Now, this is interesting.
These days, I've been working a lot with social networking and new social media, primarily in the forms of this blog, Facebook, and Twitter. It fascinates me that with one touch of a button, I can direct all of my friends - friends on vacation in Connecticut and Colorado, friends just a few miles from this office, and even friends in the Ukraine - to read this blog post that you - wherever you happen to be - are reading right now. I'm also interested in what other people are doing with these technologies - this morning in particular, those people are researchers at Northeastern University and Harvard University.
The project, called "Pulse of the Nation: U.S. Mood Through the Day, as inferred from Twitter", pretty much does exactly what the title describes - it looks at Twitter updates across the United States throughout the day and determines the general mood.
Perhaps, like me, you're a more visual person. You're in luck! There's a video, which I've embedded below.
To learn how it works, visit the Pulse of the Nation website! I would try to explain, but let's face it: it will be easier for both of us (you'll actually understand how it works; I'll avoid making embarrassing mistakes and just generally being confused) if you check out their website.
Most interesting bit to me? The fact that people are supposedly so happy in the morning. I like the morning, but the graphs on the Pulse of the Nation page indicate that people are at their happiest at 6 AM. That seems a little extreme to me.
One last question, purely out of curiosity: are you more likely to update your personal Twitter when you're happy, or are you more likely to update when you're upset? Or, like me, do you forget that it exists for longer than is probably acceptable?
| Posted by Katie comment | |
| tags: Twitter, technology | |
In a sort of follow up to my very first post, I'm happy to announce that the ASC Facebook and Twitter updates have begun! Now, I'm glad to keep writing, but I would be even more pumped if we could get even more people reading. That being said, please encourage your friends to "like" the Actual Size Creative page on Facebook and to follow us on Twitter @ActualSizers.
Most importantly, I'd like to give a big thank you to those of you that already keep up with all the ASC news - I'll keep it coming!
| Posted by Katie comment | |
| tags: technology, Facebook, Twitter | |
Dan Mall, who we saw speak (and thoroughly enjoyed) at Flashpitt last year, makes great websites. And not just great-websites-that-other-designers-like, but sites that make an impact for his clients. He's moved on from Happy Cog to Big Spaceship, and I feel that this positions him quite uniquely to give perspective on the Flash vs. HTML5 debate – which if you didn't know was raging, don't worry, you're in the vast majority. This debate only matters to those who are using the tools, and Dan puts this and more into perspective perfectly in his article, Flash and Standards: The Cold War of the Web.
The point that is lost on a lot of people, who have justifiable and passionate feelings about this, is that it doesn't matter to the end user. The end user wants things that they can use. If you think annoying advertising is going to end because Flash isn't on the iPad, you're sorely mistaken. Sites that need ads to survive will continue to let the ads get in your way, and HTML5 will enable them to do just that.
Without ever stating it so eloquently, we here at Actual Size share a very similar philosophy with Dan. We have Flash people (okay, person) and developers. We all work together. Our work is proof of that concept – technologies are used where appropriate. I think Dan puts it in best when he says:
"Create something excellent where the technology is transparent, and allow only the curious to look under the hood to actually see what’s going on."
So figure out what your goal is, and use that tool. Because that's what these technologies are – tools. As the old saying goes, if your only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. That means your mobile news site should not be in Flash, even if you love Flash. That means if HTML and JavaScript are limiting the execution of a concept, use Flash. Use anything. Make it happen. Do something that makes the curious web geeks look under the hood. Do something that the average user wants to tell their friends about it. Do something, but don't just sit around calling other technologies names.
| Posted by Nate comment( 1 ) | |
| tags: web, technology, flashpitt, standards | |
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