Having the system in place for placing geo data on my own map, I realized it should be just as easy to display twitter messages, as long as they include geo data:

Retrieving twitter messages with geo data from http://search.twitter.com/ starts with including a geo location in your search parameters (in this case ‘tokyo’). Still, many twitter messages include geo data that only includes a town and no latitude/longitude information.

For this map, I retrieve 60 messages that were twittered in Tokyo, and then filter out all the messages that actually have a latitude/longitude. When using a map of an entire country you’d get a lot more twitter results so that’s going to be the next step in this project!

Check out the beta version here:

http://www.eerkmans.nl/map

 

The CMS-based website uses video files to create a dynamic, living and breathing background.

Each menu item has a background image that slowly zooms in to keep that dynamic feel.

 

Although the background and interface always adjust to the size of the browser window, the content is allowed to run off screen. The flash scrollbar allows viewing all content.

By using a custom URL for every project and page in the flash site, the site becomes searchable for Google and allows direct linking to a specific project, for example: http://www.bureaublauwgeel.nl/#/werk/website-en-shop-dutchspirit

Tracking pageviews from flash allows the use of Google Analytics.

This inspired me to sketch a new user interface. The new design hasn’t been implemented yet but here’s a preview:

When visiting the homepage, we might present the user with a simple dialog that allows them to customize the homepage immediately, using just a few mouse clicks.
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Selecting sources also becomes easier and more versatile.
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Some advanced options are still available by clicking the ‘more’ tab.
(click to enlarge)

Sharing becomes a whole lot easier, since you can now just email or tweet a URL to a twitterfountain. Embedding a widget still remains an option.

The idea is that you select the newspaper frontpage of your favourite date (say your birthdate). You will be presented with the real vintage frontpage. You can then choose to order a print straight away, but it’s more fun to choose the second option: customize.

Start by placing a box on top of the newspaper image, and then choose to fill it with your own photo or text. After uploading your image, you can crop it and see the cropping result in realtime in your newspaper.

Selecting an image.

Cropping an image.

You can also create text boxes and save them to your newspaper. As with the image, you see your text editing work appear in realtime on your newspaper frontpage.

The last step is ordering your customized frontpage and hanging it above your couch!

Of course these few images don’t really do justice to the real project, you can try out the application for yourself at http://lc.eigenvoorpagina.nl

There’s still a small bug where the last item in the list rotates in the opposite direction! You can view the example here, and download the actionscript class here.

Elco from D66 Youth Participation was there with his own filmcrew to get some in-depth interviews too.

This project is about kids telling local politicians their opinion. They can do this using an arcade cabinet that presents them with a couple of questions and then lets them record their own video message.

The arcade uses only three simple buttons which control a isadora application, which controls a PS3 eyetoy to record video. The interface was designed by me.

The update incorporates:

• New styling (including a cool logo)
• A more user-friendly interface
• A more versatile search engine, now inluding flickr, picasa, twitpic and yfrog
• Different customisable message and image animations
• A plug-and-play architecture that allows actionscript developers to write their own animations or use their own search engine

A list of twitter messages on a slideshow background.

Single twitter message on a photostack background.

View the update and embed your own fountain!

In this experiment I use a gradient alpha mask which masks a blurred version of the loaded image. It’s very simple but I guess it works!

Depth of field flash

The plant is out of focus

Depth of Field flash 2

The plant is in focus… sort of…

View the animated example here.

Through the website www.volgkopenhagenlive.nl numerous reports have been streamed, giving visitors a personal look behind the scenes of the conference.

Apart from the Live video, the flash player includes a youtube channel viewer. This viewer analyses a youtube channel by converting a youtube RSS feed. Then, using the new youtube AS3 API, the player is able to load videos from a specific youtube user.