NeoReplicants , probable guests on Wild Show this Thursday

On the Wild Show this week I hope to be discussing the NeoReplicants exhibits with two guests - Fabian King from Figurehead 3D   and Nick Davies from Prt - Scr Press.

NeoReplicants is at the Phoenix main gallery till January. It has 30 examples of 3D printing as sculpture.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/fabianking

Figurehead 3D has services including scanning objects and developing models from a sketch or photograph.

Prt - Scr Press mainly offers a print service using Riso

For NeoReplicants Nick Davies has created a font from the game Tetris. It exists in 3D as part of the exhibits and also in 2D online and as print.

You can download the font here 

http://www.the-tuber.co.uk/index.php?/projects/tetromino/

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Blogs found so far

http://blog.kasiaturajczyk.com/2012/10/mobile-king-midas-in-reverse/

possible discussion point, are mobile phones really a menace? can social media just add to the unexpected mix?

http://www.withnoroof.com/?p=864

full coverage of technology and several photos, including the Tetromino font.

Virtual worlds stalled for corporate learning - Towards Maturity survey

There is a new report from Towards Maturity. This is based an a series of surveys of companies using e-learning. One of the PDF downloads includes longtitudinal trends since 2006. One thing that strikes me is the figures for "Virtual Worlds - eg Second Life". They confirm my impression that the use of virtual worlds for learning has not grown, it may have declined after an experiment that ended.

http://www.towardsmaturity.org/article/2012/11/22/towards-maturitys-2012-benchmark-study-highlights-/

direct to trends

http://www.towardsmaturity.org/download/2012-benchmark-report-longitudinal-trends

There is quite a difference between the actual and predicted results. 26% highest prediction for 2010, 9%  highest actual in 2011. The 2012 actual is down to 3% so I don't know what the 20% prediction for 2013 is based on.

I find this all surprising as I like Twinity for example and the virtual worlds seem to continue as part of games. Bandwidth may have been an issue previously but not now. Maybe more people are using mobile devices without the graphics chips or processing of desktop computers. 

I have been trying to promote Twinity as part of #mtw3 an online conference. There might have been a Twinity model of the Work Foundation with a detailed exterior and accurate conference rooms etc. But the street aspect of Twinity has gone, apparently because of the cost of maps data. Recently I have found that 3D models can be placed in Twinity quite easily. This is not new, just something I have tried out so I guess that virtual worlds could return quite quickly if there was some interest.

Twinity is now owned by Exit Reality.  They also offer 3D hosting as part of Learnbrite

http://www.learnbrite.com/online-training-solutions/3d-training-retail/

So this may be a project that will show where virtual worlds may flourish.

Another possibility is that social media now have all the possibilities for anonymous chatter and 3D will gradually be added as an extra.

I will continue to look at Twinity and use photos and video to connect with other formats. 

Future shows digital magazines ok, what about other publishers?

Over the weekend I found a couple of interesting reports in the printed Guardian but both quite small. Now found on website.

Future Publishing

Future predicts 'tablet Christmas' will boost e-editions sales

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/nov/23/future-tablet-christmas-eeditions

previously

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/sep/27/future-digital-editions-5m

"Our progress towards a predominantly digital business continues," the company said.

Digital engagement is on the rise with a 50% year-on-year increase in visitors to Future's portfolio of magazine websites in 2012, at 45 million unique users per month.

also

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/nov/21/financial-times-deutschland-close-weeks

FT Deutschland to close.

The Guardian could have done some comment on this. Was there ever a web strategy for FT Deutschland?

Will other publishers tell us what they are planning? My guess is that solid numbers will only be public after the switch to digital is clear. The Guardian will not reveal very much about itself.

The "tablet Christmas" ? Probability 80% my guess. Detail to follow.

Issues around quality management and universities

I have been asked a question about how it a problem presenting ideas about quality management to people who work in UK universities. So I am putting this in a public blog so others can find it. The discussion started around planning a meeting in Room 5 at CQI HQ on the 6th Dec. This is based on the Deming Special Interest Group.

I started by asking permission to publish diagrams and documents online in an open manner and so far have passed one on to my colleague Linda Shelton who blogs about the #mtw3 online conference. Management Theory at Work started with two conferences about ten years ago. There may be another face to face event next year.

http://mtw3.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/diagram-on-quality-and-learning-loop.html

See also the diagram in a later post

http://mtw3.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/reminder-of-conference-streams-diagram.html

I am currently strongly into the practice part of this as I think communication will shift over the holidays as consumer electronics takes over computing. But anyway back on topic what I found from Management Theory at Work in earlier versions and since-

Academics find quality systems as imposition as they are experienced. Very rare to find the idea of transformation as positive or possible.

Critique take on quality very strong in management learning studies. Hugh Wilmott and Adrian Wilkinson 1995

Maybe something has changed since. I don't come across anything much different. Based on work at UMIST I think but the intro available from Cambridge 

http://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/research/associates/pdfs/willmott_intro_making_quality.pdf

Also

ISO systems dismissed as far too bureacratic. Of course some people within the CQI think much the same.

Systems and learning are regarded as different subjects. So at Lancaster Department for Management Learning, Department for Management Science .  Peter Checkland wrote about Learning for Action when sort of retired and slightly outside this structure.

More later, sorry this is a start as not long till the 6th.

Winterlude 4 and Linda Shelton's reminder on #mtw3

Maybe it is just the wind and the rain but I have a feeling that the Winterlude may be starting. In previous years this was between Online Information in December and Learning Technologies in January. But Online Information has already happened, though without the exhibits. I don't know what is happening with XML or library technology but will try some search over the next few weeks. Bothe Learning Technologies and BETT are right at the end of January. I think the consumer electronics over the holidays will shift a lot of tablets as well as e-readers so by the time of BETT a lot could change. The lack of a technology display at Olympia is not a sign that tech has stopped changing.

http://mtw3.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/reminder-of-conference-streams-diagram.html

I have linked a lot to the themes of #mtw3 though now am concentrating on applied tech. Linda Shelton has reminded us that the intended streams for #mtw3 are wider than just practice. I will come back to this later but will concentrate on the Winterlude for a while as some tech shifts could soon be clear. If the ratio of tablets to e-readers continues as currently appears then a lot of online information could be sound and video.

http://www.cesweb.org/

I am also checking out Exeter High Street. I don't think this is more than a few months behind what happens anywhere else. Consumer Electronics announced at CES are usually way off being available. Topics include 3D and screens as well as TV.

Twinity Berlin my place now with a computer

I have found out a bit more about 3D objects.

Found a computer in the Warehouise then exported from Sketchup in a format that works for Twinity.

And also the scale is ok. so now there is a computer on the floor.

I think the whole Twinity situation can relate to 3D objects. The printing of data sets is just one aspect, but current for the Phjoenix in Exeter over the next couple of months. Still thinking how this fits. My actual space is also full of old computers and this needs presentation and discussion on where it is heading.

New edit Maz Totterdell at South West Music Awards #SWMA12 remix button

Chris Norton has now selected the Creative Commons option for his video from the South West Music Awards.

So this is a quick mix of mine with the talk ruining the sound and his with much better sound of the performance but with some wobble on the vision. the point is that the Remix button works ok. The render from YouTube of a new mix took about quarter of an hour.

So sorry again about the low production values. Some of the other videos are a bit better.

Main point is that if you choose the Creative Commons option then the remix will gradually get a better result.

And there is other video from the #SWMA12 event still to come as far as we know.

Now outside the Sphinx on Beach For You, also Giraffe at ainmX

I tried out a giraffe at animX in Bitropolis. This is the highest room I know of and it turned out there is space for a giraffe. I got a bit more confident with the controls so had another go at the Sphinx. It turns out that when you select "move this object" then it becomes a bit more fluid so you can walk through it. I have now moved the Sphinx way to the left as you face the sea. So the spot you arrive on is now outside the Sphinx. There is plenty of room for other content.

Bitropolis has an unusual mix of quite small spaces in a grid for a trade show and then quite large spaces for display and reception. The walls of the animX bit have stills from previous events.

   

Issues already inside the Twinity Sphinx

Today I think that light is coming to Beach For You and other places assumed by Twinity to be in the UK.

So I went back to the beach in Northampton to see how the Sphinx looks in daylight.

Trouble is that Twinity places me in the same spot I was yesterday when I imported the Sphinx and somehow the walls are now solid. I'm sure I could walk through it previously.

My colleague Web Kirby has also had a look and has the same problem. He claims it will not matter too much as there can still be a conversation about 3D printing inside the Sphinx as well as outside.

But has anyone out there got a clue what to do? Can the Sphinx be moved? If so are you still inside after the event? 

Please look for "Beach For You" on Twinity and add a comment.

(The light is arriving with the Web Kirby photo because Twinity thinks that there is still night and day. )

Sketchup to Twinity seems ok, Sphinx now on Beach For You

http://create.twinity.com/google_warehouse.html

This explains what I thought might be possible. Sketchup models can be added to the warehouse but there is enough there for a sculpture park. The Sphinx is taking up a lot of the beach but there is still plenty of space.

I will be talking to Web Kirby about a proper gallery sometime soon. For the rest of this year, 2012, there will be no charge for displaying a model. It seems if the format is ok for the warehouse then it should load ok.

UK now dark but will try to get some photos in daylight tomorrow.

Beach for You is in Northampton according to Twinity.

3D as in Twinity, Neoreplicants, Google Goggles etc. #mtw3

Yesterday evening I went to a talk about the NewReplicants show at the Phoenix in Exeter. It turns out 3D printing is still quite expensive so casting may still be a viable option for sculpture. But the "replicants" theme is still there in theory. As digital content it is easy enough for these forms to spread. How is this compared with classic gallery objects? There was mention of a limited edition of sunglasses but no art yet where the digital original has been destroyed after a limited edition. Maybe this has happened somewhere else.

http://www.exeterphoenix.org.uk/art/

I am not sure how it works but I think a 3D object can be represented in various ways. Twinity is still not being promoted as much as I would expect. I think it may be dormant. But Exit Reality has bought it and must intend to do something. They have started a search engine which seems to find a lot of 3D websites and then displays them I tried a search on "sculpture" and my colleague Web Kirby investigated a couple of sites. See attached still photos.

http://search.exitreality.com/main.php 

Maybe Exit Reality has a general purpose world that can accept any model. Not sure.

They do have a calmer website for Learning

http://www.learnbrite.com/

This has other offers as well as 3D. Maybe this has some stable income. 3D is still a bit expensive to develop I guess while there are still bandwidth limitations.

Conferences such a #mtw3 might work better through Learnbrite. I think there is a fairly small number of people interested in virtual worlds at the moment. Stills from Twinity are ok as most people can view them.

There are some Goggles in the Phoenix show. It reminded me of the Google Goggles idea. I think this is still a project but the aim is similar to Aurasma and similar ways of combining images with real situations. Augmented reality is the general term I think.

Web Kirby still talks about opening a gallery in Twinity, on a beach called Beach for You. I am not sure how hard it is to move models into a suitable format. I do know there is a shop and a currency so it could be an option.

Test PDF for Tetromino typeface

Part of the NeoReplicants show at the Phoenix is a typeface in 3D. It also works in 2D. Not sure how Posterous will display this PDF. Created with proper Adobe software which states that Tetromino is Type 1 and an embedded subset for this PDF. So ok so far.

Later more on 3D etc.

Photos from Wifi Lancaster

Stayed in Traelodge, these show the Weatherspoon next door, the library, the shops the Waterstones and Pao Pao also next door to Travelodge but at the end of the loop as it turned out.

Test video from Waterstones in Lancaster, upload at Pao Pao

I am now back in Exeter. This video was recorded on Saturday. The wifi in Waterstones ( jusst outside the one way system) was enough to view video but it cut out when uploading. Might be fair enough, they are aiming to offer content. On Sunday I found Pao Pao which worked really well. They also have iPads secured in wood panels. So this is where I would start another time.

still photos next.

Time travel with Cross Media Live and the LCC Futures conference #LCCFutures #CMShow13

I am still trying to make sense of the #LCCFutures event last week.

The video so quick on YouTube is striking. I try to get some video from most events I go to with my Kodak Zi8 but it can depend on the lighting. Then it may take a while to edit and render. It is rare in the UK for a university to arrange video recording or make it public. #LCCFutures was available as a stream and now more or less complete as archive the week after. The sound is an issue but this could be fixed next time around.

My memory of previous ones is that the staff try to balance the claims of the visiting speakers who may use slides from a trade show. Chris Linford often claims that all technology takes a long time to actually work, suggesting 40 years for electricity and petrol engines in cars. This time however he claimed that the 40 years may be about done for the internet and the personal computer. So there could be some sudden shifts but when is a bit vague.

I think the LCC conference was at Digital Solutions some time ago, certainly it was at Earl's Court. The shows were called Digital Print World and Total Print. I think. This will be checked in a later post.

Last week on Thursday after the Cross Media panel I thought about the possibility of timing the next #LCCFutures with #CMShow13 . If there is not enough space maybe involving Central St Martins in King's Cross. Then on Friday there was more about games design reminding me about Wednesday. So it may not matter about exact time and place so long as there are online connections.

My route to the Elephant and Castle was through Old Street tube station where I got lost twice. Day three I was ok. So they have become the same roundabout, you go down a subway and come up somewhere else.

The canal is an urban symbol for communication and now leisure. there is a route from King's Cross to the Design Centre. Then to the Olympic Park and the Thames. I guess there is a router to Excel. So there could be a game about finding King's Cross by next summer, then the pedestrian route when the canal is underground in time for #CMShow13, then the rest of it in time for IPEX. Along the way assess the requirements and available tech.

Meanwhile back in Exeter we could do some tests. Just needs locations and editing. There is a canal.

Some possible problems

The LCC discussion on Cross Media was more into games and less into print than I remember from Cross Media 12.

From the Topophobia show in Exeter I think people at Central St Martins could be uneasy about the web. But something in actual space would contribute anyway.

The dates for #CMShow13 next year are October 23rd and 24th, a Wednesday and Thursday. This year a Monday was difficult for some people. These dates might be ok for LCC schedules.

Even if time and space are spread out a bit there is still scope for conversation. I think some games theory would help Cross Media. And LCC needs help with sound recording. 

My stills from #LCCFutures now on Flickr, base for making connections

I have now checked out and loaded some stills from the Futures conference at LCC last week.

The video is already loaded from the stream

I am still looking at all the content available. I am trying to compare it with the Cross Media Live event and also discussions such as #mtw3 and the Deming groups at quality organisations. My impression was that the LCC take has moved even further with social media. The panel discussion on Cross Media did include print but I don't think this was to same extent as at the Business design Centre. Maybe things are just changing over a few months.

There is management theory in the background. I noticed a couple of learning loops that seem similar to Plan - Do- Check/Study - Act but no explicit reference to quality. "Agile" development is seen as a design take from software that can include people working on graphics. But not marketing as I remember it. "Lean" is based on Toyota but then more formal quality systems could be also. I think the videos should be listened to again. 

LCC Futures Conference is on YouTube already, so my version can wait #LCCfutures #mtw3

This is the playlist for most of the sessions from last week. Can't find what is missing. I am now back in Exeter and have unpacked most of the files. I think that sometimes my sound may be better than the version from the official stream. Not sure about this yet but I will check things out.

The conference had a lot of discussion about design and creativity. I think it definitely connects with the discussion around #mtw3, Starting with leadership and organisation it has found academic publishing as an innovation focus at the Work Foundation. The LCC approach includes publishing as part of communication and there is background on organisation as well.

More later. I hope to have some stills ready to upload soon.

LCC Futures Conference is on YouTube already, so my version can wait #LCCfutures #mtw3

This is the playlist for most of the sessions from last week. Can't find what is missing. I am now back in Exeter and have unpacked most of the files. I think that sometimes my sound may be better than the version from the official stream. Not sure about this yet but I will check things out.

The conference had a lot of discussion about design and creativity. I think it definitely connects with the discussion around #mtw3, Starting with leadership and organisation it has found academic publishing as an innovation focus at the Work Foundation. The LCC approach includes publishing as part of communication and there is background on organisation as well.

More later. I hope to have some stills ready to upload soon.

wrong tag on Acrobat post - should be #LCCfutures post.ly/9j4CZ

Acrobat X1 11 eleven the facts from Callas, prepress pay attention #'ccfutures http://post.ly/9j4CZ 

should be

#lccfutures

Acrobat X1 11 eleven the facts from Callas, prepress pay attention #'ccfutures

I can't get past the eye candy to find the facts on Acrobat from the Adobe site. It is only social media if there is a chance to understand and respond. imho. anyway back on topic...

New Acrobat XI includes a lot of callas software know how
From PDF/A to PDF/X: Adobe Acrobat supports it all thanks to the preflight technology of callas software

(Berlin), Adobe has developed a new version of their PDF creation and viewing software: Acrobat XI.  Acrobat XI now offers extended support for the latest PDF ISO standards. It allows to easily create PDF files compliant to the ISO 32000 standard for PDF/A and PDF/E archiving. Acrobat XI also allows converting and validating PDF/X files for print production or PDF/VT files for Variable Data Printing.  This advanced functionality is made possible thanks to the preflight technology developed by callas software. This Berlin based company is one of the major contributors of the PDF technology included in the Acrobat XI software.

callas software has been providing verification technology for Adobe since 1997. The software developer also provided the Preflight module that converts and validates Acrobat PDF files to PDF/A-1 since the release of Acrobat version 8. Acrobat X already included the feature to convert PDFs to PDF/A-2 files, the new version Acrobat XI now also supports the recently released PDF/A-3 standard for long-term archiving, which allows the embedding of additional files. In addition, conversion options for all PDF/A standards have been considerably extended, so all PDF files can now be converted successfully.

Also new is the validation of PDF/VT documents. PDF/VT is an ISO standard for variable data printing, which runs on the comprehensive model of PDF graphics and allows the use of color or native transparency in the output management.

About callas software

callas software finds simple ways to handle complex PDF challenges. As a technology innovator, callas software develops and markets PDF technology for publishing, print production, document exchange and document archiving. callas software helps agencies, publishing companies and printers to meet the challenges they face by providing software to preflight, correct and repurpose PDF files for print production and electronic publishing. Businesses and government agencies all over the world rely on callas software’s future-proof, fully PDF/A compliant archiving products.

In addition, callas software technology is available as a programming library (SDK) for developers with a need for PDF optimization, validation and correction. Software vendors such as Adobe®, Quark®, Xerox®, Hewlett Packard® and many others have recognized the quality and flexibility provided by these callas tools and have incorporated them into their solutions.

callas software actively supports international standards and has been participating in ISO, CIP4, the European Color Initiative, Ghent PDF Workgroup, FOGRA, AIIM and BITKOM. In addition, callas software is a founding member of the PDF Association and in October 2010, Olaf Drümmer became its chairman. callas software is based in Berlin, Germany. For more information, visit the callas software website at www.callassoftware.com.