I’ve decided to post three links every Tuesday, including one wildcard to allow for expected weirdness, highlighting what I think are the most interesting items I’ve discovered during the previous week. So here we go…
One. What is Rockmelt? Is it a new browser dedicated to browsing Facebook? Or it is going to resemble Flock? Whatever it is, the tech world, and the NY Times, is suddenly interested, given that the company is backed by Netscape founder Marc Andreessen.
Two. Screenr, which launched today, lets you record screencasts of up to five minutes in length and post them to Twitter, without any software installation. A great way to create short instructional videos for users in response to reference questions perhaps?
Three. Livescribe is a note taking desktop application, the centerpiece of which is the Pulse, a ballpoint pen with an infrared camera in the tip that tracks and records everything you write. The pen also includes a digital audio recorder. When used with special paper created by the company it tracks what it writes and synchronizes those notes with any audio you record. You can then upload the notes where they appear exactly as you have written them on the page. You can also replay portions of your recording by tapping the notes you were taking at that time. If you are not excited by this, check your pulse as you may be dead.
Wildcard. Social software and national security: an initial net assessment. Mark Drapeau and Linton Wells of the National Defense University. For some time I have been looking at the reports and studies created for and by the military of various countries (don’t forget where the internet came from) and I’m constantly amazed at what you can find. I quite liked this short article which contains some interesting insights. Tired of people saying social media is useless? Have them read the brief summary in this report on the impact of social media on political events over the past two years. And the best thing about these papers? They always contain some unintentionally amusing nugget. The DoD recommends you “Empower some individuals to be authentic”. Just some of them, the rest will remain drones…are we clear?
