Quote
I’ve had a couple of experiences where I realized that I’m surrounded by opportunities in life that I’m not aware of. Every now and then I trip over one of these experiences — like a classic car show I happened upon in a Burbank Shoney’s parking lot. I realized that we could build a system — if we had a situational awareness about you, about who you are, where you are, what time of day it is, how much money is in your pocket, what’s the weather like, what your interests are, etc. — that could make your life much more interesting.
If we had that much situational awareness about you and at the same time we were building this very high-level map of the world, and I don’t just mean where Starbuck’s is, but all sorts of things like historical footnotes and people you might want to meet. I started thinking about games that we can build that would allow us to triangulate you in that space and build that deep situational awareness. There will be all types of games, but the key will be focusing the experiences, including multiplayer, within the real world and away from the fictional world that games currently invest in.
If we had that much situational awareness about you and at the same time we were building this very high-level map of the world, and I don’t just mean where Starbuck’s is, but all sorts of things like historical footnotes and people you might want to meet. I started thinking about games that we can build that would allow us to triangulate you in that space and build that deep situational awareness. There will be all types of games, but the key will be focusing the experiences, including multiplayer, within the real world and away from the fictional world that games currently invest in.
— Sims designer Will Wright (PopTech 2006) on creating a new game for real life.
Video
In asking us to shed outdated notions of Africa as a place wracked by poverty and war, during his PopTech 2011 talk Erik Hersman (PopTech 2008 Social Innovation Fellow) lays out numerous examples of entrepreneurship and innovation streaming out of that continent, and specifically, out of Kenya. As you watch his talk, use this guide with accompanying links, to cross-reference some of the examples he’s provided:
- iHub: Open space for technologists, investors, tech companies and hackers in Nairobi.
- Akira Chicks: All-girl coding group in Nairobi responsible for M-Farm.
- M-Farm: A transparency tool for Kenyan farmers to get information about the retail price of their products, buy their farm inputs directly from manufacturers, and find buyers for their produce.
- Frances Kere: An architect from Burkina Faso who builds schools using sustainable materials.
- Maker Faire Africa: A community of makers and handcrafters in Africa focused on origin, ingenuity, and innovation.
- Pivot 25: Mobile apps and developers conference and competition focused in East Africa.
- AfriLabs: Established African tech incubators and open collaboration spaces banding together to further promote the growth and development of the African technology sector.
- M-PESA: A peer-to-peer mobile transfer solution that enables customers to transfer money.
- Ushahidi: A non-profit tech company that develops free and open source software for information collection, visualization, and interactive mapping.
- MXit: A social networking site and instant messenger platform.
via PopTech.
Photo
via Laughing Squid Links.
Video
Even seasoned professionals need professional development. Happy Holidays, BobbySocial.
via Laughing Squid Links.
Photo
Happy Holidays! Never fear turning your message, or a persistent problem, upside down. Innovate in 2012 and communicate through heartfelt awe.
via Laughing Squid Links.
