ideas

richard hutton leaf magnets
I’ve a huge fan of magnets over tape or pins when it comes to posting up your doodles on walls. I usually suggest the cool ergo Magnutz, but after seeing Leaf Magnets by Richard Hutton, I can’t help but think how cool it would be to have a small forest of leaves along with your sketches connecting you with nature a bit more in your more than likely windowless cubicle, meeting room, or boring office space.

They seem easy to pull off+on and come in a few colors though I’m in my neon bright butt color phase now…so where are the neon bright autumn leaf colors?

Very cool! I want many!

via Dezeen

Awesome stories. I love the makeup of the various school stores! A must watch!

“Accepting his 2008 TED Prize, author Dave Eggers asks the TED community to engage with their local school. With spellbinding eagerness, he talks about how his 826 Valencia tutoring center inspired others around the world to open their own volunteer-driven, wildly creative writing labs. But you don’t need to go that far, he reminds us — it’s as simple as asking a teacher “How can I help?” Share your own volunteering stories at his new website, Once Upon a School. To brainstorm on this wish and get involved, visit TEDPrize.org.”

Buy Dave Eggers best selling book “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”.

Sky factories ceiling installations
Claustrophobic, scared of being bored, damn tired of at looking at those ugly white ceiling tiles in offices and most medical environments? Welcome to Sky Factories solution. Creating visual portals of space through existing structures, allowing a breath of the outdoors in, and easing patients emotions as large robotic x-ray machines roam around their head, or at least something more interesting to stare at as the dentist picks at your gums.(my dentist gave me headphones before, but I had no clue what to look at besides my reflection off his glasses into my bloody mouth)

I’d initially think this to be a bit cheesy, but I’m pretty damn sure it works. Windows, illusions of space, and visualizations such as this always fool the human mind to relax us some, at least compared to those ugly cracked white ceiling tiles we all know of.

I’d really like to see an animated version putting breeze into play but of course that cost more money. Perhaps just a few LCD’s tiled works, but then I’d want to watch a movie o play a video game..anyhow for those budget conscious, go for Sky Factories environmental installations…just make sure to clean it often so those dirt bugs don’t collect.

Check out Sky Factories Galleries and amazing customer stories for some simple solutions for a better user experience. This ideas been around for years, but this is the first I’ve seen it turned into a business.

Craig Venter the human genome pioneer, oceanographic microorganism voyager, and now engineering new life forms through his new company Synthetic Genomics!

Watch his incredibly scary, questionable, perhaps world-changing glimpse into his new adventure in creating synthetic microorganisms or bio robots that eat up waste(perhaps carbon) and in return spawn out useful chemicals such as bio fuels! Seriously dangerous yet mind blowing!

Watch the video above or directly here.
Buy Craig’s book “A Life Decoded” here.

One of this years TED conference highlights was Jill Bolte’s incredibly insightful, curious, inspirational, and whimsical talk about her stroke experience as a neuroanatomist (studying the nervous system including brain) Woa, what a crazy story! A must watch!(18 mins)

“Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she was having a massive stroke. As it happened — as she felt her brain functions slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding — she studied and remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define us and connect us to the world and to one another.”

Watch it above or directly here.
Buy her new book “My Stroke of Insight” here.

I mentioned Van Jones awesome speech during my PopTech adventure last year and now it’s online, or watch it above!(22 mins) He has an incredible vision, a whimsical way in delivering and connecting everyday people to his message, and is one damn smart cookie. Basically, he talks about building a green economy to lift people out of poverty, and giving green jobs over jails! Give it a definite watch and pass it around!

PopCast Video
Van Jones website.


adobe light field multi lense

As a designer, I’ve come to love, breath, and sketch through photoshop and illustrator because of Adobe! Besides their awesome software, Adobe’s recently uncovered a fascinating bug-like multi-lense product that snaps pics at various depths, allowing photographers to later decide the focal length. Basically, it gives 2 dimensional images a 3rd dimension….best part is that it’s an attachment, so, no new camera, just a new component to latch onto your gear to take some sweet images. Watch the video above which will give you a better sense of this awesomeness!

via PopSci
Video

LiveScribe

“The smartpen is an advanced paper-based computer, with audio and visual feedback, processing capabilities, and built-in memory storage for handwriting capture, audio recording and applications. Users can capture and sync audio recordings to their handwritten notes and replay audio segments by tapping on what they wrote. The captured notes and audio in the smartpen can then be uploaded via docking station to a PC where they can be replayed, saved, searched or sent to others.

“The Livescribe platform takes paper-based technology to a radical new level, integrating software applications with physical paper,” said Rodney Brooks, Director of MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. “I see the smartpen as just the beginning for a new class of device with almost unlimited potential.”

Reminds me of a concept I had way back in college, but hey, at least it’s real now to some extent.. very cool none the less.

Video Demo
LiveScribe webpage.($149, out late march)

Evolution Weekend Links

I learned this week that 1 lump of coal equals 1 meg of data sent over the internet. Having this in mind, I sure do burn lots of lumps of energy on the net.

Evolution image above here.
Odd: Son’s tooth help saves dad’s sight.
Fun: Mouse Trap Bed.haha.
Tech: Flickr enables Geo Tagging. Pretty simple to use!
Design: Creating a creative culture.
Style: Ceramic paper like cup.
Neat: Brightness Illusions.
Art: Self-Portrait Competition.
Experience: Villa Eugénie Runway designs!

TED’s opening one entire session to the public, and it just so happens to be one of the best sessions each year, the TED Prize!.

“Join a global audience and watch online as the 2008 TED Prize winners, Dave Eggers, Neil Turok and Karen Armstrong, share their inspiring visions, followed by the moving and infectious music of Vusi Mahlasela.

It will be an evening of big ideas, bold plans and audacious wishes — and you’ll hear ways to help grant their wishes right away!

Click here for the live feed, Thursday, February 28, starting at 5:15pm US/Pacific time >>

SpeakLike Im translation

SpeakLike, the first instant messaging(IM) service for accurate, real-time translation chat across different languages. You type text in your language, and others see it in theirs.

Very cool idea…though they are using real people for now to accurately translate in real-time. I’m sure computers will accurately do this down the road, otherwise, those real-time phone translators we all saw in those AT&T commercials in the 90’s should be coming soon.. I’ve seen a few in action.

FYI: Blahblahfish is a pretty hilarious site that translates English to another language and back again for some rather messed up sentences.

via Springwise
SpeakLike