The fearsome blog of Andrew Davies

• Finnally found way to elusive 3rd floor #sxsw #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• Finnally found way to elusive 3rd floor #sxsw #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• Finnally found way to elusive 3rd floor #sxsw #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• Finnally found way to elusive 3rd floor #sxsw #

Powered by Twitter Tools

This was a cool talk, but not very linear, so I had a tough time noting it down.  So, it made a lot more sense at the time than you might see here.

Topic: Open data on mobile devices is a lens for daily choices. (description)

What you make goes everywhere – and it sticks around.  So we have a chance to kick out little bits of awsome into the world.

Information overload – we give each other signs, guidance.  Think about the vast array of refreshing beverages.  People are open to ideas about which to pick.   Another example – “drains into the bay” sings on sewage drains.

(more…)

Topic: Even though technology evolved at a crazy pace the last 100 years, the humble button has stayed at the center of it all. (description)

Synopsis: The humble button is very under appreciated.  We don’t even know who invented it.  Most of the interaction conventions we use today were developed in the 70s, and even before.  These conventions affect how we think.  We’re transitioning to surface interaction (think iPhone touch screen)  – a shift that will also affect how we think.

Technology is shaped by us, but also shapes how we think.  For example, railroads compressed our sense of time – could move around faster.  Telegraph compressed distance – communication from afar (Chimeran war was first to be coordinated from a distance).  The radio (world wide web of its time) brought the outside world into your home.

(more…)

Love letters to the future was part part puzzle, part story, part activism.  It had a few distinct elements.  The main thing was the Love Letters website (done by HiRes).  There, we collected messages people wanted to send to the year 21o9.  Some of them some were heart felt, some were heart wrenching, some where funny, some were hopeful, some were apologetic, some were just cool.

People could also vote for each other’s messages.  The top ones were encoded onto state of the art microfeche, and put in a time capsule, which we sealed at the Copenhagen climate summit.

Once you submitted a message, you got a clue that there was something strange going on.  Searching on the site for “maya 2109″ revealed a hidden section that we called “the portal”.  There, people discovered that our messages did reach the future, and inspired someone named Maya to reply.

Her replies were scrambled in transmission though. Players had to solve puzzles, including some with locative game play, in order to decode them.

When they did, they found that Maya’s world is a wreck.  Civilization has been basically destroyed by runaway climate change.  She always assumed we didn’t do anything about this because we didn’t care.  Then she found our time capsule, and realized that a lot of people did care.  This gives her hope that we can change the future.  That there’s still a choice.

It’s one of the most fun projects I’ve ever worked on, and I’m well pleased to see it up for an award.  Xenophile were the main creative visionaries behind it. Hopefully, we’ll find a way to continue it with them this year.  Let me know if you’d be interested in participating or partnering.

• Oscar winners bust apparent whale smuggling in the USA. http://nyti.ms/9WzFul Today, activist also take stand in japan #whaletrial #

Powered by Twitter Tools

• Oscar winners bust apparent whale smuggling in the USA. http://nyti.ms/9WzFul Today, activist also take stand in japan #whaletrial #

Powered by Twitter Tools

If you’re blogging for yourself what you really need is a diary.  Blogging should make you happy.  But it’s a public act. Fundamentally, it’s for other people.

Don’t get me wrong. If you blog just for the joy of it, I won’t think any less of you than I do of people with more reputable hobbies like bowling, checkers and speed dating. You go on and be you.

In my case, it’s part of a personal social networking strategy. I’m sharing what I’ve come up with in case you (dear reader) want to do your own.

(more…)