experience

JetBlue TV screens

Above is a picture I took flying Jetblue on my way to CES. If you have not flown Jetblue, do it! They kick butt because they cost less while making the user experience more desirable. They have the cool snooze packs, rocking chairs, personal direct TV screens, spacious seats, clean, tasty snacks, easy to use webpage, soon to be dancing inspired terminals, great customer support, and many other great ideas that keep surprising me. (I’ve got tons more ideas, but I’ll let them hire me to hear those thoughts 😉 )

Anyhow, back to the picture above. This is what I saw while walking back to my seat; a sea of monitors glimmering pool-like reflections onto the walls. These screens really light up the place!!! Besides the light, these screens sure do create some heat. One thing that bothered me was that every single screen was “ON”, blasting images, light, and heat everywhere. Now I usually don’t make a gripe about this, but ever since I got into “save energy mode” I’ve realized how much money and energy can be saved through simple things such as a light. I asked myself, why can’t JetBlue turn off the screens that are not being used? I know users can turn off their screens, but it’s not easy to.(I’ve had to show so many people how to turn them off) This flight was half empty, hence, half the screens were “ON” for no reason. Why can’t the default be “OFF” while the action to turn on the screens be up to the users (If I recall right, this is how it works on some international airlines). Would this actually save them a few dollars of energy a flight, hundreds a day, and perhaps thousands a week?

Jetblue makes tons of simple changes to save money. I think this is a simple idea to save energy unless there is something about energy efficiency on airlines I’m unknowledgeable about. Perhaps they have some future concept to greet users with their names individually on screens for that VIP treatment expereience. Maybe the screens act as secondary heating devices which cost less than heating the fuselage? I have no clue, but I have faith in Jetblue in creating a much better user experience while keeping airfare low and keeping me a couch potato as I’ve probably logged in more movie and TV hours on their airline than I have on land! Jetblue, if your reading this, please make this change or let me know why not. Otherwise, hopefully there’s a reader out there with the right connections to save some mucho energy for them.

update: a few more pictures and thoughts from my red-eye flight back after the jump…

Continue Reading

ces 2007I’m off to Vegas for a spontaneous trip to CES. I’ll roam the miles of exhibits and bring back some insightful designverb like thoughts, but don’t expect everything as I’d just point you to Engadget or Gizmodo for all their crazy coverage as usual. If your at CES, let me know, and we can crusade the floors with style. Jetting off in a bit! Vegas whoohoooo!!

wired science tv series

If you love WIRED (I do) and got all geeky at WIREDs NextFest (I did) then you’ll crave their new TV series “WIRED Science” which aired yesterday on PBS. If ya missed it, watch it online (commercial-free) right here!(56 mins) I’d highly recommend checking out this pilot episode plus an extended interview with Elon Musk here.(I’ve had lunch with him at TED 😉 ) Afterwards, dig into their webpage for more information to get inspired. Hopefully this trial period lands them a seasons spot next year!(fingers crossed)

Here were the topics for the pilot:
Full Show
Meteorite Hunters (woa)
Finding Neemo (mysterious)
Exploded View: PlasmaTV
Stem Cells (inspirational)
Rocketeers (fun)
Elon Musk (smart dude)(extended video)
Extremophiles(very cool)

feedbak methodologies

I came across this great post reminding us that showing too many details too early can be incredibly unproductive. I’ve always questioned people, clients, and educational systems that emphasized looks, glam, and presentation over the methodology, experience, and solving the larger issues. I’m not saying this goes with all industries, but probably a great majority. Sure you can glam out a phase and impress certain clients, but creating your own lie can bite you bad down the road. I could ramble on and on about this, but I’m sure everyone in the creative world can relate to this topic in many instances with great stories. Read the rest of the article here.

POM juice teaI just treated myself to a refreshing glass of POM Juice Tea (Pomegranate Lychee Green Tea to be exact). Besides the zesty taste I’d like to point out the simple and sustainable container, which is shaped like a glass cup! Yup, it’s that simple. You pop off the top, and enjoy it like a fresh glass of juice. Better yet is that you can add it to your shelf for reuse. It’s a good thickness glass which I like more than most of the glass cups I have anyways. If your more of a herbs person, the cap pops back on airtight. Extra points for POM, their wonderful juices, and now their sweet sustainable glass containers!

Robin Hood Restaurants

What a kick-butt idea!!!

“These pay-as-you-can cafes have missions that are unapologetically altruistic—call it serving up fare Robin Hood style. “Our philosophy is that everyone, regardless of economic status, deserves the chance to eat healthy, organic food while being treated with dignity,” explains Brad Birky, who opened SAME with his wife, Libby, in October. Customers who have no money are encouraged to exchange an hour of service — sweep, wash the dishes, weed the organic garden — for a meal. Likewise, guests who have money are encouraged to leave a little extra to offset the meals of those who have less to give. “We’re a hand up, not a hand out,” says One World owner Denise Cerreta, who prides herself on the fact that everyone can afford a meal at her café.

The cafés’ business models have won fans among the city’s well-to-do residents, many of whom regularly dine there. At One World, patrons have given Cerreta a car, bought new dishes, arranged to professionally clean her carpets, supplied new tile for the restaurant bathrooms, and donated property for an organic garden and funded a new irrigation system for it. Last week, a gentleman left a $50 bill next to an empty bowl of soup at SAME. Since opening, one man has regularly come in and left money on the counter without eating, stating “I was blessed today so I though I’d pass it on.” He’s homeless.” via TIME.

I’ve always been a fan of exchanging ones time for another rather than diving into money talks. This probably occurred when I had to pay a lawyer recently, but I did continue this trend when my friend needed a design for his CD album. I knew he had little money, so I said I’d do it for free in exchange for his time down the road. I spent 15-20 hours designing the cover for him, and in exchange he said he’d give me a free concert (you know who ya are 😉 ). Buh yeah to to community driven ideas!(much like my thoughts on search engines)

SAME (SoAllMayEat.org) was inspired by another cafe, OneWorldEverybodyEats.com, for this great initiative.

lasting gifts
At a recent holiday gathering I was asked to bring a gift with a story, meaning, and perhaps a life changing experience for whomever was to receive my gift. I generally custom make gifts for friends, so making something for a stranger was a bit tough. So instead I asked myself “what are life changing products that have made a huge impact to my lifestyle and would be useful for anyone”?(this gathering was a bit tech oriented). We’ll, here are two products that have changed my life drastically along with some software producs that have done the same.

Sonicare Electronic Toothbrush : It’s a massage in your mouth using this beauty. Once you go electric, it’s hard to go back.

Logitech 8-button mouse(MX510): Navigating will never be the same! I personally use the extra buttons on the mouse to, “go back, forward, scroll, close windows, and launch internet browser”. I rarely hit those backwards and forwards button on the nav bar, nor do I ever click on that “x” to close a window anymore…saves thousands of seconds daily.(their new “hyper-wheel” seems interesting)

E-mail Clients:Eudora, Outlook(or express), Mail, Opera, Thunderbird, etc:
It amazes me how many people don’t use email clients. I can’t imagine managing emails without them. It surprises me to see people typing in passwords to check mail only to find no mail at times. E-mail clients save loads of time if you communicate through e-mails. E-mail clients still have a long way to go, but the first jump has been drastic.

Digital Calendars: Outlook, GCal, 30boxes, Sunbird,iCal, etc:
Never forget a meeting, birthday, appointment, event, etc…even have the calendar send you a text message reminder! In the world of information overload, calendars will be playing a HUGE role in our everyday future of multitasking and managing ourselves.

Lots of other compelling products out there, but these are some that I bring up all the time. Do you have a life changing product story? Let me know..
Happy holidays!!

fish pedicureOOOooo…I never thought I’d be craving for a swarm of little fish to nibble on my feet and hands, but I just might now. I’ll assume it tickles at first then transforms into a soothing yet odd prickly massage..one day..i’ll give it a try.

“For the adventurous, there’s the Ooedo Onsen. This three-year-old kitschy spa made to look like a centuries-old, shogun-era village lets visitors choose from 15 different yukatas (light cotton kimonos) to wear while inside. In addition to its 28 baths and massages, Ooedo offers an exotic esthetic treatment called Doctor Fish, a foot bath featuring live fish called garru-rufa.

The small fish swim in a shallow tub of warm water and nibble at dead skin, leaving hands and feet smooth [top]. Imported from Turkey, the fish are used in some Middle Eastern countries as a natural way to treat skin disease and rheumatism. Be warned: Dozens of fish chewing on flesh looks like something straight out of a horror movie. But when you get over the ick factor, the nibbling can have a calming affect.” www.ooedoonsen.jp

read more via bookofjoe

google patent search

Thank GOD!!! Googles beta “Patent Search” visually reorganizes all the complex, confusing, and congested data from the USPTO(US patent and trademark office) and makes it a much better experience to seek out inventions. If you have ever used the USPTO patent site, you probably gave up after a few minutes due to the very unfriendly graphical interface then hired an expensive lawyer to suffer through the horror that you experienced for a bit. I’m super glad Googles taken notice of this craziness and I look forward to the future development of it….then again…it’s google and they will data mine what people are searching for then patent it themselves! They can be evil you know..

When you see these ads, it’ll make you want to buy a Nintendo Wii because they just scream out FUN! Yes, there is the ever so powerful Xbox and Playstation3, but when those 2 are battling for first place, the Wii stands out especially at a much lower cost($250ish) and a much more playful attitude. Sure the Xbox and PS3 are more powerful and graphic intense, but are they as much fun? Isn’t that the point of games? I’m sure their good, but not as exciting since the Wii is creating a community of people obsessed about not just the gaming aspect, but how they play it. There’s a wonderful pool of images on Flickr of Wii users! I’d like to see a comparison of pictures of people playing the PS3 or Xbox, which would probably seem like the stare of boredom that we get in webcams. Anyhow, just my prediction, but the Wii will kick butt! I want one even if I end up smashing my TV with the controller. I’m not saying the Xbox and PS3 are bad, I’m just saying that the Wii is really revolutionizing our aspect of gaming consoles.

Watch the fun ads above or after the jump(direct links: here, here, and here) I’ll throw in some images from that pool of Wii players as well after the jump.

Continue Reading