LINKS:
[1] Layar Reality Browser – Augmented Reality software http://www.layar.com/download/
[2] Libraries of the future use Augmented Reality – We build AR to make your library come alive! Plus Museums, Schools, Galleries & Exhibitions Augmenting the Library
[3] Posters Augmented Reality Store: insightguy [TeachersPayTeachers.com]
“The Aust public is entitled to look at us as a bunch of petty piss-ants if we can’t sort this out”: Senator Nick Xenofon #faine #auspol
– @774melbourne
Perhaps then there are different crises. For the poor wretches desperate enough to entrust themselves and their families to leaking tubs in monsoon season, the crisis really is one of life or death. Seeking a better life, or any life, away from whatever hellhole they’re fleeing, they find themselves pitched into the waters and onto the rocks. Sometimes they survive. Sometimes they die, screaming.
– John Birmingham The refugee crisis is real and never-ending (2012-Jun-28) [Brisbane Times]
The desperate, frantic efforts of politicians clambering for a tidy solution – one where they can say “we just got something done” – is simply insufficient.
Complex, far-reaching arrangements and relationships, which are capable of effectively responding to those in need of protection are required.
All of this means we need a discussion of many things that were not on the table yesterday, and show no sign of being raised in future.
– Sharon Pickering Six issues missing from the asylum seeker debate (2012-Jun-28) [The Conversation]
My iPad UNIMELB account has broken down and I have tried several times to set up a new account, but without success. The information I have is: … Can you check what I need to do to get this fixed?
The University supports Outlook or Entourage. If you want to use another program, only limited support will be available – this creates issues for configuring your iPad or iPhone to use the UNIMELB Staff Exchange server.
Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds is a 1978 concept album by Jeff Wayne, retelling the story of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells.[1] Its format is progressive rock and string orchestra, using narration and leitmotifs to carry the story via rhyming melodic lyrics that express the feelings of the various characters. The two-disc album remains a bestseller, having sold millions of records around the world, and is the 38th best selling album of all time in the UK with sales of 2,561,286 by 2009.
– wikipedia
This week brings us something a little bit different; Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds is a classic somewhere between an Old Time Radio performance and a concept album. If you haven’t heard the whole thing do yourself a favour and listen through the entire last clip.
The chances of anything coming from Mars
Are a million to one, he said (ahh, ahh)
The chances of anything coming from Mars
Are a million to one, but still, they come…
* .@ukhomeoffice: Stop the extradition of Richard O’Dwyer to the USA #SaveRichard — Jimmy Wales [www.change.org] Richard O’Dwyer is a 24 year old British student at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. He is facing extradition to the USA and up to ten years in prison, for creating a website – TVShack.net – which linked (similar to a search-engine) to places to watch TV and movies online.
O’Dwyer is not a US citizen, he’s lived in the UK all his life, his site was not hosted there, and most of his users were not from the US. America is trying to prosecute a UK citizen for an alleged crime which took place on UK soil.
The internet as a whole must not tolerate censorship in response to mere allegations of copyright infringement. As citizens we must stand up for our rights online. …
It is scary that the US will try to use one student as a scapegoat against a failing industry model, when their legal position is laughable.
* Bob Carr, in full flight from the facts on Assange (2012-Jun-24) [Crikey] The question for Bob Carr is not whether he has asked the Americans about a sealed indictment (which is not publicly confirmed, but the subject of extensive and corroborated reports, including from WikiLeaks’s opponents) but whether he has demanded to know why an Australian journalist (and found to be a journalist by sources as varied as the UK Supreme Court, the Walkley Foundation in Australia and the Martha Gellhorn trust in the UK) is the target of a US investigation simply for that journalism.
* Call for strict line on R18+ games (2012-Jun-24) [The Age] ”I expect the new [R18+] classification to be described no differently to MA15+,” said the managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, Jim Wallace.
It looks like Jim Wallace forgot to follow Wheaton’s Law; lots of dickage in that statement.
#MelbQuake
The details for last night’s quake were; M 5.2, 10 km (6 miles) SW of Moe, Australia (38.244°S 146.194°E), Depth 9.9km. Of course there is only one possible outcome for this event – Twitter and Facebook explode with puns!
Firefox v.13.0.1 was offered to release channel users on June 15, 2012
Fixed in Firefox 13.0.1 [4]
No Security fixes, this release has 3 functionality fixes;
FIXED: Windows Messenger did not load in Hotmail, and the Hotmail inbox did not auto-update (764546, fixed in 13.0.1)
FIXED: Hebrew text sometimes rendered incorrectly (756850, fixed in 13.0.1)
FIXED: Flash 11.3 sometimes caused a crash on quit (747683, fixed in 13.0.1)
Vulnerability ratings: None
Evaluation: Apply the patch if/when it is offered as this update provides some functionality fixes.
An interesting link in a Tweet last night from Jason Bordujenko (AARNet National Video Conferencing Manager);
I’ll quote the final paragraph here;
I am not saying that a videoconferencing experience should be based on fantasy and a contrived story line. But I am saying that if B.O.R.K. understands how to analyze its videoconferencing organism as a highly valuable experience for business communication it would begin to shape the videoconferencing experience into one which, when repeated consistently, transforms the way they do business. Does that sound outlandish? Is that a highly inflated view of what visual communications can be for a business?
We already know that this is a highly experiential medium, but we usually compare it to a telephone.
We already know that there’s a difference between delivering a service to the customers and staging an experience for them.
We already know that a good experience is highly valued, and good service is merely a commodity – blithely offered by a thousand different providers.
What we aren’t sure of is whether or not staging videoconferencing experiences is worth the effort.
I don’t know about you, but I go out of my way to visit Disney. The effort they put into the theme park experience makes it well worth the effort. And it transforms my outlook on life.
– This is EXACTLY why the videoconferencing SERVICE is a mongrel
(2012-Jun-14) [Greenline Emeritus Consulting]
In a nut shell, I think this is why we are now getting more bookings for the KLDC and related services. I had initially thought that we were passing through a an uptake barrier where there was a familiarisation occurring with a new technology (now that *is* an IT perspective) where in fact it is more likely that the chance in booking was because we are no longer selling a ‘service’ or a ‘technology’ but are offering an experience to the users in this space.
Reading through the blog post we get to the juicy content;
…In the Junior school (Prep – Grade 2) they are a hit. Teachers in these grades spend a lot more time modeling things to a whole class. Students in those class groups are thrilled when they get the chance to come up and manipulate something on the screen and the teacher taps into this engagement to help make their point. During Literacy and Numeracy times, small groups of students work together on a game or puzzle of some sort on the big screen which still genuinely thrills their socks off.
In the Senior school (grades 3 – 6) its a different story. This year we have been able to flood the Senior School with iPads and Macbooks. Devices in the students hands when they need them has been absolutely pedagogy changing. Finally we are fully moving away from teacher at the front of the room. Students have access to everything in the palm of their hands and this has been reflected in how their learning is being structured. …
– The day I removed an Interactive Whiteboard for the first time (2011-Nov-11) [Removing the 'e' from 'e-learning']
And suddenly this all makes sense, and having seen this effect in our science labs I should have seen this earlier – the tablets are making a killing in this space.
MICROSOFT SURFACE
I have been thinking about the visualization uses of Surface since the Lonely Planet demonstrations back in 2009. With the release of the Windows 8 Developer Preview last year my first thoughts were that ‘this would be a great tablet OS‘ and I have been discussing the ‘what if Windows 8 is the iOS competitor with an Enterprise backend‘ when we are investigating new technologies and forecasting the next 5 year.
I cannot see any mention of the Smart Glass interface in the release notes, but you would assume that this is built in to immediately appeal to the X Box gaming audience.
Toys?
This now also begs the question; can I have my NCIS Ops room now?
@Kimbo_Ramplin @ABCNews24 Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, Cub Scout Leader and real hero. Went to give first aid and then engaged with the attacker. 20 hours ago
RT @CyclingCentral: Don't forget that we have the Giro d'Italia time trial tonight LIVE from 11:05pm AEST on SBS2 and streaming online! #gi… 23 hours ago
