MadMonk Interactive

My son’s Digital Photography class at the All Arts, Science & Technology Camp at NC State recently did a project that inspired them to expand their awareness of design in the world around them. Their objective: To find objects that resemble the letters of the alphabet. Maybe a future intern or hire among this batch of campers?

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” So started Frank Stasio’s radio intro for the 6/23/09 The State of Things show on Positivity. Featuring Barbara Fredrickson who is principal investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab at UNC-Chapel Hill, her “research examines how cultivating emotions such as joy, gratitude and awe can improve relationships and make us better people.” Positivity = Complex mind and body experiences within micro-moments. Some may say that the concept of positive thinking yielding happier people is common sense or belief, but the scientific research and conclusions help further form some context to work with and advice on how to apply it more consistently. According to Fredrickson, “Be Open” > “Be Positive”.

We came across this collection of logos of every day brands feeling the now-a-day recession pains, it’s been circulating around numerous sites and worth a look. Makes us glad our logo can still stand on one hand.

West Point’s Center For Oral History says that “Every Soldier Has A Story…” and is working to document experiences of soldiers from World War II forward through film and publishing projects. After watching Ken Burns’ The War last year, hearing of how few World War One vets are left, and the rate that World War Two vets are passing away, documenting these stories moving forward will surely offer exponential learning opportunities for all types of interests and curriculums.

Yep, Minority Report technology, here we come! Between CNN’s iPhone like magic wall and this interactive mirror from Lit Studios’ Alpay Kasal, it’s just a matter of time before we implement iris scans for security purposes?

“Every year an estimated two and a half million human beings are trafficked worldwide. Amongst them, 80% are women.” So begins the website for the Euro 08 Campaign against Trafficking in Women. In a powerful commercial spot, they state that 500,000 girls are sold into the sex industry every year, while the spot’s subjects are worked through an eerie cattle call. Well done spot.

We’re touched slightly by the presence of human trafficking through documentaries, news features, and movie story lines (two that come to mind are Crash and Eastern Promises), but it’s still shocking to hear that estimates of modern virtual slavery range from 27 million to 200 million worldwide. More information at the Anti-Slavery International website and for some history on human slavery, Wikipedia offers a launch pad for research.

Written in the April 7, 2008 edition of USA Today, Fresh & Easy, the world’s third-largest retailer, is working on a supermarket British Invasion (video clip featured). “The WalMart of Britain” has plans thru 2020 aiming at giving grocery giant Safeway a run for its money. Research firm TNS Retail Forward details that their most important selling point is price as they claim to be up to 30% cheaper then conventional U.S. market chains. But they insist they are dedicated to being “neighborhood grocers”.

The story covers flagship stores in California, starting with one a few doors down from the world-famous Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Before Safe & Easy started working the states, they spent a lot of time examining the lives of 60 U.S. families, following them through their day and more importantly, through their retail shopping activities. Thus far, overall sales don’t meet projects, but sales of “to-go” foods have been more than double of expectations which supports the ongoing debate of cooking at home versus eating out, with “to-go” the in-between.

Reminds me of a past bookmarked article titled “For not that much more, Americans opting to eat out” which dances in and around the debate, whether eating out is really more expensive then eating in. One interviewee said “It’s this cellphone generation that’s too busy to cook…” It’s interesting how people disect the economics of getting food on their plate. Value and savings are in the eye of the beholder.

“An MIT initiative called “OpenCourseWare” makes virtually all the school’s courses available online for free – lecture notes, readings, tests and often video lectures. (Gilbert) Strang’s Math 18.06 course is among the most popular, with visitors downloading his lectures more than 1.3 million times since June alone.”

“But it hasn’t been as clear what role – if any – elite universities would play in what experts call the “massification” of higher education. Their finances are based on prestige, which means turning students away, not enrolling more. How could they teach the masses without diminishing the value of their degree?”

Just a couple of parts of an interesting WIRED News read. It reminds me of some of the YouTube channels universities are putting together. Here’s UC Berkley’s for example (mentioned in the Wired article as well) where on the lower right, their playlists feature actual course excerpts, about Biology, Physics, and Search Engines (among others).

The article also mentioned iTunesU which features seminars and lectures, worth a look. It includes not only participating universities’ stuff, but public broadcasting articles from NPR affiliates among others.

So all that said, higher education online keeps rolling forward.

“High schools are more than just places of learning. They are often centers of community identity, activity, and sometimes, as we recently saw in Jena, La., conflict. But what makes a great high school? Americans think a lot of things do, from outstanding academics or a supportive environment for students to a great football or basketball team.”

Having two children who eventually will go through high school, U.S. News & World Report’s Features on the “Best High Schools” caught my attention and their site has plenty of story in written, photographic, and video form. One catch phrase in the “What Matters Most in Measuring” story is “Promise and Challenge” – something that concisely captures what I as a parent consider for our children from an educational environment. Studies’ and rankings’ results depend on subscribed methodologies of course, so it’s good to note that USN&WR also lays out their ranking criteria. The fact not even one North Carolina high school was in their Top 100 was disappointing, but that is also peaking my interest further and giving me some good questions to keep in mind moving forward.

Time Magazine’s November 12, 2007 issue features their picks for the best inventions of 2007. The iPhone got tops on their list, but pages right after should get plenty of excitement in the short term, and hopefully, at least one of these get excitement long-term. They highlighted items that may need practice and development time in foreign markets before taking the U.S. by storm (worked for The Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix), but signs are encouraging. A few to check out:

1. Venturi’s Eclectic Car runs solely on wind and solar power. When that’s not enough, a backup electric outlet can recharge the car in five hours. Specs, photos, and a video are available on their website.

2. Saab’s Areo X concept car is styled like a jet with a cockpit canopy instead of doors and suggests displaying information in 3D graphics on a dashboard screen (no conventional dials and buttons). It would run on bioethanol and quite frankly, the quick tour on their website rocks.

3. “During the first phase of development, Guy Negre, thought that he could develop an engine and sell it to the large automotive manufacturers. Unfortunately, because adapting an air engine to traditional cars meant changing bodies and production line the large companies refused and he was forced to change his approach.” So starts their web page titled “a car to dress an engine”…for a car that runs on air…and emits colder, cleaner air. The Air Car’s tagline is “lifestyle, ecology, economy.”

The New York Times has been running an “Election Guide 2008″ interactive micro-site with plenty of features including candidate info/links/video, schedules, issues, state profiles, and probably most notable, where each candidate’s financial support is flowing from, not only by geographic area, but down to the individual donor. You can enter the candidate and zip code to see who gave to whom in your own area. Data is reported to the Federal Election Commission quarterly, so check back every three months for financial updates.

Presidential campaigns aside, the interactive map is a nice piece of Flash work. You can use the slider to visually see how and where a candidate’s support grew over time.

On a recent Day To Day radio broadcast, they ran an article covering some of Blender’s senior critic John Dolan’s favorite bad lyricists. Sting tops his list, but the 1970s turns out to be the worst decade for rock lyrics. A quick silly fun nostalgic listen for those of us familiar with the music, especially when it was new. Going down memory lane, how about Led Zeppelin’s Ramble On with “but Gollum and the evil one crept up and slipped away with her, her, her, yeah”.