Thanks all!
All of the processing is server side - and we will be releasing this as an
API for others to use soon. The app is a skin that connects to the back
end, and we started with iOS as we knew how to do that. We're a small team
with a miniscule budget (its me, and two early career researchers, all with
day jobs doing this in our spare time, but it helps that we have servers at
UCL we can crank this through!). If it takes off, we'll learn how to do
Android too. Part of this - for me - was very much about learning how to
make an app!
We went with mobile as it seems that that is the computer most people have
around with them at the moment - and the way most people access twitter,
etc, on the fly. We plan to make a slightly different iPad app next, that
will make more use of the bigger screen. We wanted to make a web version
too - we got a bit stymied by the HTML5 rendering, but again, revisiting
this is on the list... lots of plans, if we have the time!
Text analysis is a major technique in my home discipline - Digital
Humanities - so we wanted to bring a simple version of that to as wide an
audience as possible: we see Textal very much as a public engagement
activity.
We're pleased with how it is going - 16 million words have gone through it
in the past 7 days! But I'd appreciate people telling their networks about
it, or mentioning it on twitter, etc, to get the word out.
Nick, will email you offlist and try and figure out your bug!
Best,
Melissa
On 15 July 2013 04:28, James Morley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> +1 to what Mike said, especially as I don't have an iPhone so could
> only be teased by nice looking screengrabs! And are there any plans
> for an API?
> ---
> James Morley
> www.jamesmorley.net / @jamesinealing
> www.whatsthatpicture.com / @PhotosOfThePast
> www.apennypermile.com / @APennyPerMile
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 15, 2013 at 10:08 AM, Mike Ellis <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > Hi Melissa
> >
> > Cool app - thanks, have downloaded and had a play. It works well, looks
> nice and is fun to use.
> >
> > I'm wondering though whether you could expand on why you chose to
> implement it as a mobile app? The functionality and usability seems much
> more web-app like to me - things like entering a URL, viewing an output on
> a small screen etc - wouldn't this be better off as a pure web app?
> >
> > cheers
> >
> > Mike
> >
> >
> >
> > _____________________________
> >
> >
> > Mike Ellis
> >
> > Thirty8 Digital: a small but perfectly formed digital agency:
> http://thirty8.co.uk
> >
> > * My book: http://heritageweb.co.uk *
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 12 Jul 2013, at 19:48, Melissa Terras <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> >> Hi folks,
> >>
> >> I thought that some of you may be interested in hearing about our new
> >> iPhone app, Textal, which is now up for download for free in the app
> store!
> >>
> >> Textal is a free smartphone app for iOS that allows users to analyze
> >> documents, web pages and tweet streams, exploring the relationships
> between
> >> words in the text via an intuitive word cloud interface. The app
> generates
> >> visualizations and statics that can be shared without effort, which
> makes
> >> it a fun and useful tool for both research and play, bridging the gap
> >> between text analysis and mobile computing.
> >>
> >> What does it do? For an example, see a twitter search on the #musetech
> >> hashtag visualised: http://www.textal.org/gallery/bf5754a67330 -
> although
> >> you have to look at it in the app for the full functionality to see the
> >> stats of the underlying words.
> >>
> >> You can read more at www.textal.org, and download Textal for free at
> >> https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/textal/id646764497. We're also on
> twitter,
> >> at @textal.
> >>
> >> Textal was made by UCL Centre for Digital Humanities and the Bartlett
> >> Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis . We're gradually telling the world
> >> about it now - it would be really great if those of you with iPads or
> >> iPhones could try it out, and we look forward to your feedback.
> >>
> >> best,
> >>
> >> Melissa
> >>
> >> --
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Melissa M. Terras MA MSc DPhil CLTHE
> >> Reader in Electronic Communication
> >> Director UCL Centre for Digital Humanities
> >> Department of Information Studies
> >> Foster Court
> >> University College London
> >> Gower Street
> >> WC1E 6BT
> >>
> >> Tel: 020-7679-7206 (direct), 020-7679-7204 (dept), 020-7383-0557 (fax)
> >> Email: [log in to unmask]
> >> Web: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slais/melissa-terras/
> >> Twitter: @melissaterras
> >>
> >> ****************************************************************
> >> website: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/
> >> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ukmcg
> >> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/museumscomputergroup
> >> [un]subscribe: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/email-list/
> >> ****************************************************************
> >
> >
> > ****************************************************************
> > website: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/
> > Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ukmcg
> > Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/museumscomputergroup
> > [un]subscribe: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/email-list/
> > ****************************************************************
>
> ****************************************************************
> website: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/
> Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ukmcg
> Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/museumscomputergroup
> [un]subscribe: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/email-list/
> ****************************************************************
>
>
>
--
_______________________________________________
Melissa M. Terras MA MSc DPhil CLTHE
Reader in Electronic Communication
Co-Director UCL Centre for Digital Humanities
Department of Information Studies
Foster Court
University College London
Gower Street
WC1E 6BT
Tel: 020-7679-7206 (direct), 020-7679-7204 (dept), 020-7383-0557 (fax)
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slais/melissa-terras/
Twitter: @melissaterras
****************************************************************
website: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ukmcg
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/museumscomputergroup
[un]subscribe: http://museumscomputergroup.org.uk/email-list/
****************************************************************
|