The Future of Collage?

Today's online issue of The Wired Campus has a report about some software that I cannot wait to try if and when it becomes available.

The software, first called Photosketch and now Sketch2Photo, is an astonishing way to compose images based on just a simple hand drawn outline with captions. The software looks at the captions, the outlines and then scours the web for images that match your requirements. And then, sheer magic this, it seamlessly composes the images into one fairly convincing composition.

Sketch2Photo: Internet Image Montage from Tao Chen on Vimeo.

Its creators, from Tsinghua University, give more details at this link. It opens up a whoe new scope of possibilities for artists and graphic designers who will still be needed to create content and composition. I hope . . . .

Calendar test

The Trinity Coates Library Rocks!

Yesterday, my classes were treated to a presentation by Trinity Professor and Librarian Benjamin Harris, who shared his expertise (and his amazing energy) with us - we learned all about:

• Locating books and articles in the Coates Library
• Finding answers through the Library website
• Using academic databases to search
• Where to go to get help

Many many thanks to Benjamin.
One of the highlights of the presentation was a sneak preview of the new library web home page (see screen shot, above). What a super interface - attractive, easy to navigate - great job. It should be up in a few weeks.
Our library just keeps getting better and better. It is a Trinity Treasure!

Flat Classroom Project

It’s always exciting to come across something rich with possibilities and new technologies – I stumbled across the Flat Classroom Project in the usual manner, while looking for Something Else. Read the description and you’ll know why I skidded to a stop and changed directions right away:

"The Flat Classroom™ Project is a global collaborative project that joins together middle and senior high school students. This project is part of the emerging tend in internationally-aware schools to embrace a holistic and constructivist educational approach to work collaboratively with others around the world in order to create students who are competitive and globally-minded. The project was co-founded by Vicki Davis (Westwood Schools, USA) and Julie Lindsay(Beijing (BISS) International School, China) in 2006. The Flat Classroom Project 2006 is was featured in Chapter 13, 'If it's not happening it's because you're not doing it', of the latest edition of Thomas Friedman's book, The World is Flat' upon which it was based. (pages 501-503)"

One of the first resources I saw was a nice tutorial on embedding a video on a wiki page created by Julie Lindsay. There are also many student-generated tutorials in this great site. I’ll be exploring more of them and will include them in this blog and in our own Class Wiki.

Movie Fan Mom

I’ve learned a lot about the whole book to film process by following my son’s hugely popular adventure story for young readers, The Lightning Thief, undergo that transformation. The author has very little to do with the movie, in this case and many cases, but it’s fun to anticipate how the characters will be portrayed. Here’s short movie trailer that gives me some clues – it looks exciting!
One of the amazing things is just how long it takes to get a book from manuscript to market, and once the film rights are acquired, it seems to take forever (even after the filming is completed) to get it edited and into the theatre. I understand that there are many special technical and digital effects in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief – that could be part of it. The director, Chris Columbus, has also directed two of the Harry Potter movies and certainly understands the genre, so I am looking forward to the film, which is still – sigh – four months away.

Great Example of Student Network Diagram

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This is such an outstanding semester - the students are talented and enthusiastic. Here's an example of a very comprehensive diagram of the compicated Trinity University local area network drawn using only the fairly limited tools provided by MS Word - great job, Caroline - and everyone else. You all have proven that there is more than one "right answer" to a design assignment.

The Viral Aesthetic

A discussion with Benjamin Harris, Assistant Professor and Instruction/Liaison Librarian at Trinity, about fast-spreading altered photos like the "crasher squirrel" led me to an blog entry/essay called If It Doesn't Spread, It's Dead (Part Seven): Aesthetic and Structural Strategies by Henry Jenkins.
He discusses the spread of such media penomena as the Cadbury's "Gorilla" spot -- an ad featuring nothing but a life-size Cadbury-purple Gorilla belting out the drumline to Phil Collins classic "Something in the Air Tonight" which, he says, “didn't spread just because it was 'producerly'. It was also incredibly amusing. There is still truth in the notion that good, compelling content remains a crucial factor in the spreadability media.”
Read the essay, certainly, but – if you haven’t seen the gorilla on You Tube, check out his (or her??) awesome moves.