil War communication technologies and museum documents. Sadly, the game’s not still online; the link goes to a wiki of all of the game’s clues.

An Expedition with Mr. Mirrors: A one-day game at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, a Victorian-themed game where amnesiac players met strangers in the museum and solved puzzles in hopes of regaining their memories.

See the original blog post for more examples & links to earlier and following post:

http://museumbeyond.wordpress.com/2011/12/09/museum-game-thought-experiment-p...