I’d buy it because I love programming gadgets and admittedly my own programmable thermostat is boring. I pulled a Ron PoPiel with mine: set it and forgot it! My wife overrode my settings because, according to her, I never got it right. I just didn’t want to heat a house we weren’t in, or at all most days… and she was cold!

This thermo-app claims to be programmed just by using over time and makes behavioural predictions based on previous use. Well that’s just awesome! Imagine a cold house never being my fault again! That’s worth something but $250?

The last idea that won me over was a seemingly unrelated Ignite talk by Treffyn Koreshoff about The Internet of Things. While the promotional material and presenation of the Nest Themostat was certainly appealing it was his talk that began convince me that this was something that would likely be worth investing in.

By inter connecting devices like thermostats and smart phones we begin to automate and generate meaningful communication between things. I’ve got to say – that felt dumb to write since were talking about the value of two machines talking but the result is what I take away. Reduced heating costs to me over time and in the long run reduced resource consumption.

I think this kind of technology will become common place in the home and office. Over time I think we’ll move from asking “why would you get this” to “whay didn’t you get one of those a long time ago?!”

Learn more at: Nest.com.

He’s already suggested that students do their home work early this week in anticipation of the big event.

This site, and I’m sure many others, will join Wikipedia for a period of self imposed censorship to draw attention to this issue.

Source: thenextweb.com

If you haven’t heard of him or his work I recommend the documentary featuring his work in education: Waiting For Superman.

No word yet if YouTube live streams will be available as VOD after they air [fingers crossed].

It turns out you can dynamically connect to your networked calendars to see you availability too!

Plus it will even mark tentative times for you so you don’t double book. Very handy!

Create and participate in meeting polls directly from your Doodle calendar view without the need to switch back and forth between your calendar.

Calendar Connect is a free Doodle service that requires a MyDoodle account.

Now you can manage multiple user accounts with just one: Google Chrome.

Note: this feature is (currently) only available in the beta version of the browser.

After learning about what SharePoint was capable of I began relating what I discovered though a presentation I titled: “What’s The SharePoint?”

This is a 1minute promo I created to generate interest and attendance for my talk.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in this product but it may be limited to the price.

The idea of a tablet is compelling but I still need a stronger use case before I buy one.

amazon.com/gp/product/B0051VVOB2

I love his vision and enthusiaism and this time he invite me to be a part of  the: 1st Annual Remote Communications CIO Conference.

For non-CIOs and Luddite’s this content may seem a bit ho-hum but I was enthralled to hear what his array of speakers had to say.

So much so that I actually responded to a question to the audience neglecting that I WAS THE CAMERMAN!

Talking about loosing yourself in the moment.
The 2 day conference was a great deal of fun and I was able to capture the whole experience and share it via Rigstar’s first YouTube Channel:

RigstarTV’s Channel – YouTube.
Each presenter did an additional 1on1 interview with Brent that serves as a great introduction to their keynote.

Here are two of my favorites.  Njoy!

One of the toughest things about sharing new technology is understanding how it relates to and individuals work and how it could help.

For that reason I called on my good friend Daryl Pamplin who happened to be a a social worker and social media user.

The immediate challenge we both faced was introducing ourselves and our topic as both were relatively unknown within this work group.

To address this we recorded a Skype conversation where we talked about our topics and mentioned how viewers could hear more by registering for the session. As a result – we filled the session!

First I asked my daughter to “stand still,” this is remarkably hard for toddlers.

Then I asked her to look at the camera and I got the shot.

Then I asked my son to do the same but it seemed to lack something…

So I asked him to pretend he was shooting lighting like the Emperor – got the shot.

They both asked to see the photos but had no idea what this had to do with Star Wars.

I explained that I would need to, “use my computer,” and would show them the results.

After sourcing a few production shots and slicing away in PhotoShop I created the these “never before seen scenes!”

I was asked to produce the live game pre-roll that featured the NRS sponsorship.

I wanted to make something that felt grand and TSN like but knew there was no time or budget to get real cameras in a real arena.

I’m a big fan of virtual camera and 2d sets – they assemble easier than real sets are are far more cost effective.

Being responsible for the audio production too I did take a short cut and cast myself  as the announcer

This invitation came on the heals of my personal advocacy presentation that demonstrated the core features of MS-SP for City staff.

City of Calgary prepares for future of citizen service delivery with help of SharePoint 2007, Office Communications Server 2007, and Office 2007

 

City of Calgary

The City of Calgary wants to provide access to city information and to city services at all times and in formats and on devices that are more convenient for citizens. The City also wants to lower the cost of providing information and delivering services. The Microsoft solution was chosen for Calgary.ca because it offered the functionality that the City required at a lower cost than competing offerings.

 

Being a customer with a full platform Enterprise Agreement, the City already had much of the licensing required to enable the content creation and workflow required internally to support the web presence. A solution based on SharePoint Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007 offered the most seamless integration with it its largely Microsoft based infrastructure and the Citizen Service Platform reduced both the cost and the development time.

 

This is a Video Only Case Study. Please be sure to view the available video for additional information.

via Microsoft Case Study: Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007 Standard CAL – City of Calgary.

To see the video visit: microsoft.com/casestudies and click on the image pictured above.

Additionally I was concerned that those who did RSVP would never find the room the day of because it was in an out of the way location.

My solution: a video to demonstrate how to get to the room and personally relate my topic with the tone and inflection that email would otherwise strip away.

With iPhone in hand I set out to nail this in one take!

The intent of each episode was to present headline news and encourage click through to the full story on the corporate intranet.

In addition to being a regular digest of details it also generated heightened interest for internal news stories.

This is the very first episode created to demonstrate what the program could be.

Doug Nouwen’s Voice Over Demo (MP3)
Click here to hear.

In exchange for helping, “…make your computer work better for you,” I asked viewers for a financial tip but insisted it go to the United Way.

 
9 videos City Tech Tips (Windows XP) by Doug Nouwen on YouTube

View the entire seires at youtube.com

After learning about what SharePoint was capable of I began relating what I discovered though a presentation I titled: “What’s The SharePoint?”

This is the full version of my presentation.

The idea was to relate the content of the existing Grapevine memo via a news style production. It featured a non traditional wide layout that was intended for play back on corporate IT within Windows Media Player

It serves as a visual summary showcasing what was done by animating the otherwise static media.

Hot Dogs showed US their skills and in turn we featured them in our monthly video showcase.
In addition to being seen online the final cuts were also shown in the day lodge at the park.

Downloads topped 25,000 plus and remain online at: youtube.com/user/CanadaOlympicPark

An alternate (longer) version was also produced – Jaxson: 1 Year in 1 Song.

Spooky’s Haunted House
Voice Over by Doug Nouwen
15s MP3 – Click to hear 

In-store promotional video with no audio.

I recreated elements of the broadcast for use at the event including this logo animation.

Some of this  work has displayed  in the Saddledome, Flames Central, Cineplex Theatres and the CBC.

Many of these were made to seamlessly loop for in store playback.

The companion CORPORATE Reel is available at: dougnouwen.com/archives/289

In-store promotional video with no audio.

Thanks to Travel Alberta for the brilliant footage!

The event logo hangs in the middle of the space with the host location and sponsor logos descretly on the sides.

In-store promotional video with no audio.

In-store promotional video with no audio.

Full Page Ads, Brochures, Trade Show Displays, Business Cards, Posters, Handbills and more.

Click To View (PDF)

The idea was to showcase individuals who really enjoyed working for the city for later playback online and at career fairs.

See the whole series at: youtube.com.

It aired on CBC Calgary.

The aim was to make something brief, compelling and funky!

The opening animation and support art all featured heavily stylised elements of the Calgary skyline.

The problem was that only one support image was supplied.

One model, one pose, one hair colour = no problem

Products were introduced on screen for booth visitors with the intent to simtulate conversation with near by product represtantivies.

This animation played on a large wide screen display in the companies reception area and was also used in board room meetings.

The goal was to capture the attention of passing conference attendees with a flash movement just before a product was to be introduced (next) on screen.

In-store promotional video with no audio.

In-store promotional video with no audio.

I’ve cut to them on occasion in their promo videos but this client was also able to use them as on site loops.

I produced a separate series of these and authored them to numerous DVDs.

This way they could arrive at a venue, hand the DVD over to a site manager and instantly co-brand the space.

It features footage I shot on location in Calgary and Puerto Vallarta as well as a logo animation I produced that happen to played (separately) in venues they visit.

In addition to being shown at career fairs and hosted on their company site it has also generated over 6,000 views on YouTube

It combines shots that are full screen graphics , animated overlays and lower thirds.

The companion COMMERCIAL Reel is available at: dougnouwen.com/archives/76

It includes new work for Penny Lane Entertainment, BustLoose.com and Tucker Wireline Service.

Many of the spots featured here were produced for half screen playback.

Many of the spots featured here were produced for half screen playback.