Inside View

Learning from the Blinking Red

WHILE CHECKING OUT a gaggle of teenagers with several expensive pieces of recording equipment, I noticed the red light was blinking on my old reliable Fujifilm S7000 camera. That's an unusual error to see--it's happened once in my usage. It normally means something just happened wrong. No worries--I fired up Migo and started to resurrect all the deleted or corrupt images on the XD card. But I discovered Migo can't rescue something that hasn't been saved. So for all the young people poking around the camera tossing images from this week's rain-coated work--it's a wash-out and we'll try again in September.

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Camera tossers.

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N97 Test Shoot

THE NOKIA ACADEMY dropped a Nokia N97 onto my desk and right after its unboxing, I discovered Mike Kiely swiped the phone for "low light testing". I know he has the N97 somewhere because I spotted this video in his Flickr photostream. Because I have to leave the country, I won't carry the phone to NYC and beyond. Instead, I'll just watch Mike's photos to see if the N97 can perform in low-light conditions.

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First Hour with Nokia N97

PEOPLE USE THEIR PHONES in different ways so when I got a N97 handset from the Nokia Academy, I thought it might be worthwhile to track what I did with it in the first hour because I could use the phone right out of the box. It took nearly 10 minutes for the N97 to transfer contacts from my E90 to the N97, along with bookmarks, photos, audio, and video clips. All that happened via Bluetooth with no other conduit. It worked without SIMs. Watching that transfer process occur with a simple set of Bluetooth handshakes on two phones running with battery power was a welcome introduction to a new handset. I have a lot of little things I want to do with the N97, gaining inspiration from other reviewers at The Really Mobile Project and Test Freaks. After the 10 minute Bluetooth data transfer, I started tapping around the phone's screen, refusing to open the owner's manual. I discovered some interesting things.

Watching Young People in Pastures

ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING activities I enjoy involves learning technology from young people. Currently, 22 teens from the Tipperary Regional Youth Services are sharing how they use their cameraphones to connect with each other. Some have high-end gear in their pockets and they are documenting the making of a scary film they've written and practised during summer workshops. The best part about this project involves young people who do not want a part facing the camera. They want to make the film, hold the fishpole mic, snap digital photos and create a buzz on Facebook about the group's efforts. Today's memorable moments involved occasions I did not document. Three horses scared some of the teens out of their shoes during the 12-second video linked to the image at left. Six cows galloped with intent at 12 of us as we mounted a gate. Three lads attacked a threatening tree with a spade while an eco-aware teen admonished them. "You need to plant three trees to replace that one." "What are you talking about? It was just an ivy tree." The admonishment will work and the film crew will record the planting. Today, it's back to testing the SD camera, harvesting clips from before, and setting up a production work process.

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Sent mail2blog using O2-Typepad service on my Nokia E90 in the Dualla woods behind Cashel FC, County Tipperary, Ireland.

Bonus Link: Photoset

#tossers

Dangling Dongles

UPDATED 17 AUG: George Hook takes to the air with this idea and expands on traveling light with dongles, Boingo and Maxroam. Audio snippet below [18 MB MP3 file].

WHILE PACKING FOR an overseas trip, I'm ticking off a few pieces of technology that will ensure I can dangle my dongle to best effect. I'm starting with my O2 dongle (shown working while dangling at left) because I know that works wherever there's a mobile phone signal. I'm taking an extra three metres of USB cable because that will ensure I can dangle my dongle outside, in the direction of a cell phone tower. I also have a Maxroam SIM because I'm keen to test that option inside my O2 dongle. I've also checked my Nokia E90's Boingo application--it works and that's great news for walking the streets of Philadelphia, New York and Washington, DC. The best news about all this gear is it's a small footprint, raises no eyebrows at airport security checkpoints, and it's lightweight.

The Right Hook on Technology

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Direct link to MP3: http://www.insideview.ie/files/righthook_090817.mp3

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Short Sunday News Clip

ON THE FRONT PAGE of most Irish Sunday newspapers runs stories about serious financial pressure facing the government of Ireland and the leaks describing the cuts to essential services sure to come. Inside the paper sit a strong assortment of technology and innovation found in Ireland along with some interesting news that gets longer treatment on Qik.com/topgold.

Flying Between Buildings

Click To Play

WHEN I WORKED on the east coast, I flew light aircraft down the Hudson River several times. It was magical, flying between the skyscrapers of Manhattan. It always amazed passengers that it was legal to use visual flight rules to remain below the arrival and departure corridors of major airports while motoring along a small sliver of space. Yet the Manhattan tour also has its hazards, as amateur video revealed on the Today show.

Neolithic Media Camp

ALONG WITH OTHERS who teach creative uses of digital technologies, I believe all college students involved in the field need to complete a full day in a Neolithic Media Camp. I'm spurred on to do this because of Sabrina Dent's polite nudging. The immersive Neolithic Media Camp sessions must explain why a "pasteup" is called a pasteup, why programs like InDesign or Quark uses a big box with an X through it to mark where images will go. They will visit the local newspaper and see what it means to lay out a newspaper, perhaps by using rubber cement or Post-It Notes. They would listen to people trained in print as they're showed how to take a sketch through a computer screen mock-up and into the halftone feature in PhotoShop to ensure the image processes for print. We have some local experts in The Nationalist who will make workstations available for this kind of task. We also have several award-winning animators who have said they would help monitor the task of completing a stop-motion film. Portions of the storyboard are shown in the image at left.

Most importantly we have some curriculum deliverables that directly match up to the essence of Neolithic Media Processes. So I'm writing this blog post in the hope that several instructors and collaborators will annotate their interest in helping along this idea.

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With thanks to Sabrina Dent and Ruth Maher.

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Science and Maths Problems in Ireland

WHILE SUCCESS stories like John Collison's make their rounds, the unfortunate state of poor maths results among Irish second level students deserves immediate action by anyone concerned with keeping Ireland competitive. For the next decade, people I know will try to unravel how the Collison brothers can excel in a traditional classroom and also break free of formalised thinking to create clever technology work in their own skunkworks. Those analysts know from the outset that an inadequate infrastructure exists to bolster the second level maths curriculum in Ireland and a significant lack of entrepreneurs exists among the ranks of educators in Ireland. I appreciate following the Collison brothers on various social networks for one reason--their passion for flying keeps mine burning too.

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http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/ietopstories/~3/OghXRmSymcI/ has the story about poor maths results in Ireland.
Sent to blog via Nokia E90 free wifi Google Reader. Image of John Collison (the younger John) at Cork OpenCoffee.

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Earbuds and Concrete Shards

SUMMERTIME MEANS yard work for me and this year it's no different. I've had several long days outside with chisels and concrete saws, using the SonyEricsson HBH-DS980 earbuds at left as noise blockers and time fillers. They're the best earbuds in the house and they block out a lot of industrial noise. I used them in very dusty conditions and noticed something about their durability. The small slit in the back of the earbuds will gather perspiration and that moistness will gather dust and grime. I often keep the earbuds out of harm's way by putting the dongle inside my shirt. It gets sweaty there and that means when it comes time to recharge the dongle, the power adapter won't seat properly. So if you like your earbud-powered music, you might consider putting the music changer part of the accessory into some kind of little sleeve when you wear it in dusty conditions.

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I give these earbuds a 9.3 out of 10 rating, which is higher than other evaluators.

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