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All posts for the month August, 2006

greenpeace

Having read William McDonough & Michael Braungarts book Cradle to Cradle, then watching Inconvenient Truth, I’ve become more of an environmentalists to some degree. Being an Industrial Designer, I’m familiar with the tons of products, materials, and manufacturing techniques that are incredibly destructive to our environment, but I never knew how major companies ranked in this destruction. Well, Greenpeace recently issued a “Guide to Greener Electronics” report card which offers a detailed ranking of some very well known tech firms based on a criteria. Dell and Nokia ranked well(kudos to them), but tech giants Apple, Motorola , Acer, and Toshiba ranked as some of the worst! However true or untrue this chart is, it puts a definite ding into those brands the next time I buy some electronics. Read the rest of the Cnet article here, or read some comments on engadget here.

tip guide receipt

Just when I thought my math skillz could not get dumbified any comes a “tip guide” on a recent receipt of mine. I received the bill, and as usual, tried calculating what 18% was, but while calculating this mind exercise I noticed on the bottom of the bill was a “tip guide” that already did the calculations at 10, 15, and 20% of the bills cost. As much as I love this little added service, I worry that I’ll become dumb with math, much like what spell-check has done to my mad spelling skillz as I mentioned in my post about dumbifying tech.

kung fu airline

“As well as being aged between 18 and 24 with a knowledge of Korean, skilled in singing and dancing and of “nice appearance”, the new flight attendants will be trained as “part-time security guards” on the flights. “There’s no specific type of martial art we require, it could be kung fu or tae kwon do,” said Cai Chao, a Sichuan Airlines spokesperson.

I’ll let ya’ll make your own thoughts on this airline attendant angle from China to Korea. La la la, pow pow, 360, please buckle up!

Read more via upgradetravel
Article via TheIndependant

Ahree LeeEver since I bought a digital camera I wanted to take a picture of myself everyday for a long period. Well, that long period lasted maybe a week before I broke my routine. If your wondering what the results would have been like, check out Ahree Lees documentation of herself everyday for the last 3 years here!!!(or the full video here) It’s pretty amazing seeing time pass by. There’s this other guy that took a picture of himself each morning for a year, and this Google employee with a photolog of every single meal he had at Google for about a year. Be interesting if you could get a ClickDensity map of some sort over those images…perhaps what parts have changed, where zits appeared and vanished, what you ate, etc. Perhaps something like MouseMiles, to track the distance you mouse travels daily.
update: a guy does it for 6 years here!

Diesel WatchWhile in I was stuck in the London airport, I came across a sweet little watch by Diesel. For those of you that know me, I’m a sucker for watches, and yes, this is yet another one I’m craving to get now.(Comes in black as well, though this white one really stands out) One thing I’ve noticed is how detailed online shopping can get. You can really zoom in on this watch, down to the wrinkles next to the stitch lines. Super specs, 3D animations, a bundle of user reviews, commercials, color options, perhaps printable and wearable products… what’s next for the online shopping experience world?

Buy it here in Black!

million dollar investments

What are some of the BEST start-up ideas that investors and VC’s are willing to sink their teeth into? Well, if your an entrepreneur seeking an idea, perhaps you should read this article by CNNMoney which gives insight to what certain big named investors are seeking in their next big catch. For the list, go here.The shortlist version:
– The Ultimate iDrive
– New Tricks for Old Drugs
– Search for the Small Screen
– The eBay of Product Placement
– Luxury Living on a Budget

Redbull office

Whooohoooo!!! That’s the sound of someone blazing down this new slick carbon slide in the Red Bull office in London right before a meeting! Jump-Studios has created a dynamic interactive space pumped full of adrenaline in this 3 floor escapade for employees of Red Bull filled with stimulating features and activities for everyone to experience! Any tie wearing client is bound to transform into a cool craving stunt junkie after a quick plunge here.

I’m not sure when the last time I was pumped to go to an office, but I’d think a fun environment like this filled with a few cases of Red Bull would do the trick! From ping pong table meeting rooms, to floating staircases, a slick slide, to a modern bar and cafe, and a comfy lounge area… I’d wonder if the balcony had a bungee jump bridge for adrenaline breaks.

For more info on the Red Bull HQ and other sweet projects, hit up Jump-Studios website.  More sweet pics after the jump…
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rocketboom

I recently mentioned how my trip to London seemed very “kind” because of their proper English accent which also raised the question of what is an American accent sounds like? Well, Rocketbooms new host Joanne Colan does just this in this past episode in learning the American accent.

If you have not heard of Rocketboom, it’s a quirky daily 3 minute vLog, Video Blog (Video Web Log), of internets culture art, technology, news, web drama, and the many more odd happenings around the world. It’s probably one of the most watched vLogs with a bit of spunk.

alison jackson president bush tony blairIs that George W Bush using Tony Blair as a stepping stool onto a horse?! Well, it may appear so, but this is in fact the magical work of photographer and artists Alison Jackson who creates political and media commentaries through convincing pictures, videos, and installation. Her pieces raise the question of authenticity of the media and what we should and should not believe. The funny part about her work is that rather than initially being only a remark to the media, it became the center of the medias attention, revoking at her for making false image statements, only to counter her artist statement about how the media create several false stories.

Her works has brought a great deal of anger to for many but then again, it does makes many think about believing what they see.  Personally, I love her work, and get a good kick out of a few of them, especially in the TV videos or storefront installations fooling hundreds of passing on-lookers.

spell checkI was reminded the other day how technologies not only improved my life, but made me just as dumb without it. I’ve been an avid user of computers and such web applications for probably the last 8+ years and I’ll admit, I’m better with it, but incredibly dumb without it.

I use to remember a good dozen phone numbers, but now that I own a mobile phone, I only know 2-3 numbers. I use to be able to hand-write long letters with a pen, but if I try this now, my hand cramps up after half a page. I use to be able to spell well, but ever since I started using spell check I trust software to fix my errors. As a regular user of Instant Messaging, I shorten many words hence can’t spell correctly. I use to be able to figure out where addresses are locally, but now that I am a super user of Google Earth or Maps, I cant go anywhere without it. Google Search is pretty much half my brain. I realized while in London, without a mobile phone, how incredibly hard it was for me to meet up with a friends or for them to contact me. I have my computer save most of my passwords and when I’m not at my computer, I forget all my passwords (though I’ve learned to fix this). My mad math skillz are not that bad yet, but my lazy butt opens up the computers calculator often. Birthdays, appointments, events, holidays at times do not exist unless it’s in my calender.

I’m sure there are many more examples of how techs improved my life but once I’m unplugged from the net or have no access to my laptop, I feel rather dumb at times. Is tech helping me, aiding me, or replacing my brain?

dpmhi belts london

London had tons to offer during my visit and as a designer a hunt down of the shops was a must. I didn’t take pictures of everything, but I’ll post a few things that caught my attention. Thanks to Superfuture.com I had a quick map to guide me abouts the Soho and Covent Gardens area. Otherwise, a mindless trek abouts town seemed to do the trick for finding hotspots. Above is a sick set of belts prints found in the dpmhi  store (maharishi store) More pics and finds after the jump… Continue Reading