Solve For X - Moonshot Thinking in Higher Education

Solve for X is an extension of the philosophies behind Google's Lunar X Prize... provide a platform and incentive to drive innovative problem solving. There are several videos on the website, all are highly recommended... www.wesolveforx.com.

I find myself watching Michael Crow's "U" video frequently. Not only has Michael found an innovative solution to the (antiquated) knowledge architecure problem he targets, but his concept of turning a university into a "moonshot factory" will make this type of innovative and empowered thinking commonplace. The impact will be exponential.

Launch Marketing - The Fame Machine

With the ubiquity of Internet access and growth of social media networks, consumers can now instantly share opinions about you or your product with millions of people around the world.

Social buzz can make or break your success - and in short order.

The Internet can make your brand famous overnight, literally.

Intro to Designing Massively Multiplayer Online Games

Video games aren't the domain of "slackers" anymore, the Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) has forever changed the face and perception of gaming.

Game worlds are now being used as tools to find specific skillsets in a population, to provide immersive education, and even train the military.

The Digital Lifestyle Comes of Age With Cloud Services

Cloud computing has grown in popularity over the past few years and is dramatically shifting the way we work and communicate.

But exactly is "the cloud"?

What are the advantages for moving stuff into the cloud? And what are the disadvantages?

The Future of Robotics is Now

Need some help moving the couch?

Shipyard workers in Newport News Virginia get a great preview of what their life will be like in the near future; working with robotics.

The possibilities that this type of technology offers us are profound. Robotics serve as a great equalizer by removing strength restrictions within many jobs, and keep us out of harms way through remote operation.

Setting Up An Android Device For Development

Want to quickly & and easily test your new Android application on a live device?

Google's Android development environment makes it super easy to test your applications on a real device (instead of using the Android SDK emulator). Simply walk through the steps below to configure your target device and development computer.

60 Second Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

I'm a big proponent of automation in any possible form; whether its automatically popping up my morning news web page or analyzing trends to predict future market conditions. Computers make most of this automation possible and as technology evolves and becomes more integrated into our lives, computers are able to do more and more work for us - even think for us in some degree.

60 Second Introduction to Machine Learning

My experience in the marketing industry introduced me to the world of artificial intelligence, a subject that has always fascinated me and a technology that has really started to come of age recently. One branch of artificial intelligence, machine learning, has especially tantalizing implications for our (consumers) ever-increasing dependency on personal technologies.

Designing Video Games That Solve Real World Problems

The statistics are astounding.

From a global point of view, we’ve already spent millions of years playing video games.

World of Warcraft: 5.93 million years
Bejeweled: 3.2 million years
Halo: 250,000 years
Rock Band: 57,000 years

Millions of years. As in the only way to view this timeline is in terms of human evolution.

60 Second Introduction to OpenGL

I'm starting to get more involved in designing video games these days and have been researching the multitude of libraries and engines available to render graphics. You can't go very far into the graphics world without bumping into OpenGL (multiple times).

Improving User Experience Through Game Design Thinking

Gamification is a buzzword that has been thrown around a lot these days - but what actually is gamification?

Wikipedia defines gamification as the use of game design techniques, game thinking and game mechanics to enhance non-game contexts.

OK - what does that mean?

Back in the Saddle

After a long and spectacular vacation/furlough, I'm getting back into work-mode and putting together a couple of new projects for 2012. I'll be focusing on a number of technologies that I haven't had much exposure to thus far, so I'm launching this blog to journal some of the ideas that I find interesting along the way.