My critique of A Manifesto for Networked Objects ??? Cohabiting with Pigeons, Arphids and Aibos in the Internet of Things is going to be slightly delayed. I didn’t realize how much this thing is circulating. As such I don???t want to do this half assed. So it???s going to take a little longer than I expected.
In the meantime you can see the rather over-the-top praise the essay is getting here.
I thought the following was too funny to not be blogged about — while visiting the RIT library to pick up a couple XML books for the previously mentioned XML project, I came across the following:
OK folks, Sesame Street time. Hum along with me — “Which one of these things is not like the other….” I didn’t know that Jamie Oliver, the famed Naked Chef, was an XML expert and that Happy Days with the Naked Chef
I leave it up to you, gentle reader, to decide what this might say about the RIT Library’s filing system.
![[Olympus VN-480PC]](http://azby.fmworld.net/shopping/hard/category/images/vn-480pc.jpg "[Olympus VN-480PC]")
After careful consideration, and the fact I was able to find a discounted model, I opted for the Olympus VN-480PC
As for the Olympus, so far so good — I’ve figured out how to record and erase. One thing that does bug me is how flimsy it feels. From the pictures I assumed it would have a metal bodycasing. It’s just gray plastic. Oh well. Tomorrow I’ll attempt to record a test podcast to see how it goes. After that there will be no stopping me.
In other news, it’s less than a week till classes begin. RIT is quiet as this is an “off” week for them. It’s still odd to walk these halls. A very uncanny feeling, in the Freudian sense — the unfamiliar familiar.
Tomorrow’s entry should be interesting. I’m planning on critiquing an essay on Blogjects — objects that blog. While the concept put forward raises interesting questions, the essay itself is poorly conceived and is on really shaky social theoretical ground. So tune in tomorrow for a Chicago style beatdown. For those really interested, here’s a copy of the essay:
I’m in the market for a digital voice recorder. Not only is it helpful for the interviewing I’ll be doing in the near future, but I’m also considering podcasting my classes ??? or at least allowing for an archive. In part I want to be able to listen to certain ones later on.
So my dilemma is what technology to use. Or as important, how much do I want to spend. The Olympus model that I???m considering would run about $50 and would do everything I need it to do.
The only kink: the iPod. For 3x the amount I could get a 1GB Nano. And then pay the additional cost for the microphone. And I???d be using a square peg (not to suggest that the iPod is in any way square??? it???s more rectangular if anything???) for a round hole ??? the iPod really isn???t designed for recording and archiving. All of that said, it???s so damn cool. And ever since the ill fated MC3, I???ve been a sucker for convergence devices (all the while knowing full well that something that does everything doesn???t necessarily do everything well).
Today I took my first steps towards cross-media publishing. During my last years at kodak.com, I was constantly discussing XML and how it could be used to facilitate the production of websites. But I never actually worked with the nitty gritty: tagging content and creating XLS files. Now however, I’m taking my tentative first steps towards the intimidating and immensely powerful world of XML.
Part of my interest is the cross-media (and by media I mean distribution media) possibilities that XML holds. Done properly you can generate printed collateral, web content, cell phone content, PSP content, etc. — all from the same core file. It holds a lot of interesting possibilities that have some terrific applications for extending the written word.
Anyway, today I sat down with Adobe InDesign and tagged up a school of printing publication. The next step will be to build the conversion files (XLS and DTD) for it and see if it can be churned into HTML. Once that???s set then it???s a matter of cranking out the right CSS and pulling the entire thing together. (Hmmm??? I know that last paragraph just lost about half of my readers??? sorry mom).
Suggestions on good XML resources are always welcome! And now it’s back to researching material for my classes and perhaps getting a little writing on GooglePrint done.