Harnden62

A fascinating roadmap created back in 2010 illustrating how network technologies will potentially evolve to make us more digitally connected.  The Internet of Things driven by smallness, ubiquity, and the desire for smart appliances. Source:  Nokia Research Centre, Finland. http://www.slideshare.net/chupachappy/mobile-games-2010-by-nokia-1 Another view of this path created by SRI consulting.  Note how it suggests our current focus is on locating people and everyday objects, and how this will shift to monitoring and control of distant objects.  Some would argue the future is already here.  We are already adjusting our thermostats, programming our PVRs, etc. remotely. And finally, this timeline just for fun because it is insanely detailed and dares us to dream: You can pan, scroll and download a full size version of this fantastic diagram  by Andreas_MB on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreasmb/2925528770/sizes/l/

It's about Feeling at Home when Away from Home. It's about being present in the moment and lost in the moment at the same time. Reflecting on experiences while down at Granville Island Market.  May 2013.

James Burke is a master storyteller.  His documentary series, Connections, as the name would suggest, is fabulous in its use of threaded narrative to transport us back into time and then propel us forward again to the present. When you take a Connections journey with Burke, you risk being lured into the love of history through the seduction of science. To many, the shows may now seem old.  They aired originally on BBC back in 1978, with two sequels 1995 and 1997.  But great story is timeless .  PBS celebrated the 25th anniversary in 2004 by interviewing Burke and airing highlights of the original series.  And even now, you can find episodes online.  A full list of Connections episodes can easily be found on Wikipedia and many full length episodes are now available to watch for free online including on YouTube . It wasn't until recently that I began to appreciate how profoundly James Burke had influenced my love for storytelling. Vivid memories of ...

Recently, our creative folks at Work at Play took a 24-hour hiatus from client work to innovate and ideate. We call the event MoFiDy - Make it or Fake it Day. A MofiDy is our take on doing a hackathon; it's an opportunity for staff to take on an innovative challenge and show their creative chops. Our latest challenge?  Alice in Wonderland  meets Kinect: take your favorite chapter from this classic story by Lewis Carroll and bring it to life using  Microsoft Kinect .  The experience was a great success, surprising us all on the depth and variety of innovation possible in 24 hours.  Here is what we learned: 1.   Building anticipation gets everyone fired up 2.   Constraints give focus to creativity 3.   Competition fuels the fire 4.   Collaborative storytelling takes practice 5.   Embracing the afterglow requires some forethought See the full article here:   How to Run a Great Hackathon

What is Relevance and how do we measure it? The answer proves to be more elusive than one might think. Here's one take served up by the wisdom of the crowd on Yahoo! Answers: Relevance is a term used to describe how pertinent, connected, or applicable some information is to a given matter. It has unique significance in a variety of fields. Source(s): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relevance Relevant (bad pun) perhaps, on a subjective scale:  from irrelevant to completely relevant and everything imaginable in between.  But without specific context, not very useful. In the context of content optimization, relevance-related services are showing up with increasing frequency.  Take Efi Rodik for example, CEO and founder of Relevantor LLC. What is  Relevant Content  Anyway? « Relevantor relevant or.wordpress.com/.../what-is- relevant - content -anyway/ 2 Feb 2012 –  Relevant,  relevant content , relevancy. These have become very pop...

We, as content consumers, seem to have accepted infloglut (remember that 90's term?) as inevitable and now seek services to serve up greater relevance.  Recently, I read an article where the CEO of Bloomreach was promoting their new SaaS-based Relevance Engine.  The interview suggested we are now in a race - The Relevance Race. Okay, so maybe we're in a Relevance Race.  I have to admit, I'm still not quite out of the blocks in defining 'engagement' in a meaningful way.  In upcoming posts I'll look at the idea of 'relevance' and what makes one thing more relevant than another.  Can we measure the degree of relevance?  Bloomreach and other emerging players think so.  More to explore.  More to come on this topic.

Great interest in seeing where game development/distribution will go next.  Many seasoned publishers believe the future is Free-to-Play (F2P) but with a social media / transmedia twist. Enter Sava Transmedia - out of Montreal - and their new game Rubber Tacos. They caught my eye as a company to watch, particularly, their partnership with Zynga to create and distribute... Rubber Tacos = Angry Birds + Cut the Rope + co-creation + friend challenges Their CEO, Alain Tascan (like many it seems) comes from the console world.  He is a past VP with EA and Ubisoft. http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/alain-tascan/0/853/b96 Elements of Sava Transmedia's business model: 1) Reach - rather than going after 300MM console players with AAA sequels, go after 1B+ with a new genre of social play. 2) Different Audience - F2P social gamers are a different audience, demanding a different experience 3) Designers - more than 50% female designers/developrs - to help engage...