This is the first post of the new year, which both should summarize the ended year 2005 and set the resolutions for the coming time. First of all I should say that 2005 was a tremendous year for blogging. The thing just boomed see this personal stat:

• 2002 -> 7 posts
• 2003 -> 116 posts
• 2004 -> 333 posts (almost one per day)
• 2005 -> 539 posts (almost two per day)

Using this tool I achieved two great objectives: first, to have a log of the evolution of my research subject and conclusion; second, the construction of the network of people working on the same subject (I have got 119 comments so far, out of which a dozen were real and good research contacts). A third objective was that of communicating my updated research status to my co-workers that regularly check my blog, and finally the good point was to push me to be less lazy.

I can state with no doubts that blogging and aggregation are now a fundamental tool for research and learning in general. This is obviously a revolution in the internet revolution: the shift of control on content production. Internet 1.0 was a huge showcase. Internet 2.0 is a constantly evolving people-based environment, where ‘fruitors’ are in control of the content.

Some great scenarios are just one simple step ahead: the redefinition of streamline media power of information into a citizen-driven domain. For the new year I would love to see less posts but with better and more original content. What I would love is to reblog less and talk more in detail of my own points of view. May the force be with us in this 2006! Happy blogging!!

Tags: blogs, citizen journalism, collaboration tools, learning technology

A great resource for classroom teaching and lifelong learning: a freely downloadable physics textbook that spans over the fundamentals of the field with an eye on the recent research:

The project aims to produce a simple, vivid and up-to-date introduction to modern physics, with emphasis on the fundamental ideas of motion. ‘Simple’ means that concepts are stressed more than formalism; ‘vivid’ means that the reader is continuously challenged; ‘up-to-date’ means that modern research and ideas about unification are included.

The project takes the search for a precise description of motion as a guiding principle for an exploration of modern physics. This leads to an approach which is somewhat different from the standard one. Nature’s limits to speed, entropy, force, action and charge are central to the presentation.

Other physics textbooks online:

The high-quality electrodynamics text by Bo Thidé, Electromagnetic Field Theory, can be found at http://www.plasma.uu.se/CED/Book, together with its collection of exercises.

There are also the excellent introductory physics texts by Benjamin Crowell, Simple Nature and Light and Matter, which can be downloaded at http://www.lightandmatter.com.

The interesting Biophysics Educational Resources, edited by Victor Bloomfield, can be found at http://www.biophysics.org/education/resources.htm.

The text Classical and Quantum Chaos, edited by Predrag Cvitanovic, Roberto Artuso, Per Dahlqvist, Ronnie Mainieri, Gregor Tanner, Gábor Vattay, Niall Whelan and Andreas Wirzba can be found at http://chaosbook.org.

Tags: learning technology, new technology, open source, pedagogy, politics

Some recent comments on my blog captured my attention on this interesting (and refreshing, to speak as Nicolas) project on LBSs. From the web site description I inferred that the team involved is interested more on the development of the infrastructure that specific services.

The research in this area is based on a scenario where consumers are offered services in a transparent fashion as they move between environments with heterogeneous communication infrastructures. The goal is to provide the users with ubiquitous access to an open and expanding set of affordable services. In this research project, we will focus on professional collaborative work environments as well as high quality audio/visual entertainment applications. This involves the utilization of IT artifacts (devices, terminals) that dissolve into small components that increasingly melt into the background and into the fabric of everyday things, “smart dust” being an extreme case. Ad-hoc functionality on all systems levels implies dynamic and automatic configuration of public and private artifacts and services. Both the technical solutions as well as possible business models are of importance.

Tags: location awareness, Location Based Services

The MOGA-game has been developed as a part of the Rotuaari research project in the University of Oulu. MOGA’s goal is to test how WiFi positioning works inside campus buildings and are end users willing to move from place to place during actual game play.

MOGA’s idea is an old one: capture the flag. The game is played in teams. The idea is to capture and defend virtual flag zones. Game is played with a mobile handheld device, in which player’s position and the flag zones are shown on the screen. Cooperation within a team is emphasized: players are forced to play as a team. Capturing flags is much faster, when it’s done as a team, but also flags situated nearby have effects. Players must also pay attention to the flags positions in their strategy and their affect to the game itself.

MOGA has been implemented but testing is still in progress. MOGA is a part of Heikki Tolonen’s Masters’ Thesis that concentrates in heuristic evaluation of location-aware mobile games (Heikki contact’s: heikki.tolonen (at) @ee.oulu.fi).

Tags: location awareness, Location Based Services, ubiquitous game, urban exploration

Hughes Research has developed this interesting idea: a ramp for cars that converts some of the car movement energy in electrical energy. Basically when a car pass over the ramp, the ramp get pressed, activating an alternator that charge an accumulator.

I don’t think is a revolutionary concept, as no new energy is produced, but in essence can be a powerful way to tax the car drivers of some energetical value.

Tags: ecology, environment, new technology, politics

Anjo Anjewierden has worked on this idea of visualising the dialogical communication that happens sometimes in blogs trackbacks, comments and pinging. I found it extremely interesting even if in my practice is not so evident how this would add an extra value (I usually get few comments and turn conversation is very rare).

However, besides my personal skepticisms, Anjo tried to log a couple of conversation and to visualise them using the following schema:

Left to right is time (the data was 2004 posts of KM bloggers). Top to bottom is chronological order of a blogger entering the conversation. Colours are: blue (both links to and is linked from other posts in the conversation), red (is linked from in the conversation), green (links to the conversation). Note that posts by the same blogger on (nearly) the same day overlap each other (one pixel is one day).

For the example above, it is easy to see the “conversation” continues for a while (first post is Feb. 26, 2004 and last is Dec. 31, 2004).

(via)

Tags: blogs, information metric, information visualization

TagSuggest is a prototype interface widget to enhance the input of tags. Its goals is to be highly-flexible, compact and keyboard-driven by merging AutoComplete functionality (like that found in Goggle Suggest and deskto application) with the unique attributes of tags — large quantities of single words.

Tags: collaboration tools, tagging

GeoConcept is a software developed at the Service Industrial Genevoise that allows the technician working ‘on the field’ to share notes on the maps of the city. The software, of course, is also specifically tailored to the needs of the SIG, which is to identify specific points on the ground (i.e., pipes, taps, electric apparatus, etc.). The program works on Windows PocketPC.

The geographical information systems of SIG answers perfectly to the desire of quality and performance permanent research for a public utility company close to their 250 000 customers. With the contribution of mobile technologies, we are able to propose data-processing tools even more effective for the operators and the managers of our 7 700 km of water, gas, electricity, heat and optical fibre supply networks. Indeed, 60 % of the 1 500 collaborators of SIG ensure a proximity service directly on the ground. Bring the geographical information, used in more than 73 % of the activities, within reach makes it possible for each one to adapt its business and to practice it in all independence, with simple resources, without constraint of place or schedule.

[more here]

Tags: collaboration tools, field tools, interaction design, location awareness, Location Based Services, mobile learning

Amazing! Today Nicolas showed me this nice book that he brought with him while visiting Japan. It is a collection of small pictures divided in categories that can be used to communicate about simple facts and needs. The user just have to point on the picture which presents also a footnote in both english and japanese.

Tags: collaboration tools, information visualization, mobile learning

This is a crazy swiss idea: putting gold pieces in chocolate. I saw already gold in liquors or used to improve the appearance of particular dishes, but this is too much … Funny though

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