Our last official project as Push Productions was our first for the national design powerhouse, Trahan Burden and Charles.  All we can tell you is that the project was a Flash application interacting with 3 other servers nationwide.  The application included it’s own XML based CMS and supported SOAP and streaming Flash Video.  We also provided a substantial amount of AfterEffects animation.  Very cool stuff.

A new kiosk was developed and installed to commemorate the new McDaniel College Sports Hall of Fame.  The finished installation included energy efficient computer and display systems while allowing for easy update of the content from a web based Content Management System.

We’ve just delivered three new microsites built on a custom ColdFusion based CMS.  The new sites will gather and process information collected that focused towards ongoing research, as well as mapping shifts in demographic and health statistics in Baltimore.  The final site will be used to coordinate Needs Assessments requested by community organizations.

I’ve used Via mini-ITX computers in several embedded environments, from digital signage applications to kiosks.  But recently, I’ve started to deploy the Mac Mini in those situations with terrific results.

The specs of the Mac Mini have continued to improve, and there have been rumblings that the platform will see a shift to the new Intel chips and maybe (please) better graphics support.  But even without these new improvements, the Mac Mini has proven to be very capable in enclosed and embedded systems.  Having the ability to run any OS on the hardware from Windows XP and XPe to Linux and Mac OS X makes it one of the most flexible platforms on the market today.  The most common comment I receive is “What about Cost?”  My response is simply, in most situations, when you factor in all the costs, (including time) the Mac Mini is cheaper.  It also has the advantage of a single source warranty from a company that I’ve found to be very responsive to repair issues.  Heat is also a factor in most enclosed environments, but Mac OS X has excellent tools for reducing power consumption, resulting in a cooler and greener kiosk installation.

I sat down with Mario Armstrong of the Digital Cafe late 2007 to discuss the new iPod Touch and what an SDK could mean for the platform.
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