Mashups: The new breed of Web app
An introduction to mashups
by Duane Merrill
I had no prior knowledge of what mashups were, and when I read this article, it was made a little more clear how most of the sites that I visit are technically mashups. Sites that come to mind include ebaumsworld, Newgrounds, and content providers such as AOL, Huffington Post, Something Awful, Cracked.com, and so on.

I think though, the actual defining of why these were mash ups, and what makes them effective mash ups is somewhat unclear. Personally, I think it would have been more effective to link to examples that clearly illustrate what mash ups are. Fortunately, I used google to look at some good examples of mash ups I was actually a little disappointed the article didn’t do this.

Why Things Matter
by Julian Bleecker
At 17 pages, this was the longest read, but it was interesting in certain parts, and I think confusing in others. I think Bleecker has a lot of interesting ideas about Web 2.0 and it’s capabilities, but has a hard time explaining or formulating an idea on how these Blogjects, Splimey or “Pigeons that blog” will change the landscape or how they’re already here. He explains how certain everyday things are “blogjects” but why are these things “Blogjects”. Is it certain characteristics? Can an RSS Feeder be a blogject? Or a banner?

“Calm Technologies 2.0: Visualising Social Data as an Experience in Physical Space”
by Michael Hohl
I was ready to quit on this reading and walk away in anger, especially when he began with “Technology weaving itself into our everyday lives”, because this is a pretty huge brushstroke of a statement in and of itself (to whom? which classes of people? Because there are dead zones all over this country, not everyone can even get internet access in certain parts of this country ) but I decided to give it a chance. It, frankly, didn’t get that much better.

I feel like the qualities and faults of this reading are qualities that are inherent in the digital/coding world right now, which is a seemingly disconnect from reality. That might sound hasty or even judgmental, but that’s also the truth. Much like the stock market or big business, not everyone can read this kind of material. These things are not necessities but luxuries, conveniences even. And technology, for people who are able bodied and rely on it for simply being able to “get around” is a convenience, unless your very livelihood depends on it, in which that is exempted. And how you respond to technology is determined largely by class and how much of this technology you’ve been exposed to already. And it may surprise most people in the coding world to realize, not everyone has.

Grey Album Producer Danger Mouse Explains How He Did It
By Corey Moss

I like Danger Mouse and like to hear some interesting music mash ups. It didn’t dawn on me when I was a kid what I was listening to was the musical definition of a “mash up”, I just simply thought it was ‘scratch’ or “remixes”. Anyway, I think this article opened an interesting subject on copyright and how it effects the work of artists. I don’t necessarily find it fair to everyone that they aren’t allowed to express themselves creatively and that limitations should be placed on them, but I also realize that artists try to recoop whatever money they can from owning their own work, and that even for mainstream artists, there is a struggle of ownership as record labels try to claim profits for themselves.

This was my second time going to Maker Faire, so naturally the brain starts to make comparisons between the first visit and the second visit. I was a little bit disappointed by the Maker Faire here this year because the vibe was incredibly different. It wasn’t as festive and fun. There were makers, but no faire. I was expecting to see more cool, crazy projects, but most things were pretty scaled-back, and commercial.

However, there were some very interesting projects.

MakerBot Industries 3D Open Source Printer

For $1399, you can buy and build your very own 3D printer that takes an average person about 14 hours to build. It’s not a bad price considering the cost of other 3D printers in existence. When talking to the MakerBot representative, I found out that the printer takes 3D renders from programs like Google’s Sketchup, because they want to keep things as open source as possible. The plastics used to “print” are also relatively affordable. I’m all about saving money, so I think this 3D printer is a very good value, possibly investment.

The MakerBot rep hooked Ping up with a little license plate.

After seeing the printers, we went to check out the Shell Racers made using MakerBot Industries’ 3D printers.

Also there were a lot of training sessions going on. I made an LED flashlight at the RadioShack booth, watched the ITP Processing training session, and watched people learn soldering skills. I spoke with one of the representatives from HTINK, who provide Arduino training classes for children and adults. I asked him if they have tutoring classes in Arduino in case I absolutely suck at it. And if you’re interested, he said we can work something out.

http://htink.org/main/

Oh, and this fire-breathing dragon was pretty cool.

Final thoughts

Overall, it seems as if the trend I noticed at Maker Faire is towards open source, which I think is great. It’s a nice little culture all with the goal of helping other people make things.

I was curious as to what my boyfriend (a copywriter in advertising), thought of Maker Faire, since he works with a lot of creative people, but not in the industry. He said, “The Maker Faire was a spirited exhibition of community, creativity, and a thriving subculture. From remote control robots to lifesize firebreathing dinosaurs, the festival is truly a healthy collection of collaboration and likeminded people. Regardless of one’s background, Maker Faire provides a sense of belonging to anyone who has an itch to scratch that can only be filled by making things the good, old-fashioned way: with two hands and an inquisitive mind.”

Concept:

Emotions can be a great deal to a lot of people. And taking this element into social network websites and highlight it can be exciting because everyone has emotions. My social network redesign which is called “Myemo” – the combination of My and Emotions, are telling a story that people can actually project their emotions online through an easy click of changing the color of their current status. The website also gives people a chance to eliminate their posts by time and they won’t be labeled by posts they haven’t clear of the consequences.

Mashups: The new breed of Web app

An introduction to mashups

As long as there are pretty much of technical terms, I was a little lost in comprehending this article. However, I definitely agree with the author that with this new technology of mash up which enables us to collect a huge amount of data through different web providers and browsers, we can have better access to knowledge and information. Imagine that if we can have a website allows us to brows Ebay and Amazon integrating information without limitations, how useful it will be! And it’s also important to mention that there are surely some inevitable challenges emerging like all the other technical things. As my perspective, data pollution can be one of the most serious problems. If corporations are going to manipulate the mash ups, bringing the correct information will be the top priority. And also for academic use, we should also pay more attention on finding the right reference coming from websites like wiki.

Grey Album Producer Danger Mouse Explains How He Did It

Corey Moss

The mash up here in this article is realized in a musical way, which is broadly understood as the term itself. To combining two different genres of music, Brian Burton took The Black Album from Jay Z and The White Album from Beatles. What makes this so interesting is that through the magic of mashing up these songs together in a subtle way makes time and type limitations disappear. By adding Jay Z’s song perfectly right on the Beatles’, the outcome of music can be unpredictable.  This also received a huge attention from the public that how interesting the work is, just to make a song so different even like giving it a second life. Meanwhile, on the other hand, it shows a concern that can people understand the effort spent on this single project? Or can it be more meaningful if a work is done? I personally think that this work’s execution is great. Although it might be discussed frequently, the work clearly speaks for itself.

Calm Technologies 2.0: Visualizing Social Data as an Experience in Physical Space

Michael Hohl

Calm Technology mentioned by the author is a very intriguing idea to me. In defining what is calm technology, he says” calm technologies utilizing information visualization where data is not rendered as graphs, charts, or diagrams on the screen , but as a sensual experience in a physical space.”. I am so convinced in this and really looking forward to see a better future he introduces in the article. I am sure that most of people here have already complained enough about how technologies have invaded their life and taken away their original happiness without it. What I want to emphasize is that if we don’t start abandon part of our applications in hand and change our habits to adjust it, the real calm technological world will never come. The examples in this article all indicate a fact that we can be closer to each other as humans. But are we getting closer and closer? Or we are just stepping far away by time? It is truly a big question mark for us to think of.

A Manifesto for Networked Objects: Why Things Matter

Julian Bleeker

In this article blogject is widely discussed. How blogjects are tracking and tracing where they are and where they’ve been? How blogjects have self-contained (embedded) histories of their encounters and experiences? And how blogjects always have some form of agency? If it is possible and executed in life, I definitely think this could be a great option for us to retrieve information easily. The pigeon example mentioned reminds me of the Discovery Channel which always capture endangered species and record them in long term. At last, researchers will get enough data indicating how they live and how we can protect them for death. Things matter for a reason, and here is truly do. So how are we going to implement this into our daily life? We probably need to take the first step – to define which thing is really essential to us and which are not.

Coming from an industrial design background and really interested in physical computing, the Maker Faire was a very fun experience for me. A live show of dissolving Mentos in Coke Zero, a huge dragon made entirely of junk that breathes fire, lamb gyros, products made by Arduino, 3d printers, toys playing instruments through MIDI, etc. are just some of the things I saw at the Maker Faire. Because I wanted to see how Arduino could be used, I first headed towards the Arduino tent.

The product that got me most excited inside the Arduino tent was a product entitled “Keyglove“ by Jeff Rowberg. This is because during my industrial design studying days, I remembered a concept mobile phone that used fingers to represent keys. What intrigued me the most was the possibility of Keyglove’s further development. Although people are used to QWERTY-based keyboards, it doesn’t necessarily mean it HAS to be the most comfortable. Because the wearable computing market is becoming very popular I believe the Keyglove will impact the world of gaming, design, art, music, etc. I’d love to see a further developed Keyglove where if I made a certain shape with my hand while putting on Keyglove, a 3D CAD software would automatically create the shape I’m making with my hands.

As I entered the indoor section of the Maker Faire, the work that first caught my eyes was the “Lumarca” designed by Matt Parker. Using a projection, Lumarca used a volumetric display to show viewers a three dimensional image in motion. When I first looked at it in the dark, I initially thought that it involved high technology. But once I asked the artist on the mechanism of Lumarca, I realized it was just a calculated projection in motion towards strings attached to boards. When I researched for Lumarca on the internet, I also realized the creators incorporated Kinect into Lumarca. They created a 3d projection portraying the exact movement of somebody moving infront of the Kinect. What’s so interesting is that the Lumarca need not require a 3d glass in order for people to see 3d.

Although it doesn’t require much technology, I also found “Hidden Messages – Magnetic and Polarized” by Robert Hermes to be very interesting. This was a good example to show that use of materials can make a big difference. People can view a hidden message once viewed with polarized viewers. In places such as airports where so much information is given such as different flight numbers and different timed flights, the use of polarized material where people can see through would be highly effective. People can have polarized tickets that allowed them to only see the information in airports that represented their specific flight.

Because I have an industrial design background, every time I passed by a 3d printer, I just wanted to buy it. Just last year, I had paid $2000 to create a fine mockup of one of my product designs in Korea. Seeing that a 3d printer now only costs about $1600 shocks me. There were 3D printers that worked by addition while there were 3D printers that worked by subtraction. Because I’ve already seen many printers that work by subtracting from the raw material, I was more interested on those printers that worked by addition. An example would be the “Ultimaker: the fast, affordable, large build volume, open source 3D printing” made by the Ultimaker. Just like its name, it was indeed a fast, affordable, open source 3d printer. It would accept almost any type of CAD file and would print in such detail that I couldn’t believe it. It created what seemed to me like a billion layers of shape in order to achieve the detail of the final product. It was very fun to see. There were just so many 3d printers!

I want to buy everything from Maker Faire!!!!

“Mashups: The new breed of Web app, An introduction to mashups”

Duane Merrill

Before reading the article, I didn’t really have an idea of what a mashup was. Words such as API and API enabling REST, SOAP, etc. were not familiar terms. As I continued reading the article, the idea of open APIs and different types of mashups started to become interesting. I realized that I have already been introduced to mashups by being working with open APIs while drawing in CAD software. Wikipedia defines mashup as “a web page or application that uses and combines data, presentation or functionality from two or more sources to create new services.” I regard mashups as a tool for combining and portraying rather complex data into a comparatively simple interface that is much more understandable to ordinary users. Furthermore, in the case of web 2.0, because almost everybody can retrieve information through mashups, these people can also contribute to the development of open source information. Mashups include Web 2.0 and social software that not only connect people to the computer screen, but also from people to people, computer screen, TV sets, cell-phones, microwaves, etc. – basically everything around you. Consumer mashups such as mapping mashups, video and photo mashups, and search and shopping mashups create a base for limitless exploration. As an example, people can use open API and link together words with pictures that have been tagged. They can drag every available picture online that has the tag of “2011” and can create a timeline or can create a map of where and when people actually took the photo. Basically, when one takes a photo, that picture can be represented by what time the picture was taken, who the picture was taken by, who is actually in the picture, the occasion of the picture, what camera was used to take the picture, etc. Later, all these information can be used to either reorganize pictures or to map these pictures into totally different topics. I believe mashups are a great way to make use of or increase the usability of all the massively stored information on the web that can’t be simply accessed by everyday users.

“Calm Technologies 2.0: Visualizing Social Data as an Experience in Physical Space”

Michael Hohl

As I was reading this article, I was first interested by the idea of making calm technologies – communication designs that gave sensual experiences to users without much disruption. The WebPresence was a very good example of interfaces that are not only aesthetically attractive, but conceptually appealing as well. It reminded me of when friends would throw small stones towards your window in order to grab your attention. But does WebPresence actually solve a problem? Can it actually be called a practical design? Because humans are already fully occupied by all the information provided to us through the mobile phone, the internet, and SNS such as twitter and facebook, should there be more products and services that alert humans of information? I like how the article touched upon how art challenges assumptions. “How would these disruptions affect our ability to concentrate and focus on tasks such as writing and reading that require longer periods of uninterrupted immersion?” In my case of twitter, facebook, and foursquare, I turn off all the pushing and alerting alarms so that I don’t have the urge to check on my twitter, facebook, and foursquare whenever it blinks or sends me an update. I am already using too much technology. There are times when I want to free myself from technology but pushing alerts and alarms prevent me from doing so. I still do believe that communication designers should work to improve calm technology as it will have limitless potential for communication design aside from alerting and pushing functions. I believe it necessary for designers to sometimes think in a bottom-up development as although some people may consider these designs to be currently useless, such research and developments can create a firm foundation for future design.

“A Manifesto for Networked Objects: Why Things Matter”

Julian Bleeker

When reading the section of this article related to networked video, I could not help but think about Big Brother of “1984” where every action taken by every person would be watched by telescreens and would be recorded as data. But as I started to read more about the author’s take on the role of future blogjects, it really made sense to me and it did not seem like “1984” at all. Yes we have up-to-date technology where cars can record everywhere you went and how much fuel must be pushed in order to gain the optimum driving experience. Yes we have internet based products that calculates so much information at such a short time. But are all these calculations and information necessary for the development of technology or development of the world? With the incorporation of Web 2.0, blogjects now have the opportunity to provide information that can actually raise political, environmental, etc. issues that can be debated on by people. The pigeon example in this article is an example where a blogject can raise questions and start debates regarding pollution of a certain area. It not only collects information regarding pollution, but it also raises an issue that people must take into concern. I totally agree in that mashups and blogjects “need to mean more than the sum of its parts.” Creating useless sensor-based objects that only have functions of collecting meaningless data is no longer needed. “Blogject is to make, disseminate and enhance meaning, to draw attention and to be assertive.” We now have so much technology and information available to us that we need to consider how such technology and information will be used wisely for the future.

“Grey Album Producer Danger Mouse Explains How He Did It”

Corey Moss

Here, a mashup is understood much more as “a new song that is mixed from the vocal and instrumental tracks from two different source songs. (usually belonging to different genres)” Jay-Z and the Beatles song genres are different indeed. It can be seen that Jay-Z’s a cappella version of The Black Album acts as an open API if this was a Web 2.0 mashup. People can work with the a cappella tracks and coat it to an entirely different song. But in the process of recreating two different music into one, the most challenging aspect would be to create the music so that it doesn’t sound like one music was “just laid on top” of another. Similar to web mashups, people would not find it so intriguing if two different types of information were just combined with no concept whatsoever. Although some people may find mashing up music to be an easy task, there are so many things to consider such as “the strike of a drum or cymbal” and “changed up tones and pitches.” A deconstruction of something and integrating the parts to another is a difficult task but only though this process is mashup created. Burton says that creating this grey album was not as easy as people say but rather it was a difficult form of deconstruction.

I went to youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obksjtagvLY)

and listened to Danger Mouse’s version of Dirt off your Shoulder. I found it interesting because it sounded like a Beatle’s version of hip hop.

Grey Album:

I have never heard of the Grey Album before. Being someone who listens to a lot of hip hop and rap I feel ashamed that I haven’t come across this before. The mash up of the two artists is excellent. I have heard a few mash ups before that I have really enjoyed and some that have failed miserably. This album is one that is thoroughly enjoyable. The amount of work that goes into making songs like this is tremendous. I had no idea that so much deconstruction had to go into making a successful mash up. Everything seamlessly fits into place. The fact that Danger Mouse did this even though he knew that lot of people thought this was sacrilege is something I admire even more. The fact that he made it because he would like it is really cool and something I look to do with my work. On a side note I think the album that Jay Z and Linkin Park made together was a very successful mash up of two completely different styles of music.

Mashups: The new breed of Web app:

This was a very technical article that even with my knowledge of creating web pages I am not sure I understand all of it. It did an extremely good job of talking about the various different mashups like mapping and search mashups. I thought I had no idea what a web based mashup was. However, once I read about RSS feeds my grasp on the topic strengthened. I was and still am a little bit lost on the technical side of things. With my general understanding of what a mashup is though, I feel that there are already a ton of websites that do this. The point that the author brings up about how providers will handle their content when mashups become sophisticated applications is an interesting one especially if it is is private content.

Why Things Matter:

This article talks about blogjects. To put it as simply as the article, a blogject is an object that blogs . There are three peculiarities of blogjects and to summarize them they are tracking and tracing, having self-contained histories and having some form of agency. The thing that excites me the most about blogjects is how they can be used in a social/environmental context to help us overcome problems. Having automobiles telling us about their fuel consumption habits seems to me an extremely useful thing. It can help us reduce the consumption of fuel and maybe even in our efforts for finding a new fuel source.

Calm Technologies 2.0: Visualising Social Data as an Experience in Physical Space:

I find the idea of calm technologies fantastic. It might be introduced as as sensual experience in a physical space and the example the led light might illustrate this. However, the bell that rings and the jackhammer that damages the building are far from sensual. To me personally, they open up this new world of social advertising. Making social posters is something I love to do and one of the things I really want to do is make some kind of interactive social poster. I can see this idea of calm technology as a way for me to do this. Making someone interact on a website to make something react in the physical world is what I see as an answer to making interactive posters. I am 100% there yet though.

Day 01 – Shut Your Mouth:

Concept: To make annoying fans of the big three shut up when they keep talking about their soccer club.

Execution Method: Cards the size of a normal businness card as it is easy to carry around.

Day 02 – Arsenal Anonymous:

Concept: Trying to partly bring to life a quote I had read a few months ago. ‘Given the amount of abuse they have suffered this season, it’s about time someone started a group called Arsenal Anonymous, where people who have been persistently abused by the club they love can meet and share their burden in the company of like-minded individuals. I can just see it now: “My name is John and I’m an Arsenalaholic. I too believe it is all the referee’s fault…”’

Execution Method: Stickers based on ‘hello! my name is’ tags so that arsenal fans can identify each other.

Day 03 – Tissue Box:

Concept: When United are humiliating your friends team, what better way to be supportive than to hand your friend a tissue so he can cry in to it.

Execution Method: A small tissue box package that is shaped like a shoe to add to the feel of soccer.

Day 04 – Ronaldo Tribute Poster:

Concept: He might have left United but I still think that C. Ronaldo was one of the best players to wear the United jersey. I wanted to design something that would show how much I appreciated his time at United.

Execution Method: A poster in which I would draw Ronaldo using pencils, color pencils and photoshop.

Day 05 – Trophy Cabinet:

Concept: In 2011 United won their 19th English League title making them the most successful team in the league. There might be a lot of United fans out there but not many people know when and how the trophies were won.

Execution Method: An interactive flash piece that gives a little bit of information to the user about each title won.

Download .swf/flash file by clicking trophies.

Day 06 – We Do What We Want:

Concept: By this time I knew that I wanted to make a website as my last project. I felt a short animation like a pop up ad (flash banner) was missing regarding United and showing their domination.

Execution Method: A short flash animation based on ad banners showing up on websites focusing on the United chant ‘we do what we want’.

Download .swf/flash file by clicking banner.

Day 07 – United For Life:

Concept: As all my projects were related to Manchester United, I wanted to make a website to showcase all the work and a place where United fans can look at my ‘gift’ ideas and get in touch with me to buy them.

Execution Method: Basic HTML 5 to create a single page website showcasing all the work done during this week.

Click HERE to go to website.

To be able to read my response to this project please click here.
To download presentation to see a bit more of the process click 7in7A.

Locataur:

Locataur not only is a social networking platform, it is a cross platform augmented reality using, holographic image projecting mammoth that serves as an effective informative tool that broadens the prospects of location based networking. The best feature about this platform is that it successfully connects online communication with immediate offline engagement which from a money makers point of view, has been the biggest problem that the current social networking platforms face. And it has holographic projection.

The presentation can be found by clicking – Locataur. (low quality version)

Maker Faire showcased a wide range of individuals who utilize the technologies available to create various types of projects. Some interfaces were specific to an audience who worked with the technology, but some could be used by the average joe. Overall, my Maker Faire experience introduced me to a lot of new technology and how people are creatively working towards improving the technology.

Key Glove, Jeff Rowberg The Key Glove project displays a new way to interact with technology without a keyboard. By putting on the Key Glove, a person can type using the motion sensors in the glove.  This technology allows for the user to interact with their computer using the motion of their fingers.   The Key Glove was created to be an accessory for technology as well as simplify interaction. It was designed with disabled users in mind.  This is where I see Key Glove being the most successful.  For the average person, the Key Glove may not be the most efficient way to do work.  The interface seems difficult to work with because you would have to get used to what motions react to the key functions. It may end up being more frustrating to use the Key Glove than it would be to just use a keyboard.

However, for a person who is disabled, and is only able to type with one hand, this would be the perfect solution to their problems.   The glove could also be a technology used in video games.  As I read more about key glove online, Rowberg is successful in his design since he has clearly done research on his idea and what is also out there. He used what he has seen to combine technologies and develop the broad features of Key Glove.

AtFab: Open Source CNC Furniture A series of furniture that can be cut by a CNC router laser cutter or water jet, and assembled by locking the pieces together. AtFab struct my attention because I thought the design of their products were functions, visually pleasing, and resourceful. This interface brings together the technology of CNC and a laser cutter with the practicality of creating furniture for the home. AtFab recognizes that their furniture might not be perfect for everyone but it is for most.

I appreciate this idea because it shows that the technologies of a laser cutter or a CNC router can be used to create well-designed products for everyday life.  Although initially developed to work with larger scale projects, AtFab proves that these technologies can successfully work for the average person (with the money, of course).

The perks of having this type of furniture would be that it can easily be moved, taken apart, stored, and then put back together.  What makes AtFab successful and useful is the availability of their files online.  The purchaser can use the files at home if they have the tools available, or they can order them to be cut.  The only downfall is that not everyone has a CNC router or laser cutter at home.  However, this project has a lot of potential for the future and since they are going to keep designing and customizing their products in the future, they will definitely find success.

MakerBot Industries: 3D Printer Prior to the Maker Faire, I have never seen a 3D printer in action. I had no idea that it basically worked like a glue gun that melted down the plastic material to print layer by layer. There were many people there showcasing what they can do on their 3D printer, but I listened to what John Abella had to say about his. This was another opportunity where I saw that the 3D printer did not just have to be used to prototype projects, but was becoming affordable to be used in the home.  Abella had a few models of objects he created on his 3D printer, but what was more interesting to me was how he uses the technology to fix things around his house.  (He also created the card-stand that held his brochures!)  This man was a hobbyist and enjoyed how much fun he could have with this product. There were also people at the Maker Faire who showed how the 3D printer could be used to extrude cookie dough and chocolate.

The technology behind a 3D printer gives possibilities to society, but what I would be hesitant about is purchasing one and not being able to understand the working mechanics. A person who would purchase a 3D printer would not just have to understand the working mechanics of the printer, but also the 3D modeling programs (AutoCAD, Rhino, etc) and how to use it. This type of interface will definitely be successful for those people who are prototyping projects. The price is fairly reasonable, but in the future, it will become even more affordable. The technology of a 3D printer definitely shows promise in aiding inventors and properly speeding up their process.