Archive - 2013
July 20th
GlassDeck - My First Google Glass App in PHP
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 07/20/2013 - 09:08Over the past week or so, during the limited free time I've had, I've put together my first Google Glass App. It is a fairly simple application that sends a bundled deck of timeline cards to your Google Glass. It is similar to how the New York Times app sends a bunch of articles, or several emails, birthday notifications, or other bits of information are bundled. Look for the white triangle in the upper right corner of the card.
I started the project simply to learn my way around writing apps in Glass. I chose to use PHP since it is the language I'm most comfortable with to program webpages. I started by downloading the Mirror Quick Start code for PHP from Google and making small modifications to it.
My initial thought was to create a tool that I could use for doing presentation. The goal would be to use the Glass app as a PowerPoint replacement. I often mirror what I'm seeing in Glass to my smartphone. I've found this useful in demonstrating Glass. I've thought it would be nice to build a presentation in Glass and then run through it, showing what is on the smartphone screen. Ideally, either hooking the smartphone up directly to a projector, or sharing it to a computer connected to a projector.
As I got the app a little further developed, I started thinking more generally about ways a deck of Timeline cards could be used. I've used my app to load a recipe that I can follow while cooking. I've used it to load a poem. I've used it to load a todo list.
Getting started was fairly easy. I started with the The Google Mirror API Developer Preview. I used the sample apps on that page, and then started my open application.
First, I created my project at the Google API Console. I selected Create… on the menu on the left to create my project. I turned on the Glass Mirror API in the Services section. I requested OAuth permission and went to the API Access section to create a Client ID for the web application.
I then downloaded the PHP code using GIT:
git clone https://github.com/googleglass/mirror-quickstart-php.git
I changed the config.php section to use the API key information from the API Access section of the Google API Console and started hacking. I read different parts of the code and started making small changes. When I got a better sense of what could be done, I started making larger changes. Glass Explorers are welcome to test out the app, and provide feedback. Beginner Glass Developers who want more information are welcome to contact me directly.
You can see the app at Glass Deck
July 16th
Us and Them
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 07/16/2013 - 16:51Below is the address that I gave at the Commencement Ceremony for the 2013 Connecticut Health Leadership Fellow program last month. I've been meaning to post it for a while. It seems particularly apropos as part of the recent discussions about race following the George Zimmerman trial.
Last month, I went to three different commencement ceremonies and heard three different speeches. Connecticut Secretary of State Denise Merrill told the graduates at UConn that people don’t remember commencement speeches. I don’t remember much else that she said. Film maker Joss Whedon told the graduating class at Wesleyan, “You are all going to die” and went on to talk about how we should live our lives. Yet the speech that really stuck with me was by Reverend Liz Walker who spoke about how as the world gets smaller, we are going to realize that people different from us, ‘they’ are really ‘us’.
In many ways, she provided a theme for my thinking about my experiences as a member of the 2013 Fellows class. I've always been ambivalent, at best, about leadership. It has always seemed to me that leaders are too often the people seeking to maintain a system that brings privileges to those leaders and their friends at the expense of everyone else. Yet this program has been about changing systems to bring equity, not maintain privilege. Our class has identified ourselves as agitators, and that’s a label I gladly wear.
I felt a bit uncomfortable about coming into this class for a couple different reasons. Addressing health disparities was not a big concern for me when I started this program. I've always been an equal opportunity agitator, railing against any sort of inequality or injustice… but, as Martin Luther King said, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane”. So, I've greatly appreciated our time working together to address health disparities.
Another thing that made feel a little uncomfortable coming into this program is all the really bright and impressive other members of the class of 2013. Between the MDs, PhD’s, Professors and numerous other titles, I wondered how a college dropout like me would fit in. I felt like an outsider, an interloper.
The Diversity Walk that we did a few months ago helped illustrate that all of us, are at times, the outsiders, the interlopers and at other times, privileged and in power. At various times, we are the ‘us’ and at other times, we are the ‘them’. Instead of ‘us’ trying to be more like ‘them’, or wanting ‘them’ to become more like ‘us’, we need to recognize the value that each person brings, no matter what their educational background, race, gender, sexual preference, or any other labels that we choose to divide between ‘us’ and ‘them’. A sermon I recently heard, put it nicely in terms of seeking unity, not uniformity.
So, as we think about this unity, it is perhaps useful to think about the word ‘fellowship’. We often think of this in terms of an award bestowed by a foundation or university, yet it is important to think about a more common form of the word, “A close association of friends or equals sharing similar interests.”
And perhaps that is the most important part of what this year has been about, establishing long lasting friendships that will carry us forward as we work together to eliminate health disparities.
As many of you know, this past year has been especially challenging for me, and from a time management sense, it might have been much easier if I didn't have all the Fellows activities to juggle along with everything else. But really, it probably would have been much more difficult if I didn't have all of my new friends from the Fellowship supporting me.
So now, the 2013 program comes to an end and we commence our ongoing work together to fight health disparities. To all the fellows, from this year and previous years, let’s stay in touch. I hope you’re all in the LinkedIn group. I hope you all get involved with affinity groups and I look forward to working alongside you.
Thank you.
July 15th
#Glass Stories in Connecticut
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 07/15/2013 - 09:53This morning, there were two news stories about Google Glass.
The first, Woodbridge man one of those chosen to test new Google Glass technology is from an interview I did with Jim Shelton from the Register about Google Glass about a week ago.
The second, Anaylsis & Video | Google Glass Review is by a friend who is also a Glass Explorer, and was not as impressed as I am. He writes:
It falls short because in the end the only people who likely will be willing to immerse themselves in 24/7 digital living are the several thousand “Glass Explorers” Google invited to purchase the $1500 product.
I responded:
As one of the other Glass Explorers in Connecticut, I would like to present a contrasting viewpoint. I received my Google Glass just over a month ago, and I'm very pleased with it.
It is true that currently, everything that I can do with Google Glass, I can do with a Smartphone. It is also true that just about everything I can do with a smartphone, I can do with a laptop and a digital camera.
However, I find it easier to take and share pictures and videos with Glass than it is to take and share pictures with a smartphone, just as I find that task easier on a smartphone than I do with a laptop and a camera.
Yet looking only at the current applications of a prototype seems a bit narrow. I have chosen to explore Glass, not for what it can currently do, but for what it will be possible to do in the future with it. I've already started developing apps for Glass as well as brainstorming with other Glass Explorers around the world.
One of the most exciting areas is looking at Glass as a sensor in health care and in grids for big data analysis.
As I commented in my interview in the New Haven Register, I believe that Google Glass is to wearable computing what the Apple Newton was to PDAs and Smartphones.
People maligned the Apple Newton, and its product life was not spectacular. Yet it laid the groundwork for PDAs and smartphones. Lon is probably right, the only people willing to spend $1,500 on a prototype are innovators and early adopters. Everyone else is likely to wait until wearable computing becomes more developed and ubiquitous. At that point, I'll set my Google Glass next to my Apple Newton and the core memory from an old PDP-8.
I didn't address the price point issue. I do believe that $1,500 is steep for participating in a development program with a prototype, but not out of line.
On the other hand, I expect that by the time the third generation of wearable computing comes out, older versions will be in the $200-$300 range.
July 13th
Women's Rights and Jobs in the Best State
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 07/13/2013 - 09:58I have never been a big fan localities fighting against one another to attract companies. Typically, the companies win and the localities lose. Yet some recent developments point larger political issues. A month ago, Texas Governor Rick Perry came to Connecticut to try and recruit local gun manufacturers to move to Texas in response to legislation passed in the wake of the Newtown shooting. Businesses have tried to fight worker and consumer friendly legislation talking about Connecticut being bad for business. Walmart has vowed not to open stores in Washington DC after the city council passed a law requiring large box stores to pay a living wage to its employees.
All of this begs a question, what sort of business is good for Connecticut? Do we want jobs where people have to rely on the Government or their families and friends to survive in this state? Texas might, but should we?
This was illustrated nicely in the latest Measure of America report, where Connecticut came out as the best state to live in.
Connecticut and Wyoming have nearly the same GDP. Yet Connecticut residents, on average, can expect to outlive their western compatriots by two and a half years, are almost 50 percent more likely to have a bachelor’s degree, and typically earn $7,000 more. This comparison shows how an overreliance on economic metrics such as GDP can provide misleading information about the everyday conditions of people’s lives.
Recently, Colorado has been attempting to attract businesses to relocate to their state because it is one of the healthiest states. If Connecticut wants to keep for jobs, it should be competing to be the healthiest and happiest state, and not the state where workers and consumers have the lowest paying jobs and worst health.
In the long term, this appears to be much more productive. Take a look at Costco and Walmart. Which one has better returns and stronger stock performance? Costco, the company that treats its employees well. I hope Costco will offer to step into Washington DC in lieu of Walmart.
Yet back to the politics. Gov. Perry came to Connecticut to recruit businesses that don't like our new gun laws. Perhaps, after the vote in the Texas State Legislature, it is time for Gov. Malloy to make a trip to Texas to recruit businesses that respect the rights of women.
July 12th
Glass and Social Media
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 07/12/2013 - 06:32I've been writing a lot about the potential of Glass and things that could be developed for it, and a lot of my focus has been on Glass as the prototype for future wearable computing and Glass for special niches. Yet you can do a lot with Glass as is, particularly in terms of social media. However, even in this area, there is work to be done.
I now wear Google Glass most of the time that I'm awake. I've run into issues, from time to time, with it not posting to Twitter or Facebook. It needs to be a bit more reliable in this way. I haven't really used the voice to text to add captions. I just don't trust voice to text, or "Gotham boys two text", as my friends like to call it, enough for tweeting.
Yet as a social media manager, tweeting for many accounts, I wish I could easily select a Twitter account to send the pictures two. The same thing applies to Facebook. I'd like to be able to post a picture to a page.
Google+ has even more issues. Currently, I'm following about two thousand people on Google+. With Glass and Ingress, my use of Google+ has been picking up and we'll see what the latest changes result in. I've also made copious use of Circles to organizes things, so, when I try to share a picture, I'm given about sixty different choices of who to share things with on Google+ as well as one for Twitter, a couple for Facebook, and a few for random other apps that I've been testing.
Ideally, when I select share, I should be able to select the platform next, and then within the platform be able to select the specifics for the Platform. For example, tap on the picture, and get the Share or Delete option. Tap on Share, and get Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Path or Google+. Tap on Google Plus and then get my sixty choices.
On top of that, ever since Google+ came out, I have been calling for hierarchical circles. I have circles for Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and a few other states. Within Connecticut, I have circles for Woodbridge, New Haven, and a couple other towns. It would be nice if I could set up Woodbridge as a subset of Connecticut. If I add someone to Woodbridge, I also want them in my Connecticut circle.
This could also be used to help people with lots of circles organize them better. For example, my circle hierarchy might be something like Locations, and Topics. Within Locations, I would have Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, etc. Within Connecticut, I would have Woodbridge, New Haven, etc. Within Topics, I would have technology, healthcare, games, and others. Within technology, I would have Glass, Ingress, Drupal and so on.
To share a picture with just my friends in Woodbridge, I'd tap on Share, Google+, Location, Connecticut, Woodbridge. Yes, that would be five taps, but would be much easier than scrolling back and forth amount over sixty different cards. Glass could be configured to make hierarchical selections an option for those people with much smaller numbers of circles.
In terms of getting the news on Glass, there is plenty to work with. For me, the high priority tweets, direct messages and Gmail messages seem about right for me. CNN news is pretty good. It comes up with a picture and a headline. If I drill down, I can share the story. The New York Times does not fair as well. They take up most of their screen with their logo, and only have small pictures and no text about the stories. When you drill down, I've not been able to find an option to share the stories. Generally speaking, I don't look at the Times on Glass and I'm thinking of removing them from my timeline.
As a camera, I'm getting to like Glass, but have some concerns. I'm never sure exactly what I'm aiming at, so sometimes my pictures come out off center. Mostly, however, I like the way photography works, especially being able to hit the shutter button, and tap on the side of my glass a couple times to get a pictures online.
A friend has gotten Glass and is apparently considering returning it. It doesn't do much that you can't already do with a cellphone. I'd take that a bit further. Everything I can do with Glass, I can do much better with a laptop and a DSLR. I just can't do it as quickly, easily, or seamlessly.
In terms of my use of Glass and Social Media yesterday, several photos I shared were retweeted. One person asked if my photo of Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman is the first portrait of a Lt. Gov. that has been shared via Glass. So far, I haven't found any others.
That's my Glass and Social Media recap for right now. What are you finding?
