Isadora

Just downloaded a copy of Isadora, a real-time interactive performance program (THERE'S a mouthful of words). It allows dancers on a stage to interact with a computer, which is connected to... whatever you like.

The application holds a hundred different actions, which are programmed to respond to events, times, to sound or light inputs, even motion - via a camera "talking" to it. That's the "interactive performance" bit of it. The output can be projected onto a screen (or the dancers), or fed into another program. Images, sounds & movies can be preloaded, or you just see what the dancers create on the spot. We saw a short performance today using Isadora; the techies said the show was quite different from four rehearsals they'd had just earlier!

It calls to mind a fantastic Australian invention, 'Stagestruck' which was created for the centenary of federation (8 years ago). It is a brilliant virtual production program, with costumes, sets, music, choreography, etc. all in the program. But Isadora is for real dancers.

Yeah yeah, it's not strictly Web 2.0, but wow it's exciting... getting computers to respond to creativity always stirs me, & this piece almost gives you the spectrum of immense artistic control, to "let the computer have a crack at it". The interactive web and the interactive stage are just tools for human ingenuity.

2,740... count 'em

Colleagues at work have been going down the Web 2.0 path, & found this very tidy, exciting, slightly frightening site from Israel, www.go2web20.net. Go 2 Web 2.0 has catalogued over 2,700 "Web 2.0" sites! Great interface lets you hover over each logo, giving you a 10-word summary. Click & you get a 1 para summary, & a link. This will need to be explored...

Google Docking

I've been using Google Docs a bit lately. V nice straightforward tools. The word process is a simple process, the spreadsheet looks good, & the calendar was OK. I had some trouble finding my other calendars, but I'll come back later

I'm hoping I can sync calendars in my Sony Ericsson phone, iCal & Thunderbird... yeah I know, why three? But the issue for the Read/Write Web is, how do you find the best tool when so many are offered?

The Hack Half-Hour hacks MySpace

All hail the Australian Broadcasting Corporation! How on earth do they manage to put up so much serious quality media for 8 cents a day???
I discovered ABC2 the other night when we finally got the set-top box going.
Quick sidetrack: one of the warnings on the STB was, 'do not put this on top of your TV - it may fall off'. But it's a set-top box!!

Our very first programme was Hack, a JJJ show with outstanding credentials. What a delight to see it now! & the topic: MySpace security. Freeaaky! Here's the summary. And you can watch it on ABC's iView, their awesome streaming service. Go to Catch Up, & find Hack half Hour. Beware! pretty hungry for bandwidth! Schools will need to work out how to manage this fantastic resource.

Steve on Hack talked to Sophie, who has over 200,000 MySpace friends. It started when she was bed-ridden for long periods, & has given her great experiences, & some authority! Then he spoke to Ty, a professional hacker, who found enormous holes in MySpace's security. The finale was an edited forum, covering a great array of well-reasoned opinions. My favourite was "really, we need to take responsibility for who we are online."

It's compelling viewing. If you're wondering about the youth of today, what'll become of us etc etc., please watch this: you'll be so encouraged!

Newer, lighter, nicer

I want a new computer. The new solid-state jobs look great; now I just have to justify the purchase. My biggest problem is my current machine, a beautiful Macbook Pro. It works too well.

I love my Macbook. The apostles of Bill Gates & Microsoft may goggle at this, but they're just easier. Yes! Quick eg: You want a new application. Step 1: copy into the Applications folder. Finish. That's all you do. To remove: delete it. That's it. And I've got Windows running simultaneously on a "virtual machine" platform-in-a-program. Why on earth? Work needs it. But back to solid-state computers.

The Register has an excellent article on small, cheap computers. One of their recommendations is the Asus eeePC. (I'm so glad they agree with me!) It's got a 9-inch screen, it weighs less than 1kg, it's about half A4 in size, and the battery lasts up to 8 hours. The secret is the hard disc... it hasn't got one, just a row of flash-memory chips. Yours for about $A500.

Imagine a school of these, connected wirelessly. Students carry them easily, they're economical, light & sturdy, batteries last a school day. Web, word process, spreadsheet, all there, & more. The money saved buys a Photoshop computer, a video edit computer for each class, and employs a local techie.

The computer, with the help of the Read/Write Web, becomes a tool, to do something wonderful with.

Remember GIGO?

Garbage In, Garbage Out. If you input nonsense the program outputs nonsense. It's not rocket science.
I just wrote a post for another blog Energy Crisis? Rubbish!. I had a few references, found a few more on Google, which I trusted. Why? I read them, carefully. There's a risk of GIGO, but pretty small if I was paying attention.

If you read carefully, 9 times out of 10, you'll spot the flaky stuff. A Wikipedia article had a word tagged "weasel word". Excellent. If the warning light goes on when you read something, ask yourself why.

Careful, discriminating readers will be hard work for the crooks & con-artists. The plethora of fantastic new communication tools (& toys) makes it that much easier for the good - & bad - to say something. And that means that taking care is even more important.

Google Chrome: that shiny & new?

Lots of chatter about Google Chrome lately. My first response was, another browser? Great! Us Mac-heads have been spoilt for choice for a while now. My second response was, oh, another Google toy. That's great, but since Google censored itself - for George Bush at the APEC conference in Sydney (technical issues my eye) - I've been a little uneasy about Google's reach. Anyone who gives Microsft a kick can't be all bad, but we sure don't want another Microsoft!

My third thought was, hey, I've seen all the new features in Opera! the sophisticated tabs -hello Microsoft!- and the thumbnail pages. Opera was even blogging before Google too. But you weren't American, Mr www.opera.no