125,000 years ago, there was an app for that...

Jf_tool
Hand axes from Jebel Faya, UAE (Photograph courtesy Science/AAAS)

The 2006 discovery of Paleolithic toolkits at Jebel Faya, UAE make several good points (sorry):

  • The hand-chipped flints and axes differ very little in intent than the custom-coded applications created today.
  • These toolsets of Neolithic apps, fashioned for high usability and function, define a culture as much as the Apple App Store toolset defines ours, Angry Birds that we are.
  • The assembly of apps into toolkits or other configurations may well spur unexpected consequences in discovery and social evolution.  In the case of the Jebel Faya toolkit, its discovery has revealed that anatomically modern humans (AMH) migrated out of Africa 35,000+ years earlier than previously thought.  In our own 16th century, it was Gutenberg who assembled several variant apps to create the printing press, which resulted in all of human knowledge recorded up to that point being printed in just 50 years, in turn creating greater access to information and the need for more content.  

Short of fart sound effects and virtual beer, an unlikely combination of apps available today could trigger that next cultural tipping point. 

 

Tagged apps paleolithic

"Luke, I am your toast."

Dv-toaster

Puzzling artifact for future alien archeologists #1.

Tagged artifact

Smartypants R Us: IgniteBaltimore 3 Videos

Amanda Schwarz: : "You Can Drink Better Tea"

Will Noel : "Eureka! The Archimedes Palimpsest"

Matt Castner : "The Case for Being a Generalist"

Who knew so many people from all walks of life could convey so much in just five minutes? Humbling experience for a "professional communicator" like moi.  These are three of my favorites (Note to Matt Castner: Awed!), but others just posted to YouTube.  And you can learn more about IgniteBaltimore here.

Why I heart Jane McGonigal...

via boingboing.net

Because she is one of the most human people I know.

Because she taught me that happiness can be a science.

And because I believe she can save the world.

Learn more about Jane and her projects at avantgame .


Meet the Transmoderns

 

Bird

This week, April 2-5, Baltimore's Transmodern Festival morphs into its sixth year, promising "four days of avant performance, installation, sound, film, mayhem, ectasy, and radical culture" at several locations throughout downtown, though the epicenter will be at the H&H Building on West Franklin, where Floristree, the WHOLE Gallery, and Gallery Four are based.

Why go? As a communicator, I'm keen to learn how others, especially artists, communicate, whether they fail or succeed.  Given the talents of the Transmodern's curators, the success-to-failure ratio at the fest is pretty high, if not irrelevant. And it's the opportunity to discover how diverse and wonderfully nutzo Baltimore's arts & performance scene truly is, where Picasso collides with Harpo. Ain't no place else like it, 'cept maybe here.

I'm also going because two of my favorite Baltimore artists, E. Liz Downing (who created the painting above) and Michael Willis, will be performing in their band, Lurch and Holler. If you haven't, for God's sake go see them and be reborn.  Amen.

 

Why is your presentation not a conversation?

Conversation-pic

That's what Cameron Barry and I will be asking you at tomorrow morning's "AMA in the AM" session in downtown Baltimore.  We've got some terrific ideas and tools to share with you, so you can manage your next presentation like the passionate, intelligent person you are. And you'll get a sneak preview of our new-new communications consultancy, i2i Conversations.  Hope to see you there!

DETAILS:

It’s Not A Presentation. It’s A Conversation

DATE
Wednesday, March 25th

EVENT TIME
7:47am -8:15am Registration/Continental Breakfast
8:15am – 9:30am Presentation

EVENT DESCRIPTION
It’s a dirty little secret we all recognize—most corporate or sales presentations, especially those in PowerPoint, are awful. So how can you transform tedium into engagement, and even a real conversation with your audience?

Join conversational marketing pros Cameron Barry and David Beaudouin of i2i Conversational Communications as they pull aside the PowerPoint curtain to reveal meaningful new strategies and tools to make your next presentation memorable.

PRESENTERS
Cameron Barry has spent 20 years planning and executing public relations and marketing communications programs for corporate, technology, healthcare and non-profit clients in Baltimore and New York City. An award-winning writer, she specializes in developing messaging strategies for clients needing to reach multiple audiences using a broad range of traditional and social media channels. Prior to teaming with David Beaudouin on i2i Conversations, she was director of public relations for Planit, an advertising agency in Baltimore. Cameron has also been a restaurant reviewer for the Baltimore Sun and Baltimore magazine.

As a marketing communications producer, David Beaudouin has worked on behalf of corporate and institutional clients for more than 24 years. Following employment at such top regional agencies as Gray Kirk VanSant and W.B. Doner, as well as at leading companies such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Maryland and CSX, he founded DB&C, a communications practice, in 1995. More recently, with partner Cameron Barry, he launched i2i Conversations, which offers communications solutions involving strategic planning and program implementation across a broad spectrum of traditional and social media.

COSTS
Professional AMA Members $20
Student AMA Members $20
Professional Non-Members $30
Student Non-Members $25

LOCATION
Morton’s Steakhouse
at the Sheraton Inner Harbor
300 S. Charles St
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-547-8255

PARKING INFO
Parking $5.00 at Sheraton Garage (Discount Voucher provided)

EVENT SPONSOR
Baltimore Business Journal

Friday Night Notes : "The Mother of All Funk Chords"

Being a fanboy of open-source music, this Friday night I'm listening to Kutiman's "ThruYOU," a mashup project where Kutiman orchestrated the instrumentations of unrelated YouTube videos. The results are, well, amazing:

http://thru-you.com/#/

http://www.myspace.com/kutiman

Last Chance to Play, Austin...

Sxswbingo_page_1

SXSWi wraps today--as the high hummingbird whine of wi-fi dies away and the light-sensitive hordes of music fans descend.

Tagged SXSW