Of iPads, Air Video, and Twitter…

For those who have been following our @uwinnipegDCE_IT Twitter account, you know that we have been getting a number of requests about doing iPhone/iPad/Macintosh-related seminars. We are listening and looking into them.

We often get questions from students, staff, and friends about “How do I…” and we do our best to find some answers for them. Last week, someone asked “How do I stream movies from my iMac to my iPad?” Good question. I threw it on our Twitter account and within minutes, Andy Oliver of Great Big Apps gave us an answer: Air Video.

Air Video, he says, is an app on your PC or Mac that lists your sharable video folders that you can stream via WiFi to an iPad or iPhone.

He’s right. This app is designed for both iPhone and iPad, and works exactly as advertised. I have been running it all weekend, streaming video to both devices at the same time without any problems.

There is a limited free version as well as a full paid version. For $3, it’s well worth it.

You see, my friend purchased a 16GB WiFi iPad. With his music and photos, there wasn’t much room for left over for a video library. Now, with apps like Air Video (and others, I am sure), he doesn’t have to worry about that space limitation.

One of the suggestions on Twitter was to offer regular, three-hour seminars on how to use everyday technology items like smart phones, personal consumer devices, and their computers. Perhaps something like a 15-minute demo on how to share video could become part of one of those seminars.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

Related Links:

• Air Video
• Great Big Apps

University of Winnipeg Links:

• UWinnipeg DCE Information Technology Seminars

A course in gaming? Are you serious?

Yes, a university course in serious gaming!

Nintendo, X-Box, Wii, Playstation: all gaming systems, all billion-dollar companies that drive an entire economy that stretches further than I am sure any of us can even imagine.

I own a Wii, a PSP, and a Gameboy – that is just with one kid. Imagine how many gaming systems are owned by larger families and then the amount of actual games they own for each of those systems… mind-boggling to the say the least.

So… with such a huge industry that is so ingrained within the ‘Gen Next’ culture, the potential is endless. However, the talent to sustain and grow that industry needs to be developed.

Over a year ago I had a meeting with a great friend of mine, Khal Shariff (Twitter, Facebook). Khal is a former University of Winnipeg ISSD student that went on to great success, while always remaining loyal to his UWinnipeg DCE roots. He started a project called ‘Project Moonwalk‘.

Project Moonwalk is a game, a serious game! It is an online game and simulation that allows us to walk in the footsteps of the Apollo Missions and beyond. It was released to elementary schools across Canada, if I recall correctly, to over thirty thousand kids! The premise is to teach kids about science, math and physics in a fun environment.

This is the entire premise behind serious games, kind of like hiding vegetables in other foods. It is good for the kids but they don’t even know it.

Khal and I had this amazing idea to develop a certificate that is comprised of courses designed to prepare skilled and experienced developers for employment in the Serious Games Industry (Game Developer Stream). It also includes a set of theory and pedagogical courses designed to prepare educators to use and understand the new world of game-based learning, the re-purposing of games for use in education, and the nature, structure and elements of game play and game design (Educators Stream). Out of that we developed the Serious Games Summer Camp.

This summer we hope to spark some imaginations and inspire some youths to consider this industry as a viable career path though the Serious Games Summer Camp. The camp is for youths 15 years of age and over and runs for two weeks, Mon to Fri from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The camp is scheduled to run July 19-30, 2010 and will be delivered by Khal Shariff and his company Project Whitecard.

Project Whitecard is currently working on a simulation (aka: Serious Game) for NASA! The camp is sure to be spectacular with the final day ending with a LAN Games Tournament for all the participants.

The camp includes the following:

• Learn the video game design process as practiced in the industry today.
• Develop essential skills.
• Join a development team.
• Build a playable game.
• Create a professional presentation.
• Special events include LAN gaming tournaments.
• One scholarship will be awarded towards the Serious Games Certificate.

For the full scoop on this amazing camp, visit the UWinnipeg DCE Serious Games Camp outline.

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Stevi Dram, Director
Information Technology
University of Winnipeg Division of Continuing Education
Tel: (204) 982-1168
Email: s.dram@UWinnipeg.ca
Web: dce.UWinnipeg.ca
Web: dce.UWinnipegCourses.ca

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Related Information Technology Links:

• UWinnipeg DCE Serious Games Certificate
• UWinnipeg DCE Serious Games Camp
• UWinnipeg DCE Information Technology Courses

Other Related Links:

• http://www.ProjectWhitecard.com
• http://ProjectMoonWalk.com
• http://www.SeriousGames.ca
• http://www.SeriousGames.org

Privacy… Facebook… Facebook… Privacy…

Five years ago these two topics would have never converged but now they seem to be all over the news and on many people’s minds. Just how private are your Facebook posts? How private is your personal information? How private are your pictures? Do they really stay somewhere in cyberspace forever?

I wondered those very same things and contemplated how much of my life I want others to know. I don’t mind my close friends knowing certain things but, geez, do I really have over 500 close friends? I think not!

The last time Facebook installed a new privacy feature I went into my account settings and basically set all personal items (pictures, cell numbers, what I like to do, etc.) to a customized setting so that only I can view them. I did leave a few albums viewable to my friends only and am very conscious of what is in those albums.

I was spurred to do this when I discovered that if you are tagged in a picture that all the friends of the person who tagged you and any other people tagged in the photo can then get access to your information. I also noticed that once the new settings took effect I was able to view people’s profiles/pictures/walls that weren’t even my friends. I must admit I did some snooping but all for research, I assure you. 😉

The gist of what I think is this: Facebook is what you make of it (shoulder shrug). If you feel like you want your life to be on display for the world to see, this is your vehicle. If you want to simply connect and share with friends, be sure your account settings are configured correctly. If you are super-sensitive about your private life and live in terror of identity theft and alien attacks, then just stay off.

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Stevi Dram, Director
Information Technology
University of Winnipeg Division of Continuing Education
Tel: (204) 982-1168
Email: s.dram@UWinnipeg.ca
Web: dce.UWinnipeg.ca
Web: dce.UWinnipegCourses.ca

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Related Information Technology Links:

• UWinnipeg DCE Technology Edge Seminars:
  Facebook and Privacy… What You Should Know

Other Related Links:

Making Control Simple by Mark Zuckerberg

When we started Facebook, we built it around a few simple ideas. People want to share and stay connected with their friends and the people around them. When you have control over what you share, you want to share more. When you share more, the world becomes more open and connected. Today, I want to share some thoughts on how we’ve evolved to this point, what we’re doing now to give you more control, and what you can expect from us going forward.

Why Facebook’s privacy war is not over by Pete Cashmore, CNN

With the announcement of “simpler” privacy settings this week, Facebook must surely hope that its torturous privacy debacle is drawing to a close. It’s not. Although Facebook’s updates may defuse this latest privacy bomb, this is merely a temporary cease-fire: The company’s long-term goals will inevitably see it sparring with privacy advocates again in the not-too-distant future.

Latest Facebook fix : CTV News Channel: Carmi Levy, technology expert

The new plan for Facebook’s privacy settings could be the last chance for the social networking site to hold on to many of its users who are fed up with the company’s attitude towards personal information.