Commonplace Pages

iPhone 4S

Just pre-ordered my iPhone 4S. After reading so many positive reviews and upon hearing that some people are already getting theirs in the mail, I just couldn’t take it any longer. Two things I’m thinking about while ordering:

• Justified purchasing the 64GB one as I suspect I will no longer carry my Canon S95 around. And for folks who know me, that’s a huge step as I shoot stills and video nearly constantly.
• I’m worry about my memory muscle even more with Siri. It sounds incredible.

That is all.

In Search of The Mavens

Yahoo’s announcement of dropping bookmarking service Delicious had many users scrambling to find alternatives. Being one of then, I eventually exported my links to pinboard. We’ll see if that was necessary but I hold hope that Delicious will indeed find another home.

It’s unfortunate that one of the many benefits of delicious was never exploited. To me, it had the potential of finding the Mavens, the “information specialists”, or “people we rely upon to connect us with new information.” Check out the sidebar, “How ReadWriteWeb Used Delicious,” from ReadWriteWeb’s “R.I.P. Delicious: You Were So Beautiful to Me” and you’ll see what I mean. (HT @ J Robinson)

Essentially, their sorting mechanism allowed them to find The Mavens:

Then we subscribed to the RSS feeds of all those peoples’ bookmarks in the future. We regularly find things that way before our competitors do.

I wonder, however, if there’s a way to go beyond this set of early Mavens. Rather than “grab URLs for companies and products,” it’ll be great if we can grab the URL based on the ones we bookmark or tag similarly. Of course, this may not lead to serendipitous discovery. Often times, you may find folks who are too similar to you.

However, if there was a way to discover beyond your immediate circle of influence, this list of Mavens might expose some very interesting finds. I did a presentation on this awhile back and used this slide to help illustrate how it might work.

Imagine, for example, that “cooking” was one of my frequently used tags. I might find value in a Maven that frequently tagged articles with “vegetables” but a serendipitous find might have come from a Maven that was really into “gardening” and so forth.

Essentially, your Mavens may have their own Mavens based on tangentially related topics. Those in the first and second circle of Mavens are your customized curators for web content. Finding and sorting their links will ultimately you save time and lead you to discover a new perspective beyond the typical echo chamber.

Update (1/9/2011)

Since Flipboard has yet to launch its semantic integration, News.me could appeal to those who need more than just an attractive layout of the news, or even popular trends, but need to find the news that’s highly relevant to them.

And, yes, it’s a need.

Update (10/29/2011)

I joined Pinterest last month. And although I’m not active, I can see how this could get interesting if the masses were to “collect” here, sort of speak. I especially like the ability to not simply save the URL as in delicious, but to “save” a discrete piece of media. In Pinterest, it’s currently images only. But I can imagine a much more powerful discovery engine if folks can “save” a collection of quotes or paragraphs in a sharable service. Pinterest also highlights the original “Pinner” of that particular piece of content. In Search of The Mavens can be that much closer.

Flipboard

While the interwebs is still buzzing about the new “social magazine” iPad app Flipboard, I thought I’d add my two cents to the fray. Despite some of the challenges (see “some obvious CONS” below), there are a number of brilliant things happening with the app that I hope inspires others moving forward.

Preloaded Headlines and Summary from my Twitter and Facebook Networks.

Ironically, this is the current buzz around the web: is Flipboard scraping content illegally?  Wherever this legal mumbo-jumbo falls, I do hope there’s a solution. It’s just brilliant. My wife commented yesterday on how she would use Twitter if the feed were displayed this way. Otherwise, the stream is just daunting. This magazine-like layout for my Twitter and Facebook stream is a significantly much easier and elegant solution. Power this functionality with Semantic Data and this magazine-like browsing experience will be remarkable.

Visual Mode to Content
The main page is an auto-rotate through the current feed’s set of photos/images. As a 4th screen (yes, I have 3 screen in my work space), I would use this visual mode as a picture frame into the day’s rotating news/buzz stream. Great idea. Obviously, the images are a bit random and I would love a way to determine the visual feed.



Social Network Integration
I can retweet, like and comment right in the app. Is there a reason to go to the website at this point? I’m sure Zuckerberg isn’t very happy about that.



Creative Grids
On pages where a gallery of images are present, Flipboard will automatically devote a grid of photos to the entire page. Smart.

There are some obvious CONS to the app:

• Being a week out, it is a bit buggy.
• I wish Twitter list actually work cause that would be great channels. And I wouldn’t feel so bad about how much effort I put into my relatively useless Twitter lists.
• Content isn’t cached. So no subway reading.
• The seemingly random selection for photos as well as their crops could stir an issue for visual purist.

And as the app evolves, I’d love to see:

• Instapaper integration
• Google Reader integration

Some reviews around the web:

• A Prettier Way to Browse the Social Web (nytimes.com)
• Flipboard, New “Social” iPad Magazine will be Powered by Semantic Data (readwriteweb.com)
• Flipboard Has $10.5 Million To Launch iPad ‘Mag’ Edited By Friends (paidcontent.org)
• Flipboard iPad App Pretties Up, Declutters Your Social Web Life Into Magazine Form (fastcompany.com)
• Hands-On: Flipboard Turns Your iPad into a Personalized Magazine (wired.com)
• Flipboard Wades Into Murky Copyright Waters Where Google Lives (gigaom.com)
• Flipboard: A startup’s first bad day or success? (scobleizer.com)
• Meet Flipboard  (YouTube)

UPDATE: Well, well, well… it looks like there is Instapaper via Settings. Thanks for the heads up, Marco!

The Roles of Video Games

I’m looking forward to diving into Tom Bissell’s latest book “Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter” not only because I feel connected to the “gamers” genre but also because of the idea of combining interactive narratives with games intrigue me. In his recent interview with “On The Media,” Bissell points out:

This is a medium that is actually open to more directional influence from smart people working within it than any other popular medium around right now.

It’s exciting to me where this genre is going. Games themselves will certainly get more visually realistic and the interactions with them will be more engaging. But the idea of engaging users with compelling narrative and possibly even understanding the world around us is inspiring. And I can only imagine the opportunities to use the same techniques to push how we tell multimedia stories.

Obviously, the idea isn’t new. But here are a few links that might comb together some ideas as to where we are headed with these types of interactive narratives:

• Play the News - “a web-based platform that brings interactive gaming elements to the online ‘news media’ industry changing the paradigm of news consumption from passive reading to active engagement.” (Poynter’s Sara Quinn interviewed Eric Brown and Asi Burak back in February of 2009 in “Interactivity, Role Playing in News Games Engage Readers”)
• Enter the Story - “a thirty year project to convert the world’s greatest stories into adventure games”
• News Games - “research on the relationship between journalism and videogames at Georgia Tech”
• Saving the World Through Game Design (The New Yorker: May 2008) - Jane was also recently on TED  with “Gaming can make a better world.”
• “Design Outside the Box” Presentation (Dice 2010) - “Carnegie Mellon University Professor, Jesse Schell, dives into a world of game development which will emerge from the popular ‘Facebook Games’ era.”
• Picture the Impossible - “Players participate in a range of activities, including casual web-based games, games that bring players out to events and locations throughout the city, and games that involve the tangible aspects of the Democrat & Chronicle newspaper itself.”

Other reviews of Tom Bissell’s “Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter”

• Inside the Box (NYT - June 9, 2010)
• ‘Extra Lives’: Are video games the next great art form?  (Salon - June 20, 2010)
• ‘Extra Lives’ Plays Up The Artistry Of Video Games (NPR - June 21, 2010)
• Tom Bissell on Why Video Games Matter (OTM - June 25, 2010)

Friday Nights 2010

The girls are sleeping and I’m catching up on my reading on my iPad. Friday nights have sure changed and I like it.

The iPad & Writing

I couldn’t agree more about the longer writing statement from Gizmodo’s Joel Johnson on “The iPad Is Such A Great Travel Computer That I’m Selling My Laptop” (via “The iPad as a writing coach’s dream” from Nieman Journalism Lab).

For long typing sessions, I found myself putting the keyboard on my lap while placing the iPad off to the side — sometimes not even in direct eyeshot.

It’s especially handy when you’re also sitting with an infant:

With that said, however, it is difficult to cite quotes from stories and posts cause the cut and paste from safari to my writing app, Simplenote, is just too cumbersome at the moment. I also wish there were better dictionary and thesaurus integration.

The iMoleskine Wishlist

Nothing beats pen and paper - especially if Moleskine keeps putting out interesting products like its new line, Moleskine Passions: Wine Journal. But that doesn’t stop me from wishing for an app (or system of apps) that would allow me to quickly sketch out an idea, wire-frame it, work out flows & relationships and make annotations. I should also be able tag it, share it and allow disparate ideas to relate to one another by making it visually & textually findable. An Internet Moleskine, if you will.

As I noted in my “Potentially Because of the iPad” Flickr gallery, one of the challenges the iPad faces in becoming a drawing tool is the resolution of the stylus. The ideal would be a ballpoint pen rather than a Sharpie, but I have yet to find one that demonstrates the ability to draw a fine line with touch. Yes, some apps can generate a line, but I’m talking about drawing.

But here are a few iPad apps that get us a step closer to a day when an iPad can become a companion to my Moleskine.

• Penultimate - This app from Cocoa Box Design best replicates the look and feel of a Moleskine. The 4px-ish digital pen feels natural on the large writing space. At $2.99, the infinite number of notebooks is a great way to organize notes by project or thoughts. You can also set the background to graphed, lined or plain. At the risk of taking away the Moleskine form, I wish there was a way to type in annotations via the virtual keyboard.
  
• iNapkin (v2.0.2) - At 4px, the smallest pen size on this app is surprisingly fine, considering my finger touches the glass at about 35px. At $2.99, iNapkin delivers what it promises: the ability to make quick sketches on a digital napkin, make annotations, then mail it to yourself or friends. I wish Tekton was the typeface for annotations to visually match the drawing forms. 
  
• Keynote (v1) - For quick, elegant presentations, Apple’s Keynote can get the job done in a flash. I put together a presentation a couple of weeks ago by simply importing a set of images and converting them into a Keynote deck. Boom! Instant presentation. However, I quickly missed Keynote’s desktop ability to link an image to a Web page as well as play a video file. Both should have been a part of this version. The shape and line tools, though, are very similar to the desktop version of the app, and it could possibly be used for wire-framing and illustrating relationships. Navigating full application functionality on a touch interface takes a bit of getting used to, but Keynote has Apple’s elegance and intuitive interfaces.

Apps I’m keeping an eye on:

• OmniGraffle - At $50, OmniGraffle from The Omni Group is a bit expensive for my budget. Granted, the iPad app might be appropriately priced, considering OmniGraffle on the Mac is an amazing tool and the professional version costs $199. But I’m waiting for either more recent favorable reviews, a price drop or a competitive product. I’m also very curious to see what The Omni Group does with OmniOutliner for the iPad.
• Wireframes for iPad - Speaking of competitors, Wireframes for iPad looks promising. Right now, it’s just a website. Cost is still unknown.

Of course, to round out the experience, I would also want peripherals with the iPad:

• Pogo Sketch ($14.95) looks like a good stylus. It’s definitely better than a sausage stylus, but I’m holding out for a stylus with a real pen on the other end.
• Trip Jacket ($39.99) will cover your iPad and make it look like a Moleskine when not in use.  With the M-Edge line of products, I’m more drawn to the Executive Jacket.T  The ultimate cover, however, would be one that holds a real Moleskine, a stylus/pen and, maybe, my iPhone.

Then I’m good to go.

Motion Graphics + Visual Explanation

The Conception of Wine by Tiago Cabaco was linked around the intertubes a couple of weeks ago (via @brainpicker). It’s a good visual explainer simply and elegantly executed in motion graphics.

We’ve also done a number of motion graphics at The New York Times. Thanks to NYT’s multimedia producer, Zach Wise (ie: @zlwise). Those who have come to one of my talks may have heard me say that motion graphics are under-used by many news organizations; motion graphics are excellent tools to explain complex ideas or processes in compressed time.

But - and it’s an important but - I’m a huge fan because of the power of visual explanation, not the presence of eye candy. Don’t get me wrong: There is plenty of sweetness to be enjoyed out there. I gobble up eye candy as much as the next guy. Moving typography and layered textures on a heavy drum beat can be beautifully compelling, as are dances of typography laid atop spoken words and music. It’s all good stuff - and probably a great exercise when breaking into the field, selling a product or producing a music video.

But the motion graphics that get me excited are those that help me understand complex stories. Sure, there are some out there that are simple moving slides with charts and graphs. That’s fine. But I’m specifically talking about motion graphics that use motion, spacial relationships and contrast to communicate concepts and relationships. These kinds of motion graphics help me understand process through narrative.

Jonathan Jarvis came out with “The Crisis of Credit Visualized” a year ago (February 2009, to be exact) and re-ignited my thinking about motion graphics and visual explanation. Since then, Jarvis launched The New Mediators to help expand the tools to others by designing a graphic language system and offering visuals icons.

Integrating motion graphics into the storytelling process, not relying entirely on the technique as the means of communication, is another important distinction. Zach, for example, integrated motion graphics in “Choosing a President” and “Inside the Private Equity Game” at the appropriate moment: when complex ideas and processes needed to be explained. Zach has a great outline of the beginnings of our workflow.  Because the process is new for us, we’re taking the necessary steps to figure out how it integrates within the newsroom and further our journalism.

Good Magazine has done a few of these as well; “On Skid Row” by Sam Slovick comes to mind. The movie trailer for the “The Kingdom” might also spark some inspiration.

Want more? I’m tagging such projects with Motion Graphics + Visual Explanation on my delicious. Blogs that often link to motion graphics and visual explanation are Motionographer and Information Aesthetics.

Data Visualization on The Rise

In this research post, Four Ways of Looking at Twitter, from Harvard Business Review, Scott Berinato ledes with…

Data visualization is cool. It’s also becoming ever more useful, as the vibrant online community of data visualizers (programmers, designers, artists, and statisticians — sometimes all in one person) grows and the tools to execute their visions improve.

Agreed that data visualization is cool and the field is growing. But I wonder if data visualization literacy among non-dataviz is equally on the rise? I may have a distorted view from where I’m sitting, considering that the NYTimes graphics department has led the industry in producing interactive graphics. Then again…

The Obama Administration’s appointment of information-design expert Edward Tufte “to advise the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which monitors the way the $787 billion in the stimulus package is being spent” might indicate the government’s growing recognition of the importance in visualizing data.

In addition, sounds like Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg are betting on it as they recently launched their own agency Flowing Media in a not-so-crowded industry. The other agencies I can think of are XPLANE and stamen design. (funny how one is in ALL CAPS while the other is all lower case. Seriously. Check out their respective websites.) I’m sure there are others but those are the agencies that quickly come to mind.

Online tools such as Tableau Software and Many Eyes are meant to empower the general public in creating data visualizations for analysis. But are they the Flickr and YouTube of informational graphics?

For more blogs and resources on interactive graphics and data visualization, I continue to maintain the Interactive Narratives’ Interactive Graphics tab on NetVibes Universe. I also put together two Twitter lists on interactive graphics: organizations and people.