Mar
5
World News = Facebook Connections?
Slate (an online current affairs and culture magazine) created an interactive tool called “news dots.” These dots examine how every story fits together, by visualizing the most recent topics in the news as a giant social network. Subjects are connected to one another if they appear together in at least two stories, and the size of the dot is proportional to the total number of times the subject is mentioned. It works by scanning articles from major news publications and submitting them to Calias, which is a service that tags the content with key words. If two subjects are tagged within a story, they become connected. Ultimately the dots show connections in a way that resembles Facebook friends, and the various networks that are aggregated around school and work. Using this tool is easy! Visit the Slate site and click on a circle to see which stories mention that topic, and which other topics it connects to. Then you can click on any connected dot to see which stories mention both of the subjects. Test it out for yourself, and tell us what you think.
Tags: interactive, news, news dots, slate, technology
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Feb
25
FAMAMFAM=COOLCOOLCOOL
The folks at Harlo recently stumbled upon this cool find, a ”silk” (smooth) web icon set created by UK web developer Mark James. The most recent (and possibly final) set called “version 1.3” Posted on Marks website FAMFAMFAM, features 1,000 icons. These include (but are not limited to) report icons, picture icons, small XHTML/CSS buttons, and hardware drive icons. The feed icons have been brought into line with new standard, and all icons have been compressed to lower the file size. Oh and by the way it’s free, so download away my friends!
Harlo Interactive is a website design firm based in Portland, OR
Tags: free, icons, mark james, technology
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Feb
18
Is Your Desktop a Wall Flower?
Is your desktop boring, uninspiring, or simply a “plain Jane?” If so look no further, we found the perfect solution to cure any computer monotony. Wall base.net is a searchable wallpaper data base that takes desktop “décor” to the next level. The site is powered by an image+metadata scraper which pulls images from three channels W (anime wall paper), WG (general wall paper), and HR (high resolution/high quality photos). Script then takes the raw parsed data (post title, img title, text), processes the images, and indexes everything in a MySQL. On a more technical level the scrape is written in Python 2.5, and uses a Python Image Library (PIL) to process the images . The scraper not only pulls images, but all the information contained in the posts, which allows the contextual data from the images to be searched. Needless to say the website is awesome, and you can find wall paper (images) of anything. Simply type your word of choice in the search bar and test it out for yourself!
Harlo Media is a Portland base website design firm, learn more.
Tags: high resolution, images, mysql, technology, wall paper
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Feb
11
We Choose the Moon
We all know about the Race to Space. We’ve probably all seen the movies October Sky, and Apollo 13. At some point in our lives, we may have even tried to build a cardboard rocket ship that would take us to Mars were we could befriend Aliens. While we never got to fly into Space like we may have dreamed as children, there is now an alternative. With the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 and the first mission to the moon, the JFK Presidents Library and Museum created this interactive site that allows the user to live the Apollo 11 mission from the comfort of their own home.
We Choose the Moon is an interactive site th
at recreates the launch and mission of Apollo 11. Forty years after the first mission to the moon, we are able to re-live the journey through this site. It sets up the mission in 11 different interactive stages, with pictures, animation and mission audio. For a full experience, you can use full screen and make sure your turn up your volume. There is a Mission Tracker that will allow you to move forward and backward through mission stages so you can experience it at your own pace. Upon completion, you are able to print a personalized certificate for yourself. If you have kids this is a great and fun learning opportunity.
This interactive website is an incredible display of what you can do with the internet. It reminds us that the possibilities with creativity and interaction for online creations are endless. This site is education, interesting, and fun. Make sure you check it out and complete the mission.
Tags: Add new tag, creativity, flash, interactive, Space, technology, web development
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Jan
22
Obama Rama meets the iphone!
The White House has just released its own app for the iPhone and iPod touch! Users will be able to download live streaming of White House events, press conferences, and web chats with government officials. The app also hosts on-demand video, updates from the Briefing Room, posts from the White House blog, and behind-the-scene photos. The US administration will also soon launch a new mobile website, mobile.whitehouse.gov, to let users of other phones stay in touch with what Obama and his government are up to. Did I mention the app is available for free on iTunes?
Tags: app, Iphone, obama, technology
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Jan
15
3D: Invasive or Creative?
Word on cyber space is that the 67th annual golden globe awards (which airs live on NBC Sunday, January 17, 2010, at 8:00) will be adding a 3D twist. The TV Guide Network will be bringing red carpet coverage to fans both on TV and online, and will be debuting “the hologram glam cam.” The idea is that the cam will generate virtual 3D images of the stars in previous red carpet looks, so fans can compare and contrast fashion hits and misses. The use of 3D won’t be as technically advanced as Avatar, but using 3D elements in such a large award show furthers the notion that 3D is becoming the new trend in television, film, and advertising. How do you feel is it too invasive, or simply creative?
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Coraline
Tags: 3d, Creative, golden globe awards, media, technology, television
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