Gambling with Your Future
The newest trend in online gambling? GPA. That’s right, grade point average. But it’s not gambling, at least that’s the claim, because on this site you can control the outcome.
The idea with Ultrinsic is for students to bet on their grades. Obviously you’ll earn more if you bet you’ll get all A’s and then succeed, but you’ll still pull some cash for B’s, as long as you bet that’s what you’ll get in a given semester. It’s an interesting idea, especially if it motivates students. Oh the wonders of the internet.
An Entire Comics Section
Everywhere people are saying that the newspaper is dying. The younger generation won’t read it accept online and that’s not even true, usually we like to read blogs and other sites more than the New York times online. Japan at least is trying to change things.
Recently the Anime News Network has been released online. It’s an online newspaper specifically targeted at a younger audience as it is created in manga format rather than that of an every day wordy newspaper. Not a bad idea, I’d read it in English.
Wiki Reading
Wikipedia is fantastic mostly because it’s easy to use, and definitely because it’s free. There’s no need to travel to the library to look up a date or pay Barnes and Noble if you only want to know a few names of British monarchs. Well, someone thought it might be fun to take everything we love about wiki and change it.
Pediapress has decided it will now sell Wikipedia articles in book form for about $9 a piece. Now, I’m all for books, I don’t know that I will ever support e-readers in their entirety, but seriously, why pay $9 for something I can read (or print myself) for free? I mean, I know it’s fun to carry information around with you, but that’s what laptops are for. Besides, if I’m going to invest in an encyclopedic book I’d rather have it be one that teachers allow to be cited in papers.
Dog Days
Because there aren’t already enough bogus twitter accounts Mattel has decided to inspire a couple more.
For $30 plus a new Twitter account your dog can communicate with the world in 140 characters or less. The $30 is basically for “Puppy Tweets” a plastic necklace for your dog that picks up movement and sound and translates them into pre programmed twitter messages. Absurd? Yes. Expensive? Maybe. Going to sell? Unfortunately I think a few of them will.
NASA Sites
NASA is attempting to draw interest for its programs from the public through the internet, and two recent additions to the web are particularly interesting.
The older site NASA @ home and city is an interactive page where users can explore how NASA technology effects their every day lives. The site uses clickable interactive buildings and rooms to explore how NASA has influenced everything from toothpaste and mattresses to jet lag prevention and airplane engines.
More recently NASA has partnered with Microsoft to bring the be a martian site online. Users can sign up to a martian citizen on Mars. With interactive maps, research tasks and view images and information. Actual participation through the site can help NASA scientist determine the age of Mars by counting craters. Tasks earn points. A forum is also present on the site for users to voice questions and hear from actual Mars experts.
Home Page
Netvibes is a new site set to rival homepages everywhere. Forget google, or yahoo, or blogline, Netvibes is way cuter.
Like iGoogle and blogline Netvibes is a free service that brings together all your favorite media sources on a single page. Weather, news updated, games, TV schedules, blogs, but they use cute widget displays instead of boxy headlines and photos. Don’t underestimate aesthetics online. It’s very cute and very convenient.
Profile Pic
By now we all know about the “profile picture”. The self-taken smiling faces from an arms length away. Well, self portraits just got a lot simpler.
The Samsun DualView is just that. The camera offers a screen on the back of the camera as well as on the front. No more fumbling for a clear shot, now you can tell when everyone’s in the frame from the start. Available now for $300 what price can you put on convenience?
Animating the Universe
In anticipation of the 2010 release of the DC universe online game (a multiplayer online game based around the DC comic book characters) DC universe has launched an online animation contest on facebook.
To encourage interest, as well as computer creativity, DC, Facebook, and Mass animation have asked users to download digital models and animate them with Autodesk’s Maya 3D software and then upload their animated footage back to the site. The footage with the most votes will actually be included in the 90 second trailer for the game.
It’s great to see the integration of comics and games, computers and art, and greater industries with social networking sites. The contest will begin Dec 7 and end in early February.
Ripple connects loved ones with kids through books
Ripple is an online service that connects kids with loved ones such as parents on the battlefield or grandparents in another town through the magic of reading.
Users record themselves reading books in Ripple’s online library that the child can access to hear their own story with their copy of the book in hand. Designed for kids 4-8, the service has kids listening to stories again and again.
Users can buy a single recording session for $9.95 or a package that brings the per-recording price as low as $4.58. Ripple is also supporting schools and libraries. To find out how your local school or library can take part, see www.RippleReader.com.
Another way to connect with kids this way is through recordable hardcover books available from Hallmark.
The Importance of Trust
Starting this fall (meaning now) Wikipedia will become an even trustworthier source. I mean, I’ve never had a teacher who didn’t say “wikipedia is not a legitimate source” but lets be honest, it’s usually the first stop for anyone who just wants a quick answer.
The University of California has created a system (wikitrust) that will color code newly added information on wikipedia pages. Basically the longer a piece of information has remained on the page, the more truthful it’s likely to be (as no one has taken the time to edit it).
Registered wikipedia users are able to click the “trust info” tab and see color coding on whatever page they have chosen to view. How successful this will be in appeasing a teachers mind is questionable, but it certainly can’t hurt.
