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Technology and Civilization in Ancient China is an e-learning and education website for the development and dissemination of ancient Chinese scientific techniques. China is the birthplace of silk and porcelain, where paper-making, printing, gunpowder and the compass were invented. The website contains a vast amount of information, with over two hundred thousand words of text, 1,500 images, and more than 100 movies divided into a Chinese-language section, an English-language section, and a discussion forum. The website is keenly devoted to disseminating scientific understanding, explaining the creative process behind scientific principles, and using modern multi-media methods to make ancient inventions come alive. Technology and Civilization in Ancient China uncovers their underlying scientific reasoning, displaying the value and wisdom of ancient Chinese technology, a centrepiece of our human heritage, to today's world.
HootSuite is a web and mobile social media dashboard aimed mainly at professionals who need to leverage sites such as Twitter and Facebook for their business needs. HootSuitehelps both individuals and organizations to spread messages, monitor conversations and track results across multiple networks, relying on a freemium business model. Its free version allows you to add five networks and supports Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, MySpace, PingFm and WordPress.HootSuite enables organizations using the social web to launch marketing campaigns, identify and grow audiences, and distribute targeted messages across multiple channels. With HootSuite’s unique social media dashboard, teams can collaboratively schedule updates to Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Wordpress and other social networks via web, desktop or mobile platforms, plus track campaign results and industry trends so as to rapidly adjust tactics. Best for actively managed accounts, HootSuite is designed to focus on streams which are housed in customizable tabs, organized by account, network or content. This flexibility makes it easier to monitor a specific type of feed more closely. Launched in December 2008 by Invoke Media, HootSuite’s rapidly growing user base includes governments, artists and organizations like the White House, Martha Stewart Media, SXSW and Zappos. Accolades include awards from Mashable’s Open Web, Canadian New Media, and Shorty Awards.
www.frozenflameweb.com/sparxmain.html
SPARX is a computerized self-help programme to help young people combat depression. It was developed by a team of cognitive behavioural therapists, researchers, game developers, e-learning theorists and young people. SPARX takes the form of an animated 3D game where users learn real-life skills by solving challenges to rid a fantasy world from gloom and negativity. Culturally relevant elements have been incorporated into the game world to ensure the programme has wide cultural acceptability. SPARX is unique because of the gaming technology it uses to engage users and because over 180 young people have been involved in a trial to test its effectiveness. Feedback from the testers called SPARX effective, engaging and helpful. As one in four youngsters experience an episode of clinical depression by the age of 18, and three quarters of them never receive help, this programme has the potential to make a positive impact on the lives of many young people in New Zealand and internationally.
My name is Haas is a transmedia concept from the Netherlands for young children, age 3 to 7. Via 8 different themes, children experience the rich world of Haas and his friends. A unique and serious game is the core of the concept. The world of Haas is designed to fit the target audience seamlessly. The game increases very young children’s vocabulary, stimulates their story comprehension and challenges their problem-solving skills, all in an interactive animated setting. The main character Haas, a hare, is the archetypal child. “Haas” knows nothing, but his name. The combination of lack of experience and a philosophical nature gives rise to Haas’ original twists of mind. Children create an interactive story by simply drawing the character Haas’ world and creating solutions to problems. Haas quickly gets into conflict with the other characters who are much more adult, leading to comical situations. My name is Haas is currently used in two versions: at home and in classrooms. In addition to the online game, there are CD-ROM’s, picture books and zigzag books with circular stories. My name is Haas won the prize for the best serious game in the Dutch Game Awards. Check out:: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PrOug6B0Zw
Areoscan is a web-based service that enables the user to create a 3D model of any area or object using digital photography. In industries such as surveying, architecture and design, Areoscan is proving to be a cost effective, flexible and time efficient solution for all sorts of jobs, ranging from complex land surveys through to creative art projects. Whatever the need, Areoscan takes a real-life subject and automatically generates a 3D model in the same way a 3D laser scanner does, without specialized equipment. The 3D models can be downloaded in several formats for manipulation by a range of computer-aided design (CAD) programmes. There are a number of guides available online to assist the user in maximising their experience and getting great results. This project cements New Zealand’s reputation as an innovative global developer.
Uncertain of his sister's fate, a boy enters limbo. Limbo is a puzzle-platform video game presented primarily in monochromatic black-and-white tones, using lighting, film grain effects and minimal ambient sounds to create an eerie atmosphere often associated with the horror genre. The navigation is simple and intuitive. What makes this game absolutely outstanding is the aesthetic design, moving reviewers to classify Limbo as an example of "video game as art". Journalists have praised the dark presentation, describing the work as comparable to film noir and German Expressionism. Some of the qualifiers coming to mind when playing this game: magnificent, unique, poetic, beautiful, special, intriguing. It can’t get better than that!
Empowering India provides citizens with easy access to information about political parties, candidates and electoral constituencies at national and provincial levels. The basic premise is that information promotes transparency in the democratic process, thus allowing citizens to assess their political leaders’ performance and thus hold them to accountability. A more responsive political process encourages citizens to actively participate in the largest democratic exercise in the world. The primary focus of Empowering India is the voter, who can realistically contribute to making democracy meaningful not just in form, but in substance. The website currently has detailed election results since 1977 and has also captured background information filed by thousands of candidates who contested elections at national and provincial levels since 2003. The information is provided at the respective constituency level in an easy to compare manner and is also available for various analytical purposes.
DigiDis a safe and personal identification tool for citizens and companies dealing with government websites. All citizens with a citizen’s service number registered in a Dutch municipality can get a DigiD login code. All Dutch offices offering e-government services can use DigiD provided they carry out a public task and are permitted by law to use the citizens’ service number. Thanks to DigiD, public institutions can be sure of the authenticity of your application, whether for a driving license or an overview of your state pension. DigiD is unique world-wide. It was chosen by the Dutch public as the best government website in 2010.
The World of the Habsburgs is a virtual exhibition in a multimedia presentation. In addition to the representatives of the dynasty, the virtual exhibition spotlights the political history and the general social developments of the Habsburg era. The website draws a colourful picture of the world of the Habsburgs from the 13th until the early 20th century, going far beyond any similar presentations, whether text or other media, of virtual historical exhibitions. The World of the Habsburgs links the exhibits through topics and key issues, thus assembles storylines, objects and texts like a museum exhibition, accompanied by multimedia presentation of texts, maps, a genealogical table and a navigable timeline opening up completely new contexts and connections. In all, there are more than 500 chapter modules contained within about 100 key topics and over 1,400 images or exhibits, including objects that are never on public view. Despite the enormous archives, The World of the Habsburgs is neither a Wikipedia nor an encyclopaedia. It is a virtual exhibition with an innovative user interface that turns exploration of history per mouse-click into a unique pleasure. Moreover, www.habsburger.net casts light with a critical slant on the current status of research on the history of the Habsburgs and their epoch.
Redress Remix is an award-winning project comprised of a 3-part documentary series and an interactive living documentary. Redress Remix tackles one of the most controversial Canadian government decisions in recent years: the official 2006 apology to the Chinese Canadian community for the Head Tax and Exclusion Act of 1923. The documentary film uses a unique approach that includes animation techniques, newly composed music and testimonial interviews, to reveal to audiences the events that shaped the Redress movement and led to the official Government apology and its influence on a new generation of Chinese Canadians. The interactive web project, developed in conjunction with the film, allows Canadians to contribute to the national dialogue on the issue through a ground-breaking ‘living documentary’ experience. Users are invited to explore 180º panoramas featuring subjects from the film who represent a certain theme related to the Redress movement. The panoramas offer information about the subject, the theme, and a thematic video featuring repurposed documentary footage. Redress Remix invites the user to respond to what they have learned by turning on their webcam and becoming a part of the discussion.
