More QR codes sneaking out

So - found this site - www.zazzle.com/muzzle_blast_tshirt-235697434247807090

and there is a QR code on the back of the shirt. The program I am using is having a hard time capturing the QR code - so not sure if it is the same - but I'll find a way ;)

On the flip side - if you want a cool Tshirt : )

Transmedia Classroom -

Read over this interesting post on transmedia and the classroom transmythology.com/2010/10/05/the-transmedia-classroom-of-tomorrow

Left a comment (posted here too)

MY comment

very nice post on a topic I am very interested in - I am teaching for the first time this year a curriculum I wrote for Juniors and Seniors in high school generically labeled Environmental Literacy and Transmedia education - yes I snuck in a course in my school that uses transmedia and other concepts and actually lists those in the curriculum content ;) I teach environmental awareness AND transmedia concepts (aka how to navigate content across platforms and to build understand and story as you go, yes I see education as nothing more than many stories to be told and learned ;-)

Your post, IMO, is only the tippy, tippy top of a very exciting and dangerous iceberg (Titanic analogies inserted here).

Game Mechanics in education has actually been around for a bit, but as with other industries, is just now gaining a larger awareness. Our school was fortunate to have Dr. Rebecca Hines come and speak and she discussed game mechanics and I know she was planning on taking her sabbatical to research this more. Florida now has the virtual K-12 program and she discussed some of the curriculum and ARG structured content figures in many of the programs. So there are lots of examples out there, kinda, sorta (insert the what is transmedia discussions here :P

But then, you move to the rural, smaller districts such where I teach and I get hunh and blank stares (from the students, not just the teachers) and oh all those sites are filtered, we just signed AUP agreements that we can not engage in any social media type of interaction with students and, well, everything in many ways associated with transmedia is VERBOTEN in the classroom (We have these standards that have to be met and curriculum we have to follow what do you mean allowing the "user" to contribute and participate ala participatory culture we have to get all this in and have students pass the test)

And digital literacy, digital etiquette and ethics are lacking in all aspects (students/staff/administrators/parents) and that makes for all those sensational news stories that scares an educator back into the closet and away from non-traditional media and content delivery strategies.

And I could go on, I have been working on putting out there what I am doing and trying to look for others doing what I do (not just the ok this is an idea but the hard, cold activities and examples and content because today's teachers are so buried they need that more than the show and tell on what this is type of professional development) - So, I'll stop, for now, but transmedia navigation, the New media literacy skills and the like are very exciting topics for me.... I hope this stirs up many conversations and I look forward to listening and maybe even participating

Ok, damn I missed it - World of Depleted QR

ok so apparently I missed the hidden QR code for a hidden trailer - it was not in the video trailer but hidden on the WoD website - which means - when I get back from camping I will look over the web site :p drat... on a side note, the swirled QR code is kinda psychedelic - lol

www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/photo.php?pid=579139&fbid=164849483525183&id=114025395274259://

WEIRD foreshadowing QR codes are following me

Ok so I posted about World of Depleted QR codes yesterday and then today this comes out from Google and it has been discovered there is a QR Easter egg code associated with it...

Wow - weird convergences are always freak-a-leeky

Blog on the new service

googlesocialweb.blogspot.com/2010/09/google-url-shortener-gets-website.html

Tweet about the easter egg

from @mattcutts - Secret goo.gl easter egg: take a link like http://goo.gl/LFwS and add ".qr" to get a QR code! See http://goo.gl/LFwS.qr

World of Depleted - QR Codes

Ok so I am collecting QR Codes associated with World of Depleted - what do they mean and has anyone else found any or have ideas on their meaning?


1 - This half was revealed at Gavin's journal -worldofdepleted.com/Gavin/




2 - Through an email contact with Gavin around the 17th, this QR code brought up a question - who are the neo-palidins (or is it paladins) - I thought it was the complete part of the half code, but the blocking seems different - so perhaps Gavin's journal code is not yet revealed





3 - I replied to the email and a few days later, Gavin sent another email with only a QR code -




4. The new teaser trailer for World of Depleted: Day 419 www.youtube.com/user/WorldofDepleted had a QR code (a little tilted as I captured it from the movie) - it seems to be the same that was sent to me by Gavin....




5. I received this badge and also have the file to make it a t-shirt transfer today (anyone want a copy? Make a cool t shirt and embrace the secret code of well whatever this is.... ;)







Now, the question I have - is there anything more hidden in these codes? Or are they pieces leading to other doorways? And am I missing any?

Does anyone know how to replicate QR codes or such? I am going to try flipping the half piece and maybe making a mirror image, but I suspect that will not work........ hmmmm

World of Depleted - very cool swag

OK so got an awesome email that included this nifty badge (I am attempting to put it on my blog and everywhere else too) :P as well as some neat transfers that I hope to put to good use as soon as I get a few free minutes.

I am still trying to find the little Easter Eggs left hiding in the words and pictures and videos, and I am learning a lot as I research topics I never would have otherwise - GAH there is a lot out there - sooo much to explore, so little time to journey

World of Depleted - a curious symbol

So watching the teaser trailer for World of Depleted: Day 419 - www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjonIswzO44

around 20 seconds in a symbol flashes on the screen






In trying to figure out if this has anything to do with the message in the QR code shown in the trailer and the Neo-Palidins (or is it a paladin... :)

I am currently favoring that perhaps there is a link to the following (image from http://rediscoveringthebible.com/ )





This is the Chi-Ro cross and has many possible connections and ideas. In Gavin's journal there are some musings on the Knight Templars and such... so, this could be an interesting link

But still looking for a good link or image with the cross in a circle - thoughts?




lastly - just for fun, wouldn't it be a hoot if that symbol was related to the anarchy one hehe

Environmental Science and Transmedia Class - update

The new school year is about to begin (next week) and the class I wrote combining the concepts of Environmental Science with transmedia will be offered. I want to document, as best as possible, how things go with the course as well as work on ideas associated with the overall concept.

In addition, I hope to collect resources and ideas as I go along.

That said, I welcome any and all ieas and comments - I'll probably move the longer, more detailed blogs to the transmedia in education blog, but keep notifications here.

As a reminder - here is the curriculum - issuu.com/docwho2100/docs/environ_lite_and_transmedia_edu

and here is the other blog - transmediaeducation.blogspot.com/

Cowgirl Up! A new webseries project

Just found this project - take a look and help spread the word

FROM THE PROJECT SITE - Calling all Cowgirls!! Wanna see funny and hot girls riding horses, shooting guns and playing cowgirl? Hell Yeah! Then here's your chance to help produce an all girl western webseries! From the writers and producers who brought you 3Way, LadyCops, South of Nowhere and Wave Babes, comes an all girl comedy western webseries "Cowgirl Up."



www.tellofilms.com/content/project-description/cowgirl

Creation of a new villian

so my writing friend and I have come up with a new villain "The Tea Sipper" - guard your tea - the Tea Sipper may slurp when least expected - and of course the bad puns are continuing as we "milk" this idea to death - how did it start?

I am contemplating giving up my ice teas I get while out so I can support this neat webseries (more to come on that in another post)

but I made a bad goof about saying I don't purchase all my tea and so I am a secret tea sipper going through places to sneak a slurp from other's teas


and on other topic

I like many of the thoughts the author brings up - maybe we all should think about how culture is changing - http://bit.ly/d9v7wF

Numbers

Whew - numbers are always out there and have interesting patterns and swirls

I passed 100,000 miles this week

My websites all passed "numbers" in terms of viewers

I am almost 40

and well I could go on - what numbers are important to you and why?

Katrina Interactive site

very awesome project and really uses videos/map/photos and interaction well, the story is right there for you to touch

http://projects.usatoday.com/news/katrina/#/prologue/epigraph/a-perfect-hurricane

hmm is this a map for gay marriage rights???

history repeats? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_miscegenation.svg

I am moving into Tilt the Town!!!

YAY I got my moving papers for TilttheTown! http://tiltthemovie.wordpress.com/tilt-the-town/ I am a full fledged resident now ;)

I am red 42 on the map - backer 142 (give me a holler @geologylady on twitter anytime and come "visit" me).

Where is this town and what does that mean?

Wellllll - there was this Kickstarter Project (see here www.kickstarter.com/projects/PhilHolbrook/tilt-an-independent-thriller-from-brainerd-mn) to fund this movie called TILT.

Reading through the description and watching the little video gave me a heads up this looked to be a very cool movie. They just needed some crowdfunding help - ala Kickstarter. Now these are not just people begging for money and holding out hats (well maybe they do that too, I am not sure what they do when not insanely busy getting ready for the movie and creating a whole world ala TILTtheTown and not sure I would want to know what they do :-P anyhoos....

One of the beauties of Kickstarter is you get something for helping out (I guess the age of just doing a good deed and giving something away for nothing is gone - but I really like my bio so I am overlooking the whole doing something for the better of man mentality - gimme fun bio - oh yes where was I....

Kickstarter has levels you can set up so when someone backs your project - they can earn a reward - it really is an awesome idea, kinda (but that is another rambling post another day and goes back to the getting something for nothing idea). For TILT - one of the levels awarded the following "All of the above and you will get a creative, personalized biography and honorary citizenship in the virtual Tilt: The Town, where you will get to meet and learn about the characters, creators, and other contributors."

THAT IS THE MOST COOL BEANS AWESOME SAUCE PART ;)

Not only did the creators make a swell movie, not only are they showing behind the scenes stuff and talking to people and fans and such, they are bringing people INTO the story universe (the buzz word here folks is transmedia, but who needs buzzwords) THIS IS COOLNESS.

Not only did I sign up, but I forced, begged, coerced, blackmailed, bribed and well ended up having some of my writing group friends sign up too (I actually gave them the bio as a gift, which I do like giving unique, weird gifts and is not a bio in a town a bit... different ;)

Why?

Well here is the true beauty of a viral, transmedia, this kinda project - one person likes it and finds ways to bring others into it; they want to share the love, share the experience. For my writing group friends, we create characters and RPGs (role playing games) - we write these characters as part of our group - have done so for years. Now we have someone else creating a character for us but tied to other characters and tied to a larger universe. Very slick and....

Hello that is the format of all of the RPGs that have ever existed.

Of course everyone has a small view of what RPG is like (Say Dungeons and Dragon or the like and I bet ya a fiver people immediately conjure up the typical young male or else Felicia Day (ok that was an inside gaming joke)

But - where was I - oh yeah TILTtheTown is an RPG, kinda (hope the writers do not ever find this and smack me for calling this that) but it is not a fantasy, science fiction world - it is... Brainerd MN - it is something that takes the fun of a social game and creating a character and interacting, but springs it from fantasy, war, and the "traditional" RPG game themes.

Plus - it gives people who are interested in TILT a topic of common discussion and way to "socialize" and have fun - the TILT creators are "kickstarting" the conversation for people to help bring fans together (I had to have a semi pun reference to KS, you know I did...)

My friends and I at least intend to write and RPG and play some once we get the bios - we are wacky like that - maybe some of the other town residents will want to write and play too (some interesting side twitter conversations have started and I think there are other items floating around too check out #TILTheTown on twitter and they are on facebook too)

I write fanfiction too. Many have done so. These bios are a great way for a creator to encourage that fan participation and buy in, yet still retain some creative control and canon of their storyworld (another blog for another time but that is a big sticky wicket in how fans and fanfiction and fan created content is viewed by the original creator ala copyright, intellectual property and all those wonderful discussions). Many properties create canon RPG sets that allow people to participate in the storyworld - IMO that's kinda what the writers/creator have done here (and they have done ALOT of work do check it out if nothing else for the beauty of the design and creativity of the writers http://tiltthemovie.wordpress.com/tilt-the-town/)

I think extensions of projects like these are interesting - they are very very time consuming from a writers perspective I am sure, but they are doing something, in a sneaky neat way, that has gone on for a long time in covert fashion, but may be finally ready to take the next step to a larger audience - creating game/story extension of an initial tory.

so anyhoos - a very awesome idea, project, story and come give me a visit in TILTtheTown :)

A neat contest and further extension of transmedia uses

Check out this awesome new "contest" from the Tilt movie people - tiltthemovie.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/tilts-indie-movie-cameo-contest/

A little glimpse from the site - "Y’all ready for this? The TILT team is happy to announce…a new contest! Within our indie thriller TILT, we’ve included a few scenes where characters watch movies. What does this mean for you if you’re an indie film maker? It means we want to showcase YOUR movie in OUR movie."

Check out the link for more specifics - this is yet another cool way to bring people "into" the movie - nice!!!!!

Thinking about New orleans and a couple neat sites

so thinking about my upcoming birthday trip and also found this tool: zoom.it/pages/about/

It creates quick link to photos and such you can zoom in and out. For example - zoom.it/yygR

Also - the example photo I used came from this neat site www.virtualtourist.com/ (here is specific photo link - members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/a7614/

A couple of songs

One of the people I am writing with brought up a song by which got me listening to her for tonight. Wanted to share a couple of her songs.

First up - Invincible, take a moment and listen to the lyrics of this song - if you have someone to sing it to - go and do it, if not, may you find someone someday you can : )

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmAc-ET8J_E&feature=related

And there is www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX98DqGd2fY&feature=channel - the video is cool - it shows people stuck in ruts - repeating the same actions - and the opening line - When at a fork in the road... words I've been thinking about a lot but the chorus is advice for anyone, sometimes all you can do is give a shoulder....

but anyhoos - go give a listen, go outside, look at the clouds or stars and just, listen ;)

Where did July go

Phew - finished training staff for the summer bridging program - showed them the Drive animated video features Dan Pink's talk on motivation (I highly recommend that video) - the training seemed to go well. The third unit is forensics so I will have another neat crossover between work and the writing and other fun stuff I love to do.

Summoned for Jury duty for sept 27 - I served not too long ago and that I during school so seeing if it can be deferred.

Trying to get the online Oceanography course set - we switched to a new learning management system called Desire 2 Learn and have to do a complete conversion. I use wikis and blogs heavily in my course and they are having major issues with that.

The moodle server at my high school I having issues so we have to reset and redo

And need to start creating the Blackboard course for my Earth science and GIS classes at the one community college and the physical science and environmental class at the other community college. I will be using FOUR different learning management systems next school year - Oi!!!! and ugggg and I am so going to forget how to do something in one of them ;P I have different colored post it notes for different systems pasted all over the place

One month and the madness begins :)

still working on the transmedia resources site - found a few cool projects to back and working on writing - and.......

and taking a breath now, going for a walk, and just thinking

rambling thoughts about wishes and potential ;)

TILT - support this project

I am asking everybody I know to go check out this project - www.kickstarter.com/projects/PhilHolbrook/tilt-an-independent-thriller-from-brainerd-mn

It has a great transmedia/crowdfunding/just awesome piece to it in the concept of TILT Town and being able to become "part" of the story

The idea of having a "character" in TILT Town is awesome along with the concept of the story - They have to meet their goal by August 6th or else everything is refunded (That is the way Kickstarter works). So hurry and go and support - then we all can "live" in Tilt Town : ) Check this link for more - tiltthemovie.wordpress.com/tilt-the-town/

I'll copy a bit from the website's summary - "all started with a nightmare - my nightmare. And now I'm turning it into a feature length thriller that explores the question: WHAT WOULD YOU DO FOR YOUR FAMILY?

THE STORY: Paul hasn't connected with his daughter for over 10 years, but when their world is turned upside down by an unthinkable act, he has to decide what's more important: doing the right thing or setting things right? TILT is about revenge & forgiveness, betrayal & redemption, and second chances...small town style.

THE LOCATION: TILT will be filmed in my hometown of Brainerd, Minnesota, where many generous friends and strangers have already pledged essential services that are making this movie possible.

THE COLLABORATORS: In addition to myself, there are a few other core TILT collaborators you should know. Filmmakers / screenwriters Julie Keck and Jessica King (also known as King is a Fink - www.kingisafink.com) are sharing writing and producing duties, with Jessica also stepping up to try on the newly coined PMD (Promotion / Marketing / Distribution Manager) title. Cinematographer Jeremy Doyle (http://vimeo.com/user944757) has promised to make everything look pretty and scary and (sometimes) pretty scary.

THE MUSIC: We held a contest on our TILT website for a composer, and the winner was the very talented Bill Finn (www.billfinnmusic.com). Bill got started by providing the music for our TILT pitch video, and we're excited to see what he comes up with for the movie.

THE PERKS: When you contribute to this film project, you not only get the satisfaction of helping me fulfill my dream, you'll also get perks ranging from DVDs, to film credit, to sneak peeks at special short films that give you insight into the characters of TILT. If there's a perk that looks fun to you, go for it! We'll make it worth your while.

transmedia realtime events - some thoughts

I watched something very interesting yesterday.

Something I have seen in a few other places and disguises; something I wonder if I shall see more of.

I jumped in on the Flynn Lives – Tron legacy ARG yesterday as a page on the Flynn Lives site was counting down to zero. I was sooooo excited and in high anticipation.

When it reached zero – a couple of things happened – an "access'"gate appeared (not what I want to talk about) and the twitter stream/facebook wall for the operationtron – Flynn Lives ARG began transmitting.

I was like ohhhh cool – this is real time interaction. That right there was the first rub – what about all the people sleeping, or working, or not at a digital device?

Eh, ah well, their loss, right?

On facebook, people were starting to comment and get excited. Then, as the event unfolded, the mood of the group changed.

It turns out instructions were tweeted for people to go to certain locations in San Diego and photograph themselves with different "characters" from the Tron movie – AWESOME – yet – I am not at comic-con in San Diego

And neither were the people talking on twitter and facebook. As the event continued, the comments, from many, soured (not sure if they are still there – but take a gander). People began to complain and sulk and all sorts of variations on the "I am not in San Diego so this whole thing sucks.

Now, a few comments tried to remind people to enjoy the event and live "vicariously" through those actually fortunate to play (which when it was happening no one who was playing was checking in, I am sure they were busy, but we had no one to live vicariously through).

Also, many people have left because the "game" was to hard to follow or solve. They could not go along with the "treasure" hunt, so they had no way to sink into the story.

The comments, reactions and mood reminded me of some other events and "things" I have noticed. In many ways, people

1. Are greedy and selfish in that they want to be the player and have a hard time just watching and enjoying the "collective" mindset. That seeing someone else "win" is not good enough and mind very much in filling the role of passive observer.

2. People like some level of predictability and to be able to move along with the story.

Many of the people once they found it was not something they could do, left, or checked out, pretty much leaving the "experience". Frustration and jealousy will be what they think about with this event and many may even not really turn into other events.

I think back to my "attempt" to play along with "The Beast" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beast_%28game%29 – yes I was one of the first there, but only to watch. I never got a chance to solve the puzzles, or participate in the first line events. Plus, many were late to the game so they could not play, or certain things had been opened and they could not recreate the experience.

Now I have an odd quirk; I like to watch people play video games. I am often content watching someone else play the game and get through the "puzzle" (whether it be dexterity or mental) and seeing the story unfold. Myst, Half-Life, Bioshock, Red Dead Redemption, etc, I take the passenger seat.

BUT there is a difference between that and the Flynn Lives event, I get to help out. The "driver" is doing the work, but when he/she gets stuck, I can jump in and suggest things to try and kinda "drive" by proxy. At least I am still "involved" and making a difference.

I have seen these flashes of "me" or "green-meanies (jealousy)" or "if I can't play, I won't stay" many times with these type of events. This attitude creates a negative perception and often pulls people away. I remember reading about Lance Weiler's great events surrounding Head Trauma (arincrumley.com/diy-guru-and-pioneer-lance-weiler-head-trauma-case-study) but as I read more and more, I was like, "Well that sucks I could not be there" and I found I missed a lot of the story and reading about it just was not the same. The Rocky Horror Movie falls in a similar vein, but at least I can still watch the movie and not miss too much, although the live show does add a level to the experience.

Then there is predictability. I was watching "Hot in Cleveland" yesterday (ok yes I admit I like the show and you may be going OMG where did a reference to Hot in Cleveland come from and has what? to do with Tron…). And as the story progressed, I knew two characters were going to end up together. I think everyone knew, two of the other characters even had a punch line that they had bets and knew it would happen. Yet, I kept watching and I laughed and I enjoyed the show. Why? Because I could predict what was happening and could follow along and it was not hard to do. I enjoyed seeing the reactions and just visually seeing what my mind had already begun to set up. And, I was not disappointed, so I enjoyed the experience.

A really good blog by Scott Walker hits on this topic as he discusses transmedia and collaborative gutters (in a sorta connected way take a look here, it is a good read) - thismonkeycantype.com/blog/2010/07/19/the-narrative-and-collaborative-gutter-of-transmedia/

I understand that not everyone can participate in a real time event. And unless you have deeeeepppp pockets you can only have so many real time events. But, when planning a story around an event – there are many woes and issues you should make sure to address.

1. Real time events are awesome and something a transmedia project can use to enrich the story – but negative reactions can lose your audience. Finding ways to bring along "passive" observers is as crucial as making a dynamite event for those playing. The Regis and Kelly show (I do pull in odd connections and references, don't I ;) has this trivia game they do – and they pick a person from the audience as well as a person on the phone – this ties these two people together and even though only one is playing, at least the other now has a vested interest.

2. ARG/Transmedia/Real Time events at this time serve mainly a small, focused, game-oriented crowd. If you want to up the ante to the masses, you need predictability and a way to make sure the story includes a way to help bring along the crowd (again I give a shout out to Scott Walker's article http://thismonkeycantype.com/blog/2010/07/19/the-narrative-and-collaborative-gutter-of-transmedia/) Although some might argue these events are NOT meant for the masses....

3. Late to the Party – not everyone lives on the game schedule. If your event is a one time shot, that's fine, just calculate that in as a piece of your story that may not have impact. If possible, design the event to have an after-live. Rocky Horror – sure you missed the Saturday night event, but there are plenty of guides and ways to help you recreate your own showing or a chance to find another showing.

Speaking of, does anyone know if Lance Weiler is planning more Head trauma events (ala the traditions of Rocky Horror and having it be "part" of the story almost as a given) – I would love to not just participate but host a Head Trauma event. Think one of those murder mystery parties to the Nth degree ;) - seee there is a way to do these things – turnkey the whole event – then fans can recreate and well – that is transmedia viral spread of the story – how delightful!!!!!

4. Half-Life and sustainability – one of my many interests runs to preserving these narratives and how they will stand the test of time. More and more digital mediums are disappearing and without being archived. That means when the forum closes, there goes your story. And how do you capture these events. I will read today reports about the event and go, oh cool and damn wish I'd been there, and then poof on I move. The richness of Flynn's Arcade to building the Tron Legacy storyworld may be lost to me (or maybe not, perhaps the creators have a few ideas up their glowing sleeves ; )

But regardless, a lot of transmedia properties are disappearing, or at least being… whittled down (which will, IMO, show the true difference between a transmedia story and others. A pure transmedia story does not necessarily need all of the parts to still reach the core story. The parts just expand the storyworld. so if one or two are "lost" or not experienced, a person can still walk away satisfied and not lacking.

Hmmm, does that mean in many transmedia worlds, the world has the potential/danger of becoming smaller in the over time, not bigger?