Bungalow » Communication Technologies

Architectures for Conversation ii: What Communities of Practice can mean for Information Architecture

brendan — Mon, 04 May 2009 05:27:53 +0000

Architectures for Conversation (ii): What Communities of Practice can mean for Information Architecture

View more presentations from andrewhinton.

Finding Utility in the Jumble of Tweeted Thoughts – NYTimes.com

brendan — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:33:00 +0000

Finding Utility in the Jumble of Tweeted Thoughts – NYTimes.com.

“Twitter reverses the notion of the group,” said Paul Saffo, the Silicon Valley futurist. “Instead of creating the group you want, you send it and the group self-assembles.”

Startup showdown – Energy efficiency by remote control (11) – Small Business

brendan — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:47:07 +0000

Most homes waste considerable amounts of energy, but solutions such as replacing appliances and renovating buildings are prohibitively expensive, and few people are vigilant about unplugging unused equipment and turning off lights. Econetix is developing a home energy kit that’s easy to install and will theoretically save enough energy to pay for itself in about a year.

The kit includes a “smart” thermostat that automatically optimizes heating and cooling, remote-controlled light switches that install into sockets rather than walls, and power strips that turn off standby power to unused devices. All of the kit’s elements can be controlled from a Web site or mobile phone. Econetix also plans to gather and correlate user data and encourage energy-saving competitions among users, probably via social networking sites such as Facebook.

via Startup showdown – Energy efficiency by remote control (11) – Small Business.

No boundaries: The challenge of ubiquitous design

brendan — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:49:48 +0000

The phrase “ubiquitous computing” was coined by the late Mark Weiser, in work at Xerox PARC that dates back to the late 1980s. He saw ubicomp as the next logical step in our relationship with the digital tools we use, an inevitable consequence of the historic shift from many users sharing one machine to many devices serving one user. As Weiser described it, ubiquitous computing is information processing that has left the desktop behind, and been distributed throughout the built environment: “invisible, but in the woodwork everywhere.”

via Adobe Design Center – Columns and articles from experts on web design and motion graphics.

Greener Gadgets | SmartSwitch | Peter Russo & Brendan Wypich, Stanford University 2009

brendan — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:28:02 +0000

Greener Gadgets | SmartSwitch | Peter Russo & Brendan Wypich, Stanford University 2009.

A classmate and I partnered up on a project last quarter for our master’s thesis. The result was a device we called the SmartSwitch. We entered it into a design competition and we’ve made it to the semi-finals. If you have a moment, please vote for our project! The top 10 will be judged in NYC in February.

Machine for Listening & Remembering v0.2

brendan — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:58:25 +0000

Originally uploaded by formulapuff

Last Friday the 2nd year Design students presented their Personal Statements. I haven’t had a chance to document my work yet, but here is a picture taken by Minjeong Kim, a classmate of mine who was kind enough to document the works on the night of the exhibition.

Also here, some pictures taken by Andreas of the event…

Monitoring Home Energy Consumption

brendan — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 05:18:40 +0000

DIY KYOTO

An award-winning way to help you save money and do some good for the environment. The system features a hardware component (Wattson) and a software component Holmes.

The Xantrex™ Communication Gateway

The Xantrex™ Communication Gateway bridges the gap between a Xantrex GT or XW System and the system owner’s computer, making it the central component for a residential or small commercial remote monitoring system.

The Gateway logs performance data directly from the Xantrex GT or XW System, and transmits it to the included Yahoo™ Widget based monitoring software for a simple and graphically rich view of system performance. More than a data logger, the Gateway offers a web page with the ability to configure automated email reports and fault status to the user or installer.

The Gateway includes both built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity allowing for flexible and simple set up for wireless or wired connection to a router or direct to a PC.

The Gateway logs and transmits performance data such as:

System power production
Inverter specific power production
Lifetime power production history (daily, weekly, monthly)
Inverter faults

Product Features

Can monitor a network consisting of up to 20 single phase GT inverters and upto 8 XW devices (XW inverter(s), XW Charge Controller(s), XW SCP, and XW AGS)
Wi-Fi/Ethernet module with 10/100 Base-T or 802.11 b/g
Can be configured to send energy and alarm reports via email
Graphical interactive solar monitoring software
Embedded web page for configuring the Gateway and upgrading inverter firmware
16 megabytes of storage

I Connect Therefore I Am: Connectivity and Networking in Bodies, Technologies, Communities, and Selves

brendan — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:33:05 +0000

Connecting demonstrates in a very real sense the ways in which human “being”, culture and technology cannot be understood separately, but as always bound up with each other. This paper explores the ways in which our culturally mediated understandings of human selfhood, materiality and community shape the development and enactment of technological connection and connectivity. Connections, both inside and outside of our bodies, involve growth, existence and functionality on the one hand whilst simultaneously impacting on the production of subjectivity on the other. Mapping bodies, movement and systems of exchange foregrounds the centrality of connection to human life. Connection is about people and meanings. Identifying the inseparable flows and networks of both developing technologies and developing selves can help to productively explore the meanings and importance of connection and connectivity. [...]

(excerpt from article by Anthony Lambert, Macquarie University)

Reconstruction 5.1 Winter 2005.

Google Friend Connect Announced

brendan — Thu, 15 May 2008 00:59:06 +0000

Tonight at Campfire One at the Googleplex (http://code.google.com/campfire/), Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) will announce a preview release of Google Friend Connect, a service that helps website owners grow traffic by enabling any site on the web to easily provide social features for its visitors.
Google Press Center: News Announcement http://www.google.com/friendconnect