PUBLIC MARKS with search launch

Building what they should have made.

post-launch

Montreal Events

31 November

12pm (Book Launch)

Canadian Centre for Architecture Bookstore

1920, rue Baile

Montreal, Quebec

(514) 939-7026

Water Launch

Threading

We’re quite familiar with the idea of writing a program that follows a specific sequence of steps as outlined in, say, a main() function. A Thread is also a series of steps with a beginning, a middle, and an end. A thread’s sequence, however, can run independently of the main program. In fact, we can launch any number of threads at one time and they will all run concurrently. Visit the Java site for a more involved explanation.

This is incredibly useful when it comes to data mining, as we can have separate threads retrieving different pieces of information from the network. If one gets stuck or has an error, the entire program won’t grind to a halt, since the error only stops that individual thread. To create independent, asynchronous threads, we simply extend the Thread class.

You can easily try it. Launch the Terminal and write:

defaults write com.apple.dock single-app -bool true

killall Dock

If you want use the multi-application mode (the normal way):

defaults delete com.apple.dock single-app

killall Dock

We learned a lot through experimentation with a working prototype; we had a staging server set up that mirrored the actual site and was pulling from live databases. This enabled editors to publish actual content via the prototype, allowing us to identify bugs in the design and editorial workflows before launch.

We had planned for a lot of traffic on launch day and had been load testing the game - in fact, we've been testing and optimizing for a whole month. However, between the enthusiasm of Monopoly fans around the world, everyone who was excited to try out the new experience and non-stop mentions of the game on Twitter, blogs and everywhere else, our servers were overwhelmed. Based on the stats we have, we show a daily rate of about 1.7 million unique visitors, but the figure is likely far higher.

This year the Burning Man organization is assisting with the launch of an API. With the API you get access to descriptions and locations of the Streets, Art, Camps and Events. When combined with a map this is everything you need for a local city guide.

Aaron Koblin is an an artist specializing in data visualization. His work takes social and infrastructural data and uses it to examine cultural trends and emergent patterns. Aaron’s work has been shown at international festivals including Ars Electronica, SIGGRAPH, OFFF, the Japan Media Arts Festival, and TED. He received the National Science foundation's first place award for science visualization and is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. As Technology Lead of Google’s Creative Lab in San Francisco, Aaron helped to launch Chrome Experiments, a website showcasing JavaScript work from designers around the world.

MFA Design|Media Arts UCLA

Experiment and iterate. This is the web; you can be nimble. Risk is okay as long as you are always testing. Here’s the Iridesco process for a new feature:

1. Sketch

2. Photoshop

3. Test

4. Static HTML prototype

5. Test again

6. Working prototype

7. Test again

8. Tweak

9. Launch quietly

10. Get Feedback

11. Tweak

12. Get Feedback

13. Tweak

14. Get Feedback

15. Tweak…

Iterate constantly. You need a culture of experimentation.