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13 Sep 2011 00:43

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Culture: Angry Birds: Educational? Uh, sure, why the heck not?

  • That’s why it’s only natural that today’s more tech-savvy educators are recognising the potential of using games as a teaching device in their classrooms.
  • Ntombezinhle Modiselle, a South African teacher • Defending the use of technology in the classroom.  This teacher is trying to recognize the fact that “today’s learners are the gamer generation.” We kinda think that the Atlanta teacher using “Angry Birds” to teach velocity and acceleration might be taking it a little far, though. What’s next, urban planning through “SimCity”? (OK, OK, you’re right, that’s actually a good idea) World War II history through “Call of Duty”? Statistics through one of the “Final Fantasy” games? source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Mar 2011 01:17

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Tech: Great job, jerks: Twitter decides to block new third-party clients

  • Developers have told us that they’d like more guidance from us about the best opportunities to build on Twitter. More specifically, developers ask us if they should build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience. The answer is no.
  • Twitter platform team leader Ryan Sarver • Revealing that the company, which built itself on the back of third-party clients, will no longer allow new ones to crop up. However, the ones there can still operate – well, that is, as long as they uphold high standards set by the company. Hear that? That’s the chirp of a bird that got really arrogant after it learned how to fly. We’re sorry – third-party clients basically built this platform and for Twitter to change the game now seems completely uncool. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Jan 2011 11:14

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Tech: Apple’s Mac App Store: A cool concept, with caveats

  • So, look, the idea sounds cool. And we admit to be looking forward to checking it out. But at the same time, we totally understand why some developers might be freaking out. If the app store is successful at changing the behavior of Apple’s biggest die-hards, it could turn consumers used to spending $20-30 on a program into people who routinely complain that an app costs more than $2. But if this thing is a hit, just think of the scale it could have! So, as you browse through the 1,000+ apps on the store today, keep that in mind before you go too crazy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Jul 2010 11:20

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Tech: Microsoft resorts to paying developers to make mobile apps

  • Translation: We’re desperate to play with Google and Apple. In a pretty implicit admission that they’re playing catch-up, the company plans to pay developers to help give Windows Phone 7 an early push. Why this strategy? Well, some developers may not be willing to program for an untested platform if they’re not convinced people are going to use it. It’s a good idea for Microsoft, but they can only get away with it because they’re Microsoft. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jun 2010 11:20

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Tech: The Getty Images iPad app is full of photo-editing win

  • We mentioned this to our boy Charles Apple last night, but it needs to be emphasized. This app makes photo-editing – a job that once required people to spend hours looking at dull Web pages – significantly easier. We used it and found the interface impeccable – it’s just easier than clicking through page after page of photos. We approve. (Do this with iStockPhoto next, guys. Please? You own it. You could do it.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2010 00:28

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Tech: Limp Pulse: New York Times Company screws with awesome iPad app

  • The Pulse app is better than the NYT app. There, we said it. The New York Times didn’t put all of this money and time into an iPad app to see their hard work upstaged by a couple of upstarts. Which is why the Times’ lawyers sent Apple an angry letter asking them to pull the Pulse app – which Steve Jobs had big-upped just yesterday – because of the way it uses their RSS feeds. Apple took it down, and now it’s back up. But these guys have had a pretty miraculous ride. Some quick tidbits on that ride:
  • four number of weeks the app was developed by two Stanford students
  • #1 the app’s peak on the “paid apps” chart since its fairly recent release
  • yes the app has gotten a big wet kiss of a profile in the Times already source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 May 2010 09:56

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Tech: Apple sells a bunch of iPads really quickly, hits milestone already

  • 1M number of iPads
    sold     since its April 4 launch day
  • 12M number of iPad
    apps     getting used on
    the device
  • 1.5M number of digital
    books     getting read on
    the iPad source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

11 Apr 2010 21:05

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Tech: Twitter app developers starting to get annoyed by the mothership

  • When we launched, Twitter was incomplete, so developers rushed to fill those holes, but eventually we’re going to have to build a lot of features in because they should be there. We want to set those expectations.
  • Twitter co-founder and chief executive Evan Williams • Regarding the company’s push to build out that infrastructure that app developers had previously built out for the company. Now that the company’s large enough to buy or build some of those apps themselves, it’s causing a bit of nervousness amongst developers. Many are excited about/dreading Twitter’s Chirp conference this week as a result. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Apr 2010 16:22

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Tech: Does Apple have a feasible reason for blocking Flash-created apps?

  • Yes, apparently. It’s related to multitasking. As the nerd world went into a tizzy yesterday after realizing the nature of the iPhone’s new developer’s agreement, it appears that the main complaint – a clause seemingly written to block Adobe Flash-compiled apps – might have been been put in for multitasking-related reasons. Essentially, code not written directly for the iPhone may not act as anticipated with the new features, AppleInsider reports. In other news, Adobe’s SEC filing today essentially admitted Apple’s anti-Flash tactics could really hurt the company. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

07 Apr 2010 10:06

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Music, Tech: Do your legal MP3s have “secret” DRM? Some stores play dirty

  • Apple, Lala and Wal-Mart are culprits. Does the record industry have sights on putting the cat back n the bag? Despite the lack of digital rights management in nearly all of the online music stores, some embed your name in the file, something which could lead to backdoor digital rights management down the line – especially if cloud-based services like Lala (which we otherwise love) take off. Will the labels ever learn? And why are Apple, Wal-Mart and Lala enablers? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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