Posts
Mashable: Latest 9 News Updates - including “German Pranksters Attach GPS Device to Google Street View Car [MAP]” |  |
- German Pranksters Attach GPS Device to Google Street View Car [MAP]
- Don’t Have Money for a Real iPad? Cut One Out of Paper
- Super Bowl Ads 2010 [VIDEOS]
- The Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART]
- TOUCHDOWN: Google Runs Super Bowl Ad
- Saints Beating Colts…on Facebook [Super Bowl]
- Iran’s Internet Fails Ahead of Protests
- 12% of Super Bowl Viewers Use Web During the Game
- Popcorn Tweets: Twitter-Powered Popcorn Maker [VIDEO]
- How Social Gaming is Improving Education
| German Pranksters Attach GPS Device to Google Street View Car [MAP] Posted: 08 Feb 2010 05:29 AM PST 
The result of their efforts can be seen on a large map, and although it doesn’t seem to show anything out of the ordinary – the Google Street View car seemed to be driving around Berlin as it should be, until they realized they’re tracked and removed the GPS device – but it was nice to be able to reverse the roles and snoop on Google, even for a short while.  Tags: Google, gps, street view
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Don’t Have Money for a Real iPad? Cut One Out of Paper Posted: 08 Feb 2010 04:10 AM PST 
There is a solution that won’t cost you a dime, though. It also won’t get you an iPad, but you can perhaps fool someone with poor eyesight you have one, at least for a second. Yes, we’re talking about a paper iPad. To make one yourself, you’ll need these two PNG files: the front and the back. Print them, cut them out, and voila – your brand new paper iPad is ready to…well, it can’t really do anything except sit on your desk, but considering the price is zero, we won’t hold it against it. 
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 07 Feb 2010 11:03 PM PST 
The tech and web ads were a mixed bunch: both the established GoDaddy “Too Hot for TV” schtick and Motorola’s decision to put Megan Fox in a bathtub stuck to the “sex sells” mantra, while Monster.com returned with a “Fiddling Beaver”. Intel went for a quirky “lunch room” ad while Vizio chose star power in its Beyonce commercial. We don’t know what inspired Boost Mobile’s ad, meanwhile, but the humor appears to miss the mark [update: commenters say it's a remake of the "Chicago Bears Super Bowl Shuffle"]. Our favorite: Google’s sentimental made-for-web ad — it was promoted to Super Bowl status after its success on YouTube. FLO TV’s retrospective on American media is also a very memorable attempt. Which ads are your faves? Web and Tech Super Bowl Ads 2010Megan Fox Motorola AdFLO TV: My Generation AdMonster.com Fiddling Beaver AdGoDaddy Super BowlBoost Mobile AdGoogle: Parisian Love AdIntel Lunch Room AdGo Daddy: NewsVizio Beyonce AdCars.com AdOther Super Bowl Ads 2010Snickers Super Bowl AdSurvivor: Heroes Vs. Villains AdHyundai Sonata AdDoritos AdRobin Hood SpotDoritos: House Rules AdNCIS /CBS AdCoca-Cola / Simpsons AdUndercover Boss Ad (CBS)Doritos Casket AdWolfman AdThe Good WifeEmerald Nuts: AwesomerHyundai Soata / Brett Favre AdVW PunchdubBudweiser Bridge AdDenny’s Chicken Birthday AdDenny’s Chicken WarningAlice in WonderlandSkechersHomeaway Vacation AdDr Pepper / KISS adSelect 55 Ice Bottle AdMichelob Ultra – Little Bumps AdBudweiser Clydesdale Fence AdLate Show AdBud Light Asteroid AdReviews: Google, YouTube, beyonce Tags: ads, Super Bowl, Superbowl, trending
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Top 10 Twitter Trends This Week [CHART] Posted: 07 Feb 2010 07:00 PM PST 
Some of the top trends were predictable (Mashable’s Ben Parr successfully guessed at four of the ten last week), while others were unexpected. The tendency for Twitter users to sign off with “Goodnight” has made that a top topic this week, while the “Retweet If” meme gathered momentum. Meanwhile, the Super Bowl is the dominant topic today, although these stats were compiled before the big game: its true popularity will be seen in next week’s list. Here’s a roundup of the top 10 topics on Twitter this week, courtesy of our friends at WhatTheTrend. As this is a topical list, hashtag memes like “#UKnowUBrokeWhen” and “#thatsanono” are not included. You can find previous weeks’ Twitter trends in our Twitter Topics section. Top Twitter Topics This Week
Reviews: Twitter, beyonce Tags: Top Twitter Topics, trends, twitter
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TOUCHDOWN: Google Runs Super Bowl Ad Posted: 07 Feb 2010 05:56 PM PST 
CEO Eric Schmidt’s Tweet hinted at the ad yesterday, reading: Can’t wait to watch the Superbowl tomorrow. Be sure to watch the ads in the 3rd quarter (someone said “Hell has indeed frozen over.”) Blogger John Battelle was also correct at guessing which ad would run: “Parisian Love” (below). Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Willard Reviews: blogger, iStockphoto Tags: Google, Super Bowl, Superbowl, trending
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Saints Beating Colts…on Facebook [Super Bowl] Posted: 07 Feb 2010 04:24 PM PST 
On Facebook, the Saints have racked up 418,000+ fans versus 304,000+ fans for the Colts. The graphs below, courtesy AllFacebook, show the trend. The Saints are winning on Google, too, with higher search volume and more news references than their rivals in recent weeks. Will the data predict the outcome or not? Let us know your predictions in the comments. Colts vs. Saints: Facebook Fans Colts vs. Saints: Google Search Volume and News References Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Willard Reviews: iStockphoto Tags: Colts, facebook, saints, Super Bowl, Superbowl
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iran’s Internet Fails Ahead of Protests Posted: 07 Feb 2010 02:58 PM PST 
Connections have been poor since last week, writes the AFP, with Communications Minister Reza Taghipour blaming damage to undersea optical fibre under the Gulf. “The cause of the reduced Internet speed in recent days is that part of the fibre-optic network is damaged…The breakage will be repaired by next week and the Internet speed will be back to normal”, the Minister is quoted as saying. But the problems aren’t limited to the Internet: text messages have suffered disruption too, a situation Iran blames on “changing software”. The timing is highly suspicious: February 11 marks the anniversary of the Iranian revolution, and opponents of President Ahmadinejad plan to hold protests against alleged election fraud. The protesters have gathered worldwide support spreading their messages on Twitter and Facebook, making a simultaneous failure of Internet connections and text messaging somewhat convenient. Reviews: Facebook, Iran , Twitter
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12% of Super Bowl Viewers Use Web During the Game Posted: 07 Feb 2010 01:18 PM PST 
What’s most remarkable about the stats is that most people aren’t visiting sports sites during the Super Bowl: only 18% of those online visited sports sites. Rather, users are either searching, checking email or spending time on social networks. The most popular destination for Super Bowl viewers last year? Facebook. Do you plan to go online during the Super Bowl? Let us know in the comments.   [via Nielsen] [image courtesy of iStockphoto, spxChrome] Reviews: Facebook, iStockphoto Tags: facebook, Super Bowl, Superbowl, trending
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Popcorn Tweets: Twitter-Powered Popcorn Maker [VIDEO] Posted: 07 Feb 2010 09:40 AM PST 
Popcorn Tweets was created by Dave Britt and Justin Goeres as their entry into a contest held by popcorn manufacturer Fireworks Popcorn. The pair writes of the invention:
We sure hope it’s turned off right now, or the two inventors may be in for a hailstorm of #popcorn tweets. [via Engadget] Reviews: Twitter
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How Social Gaming is Improving Education Posted: 07 Feb 2010 08:16 AM PST 
Audits of the U.S. educational system have revealed that the highest hurdle to adopting skills-based teaching practices is the lack of an easily implementable curriculum. Enter social video games as a solution — immersive environments that simulate real-world problems. Today, technologically eager schools are replacing textbook learning with social video games, and improving learning outcomes in the process. Here's how they're doing it. Contextual Learning While university departments have cleanly separated academic subjects, solving the real-life problem of, say, building a website, requires individuals to orchestrate the expertise of communication, business, and economics, in addition to computer science. At the ultra high tech Quest2Learn school in New York City, small groups of 6th graders will marshall a range of social technologies, from video games to social networking, to solve hypothetical problems. For instance, 6th graders learn geography from Google Earth, collaborate through an internal social networking platform, and present ideas through a podcast. Administrators hope that wrestling with the question of "How can a system function within a larger system?" will bolster critical thinking skills. Many experts contend that so-called "Scaffolded Problem-based learning" is known to improve academic skills and enhance motivation. With all these new toys, it's no surprise that one student admits his least favorite part of the day is "dismissal." What About More Popular Gaming Models?It should not come as a shock that Quest2Learn exists because of endowments from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Intel, among other big-name donors. For the less well-to-do educator, the Federation of American Scientists has developed a first-person shooter-inspired cellular biology curriculum. Gamers explore the fully-interactive 3D world of an ill patient and assist the immune system in fighting back a bacterial infection. Dr. Melanie Ann Stegman has been evaluating the educational impacts of the game and is optimistic about her preliminary findings. “The amount of detail about proteins, chemical signals and gene regulation that these 15-year-olds were devouring was amazing. Their questions were insightful. I felt like I was having a discussion with scientist colleagues,” said Stegman. Perhaps more importantly, the video game excites students about science. Motivating more youngsters to adopt a science-related career track has became a major education initiative of the Obama administration. So desperate to find a solution that motivates students to become scientists, the government has even enlisted Darpa, the Department of Defense's “mad scientist” research organization, to figure out a solution. For Stegman, however, the video game solution is intuitive: The actual phenomona of science are fascinating, unlike their 2D textbook drawings. “Explaining how proteins interact takes lots of new words and new vocabulary that can put you to sleep when you're a 5th year graduate student,” Stegman told Mashable. "But, watching two proteins interact and bump into each other and using them in a video game is fun and exciting." Check out the video of some gameplay below. You can download the game here. Simulated Life
For some school subjects, poor test results aren't simply a matter of personal failure, but can mean life and death; especially for security officer training. Loyalist College in Canada recently boasted "massive" test score improvements for its border officer training via simulation in the virtual world of Second Life. "No single technological addition has ever impacted grades at the college in such a positive way," says Ken Hudson, their Managing Director of Virtual World Design. Indeed, the results speak for themselves. According to the report:
While security screenings are taking an onslaught of criticism for what are sometimes seen as abject failures, these kinds of successes may give hope to both security experts and the future of online learning. ConclusionSocial gaming has a come a long way from the days when a dozen students would squint at a 10-inch screen of Oregon Trail. The 2000s seemed to be the decade of case studies: Bold educators willing to experiment with developing technologies. But now, the involvement of major funders, such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, points to an industry that is on the cusp of freeing education from its 2D textbook prison. More gaming resources from Mashable:
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, morganl Reviews: Google Earth, Mashable, iStockphoto Tags: education, games, gaming, Science, Second Life, social games, social gaming, social media, trending, video games, web
|
YouTube delivered on its promise to upload all the Super Bowl Ads as soon as they aired today, with users voting to choose which one will adorn the YouTube front page on Thursday.
Twitter was abuzz this week with chatter about the iPad, performances at The GRAMMYs and relief efforts in Haiti.
The rumors were correct: Google took the bold step of running a 
The Super Bowl game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints may be in full swing, but a winner has already emerged on the web.
Internet connections are crawling in Iran and text message traffic has been disrupted ahead of planned anti-government protests in that country this week. The timing is raising eyebrows.
12% of those watching the Super Bowl last year also kept one eye on the web, according to analytics firm Nielsen. The average time spent online was 24 minutes.
Two men have built a popcorn-making robot that serves up a new batch whenever someone mentions #popcorn on Twitter.
For decades, educators have been scrambling to find better ways to prepare students for the real world. It began with the mildly apocalyptic government report, 
| You are subscribed to email updates from Mashable! To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment