OKAPI Mashups

Below are some of the mashups (hybrid web applications) we’ve been working on as part of Raymond Yee and Rick Jaffe’s Next Generation Campus Information Services workshop.

Research Dashboards–Bringing Together Widgets for Research and Teaching

by Noah Wittman and Townsend Lab Team
http://www2.netvibes.com/townsend/

This Netvibes Portal contains a library of widgets of interest to arts and humanities scholars. Many of them were pre-existing. Some we configured ourselves using HTML and RSS feeds. The Townsend Lab team will be working with research groups on campus to better understand how such a resource might be useful.

Slickr–Importing Flickr Photos into Second Life

by Shawna Hein and Aylin Selcukoglu (iSchool Students) in collaboration with Noah Wittman, Ruth Tringham and the OKAPI Island Gang

The 3d virtual environment of Second Life is a fantastic venue for educational programming. Unfortunately, Linden Labs makes residents pay a small fee for each image uploaded to their server. This workaround allows free use of Flickr photos–Fantastic!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Okapi/128/128/0

Don’t Tread On (or Eat Me): The ‘Invasion’ of the Burmese Python
By Lizzy Ha
http://lizzyh.nextgencampus.net/python.html

We cannot completely blame Florida for this. Although irresponsible Burmese Python owners have been releasing their giant, non-native, ‘pets’ into the Florida Everglades for years now, Floridians will not be entirely responsible for this coast-to-coast invasion of these giant pythons. The US Geological Survey recently released two ‘climate maps’ which highlight areas where Burmese Pythons will be able to live and thrive in the United States; the Bay Area is included. USGS and various newspapers have led us to believe that these pythons are moving out of Florida, northward and westward, slowly taking over this country. However, extensive research shows that one need not worry about these Floridian Burmese Pythons; one should be more worried about the Burmese Pythons that are already in one’s backyard. Burmese Pythons are already living all over the country, posing as ‘pets’ elsewhere. This project examines the areas outside of Florida in which Burmese Pythons currently exist. Hopefully these python owners are more responsible than those in Florida.