Month: April 2008

Life - Technology - TSSG

Culloden Battlefield lives again

April 16, 2008 by 1 Comment

Wednesday, 16th April 2008 represents a proud and historic day for everyone at the TSSG as it marks the official launch to the public of one of our groundbreaking new projects – the Culloden Battlefield Guide. This is an innovative GPS-based PDA tour guide that enables visitors to the newly renovated Culloden visitor centre (also launched today) to roam freely around the site so that whenever they approach a point of interest, the guide automatically triggers some interactive content appropriate to that point.

This marriage of modern day technologies such GPS and PDA with such historic surroundings is quite something. It is easy to use and understand but also extremely informative and most of all, very enjoyable.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Culloden Battlefield, it is located in Inverness, Scotland and marks the ground upon which the famous Battle of Culloden took place in 1746 (most notably featuring Bonnie Prince Charlie).

The involvement of the TSSG was in the form of its latest spin-out, ZolkC Ltd.

Official Press Release

Ground-breaking technology will now make Scotland’s historical hills come to life like never before, as the recently renovated Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre unveils its new PDA tour guide today.

Through a GPS triggered electronic guide, a world first in its technological field, Culloden sightseers will experience the battlefield of Bonnie Prince Charlie through an infusion of multi-media information, including video and audio clips and fact-file data. In operation, the hand-held device will provide information automatically as visitors walk across the historic moor, creating an interactive and informative experience which does not disrupt the authenticity of the site.

Providing further engagement, the device comes equipped with a menu, which changes depending on the visitor’s location on the battlefield, to provide additional information options for historical enthusiasts.

This innovation is one aspect of the Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre’s recent renovation, which saw the National Trust for Scotland spend £9million to enhance their facilities.

Developed by Zolk C, specialist providers of technological learning solutions, the battlefield guide is the most innovative of its kind currently in existence, due to the combination of PDA function with satellite technology.

Zolk C Director Bronwen Robinson, said:

“By designing, building, and deploying the new technology, we have created something that has not been done anywhere else in the world. It is truly ground-breaking.”

“At the Culloden Battlefield Visitor Centre, our work has already enhanced the route to gaining insight into real Scottish history and the possibilities for application in other tourist, heritage sites and attractions are endless.”

“This development definitely has the potential to revolutionise the sightseers’ experience.”

The Trust’s Culloden project co-ordinator and Countryside and Islands Group Manager for the North East and Highlands, Alexander Bennett said:

“Technology is central to the whole concept of our new visitor centre and revamped battlefield at Culloden. We knew that using the latest technology well could really help us achieve our aim to bring the battle to life for our visitors.”

Related Articles

Technology

Technalogies

April 10, 2008 by 0 Comments

Don’t you just love the imaginative analogies that technologists (and marketing folks) use when explaining their new inventions or products.

Here are some of my favourite Technalogies (is this a new word), in no particular order, with sites where you can read more about them.

1. Computer Hard Disks

The distance between the read-write heads and the platters of a typical hard disk is approximately 20 microns (millionths of a meter). If you compare the read-write head to a jumbo jet flying six inches off the ground at 600 miles an hour, a human fingerprint is like the Empire State building getting in the way. Also, smoke particles and specks of dust would be boulders and trees. That’s why hard disks are sealed.

Source: Black box: Out of sight, but crucial

2. The ZFS File System

The latest file system offering from Sun Microsystems is ZFS and it is a 128-bit file system. Apparently, to energy it would take to power a storage farm with this much capacity would literally boil the world’s oceans.

Source: Dave Brillhart

3. IBM’s Power6 CPU

In an attempt to explain just how fast their latest CPU is, IBM’s Chief Technology Officer suggests that if you were to hold your index finger out in front of your face, in less time than it would take a beam of light to travel from your knuckle to your fingertip, the new IBM chip would complete one task and start looking for the next.

Source: SlashDot

There are a few more that I will resurrect from my brain at a future date. Feel free to nominate your own favourites!

Waterford

Waterford Univeristy Status – Media Coverage

April 10, 2008 by 0 Comments

Over the past few weeks, the long suffering case for University status for Waterford Institute of Technology has attracted a lot of attention, principally due to the publication of the long awaited report by the Government-appointed independent expert Dr. Jim Port.

Here are some of the more prominent articles and related discussions that I have encountered during this time (in reverse chronological order):

Date Article Source
1 October 2008 Decision on University for Waterford Life’s simple, why change it?
18 April 2008 Fruits of new New Labour? Life’s simple, why change it?
10 April 2008 Waterford University Request Considered RTE News
9 April 2008 Someone dusted off Danny Life’s simple, why change it?
8 April 2008 No More Universities! The Irish Times
9 April 2008 Someone dusted off Danny Life’s simple, why change it?
9 April 2008 Waterford’s case for a University The Irish Times
9 April 2008 Waterford’s case for a University The Irish Times
5 April 2008 Waterford University The Irish Times
25 March 2008 WIT is the only Contender The Irish Times
13 March 2008 Something is rotten in this state! Life’s simple, why change it?
1 March 2008 FUSE Campaign Launched FUSE
21 February 2008 Port Identites Star Board Life’s simple, why change it?
20 February 2008 Dr. Jim Port’s report finally published Department of Education
14 February 2008 What does Waterford University mean to me? Life’s simple, why change it?

This is not a comprehensive list of every article that has been published on the matter but rather the ones that have interested me, and that I feel might be of interest to others who also support the campaign like I do.