A couple of entrepreneurs with a love of hip hop would meet up and each would try to stump the other with trivia questions. Like playing the dozens, their impromptu game soon became addictive and before long, Maurice Thompson, Michael Dothard, and Ron Young realized they had something. “After a few solid days of doing this, we looked at each other and said, ‘someone else might enjoy this,’” said Thompson, 30. According 2 Hip Hop (A2HH), a trivia game based on hip hop lyrics was born.

A joint venture between Drip Entertainment and ClickArtist Media, A2HH, available for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, is a tough trivia game for hip hop aficionados–but it’s also accessible enough for those of us who know a lil’ something. The app launched in December 2009 and currently has roughly 10,000 downloads (iTunes; $.99). The company expects to reach 80,000 downloads by year-end.

According to Dothard, 28, the game is no trivial matter. “We saw this as an opportunity to pull together different generations of hip hop culture; two or three generations can sit down and enjoy [the game],” he says. “But we also wanted to make sure we were giving a respectful representation of what hip hop is.”
Indeed, one of the noticeable features of the game (and according to user feedback) is that it’s challenging. No softballs here. The team is working on Version 2, which will make the game a bit more accessible in terms of providing answers and scoring options for players. This includes the ability to share scores on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, and even purchase the music through iTunes. Version 2 is set for a September release.

In addition to the download, the company hosts an A2HH  Monday night trivia game on Twitter (live at 8 p.m.),where sometimes, an errant hip hop artist might pop in to play.

Stressing that they are a “hip hop company embracing technology,” Young, 27,  says, “We also wanted to create something that would help people connect and appreciate older music in a new format.” “Technology and hip hop culture go hand in hand,” he notes, adding that the app development process has given the company great perspective on how the mobile marketplace is moving; it’s knowledge they plan to use going forward.

In addition to the mobile platform, the company is currently exploring options as diverse as board games, a TV trivia show, and multi-player gaming on the iPad and consoles.

This is what happens when you ask a question about a Ghostface Killah lyric?

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I've had a preproduction version of the device for nearly a month now, and I have to say, I'm a bit impressed. The Droid X's multimedia features, in particular, are great: 8 megapixel camera; nice camcorder, and good set of speakers, HDMI capability, and easy-to-access Media Share and DLNA features. Oh, and it's also a phone. Verizon's service was reliable, calls were clear, and none dropped during testing. The Droid X has a large, 4.3-inch screen is perfect for capturing HD videos. I ditched my iPod for a few days to run  videos while working out at the gym, and except for some brief moments of lag, I had no issues. It's a beautiful screen.

However, I was disheartened to discover that I could not download anything from the Android Market. So I watched as my unsuccessful downloads stacked up in the info bar. Occasionally, I would gaze at them forlornly, wondering if I would ever become Mayor of a Foursquare venue. Or translate that one, obscure Romanian phrase. Verizon acknowledge that the lack of Android Market access was an issue with some preproduction models. I queried a couple of other journalists who had similar problems–theirs resolved quicker than mine. I was finally able to access the marketplace last night, just a couple of days shy of the product return date. hmmm…

Aesthetics and Function: On the device itself, I wish there were dual-camera capabilities such as those available on the HTC Evo and the iPhone 4 (despite its reported tech issues and bad PR). And, let's face it, the Droid isn't exactly the cutest guy at the bar. It seems designed with "futuristic-masculine" in mind–from the wide screen to the Terminator droid eye, to the AutoTune-like  "Droid" that sounds every time new Gmail comes in. In truth, it straddles the line. As a tech geek, I love it. But it can get a bit overwhelming. Are those slight quibbles? Probably. But  I also think it's important that a device is suited to me both functionally and aesthetically.

I also wanted to be able to prop up the Droid to watch videos but there was no kickstand. And I don't like that I need to purchase the micro HDMI cable separately. Upsells really bug me. And, I'm cheap.

Additionally, the way the Droid X handles social networking is a bit awkward and confusing. I would much prefer to load my social tools myself .

One big plus with the device is the ability to share a connection with up to 5 wi-fi devices. Another is the 8GB of installed memory and pre-installed 16GB memory card. And I loved the ease with which I Bluetooth-ed my Blackberry contacts to the Droid. Nice!

Verizon's Droid X by Motorola is a solid device. Lot's of strong features that put it squarely in contention with the HTC Evo and Apple's iPhone. There are a few aesthetic and performance shortcomings, but I think the device is heading in the right direction in terms of multimedia capabilities that only add to the already great phone performance.

Priced at $199 with 2-year contract and data plan starting at $29.99/month.

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Full Disclosure: I am a console gaming novice, so what I say here might seem child's play to many of you.

After a couple of weeks of delay, I finally set up the Xbox 360. Console, gamer name, wireless, you name it. But then the darn thing would not recognize my computer. The problem? It's a Mac. Grrr.

Then I discovered Nullriver's Connect360. It's a cool piece of software that lets the Xbox recognize your Mac; this let me access my music and photos via the Xbox, too. I was gearing up for a fight, but the software installed effortlessly and worked (and so far continues to work) seamlessly. Connect360 also supports Shoutcast streaming and HD video streaming. You can download for free to try it out or purchase for $20. The company also makes MediaLink for Playstation 3 and Mac integration.

Let the gaming begin! (er, for "research" purposes, of course).

How can I improve my Xbox experience? Like to share apps,  tips?

Yesterday, I took two tech devices to my class, sort of a combination show-and-tell and teaching aid. The first, an original Apple iPod, drew lots' of comments: "it's so heavy," "when was it made?" "the wheel moves," "does it still work?" (yes), "why is there so much music from the 1980s?"(shhhh!)

The second device, an Ergo Audrey drew near silence, then ridicule. "What is that thing sitting over there?" asked one student, pointed, a look of near disgust on her face. Still more questions: "what's it  for" (it's an internet appliance "for women"), "why does it look like that?" (they were going for that 1950s appeal–you know, when women's fascination with kitchen appliances was at an all-time high–it's that sort of Mad Men-ish appeal we seem to have embraced now that we have a reasonably safe distance from the realities of 1950s and 1960s America.)

History and Desire

I have been reading and taking stock of the conversations about Apple's iPad. And I have to admit that after viewing the video with a colleague, I spontaneously tweeted out "iWant" for all the world to see. Friends were shocked–especially given that my blog is all about the practical, tempered, somewhat intellectual approach to tech. I later modified my desire with criticism, a very weak, "it doesn't have a camera" and a really lame personal hygiene joke.

Still, I let my memory take me back to my history with Apple products. Although I was practically raised on Macs, I did not own one until 1993, having had access to them in school as a young journalist. My purchase was a doozy–a Centris 610 fully loaded. Four months later, Apple discontinued the line. D'oh! Still, my Quadra (er, Centris) stuck with me until 2000, when the poor thing could stand no more. I switched over to PCs for a while, mostly because of necessity, but also because of a lovely little Satellite from Toshiba. I temporarily dallied with a Mac G3 before I found joy once again with an iBook G4. I'm now working on a MacBook.

But dammit, I want and iPad!

Despite the proclamations (including my own) of what it doesn't do, I want to think about what it does now, and the possibilities for building on this device. I remember being highly critical of the iPod touch when it was first released, even advising friends not to purchase it. But then I took one of my "think days." Once or twice a month, depending on my workload, I take a day off from email, phoning, media, and reflect.  I did a fair bit of reading that day, and started to think and ask myself questions: what is it for? who is it for? and even, why does it look like that?

It's very easy to chronicle a history of Mac failure, as many have done ad nauseam. More challenging is to think about what the iPad represents, what Apple wants to accomplish with it, what does it do for us,  the challenges and possible opportunities for the device. I've seen some good advice from Sarah Perez here about why you should wait. Michael Kirkpatrick also offers another good analysis of the "Epic FAIL" argument that is typically preferred over sound insight.

Let's take a day off from Babel and think.

Today, like everyone else, I'll be waiting with drooling lips for the Apple tablet/slate announcement. It's the promise of transformational device, the surrounding mystery, and the possibilities that stir my interest.

But sometimes it's the small things that blow my mind.

When a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti two weeks ago, I learned about it on Facebook. I sat horrified and in disbelief as I saw status updates from close friends and colleagues with messages that ranged from asking for prayers for Haiti to listing missing family members. Despite the connectivity that technology offers us, though, I was frozen. Something just didn't seem right. We were all glued to our screens tracking and responding to status updates and messages. For me, it seemed so cold, so disconnected. I picked up my phone to call people who I knew must be in pain. But words failed me.

I am Jamaican. I remember when Hurricane Gilbert hit. My heart still seizes up when I remember reports of the hurricane passing completely over my homeland, its evil eye blanketing our small island. Back in he U.S. we waited for news from family. There was no Facebook or Twitter in 1988, so we waited for a phone call. A word.

But I remember what happened after. We leapt passionately, almost violently, into relief efforts. Anything. Collecting clothes and food. We donated. We gathered at Stone's, one of a small handful of Caribbean food markets in Southern California. And we worked. I remember seemingly endless days of gathering and toiling. But I also remember that very strong feeling of community I experienced.

We had no Facebook then. But we had each other.

When I read news about the Haiti earthquake, I sent a couple of messages to friends, offering to "be there" for whatever they needed. I didn't want to impose my need for answers on their grief. But it also felt distant. Clean. Mechanical. People were hurting and I offered a text message on Facebook.

So on a Thursday evening in the Carter G. Woodson Institute at the University of Virginia, five graduate students gathered to do something. Everyone, it seemed, was collecting money and supplies. What could we do? We were all disturbed by the media's insistence on writing Haiti and Haitians as lost, un-salvageable; and having sealed their own sad fate when they made that "pact with the devil," well, you know…

In about an hour, we had decided that as academics, education was the best form of "aid" we could offer. We decided on a teach-in, called or emailed professors who immediately said yes. I reached out to the undergraduates in the one way I knew I could get them–through Facebook. Within a matter of 24 hours, using just Facebook and email, we had sent hundreds of invitations to our teach-in. But because it was Martin Luther King's birthday, a holiday, and although more than 100 people responded, we expected at most, 50 people. I watched nervously as the tally on Facebook climbed. Word came that the Charlottesville community had heard about the event and wanted to participate.

On Monday afternoon, the students trickled in. Then came a flood of people. We exceeded the fire code and had to move to another room. We did a general count: there were roughly 150 attendees. The enormity of the event hit me. We needed to do this.

In addition to using Facebook, we also used Ustream to connect with those who wanted to "be there" but could not. And for two hours on January 20, we were all in that room together, talking, making human contact.

A colleague originally from Ghana, and living in the U.S. contacted me to say that he had watched the live-streamed event and appreciated "being in the room" with us, though he was 3,000 miles away at the time.

Professors, graduate students, and undergraduates are now working together to plan a series of educational events centering on Haiti. We hope you will join us–in the flesh or virtually.

And I'll leave you with a song I keep in mind when I see the devastation wrought on my Caribbean neighbor–our way of dealing with disaster.

Like Corvida, my expectations were high. I wanted to be wowed and wooed by innovative technology. As someone who has attended 50-11 CESs (and a COMDEX or two), I still go Lady Gaga for the annual event. And while there were certainly loads of interesting and thought-provoking tech, “innovation” is not necessarily the word I would use. It’s been pointed out to me (by mainstream media) that 3DTVs (with glasses that make my head hurt) and e-readers were the big news at this year’s show. How could I not see innovation? My guess is that I am working with a different set of rubrics.

• When we say innovation, what do we really mean? For me, innovative tech is something new that fundamentally changes the way we think and act—it changes minds, behaviours, and lives.
• Is it really innovation or a successful evolution of a technology? Is there the potential for tech to become innovative? I think we have to make those distinctions. The word (like the phrase “game changer”) gets thrown around a lot, and given this particular economic climate, I understand why there may the need to get people excited about ginormous 3D TV screens and e-readers. I get it. We have to buy stuff. Or do we?

This doesn’t mean that what we saw doesn’t have the potential to have a great impact on our lives. Here are a few things I saw that I think hold great potential:

• Microsoft’s Xbox, Project Natal—and really gaming in general. This is actually the most exciting space for me for several reasons. I have been interested in gaming narratives and the implications of game play in education ever since I first read Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game. Microsoft’s moves with Xbox and Natal, as well as their forthcoming “Alan Wake” serial game, which focuses on a strong narrative, indicate to me the shifts happening on the TV/film front. Given the increase in movies-turned-video-games and video-games-turned-movies, I see that gaming has spotted an opening and will continue to exploit it. As my review of Avatar might have suggested, as great as the tech was, the narrative was a huge disappointment—and just not a good complement to the technology in the movie. Lots of opportunities here for game developers, writers, narrativists, multimedia artists, musicians, and a host of others to enter the space. I’ll save my commentary on the possible synergies between Natal and the adult video industry for another time…
• Home Entertainment—Devices like Seagate’s Free Agent Theater+ Home Media Player are also interesting to consider. It’s a relatively inexpensive option for the family that lets users store and share media a well as access Netflix, YouTube, and Media Fly content, among others.
• e-readers have now become ubiquitous, with everyone from Amazon to Samsung to iRiver. This year’s CES saw an entire e-reader section on the show floor. And I think some devices have the potential to really change things. But, I still have questions regarding content and digital rights. Had a great conversation about this with an IP attorney (coincidentally, a former UVA law prof—CES can be that random sometimes).
• 3D TV…I know, I know. I said some stuff above about this. But I am looking forward to the ways in which this particular technology will continue to evolve

So, while this year's CES didn't bowl me over, I was impressed by some things. And I am looking forward to the ways in which the technologies I saw will unfold during the year. Consumers need to ask tough questions and demand more of their tech. And I think this is the year companies will finally begin to deliver on our expectations.

Polaroid has just announced a partnership with Lady Gaga who will serve as creative director on a "specialty line of imaging products." Just vague enough to pique my interest. More info to come when I hit tonight's press event at the Conrad Sky Villa on the 30th floor of the Las Vegas Hilton.

Could be interesting. You know, like when Balki met Larry.

Image via Wikipedia

So this week I went to see Avatar with a couple of friends (yes, I have those—human ones). I knew the movie would be heavy on tech; and geek that I am, I was not disappointed in that regard. The tech is awesome. But as I sat in the theater, head pounding from wearing those oversized Elvis Costello 3D glasses, I realized something important. I was not engaged.

Sure, Cameron spent 10 years perfecting his blue people. The Na’vi looked cool. The environment is gorgeous. And Cameron’s achievement is inspiring in terms of getting us to think outside the proverbial CGI box in many respects. But the stakes are higher now. For me, good tech is not enough. And it should not be enough. You also need:

• a compelling narrative. The most disappointing aspect of Avatar is the narrative. We have a rich store available to us; I fear Cameron, having hunkered down to focus on the tech, missed out on 10 years’ worth of great discourse. Almost any book on colonial and/or post-colonial narratives could have helped. I could point to the rehashed Pocahontas-meets-kinda-Braveheart storyline (er, both starring Mel Gibson, btw, with a little trail of tears thrown in) as one problem with the film, but that commentary has been made ad nauseam since the movie's release;
• great subtext. Unobtanium? Really? "Sully"? I get it;
• address the WTF?! Factor. Blue "people." Giant trees. Unobtanium (Dude, that’s not even trying). “Going native.” Kill, kill, destroy. I nearly appreciated the nod to Conrad, but that’s too easy as well;
• human characters that are not caricatures;
• dialogue that I cannot anticipate—or even if I can anticipate it (because I’m old and I’ve heard a lot of…stuff), it should engage me. And at the risk of sounding a bit like Ezra Pound lost in a post-toasty world, dammit, “Make it new!”;
• great talent that is not wasted. I’m pretty sure I saw Giovanni Ribisi cringe as he uttered some of his lines. I know I did. Awesome actor, bad fit. Cameron could have called Paul Reiser off the bench for this role.

Midway through Avatar, though, I swear I drifted off.

I was dreaming of Tron. Compelling narrative: check. Great subtext: check. Cool tech (at the time): check. Decent characters and development: check. It may not have had the sweeping narrative of white atonement in the form of a paralyzed, impotent Marine (which reminds me of another line of literary inquiry…but I digress); however, Tron was the film that got me thinking about some of the things I now teach in my writing course, "Technology and Identities."

Apparently the film, Tron Legacy, is expected to be released in 2010, with tie-in video game, Tron Evolution, to follow later in the year. Although the summary I've read emphasizes the common "young man in search of father" narrative, I'm still looking forward to seeing whether  Boxleitner and Bridges still have it. Hey, it's got YaYa DaCosta (of Top Model fame), so it can't be all bad, right?  Right? Don't disappoint me, guys.

*Image via Wikipedia

A Vook is a blend of, you guessed it, a book and video–high-quality multimedia content that's designed to complement the text. Available in web-based and mobile form, a Vook takes 6-8 weeks to make, according to Sallay, and features work from the company's roster of  more than 10,000 independent film producers. The company is working with Simon & Schuster, harperstudio (a division of Harper Collins), and independent authors. So far, Vooks offered on the site range in price from $2.99 to $6.99. I took a peek at the Sherlock Holmes Experience they developed with the Sherlock Holmes Society of London and was intrigued. What would a Vooked version of, say, Clarissa, look like, sound like? Beloved? Would this complement the reading experience or simply lead my students to "watch the video" rather than engage with the text?

"We’re still learning what the right genre is and what works well as a Vook," says Sallay.  "The case for non-fiction is clear. Video has a clear value add to the proposition of a text. Fiction is a bit interesting, different. Some people have absolutely fallen in love with the medium and the piece of candy they get—reading, then watching a video, then going back to the text. Some people hate it, because they say it interrupts the reading."

And still, there is one unanswered question, especially for independent authors: How much does it cost to Vook a book?

What do you think? Does the Vook leap over eReaders like the Kindle and Sony's device, or is this just a fad?

The panelists include:

• Angie Brement, photographer, entrepreneur and blogger for Cville Entremoms.

• Adrienne Graham, founder and CEO of Empower ME! Corporation, a professional networking company for women.

• Shireen Mitchell, entrepreneur and chair of the Media and Technology Task Force of the National Council of Women’s Organizations.

The event is free and open to everyone but reservations are requested. Please RSVP at:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGs0U2NkS1ZvZzlHZnZjOUJaZlRfcHc6MA