Quick link: Nextgov, "the all-day information resource for federal technology decision makers"

I've been thinking more about interactive data exploration interfaces lately, and what might be needed to support people who do not have technical or mathematical backgrounds.  From time-to-time, I will share information related or somewhat related to this topic.


I came across a link to the Nextgov website in my FB newsfeed and thought I'd bookmark it for future reference. Although the Nextgov is geared for people who work as CIOs in government settings, it contains a lot of interesting food for thought if you happen to be a knowledge junkie or just want to be a a well-informed citizen.  


 Below is a quote from "About Nextgov" page of the website:
"Nextgov is the all-day information resource for federal technology decision makers. Through news, analysis and insights from our award-winning journalists and a nationwide community of expert voices, Nextgov provides the first word on technology and government." 


"Nextgov’s editorial mission is to lead the national discussion about how technology and innovation are transforming the way government agencies serve citizens and perform vital functions. Central to this mission is the exploration of emerging technologies and their potential impact on government. Nextgov contributors include influential thinkers across government, academia and the private sector providing fresh and provocative insights on key federal IT topics."


Nextgov is produced by Government Executive Media Group...."


For your convenience, below are links to various sections of the Nextgov website:
News
CIO Briefing
Emerging Tech
Cloud
Cybersecurity
Mobile
Health
Defense
Big Data


I was disappointed that there wasn't a section about education, so I've some related links below:

RELATED
Big Data - Avalanch? Flood? Tsunami?  What does big data mean for educators?
Evidence Framework for Innovation and Excellence in Education
Karen Cato, Director, Office of Educational Technology, U.S. Dept. of Education


The article contains a link to a draft of a related publication released for public comment:


Enhancing Teaching and Learning Through Educational Data Mining and Learning Analytics: an Issue Brief 
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology
April 10, 2012


FYI: The above document was prepared by Marie Bienkowski, Mingyou Feng, and Barbara Means, under the guidance of Karen Cator and Bernadette Adams. A number of experts were interviewed for the report, including Shelby Andrews, Linda Chaput, Michael Freed, Dror Oren, Dave Gutelius, Michael Jahrer, Andreas Toescher, Jeff Murphy, Peter Norvig, Sunil Noronha, Ken Rudin, Steve Ritter, Bror Saxberg, David Niemi, and Chuck Severence.  Others cited in the document include Ryan S.J. d. Baker, Gautam Biswas, John Campbell, Gredg Chung, Alfred Kobsa, Kenneth Koedinger, George Siemens, and Stephanie Teasly


SOMEWHAT RELATED
Nonprofit Data Visualization: a Gallery
Philanthropy:  Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas
Nicole Wallace, 3/4/12

Interactive Tweet Topic Explorer, by Jeff Clark

Thanks to Nathan Yau (FlowingData) for the link!


If you use twitter, you might like exploring Jeff Clark's on-line interactive Tweet Topic Explorer to get a new perspective of your tweets, or the tweets of others. (Just enter the twitter ID in the search box in the lower left-hand corner of the screen.)  
Here is a screenshot of my tweets.

Jeff Clark created this application using Processing.js. According to his blog post, it works well in the Chrome browser, and doesn't work in IE. Jeff is a programmer with an academic background in Applied Physics and Mathematics, and is interested in data mining, statistical analysis, and visualizations. You can learn more about Jeff Clark's work, and visually-inspired thoughts/communication on his Neoformix blog.

RELATED
Tweet Topic Explorer
Jeff Clark, Neoformix 4/19/11
Word Cluster Diagram
Jeff Clark, Neoformix, 4/18/11
See what you and others tweet about with the Tweet Topic Explorer
Nathan Yau, Flowing Data, 4/20/11

Quick Post: Journey, the next game from thatgamecompany (developers of Flower, flOw, and Cloud).

I've been following the work of some of the people behind thatgamecompany since they were graduate students at USC, working on Cloud, an enchanting and relaxing game. They went on to develop Flower and flOw, and are now working on Journey, the next game planned for release:





To view video trailers of other games by thatgamecompany, see the following post:


Games to Lift Stress Away: Flower, flOw (and Cloud), from thatgamecompany

Also visit thatgamecompany's website!

"TV Everywhere": Google acquires Widevine to support adaptive streaming video, including DRM content.

This evening I followed a tweet to an article written by Ben Parr, of Mashable:    

Google Acquires Some Powerful Video-Streaming and DRM Technology.   According to Google,  Widevine's adaptive video streaming technology monitors and adapts to bandwidth changes as it delivers content.  This technology make accessing high-quality video content across the web more seamless, consistent, and convenient across platforms and locations, and is known as "TV Everywhere". 

A range of  technologies developed by Widevane in the recent past look like they will be of benefit to Google. Widevine's intellectual property portfolio covers a lot of ground.  The patent claims distribution, as outlined on the company's website, includes realtime piracy detection and response fingerprinting, forensic watermarking, media tracking, evolving detectors (monitoring and response to piracy), security renewals, QOS, cross domain content security, secure processor technology, trusted computing technology, grooming/transcoding, DCAS (Downloadable Conditional Access System), device certificates, application level encryption, adaptive streaming, and usage controls.  

Google will have a wide reach with the acquisition of Widevane, as it plans to continue the company's partnerships with the "entire ecosystem" of businesses related to digital video content in some way.   As more people access web-based video from smart phones and related devices, and discover they can access video whenever they want, the demand for Google's cloud computing support will grow, along with the need for additional centers and support to handle the demand for multimedia content and related software applications.

The acquisition of Widevane might provide Google with a great deal of power over the next generation of cable/airwaves. If so, this will be a boon to advertisers, if done well. As it is, viewers must wait patiently to watch an ad for 15 minutes or so before viewing a short video clip on websites such as the Wall Street Journal. For some, this just a minor annoyance, and certainly not as bad as garish banner ads and pop-ups.  Marketers will have additional opportunities to reach potential customers through the use of product placement/embedded ads when people access more longer-playing videos and movies on-the-go.  The technology exists to create customized embedded ads in videos based on data collected about the viewer, which is right up Google's alley.  

Google's Data (on us) + Widevane = ?  

FYI:

A recent post on the Google Blog explains the acquisition of Widevane in detail: On demand is in demand: we've agreed to acquire Widevane (12/03/10). According to the information from the website, "Widevine is a privately held corporation headquartered in Seattle, WA, funded by Constellation Ventures, Cisco Systems, Charter Ventures, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP), Pacesetter Capital Group, The Phoenix Partners, TELUS (NYSE: TU) and VantagePoint Venture Partners." 

RELATED

5 Reasons Google Bought Widevine -Ryan Lawler, GigaOm, 12/3/10

Google to acquire DRM firm Widevine and what it means for Google TV - Tyler Cunningham, GTV Hub, 12/4/10

Google to acquire Widevine - Heaven sent or a Devil's Deal? (Includes list of Widevine's partners/customers) - Paul Johnson, AppMarketTV, 12/4/10

Google acquires Widevine - Colin Mann, Advanced Television, 12/4/10

10 Advantages of Google's Cloud -Google

Related Posts from Advanced Television

Widevine, Qtv enable Internet video on PS2 and mobiles

Funai selects Widevine

Motorola resells Widevine

Panasonic chooses Widevine solutions

Sonic and Widevine launching USB movie drives

Are we moving to cloud-based DRM ? Take a look at the content & links below:

Universal DRM renamed Ultraviolet, beta starts this fall

Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica  (Interesting- 122 comments)

UltraViolet

Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) LLC

SOMEWHAT RELATED

Anywhere: How Global Connectivity is Revolutionizing the Way We Do Business

The Battle For Your Digital Living Room: Apple, google and others are vying hard for this valuable real estate -Knowledge @Wharton, Forbes, 9/17/10

The Fifth Wave of Computing: Why the next decade of journalism will depend on engineers for survival -Trevor Butterworth, Forbes, 6/29/10

Tom Johnson's Media Convergence Matters blog 

Tech Product Placement & Embedded Advertising, Legal/Ethical Concerns

Why is this important to me?

I'm working on some ideas for web-based interactive educational videos and other interactive multimedia applications designed to be accessed across various screens and devices.  Technology is changing rapidly, and to move forward, I need to know more as I make decisions in the future.  I'll return to this topic in future posts as I research this topic further.

Thanks to Pawel Solyga (Solydzajs) for the tweet that sent me down this rabbit hole ; )  

FYI: Pawel is a software engineer, focused on next gen mobile apps.  He is the VP of Technology at Numote. He also is a NUI Group co-founder.  

RockMelt? Watch the video interview of the co-founders to learn more about the worlds newest web browser!

A quick glance at my morning newspaper- yes, the kind that involves paper and ink- brought to my attention that today is the first day that the RockMelt browser meets the world.


So what is special about RockMelt?  According to the RockMelt blog, the browser is built on Chromium, the same source code that fuels Google's Chrome. The biggest investment in RockMelt was $10  million dollars, from Marc Andreessen's venture capital firm.  Andreessen is also one of RockMelt's board of directors.  RockMelt is tightly integrated with Facebook, which is understandable, since Marc Andreessen is also on that company's board of directors.  (Marc Andreessen is the guy behind Netscape, one of the first popular browsers in the mid 1990's.)


Below is a video of an interview of the co-founders of RockMelt, who explain the reasons why browsers need to be re-invented to address social networking, "the cloud", and more.  





"Wherever you go on the Internet, RockMelt makes the Web a personal experience. Because RockMelt is the first browser you log into, it unlocks  your Web experience with your Facebook friends, your feeds, your favorite services, even your bookmarks and preferences. RockMelt is also the first browser to be fully backed by the cloud. This means you can access your personal browsing experience from anywhere, and you get quick updates from the people and sites that are important to you."  -RockMelt Blog


Promo Video:  RockMelt- Your Browser. Re-Imagined







For more information, visit the RockMelt website.  You can also sign up to get the browser at the website. The browser might be a little buggy, as it is a Beta version, and is still in development.

Oracle's Cloud Interoperability API, Intel's Cloud 2015 vision, Open Data Alliance, "Cloud Builders" (videos and links, just in case you wanted to know)

Oracle submits cloud interoperability API Larry Dignan, ZDNet, 11/3/10
Oracle Announces Oracle Cloud Resource Model Application Programming Interface
Oracle Press Release 11/3/10
Oracle Cloud Computing Strategy (Oracle Site)
Oracle Cloud Computing FAQ's


An IT Cloud Computing Roadmap from Intel IT

Intel, Other Top Companies Unveil New Cloud Mission:  Open Data Centers (Intel Newsroom)
Intel plays ringleader as Open Data Center Alliance launches ZDNet, 10/27/10
Intel's Cloud Computing Solutions

Open Data Center Alliance Members
Open Data Center Usage Roadmap

Lots of things have changed since I took a database class!


RELATED
Microsoft Research: CloudFaster 

Cisco's Cius, An Ultra-Portable, Android-based Mobile Collaboration Business Tablet: Supports Real-time, HD Videoconferencing, and the "Cloud"

Here is a link to the post on The World Is My Interactive Interface blog - the post includes video clips and links to additional information from Cisco:

Cisco's Cius and Ultra-portable, Android-based Mobile Collaboration Business Tablet:  Supports Real-time HD Videoconferencing and the "Cloud"

The following pictures were taking from Jason Hiner's blog at Tech Republic:

Apparently the Cius has a docking station.


A nice, Facebook-like interface is OK with me.

I wonder if it comes with a make-up kit.  Everyone should look presentable viewed in "HD TV".

Interactive Content & Communication Across Platforms, Screens, and Situations: Nokia's The Way We Live Next 3.0

Nokia's The Way We Live Next 3.0 conference was held November 10-11, 2009, and I was fortunate to come across the concept video shared during the opening presentation.



-Via Putting People First and Nokia Conversations

RELATED
Nokia The Way We Live Next 3.0  Putting People First post

The Way We Live Next:  Social apps and open-source R&D (Jesse Sutton 11/11/09,  Wired UK)
(Discusses Life Tools, Health Radar, Mobile Job Hunt applications.)

Nokia- life in 2015 (JBC, Nokia Conversations, 11/11/09 - a review Heikki Norta's presentation. Norta is head of corporate strategy.)

Multiplying our Efforts (pdf)  Presentation: Henry Tirri, SVP, Head of Nokia Research Center

Communities creating Computers – Computers connecting Communities (pdf)  Presentation:  Peter Schneider, Head of Technology Marketing, Maemo Devices, Nokia

Communities of the Future (pdf)  Presentation:  Purnima Kochikar, VP, Head of Forum Nokia & Developer Community

Go Mobile with Cash (pdf)   Presentation:  Teppo Paavola, VP, General Manager of Mobile Financial Services, Nokia

SOMEWHAT RELATED

The Nokia Braille Reader (Experimental)


The Nokia Braille Reader is a joint project between Nokia, Tampere University, and the Finnish Federation of Visually Impaired.

Cross Posted on The World Is My Interface

Games to lift stress away: Flower, flOw, (and Cloud), from thatgamecompany

As I set out to revisit some of my early posts on this blog, I came across a link to a review the Flower game, created for the Playstation 3 by Jenova Chen, Kellee Santiago, and other members of thatgamecompany. It is good to know that this group continues to work towards the goal of creating innovative games that provide gaming experiences that are calming, pleasant to use, and are unlike most game genres.



Flower (Credit: IGN)

"Supported HD Output: 720p, 1080i, 1080p- From the same developers that brought you the serene flOw comes Flower, whose gameplay has players guiding a flower petal across gorgeously rendered fields and plains, replete with individually modeled leaves of grass that blow and sway in the wind. Colorful, peaceful, and exhillerating, Flower is a difficult game to describe, and simply must be experienced in all it’s HD beauty to truly be appreciated. A real gem."

(Flower is played with the Sixaxis wireless game controller that can sense motions and provide precision in interactive game play. The Sixaxis was recently replaced by Duoalshock 3, which provides motion sensing and rumble. I'm not sure if the new controller works with Flower.)

The following video review by Pete Dorr won't give enough details about the game to spoil it for you. Go ahead and watch the review!


Since I don't have a PS3 (yet), I'm sharing a couple of reviews of Flower that I found on the IGN website:

"thatgamecompany's mellow, beautiful adventure through the dreams of plants starts out so disarmingly pleasant that one would be forgiven for assuming it's just a game about flying around and picking up flower petals. It's not until one experiences the couple-hour experience from beginning to end (preferably with 5.1 audio, the lights off and no human distractions) that the game really gets its emotional hooks into you. Without ever introducing a single line of dialogue, any characters (at least in the traditional sense) or clear goals, Flower takes you on a ride that's over far too soon, yet somehow seems just right for what it's trying to do: suck you into a world without the usual video game trappings while playing with your emotions in a way no amount of manufactured tear-jerk dialogue or surprise deaths ever could. It really is unlike anything else you'll ever play and stands as one of the best (if not the best) examples of SixAxis motion controls on the PS3."

Who knew the meaning of life could be so simple?
(Ryan Clements, IGN)

"thatgamecompany has depicted something that I never once imagined: what would a flower's dream look like if we could see it? Flower, a PS3 downloadable that comes as a spiritual successor to flOw, is one of the most beautiful games that I've ever played. Not just because the visuals are entirely breathtaking, but also because the experience of playing it offers more enjoyment, emotion and enlightenment than any game I've tried in years."

"Before you read on, keep in mind that Flower isn't quite for everyone. There will be those that experiment with it but won't see the point, as it strays so far from the traditional spectrum of gameplay systems, but it's truly worth playing...Flower is a poem, where you as the player participate in the dreams of flowers confined to the ever-changing landscape of a colorless city. Each dream, or stage, revolves around a different theme and gameplay objective, but your method of control remains the same: tilt the controller to direct a series of flower petals through beautiful environments. Press any button to stir up a wind that will coax them along. As you begin with one flower petal, you'll soon touch other flowers and gather more petals, generally influencing the environment in a way that pleases the dreamer. This setup works amazingly well to create varying tasks for you to enjoy..."

Flower was listed as one one of the best games for the Playstation 3 for HDTV, along with a flOw, a 2006 game from the same company:

Best Playstation 3 Games For Showing Off Your New HDTV




flOw
"Supported HD Output: 720p, 1080i, 1080p- Calm, serene, and beautiful in it’s simplicity, flOw was one of the first PSN titles released when the Playstation 3 launched in November 2006, and it’s still a gorgeous work of art. From the calming music, to the simple gameplay, flOw proves that you don’t need high resolution textures and thousands of animations to produce a beautiful image."

"FlOw is a game about piloting an aquatic organism through a surreal biosphere where players consume other organisms, evolve, and advance their organisms to the abyss."

I came across Cloud about four years ago, when I was looking for non-violent games that could support relaxation and stress-reduction. Cloud was created by some of the members of thatgamecompany when they were students at UCS.

I later posted about how I used the game in in my work as a school psychologist:

CLOUD GAME*

Cloud is a relaxing, nonviolent game, created by graduate students at USC. The character, a child, flies around, collecting clouds and putting them into puzzles in the sky. The music is very soothing. The game is free and can be downloaded through the website. This game could be used to help relax students with anxiety disorders, Asperger syndrome, etc., develop coping strategies. Here is the link to the Cloud video trailer.

(I use the Cloud Game as a form of crisis intervention with students undergoing high level of agitation and stress at the middle and high school level.)

Below is a video of the Cloud game, which was designed for use on a computer. It still appears to be available for free from the USC website.


FlOw was Jenova Chen's MFA Thesis, built upon Mihaly Csikszenmihalyi's Flow Theory:

"being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost."

The game went on to become an award-winning PS3 game. The early web-based version of flOw is free, and some of the gameplay can be done using your finger on a touch screen. The music is relaxing, almost hypnotic.




Why this is important:

There is a need for games that can be used for relaxation, as most commercial games focus on action and thrills, often delivered through violence.

(Pictures and videos are from the IGN website, YouTube, and related websites.)