Meta – Sci-Fi Mystery In Production

Work is finally underway for Meta, a sci-fi mystery from Dan Zen. The format will be different than the three Moustache Mysteries but will still be launched under the Moustache Mysteries umbrella – like Utopia.

http://www.moustachemysteries.com

The mystery hinges on the launch of Save Earth II which of course hinges on the earth being saved in Save Earth.

http://www.danzen.com/saveearth

The mystery will be presented using Zen Pan, a new Dan Zen tool that mixes interactive experiences much like DJ and VJ would mix sound and video. Zen Pan Author allows users to mix pictures, video and Flash content and pan on one feature or between features.

PS in terms of sci-fi’s you have to see Ultraviolet. It is a completely consistent work of art with action twice as cool as Matrix – slightly less philosophical and large but an amazing work of art none the less. Here is my list of top ten in order “live” action sci-fi favourites off the top of my head (I may have forgotten some):

0. The Matrix
1. Ultraviolet (screw the critics)
2. Blade Runner
3. Star Wars
4. Aeon Flux (screw the critics)
5. Total Recall
6. Minority Report
7. Avalon
8. Demolition Man
9. Terminator

My more psychological / distopian would include older movies like Zardoz, Man Who Fell To Earth, Logan’s Run, Soylent Green, Mad Max, Metropolis, etc.

Mad Inventor Reveals Chatnap

Chatnap is the Instant Messenger chat game where you challenge friends who have left their instant messenger on but are gone!

http://www.chatnap.com

You use Chatnap to create a URL that you paste into a friend’s instant messenger window. If the friend clicks the URL within five minutes they win a point and you lose a point. If they do not click within five minutes then they have been caught chat napping and they lose a point and you win a point.

Sign in under START then under CHALLENGE you can create a friends list and challenge your friends. Under SCORE you can see your score and your friends’ scores. Even sign up for an RSS feed to keep track of whenever they score or lose a point.

Have fun!

Mad Inventor Pictures (Early History)

Here are some pictures of Dan Zen preWeb. As with most people, many exciting memories were not captured on film – oh well. One day I would like to describe the various occasions shown and more.

See: http://www.zenpicture.com under Mad Inventor Early History

See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/danzen/110181134/

And then choose all sizes to view the larger size of the picture above.

Interactive Interactive II II Pictures

Interactive Interactive II II (Four) happened on the weekend and it was a success. It is an interactive art show in a gallery space (the Hamilton Artist Inc.) where we pit Sheridan Interactive Multimedia and McMaster Multimedia students against one another (actually provide a top prize for each).

Work is experienced on SMART boards which are large, projected on and touch screens. So people use their fingers to manipulate work and create content.

The full report and pictures (look under Event Photos) can be found here: http://www.danzen.com/ii.

I think the highlight of the show was the drawing tools where artists came up and used the application to make art – specifically Mike Balder’s application where you use the microphone as input to change the size of the pen as you draw. Some amazing works were created with this tool that night. See the pictures for examples. The above picture is one too.

It is a very successful show and highlights our mandate at Sheridan Interactive Multimedia where our grads provide environments in which people can create content and communicate.

Getting on Google

http://www.googlemodules.com/author/Dan+Zen/

I created a Google Module the other day thanks to Amy Allcock’s prompting. I plan on doing a few more of these because I got 13,000 views last month for Zen Alarm. This has resulted in 155 visits into Dan Zen from the application which goes on people’s Personalized Google Page.

It is hard to get the modules to show up on the page which is too bad. Going to http://www.googlemodules.com is the easiest way once you have set up a Google Homepage. But Google does not seem to even mention it on the personalized Google page – I think it is all kind of in beta…
What is cool is that you can add any rss feed and more to the page. First – go to google and sign up for a personalized home page – there is a link at the top I think. Then Click the add content then do searches.

Feel free to rate Zen Alarm. I’m planning on launching a chat application there next called Chat Nap