TwinTechs

User Design Expert Will Evans was elected to the Information Architecture Institute today. His term will last three years, and he’ll be responsible for developing and leading initiatives that provide networking opportunities for information architects, education and mentoring, and driving awareness around the evolution of user experience and design.

Will has been a member of the Information Architecture Institute for years, but this is the first time he’s been elected to the board. He’s a frequent guest and popular speaker at IA conferences. Will serves as Twin Technologies’ Director of User Experience, providing visionary creativity and guidance for clients that are interested in redefining how users experience their brand online. Will’s designs explore how people engage on and off-line, which tools act as the right catalysts for online engagement, and what factors contribute to social traction.

The IA Institute is a professional organization dedicated to advancing the state of information architecture through research, education, advocacy and community service.  IA Institute sponsors the IDEA conference each year, that explores the convergence of experience design with social and user experiences, and the growing importance of aligning expectations.

Congratulations, Will!

We recently had an internal project that required us to extract meta-data from video files.  We needed information such as the number of streams, length of the video, format, creator, encoding, and anything else we could gather.  This information was then stored in a database for the easy extraction and categorization of a large set of videos.

Twin has also recently started an internal streaming media framework using tools like Red5, Xuggler, and ffmpeg.  Using the expertise we gained with Xuggler, I decided to quickly write our own meta-data extractor. Later I decided on an even simpler solution.

The first method was to write our own meta-data extractor using Xuggler.  In order to use Xuggler, download and install it from http://www.xuggle.com/xuggler/downloads/.  In Linux, you will also need to add the XUGGLE_HOME/lib directory to the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable so the native libraries are picked up by Java (Xuggler uses JNI to call its own C++ wrappers around ffmpeg).  The Windows installer does this automatically for you.

After Xuggler is installed, I cracked open the demos it had and modified one.  The code is very simple and required few changes.  The Java code is downloadable below.  Just make sure the xuggle-xuggler.jar (included in the XUGGLER_HOME/share/java/lib folder) is in your classpath before compiling and running it, and pass in a movie file as a command line parameter.  For example:

java com.twintechs.video.demo.GetMediaMetaData /path/to/your/video.mpg.

The output will be something along the lines of:
Opening video file: /home/dave/workspace/twin/MetaData/video/test.mpe
null (probesize):     32000
set mux rate (muxrate):     0
set packet size (packetsize):     0
null (fflags):     0x00000000
set the track number (track):     0
set the year (year):     0
how many microseconds are analyzed to estimate duration (analyzeduration):     3000000
decryption key (cryptokey):     §C,
max memory used for timestamp index (per stream) (indexmem):     1048576
max memory used for buffering real-time frames (rtbufsize):     3041280
print specific debug info (fdebug):     0x00000000
file "/home/dave/workspace/twin/MetaData/video/test.mpe": 2 streams; duration (ms): 53700; start time (ms): 149; file size (bytes): 11323804; bit rate: 1686972;
stream 0: type: CODEC_TYPE_VIDEO; codec: CODEC_ID_MPEG1VIDEO; duration: 4833000; start time: 13490; language: unknown; timebase: 1/90000; coder tb: 1/30; width: 432; height: 320; format: YUV420P; frame-rate: 30.00;
stream 1: type: CODEC_TYPE_AUDIO; codec: CODEC_ID_MP2; duration: 4810187; start time: 13490; language: unknown; timebase: 1/90000; coder tb: 1/90000; sample rate: 44100; channels: 2; format: FMT_S16

And a lot of other stuff.

The output is hard to make sense of, however, since it’s essentially in its rawest format.  Instead of painstakingly mapping each raw field to human-readable English, (for the record: not a good use of a consultant’s time!) I searched a little online for a pre-existing solution.  Not surprisingly, there were many.  The best one, which is also an open source project on SourceForge, was MediaInfo.

So, the second method of extracting data from source videos, which is a little easier but more limited because the program’s sole purpose is for info on media (e.g. you couldn’t play a video sample if you wanted), is to download and install MediaInfo.  The website is at http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en.  Download and install this on your platform, and then using either the GUI or the CLI (command line interface), you can see the available information of essentially any video.  For example, using the CLI, you can then type something like:

MediaInfo –Full “/path/to/your/video.mpg”

This will give a lot of information, most of which is human-readable. Then this information can be extracted using any of a number of methods, like Python or Perl text parsing, etc., and fed into a database for categorization.  And there you have it; two easy ways to extract every bit of information from a video file and categorize it for further use!

Here is a example file getmediametadata .

Senior Vice President and Managing Partner Robi Sen launched his blog series, Building Higher Performance RIAs for Smart Phones today on InsideRIA. The series will address the challenges of optimizing software for mobile platforms.

Today’s smart phones are not only used for making calls, taking pictures, and listening to music; now people are using their phones to do business, build presentations, make quick edits to important files, and even surf the web.

Yet contrary to what the commercials would have you believe, few smart phones provide a web experience equivalent even to a netbook. In large part this is because web application developers rarely consider the memory and CPU constraints of smart phones. At the same time, an increasing number of people are using their smart phones as a secondary or even primary method for accessing the web (http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/03/02/iphone-mobile-browser-share-67/). This becomes problematic because most websites are slow to download, hard to navigate for mobile users, and, most importantly, often take a long time to render, which is driving more and more mobile users away from the interactivity and power that Rich Internet Applications promise to deliver. The answer to this dilemma is that developers need to create RIAs, generally using AJAX, that are specifically designed and optimized for mobile phone users. In this series of blog posts, we are going to look at how to make applications that are not only rich and powerful, but respond quickly and offer users the experience they have come to expect from the web.

Leveraging its digital media and RIA expertise, Twin Technologies is creating web applications for the mobile platform.  These are optimized for use on mobile devices and offer the  functionality of desktop software and the agility of RIAs so users can access the material they need whenever they need it.

Flash enabled TV from Adobe

It’s not just YouTube and Facebook that agree Adobe Flash is the industry standard tool for streaming video. Over 80% of companies using digital video on their web sites use Flash. Today, Adobe announced that it is extending Flash for use in TV apps. The New York Times reported that Shantanu Narayen, Adobe’s chief executive, said the company is extending Flash to the television screen. He expects TVs and set-top boxes that support the Flash format to start selling later this year.

This means that we are closer than ever to watching TV on our phones, computers, or mobile devices. It also means that distributing video across multiple channels is becoming cheaper and easier. The trick is going to be integrating the systems. Systems integration companies with digital capabilities will be in high demand, building out enterprise operations to support Adobe’s new agenda.

The New York Times reports that to support the new effort to bring Flash to TV, Adobe has signed partners including Intel, Comcast, Netflix and Broadcom, the company that makes many of the components that go into cable and satellite set-top boxes. The New York Times Company is supporting this initiative to bring Flash to the TV set, as is Disney who stand to distribute an awful lot of Flash-based video with this initiative.

“ For anyone who wishes to deliver Web browsing on smartphone devices, supporting Flash will be an integral part of the experience,” said Shantanu Narayen, Adobe CEO.

Building The Next Generation of Online Learning Platforms

A distance learning system is possible that is fundamentally different from other e-learning platforms available today. While most e-learning sites cater to corporate professionals and learning institutions, this platform can provide a means for the general internet user to create and participate in learning activities in a meaningful way. By providing flexible tools such as interactive video streaming and charting, workflow creation for lab exercises and guided self-study, a quiz creation and proctoring module and interactive presentations, instructors can create diverse courseware geared at fellow hobbyists, crafters, home schoolers and study groups. An easy to use online management system can allow quick and easy creation of content, while an online marketplace provides revenue for courseware creators.

A Conduit of Knowledge
In most self-study and homeschooling environments, the chief barrier to success is  lack of meaningful instruction. Most available courseware  is limited in scope or expensive. Even when appropriate materials can be found, often a lack of mentoring prevents students from getting past difficulties in the learning process. Those who have the ability to provide this mentoring often cannot afford to invest the time or money required, or a channel may not exist for their mentoring to reach those that need it. A conduit of knowledge is needed to bridge the gap and bring mentors and students together.

The new e-learning platform provides this conduit. For a yearly fee and a percentage of revenue, mentors have access to an online toolset that allows the creation of locations, classes and courses. Courses are the overall content unit offered to students as part of a searchable and categorized marketplace where they can shop for mentoring and instruction. Students will be able to reserve space or immediately purchase access to a course depending on whether a course is offered only during certain times, as limited enrollment or on an ongoing basis, . Courses may have prerequisites that can consist of any other course offered in the marketplace as determined by the instructor.

Courses are taught on one or more locations, which are online areas containing a set of tools. Locations are the settings for classes, which are an individual unit of work that a student is led through. Classes may occur only at certain times if live instruction is given or on an ongoing basis if guided self-study is provided. Instructors and students may communicate in forums or privately between classes to provide feedback and preparation for other classes. Instructors may choose which students are aware of or may attend each class according to course level or individual selection.

Students attending a class access a location, a page consisting of a set of tools. A tool may be a presentation or lecture, a video or live video conference, a project workflow, a live chart, chat, or live or recorded audio. Tools in a location connect with each other and interact. Tools also provide an interactive interface according to the settings the instructor chooses.

A Yoga instructor might choose to add a project workflow, live audio, video, live video and chat to a location. Students participating in a class may hear music, general instruction and question/answer sessions via live audio while being led through a series of videos showing correct form using the project workflow. Students that have questions use the chat interface to communicate with the instructor. The instructor can view the student in real-time and provide feedback via audio or chat. This allows each student to work on their form using the instruction provided in the videos while receiving instant interactive feedback.

Students can save the live chat, audio or video if allowed by the instructor, or can take notes that are preserved in the lesson. Instructors can create template web pages, articles, links and downloadable files to be available in the reference library linked to a course, allowing easy access to recommended resources.

Courses or individual classes may be private, group instruction or guided self-study. Guided self-study uses project workflows and self-auditing quizzes to guide students through study of a subject. A programming instructor may design a course that consists of several guided self-study classes interspersed with group instruction. Private instruction could be made available by the instructor as part of a course or on a premium basis.

Students pay for fee-based courses by credit card and can use the card to reserve a place in the class if set by the instructor. Free classes may be reserved by students on a first-come or instructor-chosen basis depending on the settings for a class or course. Courses can be open or closed, so students may or may not be able to take individual classes without taking the complete course. This flexibility creates a conduit through which diverse groups of instructors and students may exchange knowledge.

A Self-enhancing Strategy
Content on the platform will also be aimed at improving instructors’ skills and use of the tools provided. Instructors will receive one hundred percent of revenue for courses offered on courseware creation and site usage, creating an additional source of mentoring and revenue for instructors. The modular design of the tools allows instructors to create customized tools and locations that can be offered free or at a premium to other instructors.

Courses may be offered by one or more instructors and are rated by students on completion. Instructors can use this rating to offer guest instructor services for courses, as well as attract other instructors to offer classes in a course. By choosing a highly rated course as a prerequisite, students taking the high-rated course will see information about other courses they may wish to participate in. Students may also make their course lists public and receive credits for each referral that may be used toward other courses. The marketplace becomes a collaborative space that helps new students navigate the selection of courses while helping instructors find students and revenue sources.

Twin Technologies introduced its new offering, JumpStart Solutions, this week. JumpStart delivers rich, engaging applications that solve specific business processing challenges so you can accelerate productivity and reduce redundant data entry. JumpStart leverages the Adobe LiveCycle platform and extends it to offer packaged repeatable solutions to common business problems such as on and off-boarding employees, account enrollment, and processing benefits and services.

Each JumpStart offering includes:

• Implementation plans
• Business rules
• Template project plans
• Custom code
• Fixed price

Using JumpStart, Twin Technologies can integrate a complete solution into your organization in three months or fewer.

JumpStart: Human Capital
JumpStart: Human Capital creates a custom workflow for each HR operation so you can organize data and operate your HR workflow faster and more efficiently. The interface is intuitive, convenient, and its self-service operations make users happier and more engaged. At the same time, making back-end integration is easier. JumpStart: Human Capital can be deployed quickly and is an economic method of optimizing HR functions and standardizing your workforce operations.

The Human Capital offering enables:

• Data selection and capture
• Processing and approval
• Provisioning and document generation

JumpStart: New Account Opening
JumpStart: New Account Opening is designed to simplify the process of bringing on board new customers. With an easy user experience and efficient data capture, you can decrease the cost and time it takes to open new accounts.

The New Account Opening offering enables:

• Data selection and capture
• Self-services operations
• Welcome package generation
• Pause and resume

JumpStart: Benefits and Services Delivery
JumpStart: Benefits and Services Delivery simplifies the way employees sign up and qualify for the benefits you offer. New laws make communicating updates about benefits a challenge. JumpStart: Benefits and Services Delivery ensures your employees have the latest information. We provide you the mechanism for quickly rolling out new benefits or changing the qualifications rules through a simple user interface. Keeping those reliant on you informed drives confidence and loyalty.

The Benefits and Service Delivery offering enables:

• Management of qualifications
• Automated decision making
• Data selection and capture
• Self-service options
• Processing and approval

Twin Technologies plans to roll out multiple JumpStart packages to solve additional business processing challenges. Stay tuned!

David Ladd, Nic Tunney, and Audrey Hubbard report high levels of traffic and interest in the Twin Technologies booth #2608 at FOSE this week. Reporters from the Technical Times stopped by to talk about Twin Technologies’ JumpStart: Workforce Management, which is up for a Best in Show Award.

FOSE, which focuses on technology for government applications, brings together the top innovators in the government space. This year’s trends center around integration of services, developing self-service options, cutting cost, and improving efficiency. Twin Technologies Government Solutions systems integration and RIA services offer creative and proven methods of meeting these goals. With over 25 sign-ups for LiveCycle training and more than ten leads on Day One, it’s clear that Twin Technologies solutions resonate with a government agency audience.

March 10, 2009, Washington, DC – Twin Technologies’ Government Solutions is exhibiting its powerful system integration and web development capabilities at the FOSE trade show in Washington DC, March 10-12. You can meet  Twin Technologies’ experts at booth#2608 and learn more about how Twin’s robust software applications are powering collaborative projects with government agencies such as DARPA, DISA, the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Army, and the Department of Defense.

At FOSE, Twin Technologies’ Government Solutions will show its unique SDLC methodology that has proven track records in commercial and government space, and integrates work flows and operations, bringing key elements of web 2.0 to government applications. Twin Technologies delivers design, creation, and deployment of mission critical operations that improve workflow and conserve resources.

A Record of Solutions
Global Asset Services: A secure documentation collaboration portal and web-based form guide for Real Estate Closing transactions.

Government Services: A custom dynamic data capture form guide collects data on hundreds of users, exports it into PDF, and integrates the information into a defined workflow.

Global Financial Services: A Rich Internet Application (RIA) that emulates the service provided on hard turret phones, yet offers remote accessibility on any phone  with the functionality and flexibility of a web application.

Global Travel Services: A web portal that includes the storage and publication of country-specific medical data integrated across international databases into a fast, user-friendly interface that travelers in medical or political crises can access intuitively.

Global Healthcare Services: The first commercial web-enabled Electronic Medication Administration Record (eMar) with flexible remote connectivity, intuitive, user-friendly design, and stability to accurately track and document patient records.

Commercial Services: A web portal with interfaces for both front and back end users, integrated within the existing enterprise that includes both content and order management systems and used by hundreds of contractors, suppliers, and service providers.

Working with several Government organizations over the last few years I’ve noticed that Web 2.0 has not gone unnoticed by Government IT professionals, but due to certain restrictions such as section 508 compliance, browser adoption and standardization, etc, Web 2.0 was not a boom within Federal IT initiatives.  This does not mean that some Agencies are not embracing technologies such as Adobe Flex and Ajax (to be fair some Federal orgs are doing some very high tech RIA work), but the adoption rate was lower (or perhaps slower) than forecasted IMO.

This is a shame in some aspects.  Web 2.0 was not all about RIAs.  It also included social networks and applications delivered as a service (SaaS).  Social networks would serve not only to disseminate information and personalize Government to the private sector, but could also be leveraged to connect IT professionals involved in the eGov initiative as it is often the case in Government that many solutions are moving in parallel to one another across Agencies, as opposed to building off one another.  This can even occur when Agencies are working on cooperative initiatives.  Employing the SaaS model could help lower spending within administration and reduce R&D costs while freeing up budgets and internal IT resources to be applied to more pressing issues such as security programs and high tech border initiatives (just an example).

That being said, Web 3.0 could be an impressive paradigm for Government and inter-Agency cooperation.  Like Web 2.0, Web 3.0 means many things to many people.  One thought is a nebulous network of data available for dissemination both across secure channels and those open to the public domain.  Data can be pulled from this network and used in various technologies from desktop applications to mobile widgets.  Imagine if local law enforcement was able to instantly query the Social Security Agency’s database from their in-car HUD while (and here comes the magic) using data from Department of Homeland Security and FBI through secure channels within the same data query to cross check all available data for a suspicious individual (i.e. Service Orchestration).  This data could then be analyzed and massaged in real time specifically for the enforcement officer’s current use case.  This is all possible through the ‘webulous’ cloud of semantic data that will make up one aspect of Web 3.0.

The possibilities for inter-Agency communication via secure and open channels are unlimited.  Agencies will be able to remove previous restrictions by allowing real time querying of sensitive and non-privileged data through secure and public channels without a separate work effort for each organization and project needing data.  A semantic query language would allow the end user access to only the data they are allowed to see AND they will be able to assemble any data across that Agency while mashing it into data queried from other Federal, state and local organizations.

The most exciting news?  This technology is available today.  Contact me at Twin Technologies today to see what efficiencies your organization can gain from employing these methodologies.

Here is a ok review of various cloud computing platforms.  It has been obvious to me for more than a decade (since I gave a talk on this in 1996) that cloud computing is going to be a major part of the software development paradigm but in my opinion most of the platforms are not sufficient for the needs of our clients not only because many of them are awkward to use but also because of performance and service guarantees (service outages on regular basis are not acceptable).  At the same time we all know this is going to change but I wonder who is going to be the first to make a easy to use, easy to mange, easy to deploy to cloud computing platform that is robust, performs well, and supports a broader range of applications and services?