Fire-Wired Blog

This article was first published by dmcityview.com Twenty-one years ago, Bruce Springsteen’s “Human Touch” album featured the song “57 Channels (and Nothin’ On).” If Bruce had saved this song for 2013, the title would be somewhere closer to “1,557 Channels (and Nothin’ On).” Even worse, all those wasted channels cost cable and satellite subscriptions far more than $50 per month, and in many cases $100 per month. For those brave enough to “cut the cord,” streaming Internet video services are becoming more of a viable option. Earlier this month, Roku, one of the most popular streaming service providers out there, released a new version of its set-top box. With only a one-time cost of $99, the Roku 3 is ready to stream content almost immediately after hook up. The device streams in 1080p HD and offers a powerful search feature that scans more than 750 streaming channels including Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Cloud Player. Roku 3 also has a remote that comes with a headphone jack, w...

This article was first published by dmcityview.com While smartphones are generally designed to help users gather information from the outside world, a new application aims to help monitor one’s health through the scientific process of urine analysis. Now before you’re turned off by the “ick” factor this idea generates, no, you will not be peeing on your phone. The waste processing application called Uchek was unveiled during a recent TED Talk in Los Angeles, Calif., by its developer, Myshkin Ingawale. The Technology, Education and Design conference regularly spotlights inventors and innovators who develop creative ideas, but few TED talks rival the peculiarity of Uchek. Currently available for 99 cents in Apple’s App Store, the process works through the joint use of a mobile device’s camera and a $20 testing kit (a color-coded test map and a pack of urine dipsticks) available through the developer’s website. The user simply urinates into a container, dips a testing stick in ...

This article was first published by dmcityview.com How many social networks can one person use? Facebook? Of course. Twitter? Sure. Pinterest? Sounds fun. Google Plus? Maybe. Pheed? What now?               For those not following the trends in social networking, it appears tweens and celebrities are refashioning where it’s cool to share every second of your life. Now, only 4 months old, the social website and app Pheed.com has rocketed to the top of Apple’s Free Apps chart last week and, by all accounts, now has millions of users posting status updates, photos, music, videos and more. What sets Pheed apart from its social predecessors is the ability for users to profit from their content.               For years the business concern about social startups was, how will they make money? MySpace sunk itself by cluttering its site with too many advertisements. Facebook is just now starting to publicly report profit...

Somewhere along the line I earned the professional title of "Multimedia Specialist." I really like this title as it doesn't imply expertise, just that I am someone who can be turned to for guidance and information. I've always relished the opportunity to offer insights on a project or kick around a project's digital potential -gives me a sense of ownership in the final product. Sadly, my track record of searching out guidance is dreadful. I've never had a mentor or been someone's apprentice. While in San Francisco, somehow the cloud's parted and a mystical force gave me the opportunity to shadow a news camera man I greatly admired, but I've never had that person I could turn to to bounce ideas off of and help me steer the ship that is my career. While I am may be navigating the jungle without a guide, that doesn't mean I can't lay bread crumbs for others behind me. As you might recall, earlier this summer I lead a team of filmmakers for ...

Last Friday I had the unexpected pleasure of taking pictures for the Iowa State University Greenlee School of Journalism's Future's Forum. A couple week's earlier I was given the photog assignment, but few details except for a handful of choice people to photograph. It wasn't until I showed up that I found out it was a Greenlee event (a school I have a little history with). It turns out the "Futures Forum" is a chance for current journalism students to hear from industry execs, ISU grads in the field and  current  students with unique intern experience. This year's panel was made of a senior editor at Better Homes & Gardens, an Ag magazine exec, an graduate who now works at ESPN and a student who recently interned for Rolling Stone and Maxim. For the majority of the forum I was looking for different photography angles, but after the M.C. held a cheer for the recently deceased and beloved professor, Barbara Mack, and announced the topic, my interes...

A year ago my favorite web property was Foursquare, this year it's Kickstarter . What is Kickstarter? Well in its own words... Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. Everything from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology. Kickstarter is full of ambitious, innovative, and imaginative projects that are brought to life through the direct support of others. Basically if you have a passion project, and don't have the capitol, Kickstarter gives you the platform to crowd-source the dough. Recently Bridget Gongol, the sister of one of my best friends, used the site to raise funds for her children's book shown above. Like most of the projects on Kickstarter, she only needed a small amount of money to get her project off the ground. Bridget's book is quite fun and very colorful, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of "Crocodile Life is Hard ...and Other Observations"  and follow her blog for r...

Last night my 48 Hour Film Project team, Tiny Explosions, had it's short film screened at the fleur cinema in Des Moines (trailer below). Not only was this the first time I've lead a 48 Hour Film team, it was the first time a film project that I've Directed/Produced was shown on the big screen, I was all kinds of excited to see how it would play out and how the crowd would react. Needless to say my stomach was full of butterflies. They ate it up. Seriously, we could not have received a better crowd reaction. There was so much laughter some jokes were drowned out because the audience was too loud. It was amazing.  While I was pleasantly surprised with the audience, I was not surprised with the product. As you may know, I am currently in grad school for Software Design and Programming, and a good portion of my classes have dealt with project management and project architecture/framework. As it turns out Information and Communication Tec...