Inside View

The #LSADmedia presence

Liam Noonan at Ground Zero of Robocode.

A SERIES OF SPECIAL events, sponsored by the Limerick School of Art & Design (LSAD) Media Desk, have generated enthusiasm about the creative multimedia programme in Clonmel. In April, a group of social media, public relations, games development and applied communications students will commission a website that articulates the #LSADmedia brand.

The Clonmel campus of LSAD is the centre point of this initiative. The campus hosts first year social media students, third year public relations students and fourth year applied communications students. A fourth cohort of software developers on the Thurles campus of the Limerick Institute of Technology is also contributing to the planning and execution of #LSADmedia strategy.

During the final week of March 2014, #LSADmedia puts a special emphasis on social marketing concepts arising through Marketing Over Coffee, including:

-- Four tips from @cspenn for dealing with Facebook's increased brand Page penalties.

-- What @webby2001 thinks about the Facebook free lunch plan ending.

-- @jasonfalls and @smxplorer on the Great Facebook Swindle.

-- @bobmoz on The Billboard Twitter Real-Time Chart. 

-- @cesardielo Photos getting more social.

Props to Christopher S. Penn's totally excellent newsletter for including these strategic social marketing observations.

[Photo of Liam Noonan in Robocode 2014 on the LIT-Thurles campus. Supported by #LSADmedia.]

Our Worlds of Patatap and Friv

Screenshot from Behance.

WE HAVE A 6YO who enjoys keyboard activities. She has added Patatap to her toolkit, right after Friv. [1]

I discovered Patatap, a portable animation and sound kit, on Pinboard. [2] When I visited the Patatap website, my Chrome browser loaded an iFrame that mapped the letters A to Z to sounds and shapes. Then I watched our 6yo run her fingers across my laptop keyboard to create create melodies charged with moving shapes.

We stopped after my Dell battery died, but not before Mia switched between multiple colour palettes ("Dad! I can make it turn pink!") and matching soundscapes on the fly. [3]

"The motivation behind Patatap is to introduce the medium of Visual Music to a broad audience," explains Jono Brandel. "Artists working in this field vary in discipline but many aim to express the broader condition of Synesthesia, in which stimulation of one sensory input leads to automatic experiences in another. Hearing smells or seeing sounds are examples of possible synesthesia". I brought synesthesia into our social media classroom last week and will continue the discussion as we explore the start of a social media research project in support of the annual Pen & Pixel exhibition on the LSAD-Clonmel campus. We might try to bring Patatap's colourful visual animations to the 22 May exhibition. If you have a Chrome browser, you might enjoy what happens below the break.

Animating Live Lectures

Screenshot created by Wordle from @johnpeavoy's musings.

 

WE HAVE GUEST speakers visit the LSAD-Clonmel campus every fortnight and some of them get special treatment when our resident animators sketch the presentations in full flow. The results [1] give a special sense of 360 degree feedback.

Before the end of March 2014, John Peavoy will visit and enjoy the same treatment. I've heard John's  rock-solid advice shared with unemployed Dell workers and want to see his 2014 version. Ahead of the visit, I've generated a Word Cloud that represents the gist of the email conversations we've had. And I'm sharing the result on my InsideView.ie blog and on Flickr.

I'm also using this blog entry to point out the Wundering Moleskine that captures answers to the question, "Where do you want to go?" [2] And I hope some of our campus animators opt to sketch answers to the question in the book as it moves between campus locations throughout Ireland. [3]

[Bernie Goldbach is the senior creative multimedia lecturer in the Limerick Institute of Technology.]

1. Documentally Artists on Flickr.

2. The Wundering Moleskine on Flickr. (Flickr.com/wundering02)

3. You can follow the Wundering Moleskine on ShareYourAdventure by going to   http://bit.ly/mapwundering02

My SXSW Mixtape

Screenshot from SXSW. Report inspired by @jimcarrollOTR.

I WISH JIM CARROLL would treat his readers to a SXSW Playlist every time he cycles around Austin in search of great artists. Carroll's reports from SXSW always point me in the right direction and I depleted my Google Wallet buying tracks he fingered in his coverage in The Irish Times.

Dozens of people have crafted their own playlists of best SXSW acts already, offering a diverse swath of musical tastes for listeners. I grabbed seven tracks after reading reviews of artists Jim Carroll cited as among the best he heard, several he listened to twice during the week-long music festival. I put them in to an audio clip, crediting Jim Carroll for his accurate portrayal of the groups. Below the break, I pulled a portion of his review from a Kindle clipping. It's worth sharing.

First Look at Responsive Typepad

Screenshot from InsideView.ie by @topgold as seen on a Nokia Lumia 1520.

A WELCOME NOTE from Say Media informed me of the Snap Template for Typepad. This marks the first time I have seen the option for a responsive template with Typepad services and I hope to discover the responsive capability works with advanced templates too.

The Internet and Web Technology module I teach at the Limerick Institute of Technology gave quick and dirty treatment to responsive HTML. I think there is scope for a line item of responsive design as part of the final continuous assessment project in the first year #webtech module. In reality, most web hosting platforms offer basic responsive services one click away from a default design. The real talent emerges when people can create responsive design for inline media, email and web.

[Bernie Goldbach teaches #webtech in the Limerick Institute of Technology.]

Reflections of a Distracted Driver

Photo by @topgold with Lumia 1520.

LIKE DOZENS OF drivers I see every day, I use technology while underway in Ireland. That means for most of the 1200 km I travel every month between third level campus locations, I am building a use case of best practise.

Depending on how you define it, distracted is how everyone drives. I remember how my dad was cited by the Pennsylvania Highway Patrol when he reached behind his seat and smacked my brother who was fighting with the middle brother. Once a fortnight, I slow down or move to the shoulder of the road to accommodate someone coming towards me who needs time to text. I see people putting on make up while driving, drinking coffee while turning, and reading magazines gripped on steering wheels.

Distracted driving runs rampant across the world. Knowing the risks are greater now than ever before, I let my Lumia phone connect to our Qashqai stereo speakers and pump out podcasts on playlists dynamically generated by Bringcast.

How about you?

[Bernie Goldbach is a mobile road warrior supporting the Limerick Institute of Technology.]

#COYBIG Turning the Rock Green

AS THE IRISH rugby team walked off the pitch in Paris with a two-point win, the lovely Rock of Cashel turned green. It is a testimony to the rock-solid Irish rugby team who have made a nation proud.

Come On You Boys in Green! I think Ireland's competitiveness is much stronger in the next World Cup. The team have a disciplined approach and a physicality that has earned them respect on a global stage. Inspiring stuff.

SGT Guarnere RIP

Illustration by Tom Stiglich in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, I WATCHED the story of Sergeant Bill Guarnere from airborne training through V-E Day. His character formed part of the Emmy-winning "Band of Brothers".[1]

Bill Guarnere died in his hometown of Philadelphia more than 60 years after he and his fellow non-commissioned officers gave up their stripes in support of Lancaster County native Lieutenent Dick Winters. The rebellious attitude of Bill Guarnere pulsated through the entire Band of Brothers mini-series. Wild Bill was possibly the most famous paratrooper of Easy Company.

Sparked by #cesicon

ALONG WITH 340 others, I attended the 10th running of CESICON, the annual gathering of Irish educators who cleverly use clever computing to teach. The weekend empowered me with ideas and set down some markers that will improve the way I teach and the way I learn.

Although the keynote speeches deserved pride of place on the schedule, the popular acclamation--both on site and online--gave huge props to several presenters who deserve recognition beyond a 40-hour gathering.

Makey Makey featured at Teach Meet CESI on Friday evening, on Saturday during the main event and then resonated via Twitter and Audioboo with people affirming their enthusiasm for a host of Makey Makey tools.

James Corbett from MissionV brought his Oculus Rift headset and enthralled viewers through their own eyes or through a video capture of a 10 year old boy who used the head gear to explore an historic site. On the back channel, John Tierney described how his archeological research has created a 3D trench network that history students can use to explore WWI.

I have plenty of notes to follow lists of links suggested by Catherine Cronin, Joe Dale and Conor Galvin. And I have up to the second weekend in May to catch up before I meet these helpful educators again at #ictedu in Thurles.

[Photo of John Heffernan snapped by Lumia at the CESICON closing session.]