The ABCs (and Ds and Es) of Plot Development — from DailyWritingTips.com by Mark Nichol
Writer Annie Lamott created a helpful mnemonic catechism, ABCDE, to help writers remember the basics. Here are the elements:
MyTVBuddy kicks off as the first pan-European Social TV app on iPad — from appmarket.tv (emphasis DSC)
Excerpt:
Today E-ZONE unveiled its iPad app MyTVBuddy claiming it takes Social TV to the next level of exploration, interaction, engagement and participation by letting users check in to TV programs, watch videos, post messages on Facebook, share Twitter messages, participate in conversations and see where other users are located. MyTVBuddy kicks off with a special launch edition of Eurovision 2011.
MyTVBuddy comes with a solution for turning TV viewing into a social experience by using mobile devices such as the iPad. According to a recent study from Yahoo, nearly 90 percent of people watching television are using a mobile device at the same time. Be it Twitter, Facebook, email or instant messaging, they are doing more than just watching.
From DSC:
TV and entertainment coming up to bat — with learning-related applications on deck! 🙂
Also see:
Bertelsmann acquires digital media agency Smashing Ideas for Random House, Inc. — from Smashing Ideas (emphasis DSC)
(New York, May 4, 2011)—Bertelsmann AG has acquired cutting-edge digital media agency Smashing Ideas, Inc. for its Random House, Inc. division, the world’s largest English-language trade book publisher. The purchase was announced today by Markus Dohle, Chairman and CEO of Random House and Member of the Executive Board of Bertelsmann AG, and Stephen Jackson, President and CEO of Smashing Ideas, Inc.
The acquisition adds significantly to the set of Random House capabilities and further signals the intention of Random House and its parent company to be leaders in digital content creation, and demonstrates their commitment to expanding revenues from mobile and interactive online products and services.
From DSC:
I found a wonderful animation at “No words. Lots to say” …which points to the animation by Aidan Gibbons, Music by Yann Tiersen which I put into ViewPure at The Piano – Amazing Short – Animation
Mike Matas: A next-generation digital book (filmed March 2011)
About this talk
Software developer Mike Matas demos the first full-length interactive book for the iPad — with clever, swipeable video and graphics and some very cool data visualizations to play with. The book is “Our Choice,” Al Gore’s sequel to “An Inconvenient Truth.”
About Mike Matas
While at Apple, Mike Matas helped write the user interface for the iPhone and iPad. Now with Push Pop Press, he’s helping to rewrite the electronic book.
AP Interactive visualizes a future of stories that reach beyond text — from niemanlab.org
Excerpt:
Data visualization is “going through a kind of renaissance in journalism,” said Shazna Nessa, director of Interactive for the AP. What’s really behind the news collective’s uptick in graphics, she told me, is a kind of evolutionary change in journalism — one that’s reflected in the Interactive unit itself. Once a repository of charts and maps, the department is now creating what Nessa described as “comprehensive interactive stories,” and we can expect to see a lot more of them.
40 free premium stock images to spice up your education blog — from EduDemic
From DSC:
I also like istockphoto.com — very reasonable for pricing. I’ve heard Blue Vertigo is a good place to start as well.
Some other ones I used to keep track of — several of which are NOT free — as well as some potentially interesting/helpful sites to you — are:
New Sony TV Ad: Television Redefined, Internet TV, 4/15/11 — from electrictv.com
New Samsung Smart TV Ad: Internet TV, 4/13/11 — from electrictv.com
[WATCH]: Interactive Video Conferencing at NCSSM
Daniel Christian:
A Vision of Our Future Learning Ecosystems
In the near future, as the computer, the television, the telephone (and more) continues to converge, we will most likely enjoy even more powerful capabilities to conveniently create and share our content as well as participate in a global learning ecosystem — whether that be from within our homes and/or from within our schools, colleges, universities and businesses throughout the world.
We will be teachers and students at the same time — even within the same hour — with online-based learning exchanges taking place all over the virtual and physical world. Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) — in the form of online-based tutors, instructors, teachers, and professors — will be available on demand. Even more powerful/accurate/helpful learning engines will be involved behind the scenes in delivering up personalized, customized learning — available 24x7x365. Cloud-based learner profiles may enter the equation as well.
The chances for creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship that are coming will be mind-blowing! What employers will be looking for — and where they can look for it — may change as well.
What we know today as the “television” will most likely play a significant role in this learning ecosystem of the future. But it won’t be like the TV we’ve come to know. It will be much more interactive and will be aware of who is using it — and what that person is interested in learning about. Technologies/applications like Apple’s AirPlay will become more standard, allowing a person to move from device to device without missing a beat. Transmedia storytellers will thrive in this environment!
Much of the professionally done content will be created by teams of specialists, including the publishers of educational content, and the in-house teams of specialists within colleges, universities, and corporations around the globe. Perhaps consortiums of colleges/universities will each contribute some of the content — more readily accepting previous coursework that was delivered via their consortium’s membership.
An additional thought regarding higher education and K-12 and their Smart Classrooms/Spaces:
For input devices…
The “chalkboards” of the future may be transparent, or they may be on top of a drawing board-sized table or they may be tablet-based. But whatever form they take and whatever is displayed upon them, the ability to annotate will be there; with the resulting graphics saved and instantly distributed. (Eventually, we may get to voice-controlled Smart Classrooms, but we have a ways to go in that area…)
Below are some of the graphics that capture a bit of what I’m seeing in my mind…and in our futures.
Alternatively available as a PowerPoint Presentation (audio forthcoming in a future version)
— from Daniel S. Christian | April 2011
Addendum on 4-14-11:
From DSC:
Though I saw this posted at a variety of blogs/social learning sites,
it’s definitely worth relaying here for those who might have missed it.
20 great opening lines to inspire the start of your story — from DailyWritingTips.com by Mark Nichol
