Julian Bleecker

From Google Maps Mania

2 new Google Maps mashups: whales and plate tectonics:

Puget Soundscape Map - Here is an interesting Google Map that tracks Brett Becker's journey throughout Puget Sound. He made the map while traveling around following Orca whales for 6 weeks. The map pins allow you to hear the sounds that he recorded. Read more about Brett's adventure here.

Google Map for Teaching Plate Tectonics - Hobart King, a geology professor at Mansfield University has created an interactive map for teaching and learning about plate tectonics. It features twelve plate boundary locations with clearly recognizable features such as volcanoes, linear lakes, faults or mountain ranges. The map will guide students to plate boundary locations and the selected features will help students understand their plate tectonic significance. Other maps from Geology.com include: Meteor Impact Sites and Highest Points in All 50 States.

Posted by Julian at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From Mapping Hacks

GMaps API data quality deteriorating?:

The eagle-eyed crschmidt and drumm spotted, while looking at NYC maps both via mfrumin's flash overlay tool for plotting vectors over GMaps and via the main Google Maps site... the base maps look quite different. Specifically, there are many features and enhancements missing in the maps that come out of the API.

They reasoned out that the basemap data you get via the API is only from TeleAtlas, but if you look at the maps through Google's branded gateway, they are enhanced with NavTech data too. As rich pointed out, there's a long discussion about this on the Google Maps API Google Group, or usenet group as it was once known.

Conspiracy theories fly! Do people really care enough about very high quality base maps to pay for a premium API service? Or are geodata licensing costs driving this decision on the part of GMaps? If quality of service continues to deteriorate, will this provide a boon to collaborative mapping in the land of the free geodata, augmenting the accuracy and currency that Google's maps may be losing? Answers on a postcard to the population of irc.oftc.net#geo ...

Posted by Julian at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

USC School of Cinema Television
Interactive Media Division
CTIN 541 — Mobile + Prototyping Module
Professors Mark Bolas & Julian Bleecker

Overview
The proliferation of mobile and location-aware devices with built-in networking capabilities offers a unique opportunity for designing compelling entertainment, productivity and information experiences. Moreover, web-based locative media applications such as Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth represent a convergence of static, non-cartographic data (or “metadata”) captures an impulse harkening back to the Renaissance to capture experiences, chart landscapes and develop a sense of place within the larger world.
The objective of this module is to introduce students to mobile and locative media through a set of hands-on development/prototyping projects. Through these projects, we will develop a sense of the design approaches and technical skills necessary to do fundamental prototyping for, broadly, mobile and locative media experiences.
It is expected that all students will participate individually in developing the design prototype projects. Students should be prepared with the fundamental knowledge necessary to edit web pages, upload and download files, and have the wherewithal to write a little bit of code.

Week 1: Making Maps — Introduction

Discussion Session
The power of maps?
Possibilities for web-based mapping tools and
Individually authored maps of “unconventional” data
Brainstorming, Ideation and Need finding

Prototype Laboratory Session
Set-up rudimentary development environments.
Edit JavaScript files, transfer files to and from your computer, and get a basic understanding as to the syntax and semantics of JavaScript.
Set up your web accounts under the IMD web server.
Steps to making maps.
Sources for GIS data; sources for maps; rudiments of geographic data (coordinate pairs, latitude/longitude, map datums; projections)
Prepare data for building a Google Map-Hack.
Goal for following week will be to plot these locales on a Google-style map. Data can be obtained from an existing online source, or empirically with the use of a GPS.

Week 2: Google Maps API

Discussion Session
API description and discussion.
Focus on Google Map API.
The design of intimate objects and its relationship to personal and portable media.

Prototype Laboratory Session
Working with the Google Maps API.
Taking the data sourced or created during Week 1, a Google Map API-based web-accessible map will be created.

Week 3: Processing Mobile Environment

Discussion Session
Types of programming languages (procedural, object oriented, script-based).
Deployment of languages including layers of abstraction to hardware implementations.
Prototyping and Iteration
Define Project Teams

Prototype Laboratory Session
Install Processing development environment on your computer and familiarize with IDE.
Hello World exercise

Goal for next week will be to design and implement a personally defined project in teams of two using team-chosen development environment approved by the instructors.

Week 4: Extreme Programming Session

Discussion Session
Software development planning and management and introduction of extreme programming techniques
Examples of Mobile applications and devices

Prototype Laboratory Session
Extreme-Team project implementation and realization

Week 5: Technology Wrap-up and Presentations

Prototype Laboratory Session
Finalize Projects & Presentations

Discussion Session
Final presentations, analysis and critique.

Posted by Julian at 6:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jason Gilmore publishes a developer-oriented article on how to combine geocoded census data with Google's Map API. It uses Perl and some PHP hooks. Nice "how-to" piece.

His article is published here.

Technorati Tags: Google Map Hack

Posted by Julian at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I roasted some thought nuggets over on research/techkwondo based on a NYT article this morning titled "'King Kong' Blurs Line Between Films and Games"

Technorati Tags: electronic games, film production, video games

Posted by Julian at 8:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted on the NetPublics Blog


Quote:

video ipod review:

Last month I was ready to upgrade to a new iPod from my third generation model, but the rumor sites began to make noises that an upgrade to 80gb was in the works so I held off.

After the announcement of the video iPod last week I decided that even though I was a little disappointed by the size of the drive, a bigger one would be unlikely before January so I ordered a 60 gb unit from Apple.

I was supposed to get my iPod tomorrow, but FedEx delivered the unit a day early.

Read on for my review of the video iPod after half a day of playing with it.

Technorati Tags: mobile media, pervasive media

Posted by Julian at 10:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have posted some notes from the Urban Play and Locative Media workshop on my blog.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Technorati Tags: locative media, play, urban play, urban space

Posted by Julian at 1:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MobLab
Japanese-German media camp 2005
15th October - 6th November 2005
A cooperation of transmediale and Germany in Japan 2005/2006

A live art & communication project with young artists from Japan and
Germany (MobNauts),
who develop creative ideas with mobile technology while traveling
Japan in a bus.
Welcome to the mobile laboratory!

daily updates at: http://www.moblab.org

One achievement of digital and telecommunication technologies is the progressing interrelation of disciplines such as media art, sound, imagery, design or architecture. This phenomenon serves as a prerequisite for the formation of a new global culture, shaped by young artists that keenly engage in genre-crossing collaborations, and the creation of original media. As a result, new forms of expression beyond existing values are materializing autonomously, suggesting to interpret such pairs as global/local, real/virtual, creator/user or work/leisure time as contiguous matters rather than opposite qualities.
MobLab ("Mobile" + "Laboratory", also "mob" = crowd, community, etc.) is the sum of projects proposed and developed by Japanese and German artists from various fields (=MobNauts) in a bus that, equipped with an array of mobile devices, functions as an information base. The time the MobNauts spend on the road will naturally lead to various creative collaborations. The bus travels a number of host institutions throughout Japan, each of which hosts events that incorporate the bus and its passengers. At the same time, the MobNauts have the opportunity to exchange with local artists and other people. The flexibly set route allows for the spontaneous staging of events, which will be announced on the MobLab Website.
The bus is at once an intimate space in which the MobNauts spend time together, and a public space for transmitting global information. By traveling around, the MobNauts will create occasions for individuals to meet, on both real and virtual levels, and connect to different local realities each time they stop and get out of the bus. MobLab aims to be a platform for practical experimentation on publicness born out of a revolutionarily "on-the-spot" form of meeting of individuals and media, and investigation into the possibilities this public nature implies. The concept of dynamic information that interactively transforms through exchange between a variety of people has just begun to surface as a new layer of reality.

Posted by Julian at 3:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is a pretty important netpublics / augmented reality theory object, I think. Discussed more fully here:

Royal Grand Prix Derby Racing (On Air) theory object.

Posted by Julian at 9:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The NYT ran a piece in the October 17 2005 issue titled "Now Playing on a Tiny Screen" about the increasing media interest in video-based entertainment designed for mobile phones.

Now Playing on a Tiny Screen.


Why do I blog this?The article points out some of the consequential challenges of producing shorts for mobile phone screens. It's an enormous creative challenge — most shots have to be close-ups, sound is questionable at best, etc. It may even represent an entirely different genre of visual story telling, imho. Just as the TV watching experience isn't the Film watching experience, watching a visual story on a cellphone is an entirely different sort of thing in many respects and will likely have to take into account much more than just some of these initial technical challenges. For instance, time, location, the distraction factor, etc. Exciting stuff, maybe..

Posted by Julian at 10:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Develops 3D-Camera Module for Cell Phones:


Samsung Electro-Mechanics developed a 3D-camera to be adopted for mobile devices from next year.

Posted by Julian at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Graveyard Games:

Playing Tombstone Hold 'Em

On Saturday October 15, 2005, Graveyard Games will be in Colma, San Francisco’s very own City of the Dead, so you can meet the living and play with the dead. You’re invited to the Italian Cemetery to get to know your local dearly departed, pay your respects, and learn Tombstone Hold ‘Em—the secret poker game you can only play in a cemetery.

Instructions: 1. Arrive at the Italian Cemetery (540 F Street, Colma, CA 94014, 2 blocks from Colma BART station) on Saturday October 15 between 1:30 PM and 2:00 PM. 2. Look for your host near the main entrance, under the white arch. She’ll be holding a deck of cards. She will have further instructions and supplies for you. 3. Bring a single flower to place on a grave to show some respect, and to signal that you’re one of us.

4. Take a few minutes to explore the cemetery. Look for any poker chips left on tombs. You’ll need these to play.
5. Be sure to look for the grave of someone you can prove died on your birthday. You can use that tombstone as a Joker during the game.
6. Tombstone Hold ‘Em Tournament begins at 2 PM. Here’s a tip: learn the rules before you come. We’ll have instructions on hand for any friends you bring along.
7. For non-poker players, there will be other creative, playful things to do. And expect a few surprises.
8. The winner is crowned at 3 PM. No fancy prizes, but lots of respect, and maybe a special memento from beyond the grave. Plus, everyone can keep the chips they earn as a souvenir.
9. After 3 PM, you’re invited to nearby Globe Tavern (7379 Mission St) to raise a glass to the players you’re leaving underground at the Italian Cemetery.

By the way, if anyone asks--you’re here for the last call. [posted by Jane on Avant Game]

Posted by Julian at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

 

The article is also cool for the way it turns to researchers and scholars in the academy for some insights, and not just the marketing folks at the regional carrier.

The article mentions a book by Michael Bull called Sound Moves: iPod Culture and Urban Experience in which Bull "..interviewed more than 1,000 iPod users, mostly in North America and
Europe, and discovered that a good 25 per cent of them actually hated cellphones."

Why do I blog this? Because i#039m drawn to discussions as to the possibility of new kinds of social formations that obtain through the use of personal portable mobile devices, either through purposeful design of device usage scenarios, or by the way iPeople make use of the device through their own form of DIY usage hacking.

It#039s All In Your Head

Posted by Julian at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From Regine:


Quote
Yokai Meets Media Art:

Yokai is a type of creatures in Japanese folklore such as Oni, Nopperabou, Yuki-onna, Rokurokubi, etc. They are not ghosts but mysterious freak creatures. (By the way, one of the best places to start learning about Yokai is Shigeru Mizuki's cartoons including Ge Ge Ge No Kitaro.)

A group of Japanese artists called Air Brake creates new media art installations that are inspired by the idea of Yoikai. In 2002, they made Yamiwarashi, which people wear (like they are haunted from behind) and makes it hard for them to see. If the wearer doesn't move, he can't see anything at all. But if he starts walking or running, he can see. Devices embedded in it provide this functionality.

[Yamiwarashi. Must keep moving unless you want to go back into the darkness.]

A video clip is available here.

More recently, the artists made Notorigaeshi. When people wear (or "haunted" by ) Notorigaeshi, they will experience difficulty talking. Every time the wearer says something, Notorigaeshi says it back to him with a 10-millisecond delay, forcing him to listen to and think about what he says.

[Notorigaeshi.]

I blog this because the backpack style is evocative of the ideas we're chewing on for the CTIN499 project

Posted by Julian at 7:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For awhile there, I stopped getting invited to all the cool beta tests, but I think I'm getting back in the loop. Here's one I'm having fun with — it's called Platial. It's still in Preview Mode at this point, and all usual caveats about browser compatibility and such-all apply. Simple approach — tag locations and share them. Google Maps is on the back end, like all the other cool mash-ups. This one is distinctive in that you actually author the represented locales, rather than having data pulled from some other data source, like Craig's List or some crimes database.

Posted by Julian at 7:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As reported by the Dessert Topping of Blogs, Pasta and Vinegar, Nicolas Nova notes the appearance of a Journal paper about Can You See Me Now?, a paper to be published in Transactions of CHI:

Can You See Me Now? by Steve Benford, Andy Crabtree, Martin Flintham, Adam Drozd, Rob Anastasi and Mark Paxton + Nick Tandavanitj, Matt Adams and Ju Row-Farr.

This article is a very good milestone, it’s a journal paper that accounts the experience they had with the game Can You See Me Now?.

It think that this paper should be considered as a seminal article about ethnographical analysis of a location-based game. Besides, after research projects like Pirates!, AR Quake and BotFighters, it’s one of the most important early example in the field. It also describes interesting aspects about uncertainty arising from the use of GPS and WiFi, which is a topic we are working on with Fabien. They somehow use some quantitative indexes like packet loss intervals + periods loss; we’re considering to move further by using other measures and correlate them with task performance or communication frequency/quality in CatchBob!

Posted by Julian at 8:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Glowlab, based in Brooklyn, my favorite glowing labs and fine purveyors of things locative, urban and psychogeographic, is having an epic eight (8!) week festival at Art Interactive in Cambridge. It will be running from October 14 - December 11.

BTW, Glowlab produced the phenomenal and exemplar location-tagging app One Block Radius that makes Google Maps drool with envy.

Glowlab, a Brooklyn-based psychogeography network presents Open Lab at Art Interactive. During this festival and exhibition curated by Christina Ray, more than twenty artists will research the effects of the urban environment on emotion and behavior by leading a series of public events.

Each weekend of this unique festival and exhibition, several Glowlab artists will be "in-residence" at Art Interactive to lead interactive public events in the neighborhood. These include a wearable trash workshop, a laughing bike tour, a lesson in text-messaging the sky, and an informal conversation with a suitcase.

While artists lead projects in the neighborhood's public spaces, the gallery is transformed into a working lab complete with video and web-based works and project documentation in the form of maps, photos and other materials.

Posted by Julian at 12:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This guy is your engine-avatar to finding out, well..where you are. Or where you are in the IP-Network universe.

GeoBytes

Posted by Julian at 1:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Claritis is a remarkably odd yet not unexpected approach to adding marketing to the locative media mix. They're not explicitly part of the locative media innovators tribe..or are they? Enter your zipcode and find out what your home neighborhood's demographic mix is..

Curiously, and somewhat reassuringly, the neighborhood where I live in LA and the one where I have an apartment in New York City both came up as American Dream, Bohemian Mix, Money & Brains, Urban Achievers, Young Digerati. Seems I haven't changed.

Claritis

Posted by Julian at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

This project is designed to collect historical and real-time freeway data from freeways in the State of California in order to compute freeway performance measures.

Posted by Julian at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)