Two people have already mentioned Scala and Brightsign on here, but the reality is that Digital Signage software is the key to mastering and easily managing a widely distributed network of touch-panels running interactive content that changes on a regular basis.
This industry has been around for almost 20 years but people in the Museum and Entertainment industries are only recently starting to realize the potential this software represents to simplifying your everyday lives.
Don't waste your time home-brewing some web-based directory system, or buying hardware without the software solution to drive the system. Buy a complete solution. Digital Signage solutions are characterized by the following key factors: Centrally Managed via the Network, Network Addressable Playback Devices, and Rich Media Playback in 24/7 implementations. Unless you can gaurantee that your home-brew solution can match the results of a Scala Player *OUT OF THE BOX* then you're wasting your time and money.
Hire a consultant to help you find the right solution for your needs. DVD based playback systems are a thing of the past. Today's rich media management systems use archival servers to store motion video and static graphics in a content management system that can be interfaced from a web client that enables the content manager (YOU) to assign media to playback devices, create new messages or sets of content for playback on displays, and create interactive touch systems that are simple to setup and intuitive to use.
In this case I would actually suggest that Scala, Omnivew (Moxie), or Coolsign would all be good candidate products to consider for this application. All three offer fully interactive touch-system setup ability out of the box, and they also integrate their solutions on almost any hardware. Scala specifically now supports everything from WiFi Picture Frames, and Appliance Based RISC Play-back devices to full-blown desktops that drive massive multi-display solutions. Omnivex is great a data integration and information polling for public terminals, and their design system is relative simple to use. Coolsign has a very nice design environment, and their play-back devices range from Displays with Built-in playback devices, to other appliances that can playback a myriad of file formats.
ALL of these providers solution are industry certified and they represent some of the best products in the Digital Signage marketplace today. I would suggest starting with Scala, specifically I would suggest Checking Out one of Scala's biggest resellers that works with Casinos and other large venues. The company name is "Alpha Video - Digital Display Group."
In an ideal world you would store all the content for your playback devices on a central server. That central server would host a web catalogue that you as the administrator could assign content and interactive templates to specific playback devices. The Server would distribute the media assetts to the player systems, and all content would be run locally at the player (screen) to minimize network loads and traffic between the server and players. This type of implementation is called "Push to Playback". The server pushes the content and a playback "schedule" or "script" down to the player, and the player system simply reads the script and displays assetts and touch templates based on parameters outlined by the administrator from the web interface.
Digital signage solutions perform all these functions standard, out of the box. Go do your homework, and find a consultant that can help you make some educated decisions. I work in this industry, but you probably can't afford me.
I was in the airport in Albuquerque, NM and after they ran my laptop bag through security I was pulled out of line and had my bag searched. Where upon the T.S.A. agent called over the airport police who escorted me into a locked room and proceeded to drill me for TWO AND A HALF HOURS on why I had, (and I'm not kidding), 2 USB hard-drives in my carry on luggage. Apparently USB harddrives look like bombs because the T.S.A. morons are techno-phobes who can't differentiate one piece of technology from another.
There's nothing quite like being yelled at for no reason and threatened with being "taken-in" for carrying a common piece of technology that any moron can buy at Best Buy.
In the case of this MIT student she had something on the outside of her clothes that looked suspicious... I was wearing a freaking suit and tie, with nice shoes... and they freaked out over something that wasn't even on my person. What a joke.
Someone who is trying to get something through security at a major airport wouldn't put it in their bag, or on the outside of their clothes. Terrorists aren't stupid. Although it certainly seems like our airport security think that people interested in causing serious harm are to dumb to tie their own shoes... I mean REALLY.
She probably should have been a little more conscientious, but the reality is that they over reacted... just like they are over-reacting to techno-philes all over the country.
If you travel with more than a notepad, and pen be prepared for the Luddite assault you'll receive at the airport. I now give an extra hour every time I travel to account for these people; it is literally the most pathetically predictable thing you will ever experience.
I've actually started taking bets with my collegues every time we travel on whether or not I'll get flagged for special search. I ALWAYS bet in the affimative... and thus far I haven't lost... despite my attempts to wrap my cables more cleanly and pack my electronic more frugally. It has no effect.
I realize this may be flame-bait... but if you travel as part of your work, and you work in technology, you're almost gauranteed to get treated like a criminal everytime you go through security. It's down-right insulting.
I think this is a worthwhile study, and I'm interested in reading the ACTUAL paper written by these scientists and not just the PR push from the Dartmouth marketing department. Ignore the buzz words and try to see the science...
Why not look at the structural changes in the brain and attempt to assert a position on brain behavior and development that can be substantiated by actual data instead of "When I was 12 my parents, and my dog, died in a tragic back-hoe accident... and ever since then I've been mature." I think this study is asserting a very interesting position based on a significant amount of research done on their control group. Having hundreds of participants in your control group might have proved MORE interesting, but it is not necessary.
The point, that I think they're trying to demonstrate with this study, is that the human brain continues to develop after the age of 18. If there is a corollary between brain development and "maturity" e.g. becoming an "adult" then they've certainly demonstrated that if "maturity" is based on brain development your not fully matured until much later than we initially believed.
This study is VERY interesting as it relates to Juvenile culpability and responsibility. If our brain continues to develop after the age of 18 how culpable are we for crimes committed before the age of 18 or 25? Consider the implications of being able to determine when we are not simply "emotionally adult" but functionally adult, when our brains and bodies are no longer changing in such a way that we should be held MORE responsible for our actions.
Disregarding this study simply because many of us were uber-geeks as teens and were intellectually if not emotionally more developed than our class-room counterparts does not negate the need, or the relevance, of this study. Our cognitive development may be based on a combination of intangible elements such as emotional growth and nurture, but the fact remains that the human body is a machine which can and should be studied to determine it's functional limitations and possibilities. Understanding the human animal, especially in relation to development, is an important area of study.
Anyway, who wants to take bets on whether or not that grad student is reading the Slashdot forums as we speak. Hi, Craig!
How can have a discussion about the GBA and list games without talking about ZELDA? "The Minish Cap" is a TON of fun and, as with all Zelda games, tends to take quite a while to work your way through.
Don't forget that they've been releasing Original Nintendo games to GBA now. I have every old school Zelda available. Got friends? Girlfriend? Wife? Get them a GBA and play Four Swords. The Zelda series is one of the most dynamic and travel friendly games for the GBA available. Highly recommended and good for all ages. That and the GBA is CHEAP compared the DS or PSA... Save money in addition to everything else.
Genetic testing resulting in employment decisions is the worst kind of discrimination. You can't compare genetic testing with the basic sort of physicals that insurance companies do to screen prospective clients. Aside from doing basic bloodwork, insurance companies mostly only ask for a run of the mill physical. In this case we're talking about a company attempting to classify your abilities and physical/genetic disposition toward certain diseases or physical maladies.
Inherently a test like this would be based almost entirely on genetic probabilities that result from specific environmental conditions. The only way this could be compared to an insurance physical is when State Farm or Blue Cross decides not to sell you life insurance or health insurance because you have Type 1 Diabetes. Carefully managed, type 1 is no big deal, but many insurance companies still refuse to sell insurance of any kind for certain kinds of diabetics. This sort of discrimination is already prevelant today and to suggest that further testing, revealing more serious health issues, wouldn't encourage discrimination is ignorant.
Everyone keeps referring to GATTACA, but what they're not saying is that this particular film isn't even worst case scenario. They promote individuals with clean genetic compositions to elite positions within their society, while all other are relegated to menial labor jobs---all based on genetic profiling. In a truly worst case scenario world those predisposed to certain diseases would simply be eliminated.
I think GATTACA is optimistic. We live in a worst case scenario world where people believe it won't hurt to do genetic testing; where it's not a big deal as long as you have nothing to hide---and don't forget that United We Stand, and everybody else is an unpatriotic clod.
Allowing this kind of oversight into the probabilities and possibilities of ones future based on any test is the kind of 1984 tactics that we should all be smart enough to scream "NO, NO, NO" at.
Bruce Willis - aka: "Harry S. Stamper" in "Armageddon", and "Corben Dallas" in "The Fifth Element" - The man who defeated a world ending asteroid by blowing it up in space, and the man who defeated a huge ball of ultimate evil from colliding with the earth and taking over the universe... will be 74 in 2029. [TOO OLD]
Mark Hamil - aka: "Luke Skywalker" - One of the people responsible for defeating the evil emperor and destroying not one but TWO death stars... will be 78 years old in 2029 [TOO MARK HAMIL--I mean OLD]
Arnold Schwarzenegger - aka: "Major 'Dutch' Schaeffer" - The man who defeated the predator and governates the state of california... will be 82 years old in 2029. [Definitely way TOO Arrrrnold and OLD.]
I just don't know where to turn now... all the big heroes I grew up watching are getting old. Hollywood seriously needs to get to work before 2029 or we're all doomed!
The solution is simple: Love your wife/SO/whatever while they are awake, and get some executive justice in Paragon City at night while they are asleep.
Game in moderation when possible, but accept the fact that relationships = compromise. If you love your SO you gotta give them some of your time. If it means that you are a little tired tomorrow morning at work because you had to get 3000 XP to hit level 22, SO BE IT.
My wife's comment is: "At least you hang out with me FIRST."
My response: "EXACTLY!"
I hang out with her FIRST, she feels the love, and I play City of Heros SECOND, so that I can save some innocents and get my gaming time in for the day.
The devil's in the details: Be with the SO FIRST, plays games SECOND... point this out to your SO, and they'll think you're super sweet for thinking of them FIRST.
I'm telling you, being a gamer and in a relationship is cake... you just have to know the system.
Clearly you aren't working in a collegiate level academic environment. I support hundreds of users with a variety of PhD's and I'll be honest: I'll could switch them all tomorrow and they wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I don't doubt that some of the more computer savvy users might make comment about the switch; but the fact remains that on the whole the average computer user, in both an academic environment and a corporate one, are approximately equal.
You have to look at the baseline for age and experience when considering the average user. On the whole your looking at middle aged people who are still only moderately exposed to ANY computing system.
You said: "OpenOffice can never get a foothold in academea while its chart-making is so poor." I would argue counter to that--most academics don't rely on the Microsoft suite to do "chart-making" or statistical analysis based on data models; in my experience SPSS has been the benchmark for that kind of work. In all honesty most users, in an academic environment, just don't USE all the features offered in the MS-Office Suite; and when your operating budget is limited because you're functioning under state contract, or on a federally subsidized grant you are significantly more concerned with where the money is going every week, rather than on making a small portion of your users feel like they have "The best product on the market."
You must also realize that when you carefully explain Linux and OpenOffice to someone working in an environment that is designed to promote education and learning---they can't help but acknowledge its relative importance.
As far as the features argument is concerned, all I have to say in response is: Tell the user that because of the opensource nature of Linux it is constantly evolving at a much faster pace than any Microsoft product. That means, in theory, that Linux is much more "cutting edge" than Windows. Thus the same argument could be made for any opensource product versus one designed by MICRO$OFT.
It seems that everyone is so concerned with whether or not Dell is providing support solutions through third party software when the real issue is how that same third party spyware removal software (eg Adaware, Spybot S&D, etc) has the capacity to cripple a computer's access to the internet through IE.
Some of the most insidious spyware that people pick up in their day to day work on the internet has the potential to completely disable internet access using Internet Explorer if it is removed from the system.
Now, I'm not advocating spy-ware, or suggesting that these programs are at all righteous--the developers of that software should be hanged--but it doesn't change the fact that if a company like Dell were to recommend that their users download and install something like Adaware they are getting themselves into a whole mess of follow up problems with inept users.
Any software that can potentially shut down the browser that the vast majority of non-saavy computer users employ everyday probably shouldn't be endorsed by a company like Dell... they would be creating a ton of work for themselves trying to explain which pieces of spy-ware should be removed and quarantined, and which should be dealt with by other means. Also, once you've explained what should be removed, then you have to deal with how to remove the spy-ware that Adaware shouldn't touch. We're talking about lots of man hours, and educational phone calls with inept users.
I think we can all agree that it isn't Dell's job to educate every user that owns a Dell on how they should remove spyware that is potentially going to comprimise their internet access through IE. Most people are just incapable of that level of skill anyway. I know I wouldn't want to walk a sixty year old grandma through all that over the phone.
Slashdot Mirror
This industry has been around for almost 20 years but people in the Museum and Entertainment industries are only recently starting to realize the potential this software represents to simplifying your everyday lives.
Don't waste your time home-brewing some web-based directory system, or buying hardware without the software solution to drive the system. Buy a complete solution. Digital Signage solutions are characterized by the following key factors: Centrally Managed via the Network, Network Addressable Playback Devices, and Rich Media Playback in 24/7 implementations. Unless you can gaurantee that your home-brew solution can match the results of a Scala Player *OUT OF THE BOX* then you're wasting your time and money.
Hire a consultant to help you find the right solution for your needs. DVD based playback systems are a thing of the past. Today's rich media management systems use archival servers to store motion video and static graphics in a content management system that can be interfaced from a web client that enables the content manager (YOU) to assign media to playback devices, create new messages or sets of content for playback on displays, and create interactive touch systems that are simple to setup and intuitive to use.
In this case I would actually suggest that Scala, Omnivew (Moxie), or Coolsign would all be good candidate products to consider for this application. All three offer fully interactive touch-system setup ability out of the box, and they also integrate their solutions on almost any hardware. Scala specifically now supports everything from WiFi Picture Frames, and Appliance Based RISC Play-back devices to full-blown desktops that drive massive multi-display solutions. Omnivex is great a data integration and information polling for public terminals, and their design system is relative simple to use. Coolsign has a very nice design environment, and their play-back devices range from Displays with Built-in playback devices, to other appliances that can playback a myriad of file formats.
ALL of these providers solution are industry certified and they represent some of the best products in the Digital Signage marketplace today. I would suggest starting with Scala, specifically I would suggest Checking Out one of Scala's biggest resellers that works with Casinos and other large venues. The company name is "Alpha Video - Digital Display Group."
In an ideal world you would store all the content for your playback devices on a central server. That central server would host a web catalogue that you as the administrator could assign content and interactive templates to specific playback devices. The Server would distribute the media assetts to the player systems, and all content would be run locally at the player (screen) to minimize network loads and traffic between the server and players. This type of implementation is called "Push to Playback". The server pushes the content and a playback "schedule" or "script" down to the player, and the player system simply reads the script and displays assetts and touch templates based on parameters outlined by the administrator from the web interface.
Digital signage solutions perform all these functions standard, out of the box. Go do your homework, and find a consultant that can help you make some educated decisions. I work in this industry, but you probably can't afford me.
Good luck.
There's nothing quite like being yelled at for no reason and threatened with being "taken-in" for carrying a common piece of technology that any moron can buy at Best Buy.
In the case of this MIT student she had something on the outside of her clothes that looked suspicious... I was wearing a freaking suit and tie, with nice shoes... and they freaked out over something that wasn't even on my person. What a joke.
Someone who is trying to get something through security at a major airport wouldn't put it in their bag, or on the outside of their clothes. Terrorists aren't stupid. Although it certainly seems like our airport security think that people interested in causing serious harm are to dumb to tie their own shoes... I mean REALLY.
She probably should have been a little more conscientious, but the reality is that they over reacted... just like they are over-reacting to techno-philes all over the country.
If you travel with more than a notepad, and pen be prepared for the Luddite assault you'll receive at the airport. I now give an extra hour every time I travel to account for these people; it is literally the most pathetically predictable thing you will ever experience.
I've actually started taking bets with my collegues every time we travel on whether or not I'll get flagged for special search. I ALWAYS bet in the affimative... and thus far I haven't lost... despite my attempts to wrap my cables more cleanly and pack my electronic more frugally. It has no effect.
I realize this may be flame-bait... but if you travel as part of your work, and you work in technology, you're almost gauranteed to get treated like a criminal everytime you go through security. It's down-right insulting.
I think this is a worthwhile study, and I'm interested in reading the ACTUAL paper written by these scientists and not just the PR push from the Dartmouth marketing department. Ignore the buzz words and try to see the science...
Why not look at the structural changes in the brain and attempt to assert a position on brain behavior and development that can be substantiated by actual data instead of "When I was 12 my parents, and my dog, died in a tragic back-hoe accident... and ever since then I've been mature." I think this study is asserting a very interesting position based on a significant amount of research done on their control group. Having hundreds of participants in your control group might have proved MORE interesting, but it is not necessary.
The point, that I think they're trying to demonstrate with this study, is that the human brain continues to develop after the age of 18. If there is a corollary between brain development and "maturity" e.g. becoming an "adult" then they've certainly demonstrated that if "maturity" is based on brain development your not fully matured until much later than we initially believed.
This study is VERY interesting as it relates to Juvenile culpability and responsibility. If our brain continues to develop after the age of 18 how culpable are we for crimes committed before the age of 18 or 25? Consider the implications of being able to determine when we are not simply "emotionally adult" but functionally adult, when our brains and bodies are no longer changing in such a way that we should be held MORE responsible for our actions.
Disregarding this study simply because many of us were uber-geeks as teens and were intellectually if not emotionally more developed than our class-room counterparts does not negate the need, or the relevance, of this study. Our cognitive development may be based on a combination of intangible elements such as emotional growth and nurture, but the fact remains that the human body is a machine which can and should be studied to determine it's functional limitations and possibilities. Understanding the human animal, especially in relation to development, is an important area of study.
Anyway, who wants to take bets on whether or not that grad student is reading the Slashdot forums as we speak. Hi, Craig!
How can have a discussion about the GBA and list games without talking about ZELDA? "The Minish Cap" is a TON of fun and, as with all Zelda games, tends to take quite a while to work your way through. Don't forget that they've been releasing Original Nintendo games to GBA now. I have every old school Zelda available. Got friends? Girlfriend? Wife? Get them a GBA and play Four Swords. The Zelda series is one of the most dynamic and travel friendly games for the GBA available. Highly recommended and good for all ages. That and the GBA is CHEAP compared the DS or PSA... Save money in addition to everything else.
Genetic testing resulting in employment decisions is the worst kind of discrimination. You can't compare genetic testing with the basic sort of physicals that insurance companies do to screen prospective clients. Aside from doing basic bloodwork, insurance companies mostly only ask for a run of the mill physical. In this case we're talking about a company attempting to classify your abilities and physical/genetic disposition toward certain diseases or physical maladies.
Inherently a test like this would be based almost entirely on genetic probabilities that result from specific environmental conditions. The only way this could be compared to an insurance physical is when State Farm or Blue Cross decides not to sell you life insurance or health insurance because you have Type 1 Diabetes. Carefully managed, type 1 is no big deal, but many insurance companies still refuse to sell insurance of any kind for certain kinds of diabetics. This sort of discrimination is already prevelant today and to suggest that further testing, revealing more serious health issues, wouldn't encourage discrimination is ignorant.
Everyone keeps referring to GATTACA, but what they're not saying is that this particular film isn't even worst case scenario. They promote individuals with clean genetic compositions to elite positions within their society, while all other are relegated to menial labor jobs---all based on genetic profiling. In a truly worst case scenario world those predisposed to certain diseases would simply be eliminated.
I think GATTACA is optimistic. We live in a worst case scenario world where people believe it won't hurt to do genetic testing; where it's not a big deal as long as you have nothing to hide---and don't forget that United We Stand, and everybody else is an unpatriotic clod.
Allowing this kind of oversight into the probabilities and possibilities of ones future based on any test is the kind of 1984 tactics that we should all be smart enough to scream "NO, NO, NO" at.
Bruce Willis - aka: "Harry S. Stamper" in "Armageddon", and "Corben Dallas" in "The Fifth Element" - The man who defeated a world ending asteroid by blowing it up in space, and the man who defeated a huge ball of ultimate evil from colliding with the earth and taking over the universe... will be 74 in 2029.
[TOO OLD]
Mark Hamil - aka: "Luke Skywalker" - One of the people responsible for defeating the evil emperor and destroying not one but TWO death stars... will be 78 years old in 2029
[TOO MARK HAMIL--I mean OLD]
Arnold Schwarzenegger - aka: "Major 'Dutch' Schaeffer" - The man who defeated the predator and governates the state of california... will be 82 years old in 2029.
[Definitely way TOO Arrrrnold and OLD.]
I just don't know where to turn now... all the big heroes I grew up watching are getting old. Hollywood seriously needs to get to work before 2029 or we're all doomed!
The solution is simple: Love your wife/SO/whatever while they are awake, and get some executive justice in Paragon City at night while they are asleep.
Game in moderation when possible, but accept the fact that relationships = compromise. If you love your SO you gotta give them some of your time. If it means that you are a little tired tomorrow morning at work because you had to get 3000 XP to hit level 22, SO BE IT.
My wife's comment is: "At least you hang out with me FIRST."
My response: "EXACTLY!"
I hang out with her FIRST, she feels the love, and I play City of Heros SECOND, so that I can save some innocents and get my gaming time in for the day.
The devil's in the details: Be with the SO FIRST, plays games SECOND... point this out to your SO, and they'll think you're super sweet for thinking of them FIRST.
I'm telling you, being a gamer and in a relationship is cake... you just have to know the system.
Clearly you aren't working in a collegiate level academic environment. I support hundreds of users with a variety of PhD's and I'll be honest: I'll could switch them all tomorrow and they wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I don't doubt that some of the more computer savvy users might make comment about the switch; but the fact remains that on the whole the average computer user, in both an academic environment and a corporate one, are approximately equal.
You have to look at the baseline for age and experience when considering the average user. On the whole your looking at middle aged people who are still only moderately exposed to ANY computing system.
You said: "OpenOffice can never get a foothold in academea while its chart-making is so poor." I would argue counter to that--most academics don't rely on the Microsoft suite to do "chart-making" or statistical analysis based on data models; in my experience SPSS has been the benchmark for that kind of work. In all honesty most users, in an academic environment, just don't USE all the features offered in the MS-Office Suite; and when your operating budget is limited because you're functioning under state contract, or on a federally subsidized grant you are significantly more concerned with where the money is going every week, rather than on making a small portion of your users feel like they have "The best product on the market."
You must also realize that when you carefully explain Linux and OpenOffice to someone working in an environment that is designed to promote education and learning---they can't help but acknowledge its relative importance.
As far as the features argument is concerned, all I have to say in response is: Tell the user that because of the opensource nature of Linux it is constantly evolving at a much faster pace than any Microsoft product. That means, in theory, that Linux is much more "cutting edge" than Windows. Thus the same argument could be made for any opensource product versus one designed by MICRO$OFT.
Some of the most insidious spyware that people pick up in their day to day work on the internet has the potential to completely disable internet access using Internet Explorer if it is removed from the system.
Now, I'm not advocating spy-ware, or suggesting that these programs are at all righteous--the developers of that software should be hanged--but it doesn't change the fact that if a company like Dell were to recommend that their users download and install something like Adaware they are getting themselves into a whole mess of follow up problems with inept users.
Any software that can potentially shut down the browser that the vast majority of non-saavy computer users employ everyday probably shouldn't be endorsed by a company like Dell... they would be creating a ton of work for themselves trying to explain which pieces of spy-ware should be removed and quarantined, and which should be dealt with by other means. Also, once you've explained what should be removed, then you have to deal with how to remove the spy-ware that Adaware shouldn't touch. We're talking about lots of man hours, and educational phone calls with inept users.
I think we can all agree that it isn't Dell's job to educate every user that owns a Dell on how they should remove spyware that is potentially going to comprimise their internet access through IE. Most people are just incapable of that level of skill anyway. I know I wouldn't want to walk a sixty year old grandma through all that over the phone.
Let's be realistic.