giant lego, Martin Place, Sydney

giant lego, Martin Place, Sydney, a photo by ellen forsyth on Flickr.

I photographed these on Friday. It was really interesting seeing how many other people were photographing the giant lego too.

I love Kickstarter

I love Kickstarter.  I never thought I would be writing this, but I do.  It is brilliant idea and ii seems to be well executed.  It is a way to crowdfund ideas that will turn into games, films, clothing, technology and more.  You can give as much, or as little, as you like to support a project.  The rewards for each project vary, and depending on the level of funding you provide for the project, the rewards increase.  You are kept well informed about each project, so that you know what is happening, and plans for the future, and when things change.


Image from Fluid Forms

 I really like that a lot of people contributing small amounts of money can make a difference.  I have been having a lot of enjoyment from the projects I have given some money towards.  I am not a big spender, but with enough of us contributing this adds up.

I really like Kickstarter because even by giving a small amount of money to a project I can help great ideas happen.  Brian Fargo, involved in the Wasteland 2 project, which received received over twice the funding required (which means that more amazing things can be added to the project) and was funded by 37 479 people came up with idea of 'kicking it forward' (see his post on Kickstarter, and Kicking it forward), where if a Kickstarter project is profitable, the developer can decide to contribute 5% of this to any other Kickstarter project/s they like.  This will be shown by a badge on the developer site.

If you have not checked out Kickstarter yet, go and have a look, it is a great idea, helping lots of ideas happen.

Scan here to connect with your library...

Scanning for groceries, with so much potential for libraries, a photo by ellen forsyth on Flickr.

No, that is not what this says.

I know some libraries are doing great things with connecting people to their collections and services at a distance with scanning QR codes. There is so much more potential which is not being explored yet, and which is being done well (already) by supermarkets as seen in this photograph.

Libraries have a lot of opportunities, and they do not have to be expensive - but they should be creative and imaginative and provide great customer service or connect new clients to collections and services without having to visit the library building.

From a client perspective, the library is wherever they are, and can access it - and this is good.

The art of video games at the Smithsonian

This looks like it is an amazing exhibition.  
Photograph by Blakespot

 I really like that from this one page I can access so many ways of interacting with the exhibition. It is followed with a description, and useful links to public programming, book and USA national tour of the exhibition.  The Smithsonian are making it really easy to connect with this exhibition, and give various social media connections too, as well as highlighting media coverage of this exhibition.  You can also find out about other things the Smithsonian is doing.

I really like this way of getting a lot of information across in a short space, in a way which makes sense.  I am highlighting this example, because it shows what should be possible from every museum, library, archive and gallery, every time.

Games and politics

Since reading about Heikki Holmas, the new Minister for International Development in Norway, being a Dungeons and Dragons player I have been wondering why I have not heard about more politicians in other countries being different kind of game players too.   The skills are a match, and statisitcially quite a few politicians should be playing various kinds of games (and not just political games).  It seems to be a big gap area, and not just in politics.  There are many other areas of work where people don't seem totally comfortable mentioning that they play particular kind of games.  I know how I get looked at when I talk about the value of games, and that I play games, in certain environments, but we still need to speak up about the fact that we play games.