mscapers website launched
May 13, 2007 Posted by Clare in : Gaming, Bristol, Innovation , 1 comment so farOn 9 May HP’s mscapers website had its international launch in China, taking location-based experiences to the next level of sophistication, mscapers was originated by a team from HP labs in Bristol.
Eco-Doco - Call for Entries
May 9, 2007 Posted by Clare in : Bristol, Community Media, Media, Environment , add a commentAre you passionate about developing the documentary form to tell your story? Do you have an innovative documentary idea with a strong environmental core, rooted in the South West? Are you ready to work with a broadcaster to deliver that idea to a national audience? South West Screen, is looking for individuals who have the ambition and passion to produce a compelling documentary which will raise the profile of the region and develop their careers.
South West Screen, in partnership with Community Channel and Available Light, are providing up to three opportunities for directors based in the region each to make innovative half-hour TV broadcast documentary programmes about environmental issues within South West communities.
Find out more here. Deadline: 22 May 2007
Mapping the Urban Forest
Posted by Pete Ferne in : Bristol, Innovation, Environment, South West region , add a commentFollowing on from a recent Guardian article on the death of the urban tree I came across the San Francisco Urban Forest Mapping Project — a collaboration between the City of San Francisco’s Bureau of Urban Forestry and a local group called Friends of the Urban Forest.
In the past, San Francisco’s long-term urban forest planning was hindered because there was no way to share information, much less get the community involved. That’s all changed, thanks to a significant partnership effort between Friends of the Urban Forest, the City and County of San Francisco, and Autodesk. By working together and leveraging new technology – MapGuide Open Source – the project team has created an Urban Forest Map, which digitally pinpoints the location of each tree, maintains tree data in a consistent database, and offers web access to the tree data – key for maintenance and planting efforts. The community can get involved by posting photos and stories about their own trees that they plant and map online. With the launch of this collaborative effort and the support of the Mayor’s Office, a critical step has been taken to move San Francisco’s urban greening efforts forward.
It would be great to see something similar for Bristol and the Forest of Avon.
Shocking technology
May 8, 2007 Posted by Clare in : Innovation, Events, Technology , add a comment
‘A book I can use. I can take it in two hands and bash it over the heads of every techno-nerd, computer geek and neophiliac futurologist I meet.’ Simon Jenkins, The Guardian
David Edgerton, author of The Shock of the Old, makes an appearance at Watershed in the Festival of Ideas on 22 May at 6pm, to challenge the idea that we live in an era of ever increasing change, interweaving political, economic and cultural history to show what it means to think critically about technology and its importance.
Whereas standard histories of technology give tired old accounts of the usual inventions – planes, bombs – The Shock of the Old is based on a different idea. Its thrust is that for the full picture of the history of technology we need to know not about what a few people invented, but about what everyday people used – and when they actually used things, if it was a long time after invention. It therefore reassesses the significance of, for example, the Pill and IT, and shows the continued importance of technology such as corrugated iron and sewing machines.
Read more at ‘What Else Is New? How uses, not innovations, drive human technology’, Steven Shapin for the New Yorker.
