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Microsoft Multi-Touch Laptop

Posted by _tango! on June 21, 2007
Posted in: art, brand, design, entertainment, experience, fun, ideas, information, inspiration, materials, me, style, tech, thoughts, wacky. Leave a Comment

First came Jef Hans Multi-Touch screen a few years back, then came the over-marketed super hyped iPhone, followed by Jef’s bigger brother wall, then Microsoft launches a huge table sized Surface Computing idea, followed along with a hilarious parody of their surface table, and now this early developmental video of a multi-touch laptop which also has the same IR sensor as the super fun Nintendo Wii, that you can make at home. I wonder whats next.

I’m not a huge fan of touch sensors/screens when it comes to function…for the cool factor, yes I like it, and for the community multi-user reasons I love it, but when it comes down to one person using a touchscreen via a capacitor (the electronic component that detects touch) I’ve never fell in love with it. First off, if you have ever used a touch screen before on a remote or even on a laptop to turn up/down the volume, you’ll know instantly that there is no user feedback which us humans need. We can live without it, but it just isn’t as good, though there are some developments into piezo-electronic screens that vibrate once your finger does something.(The Wii vibrates when you hover over objects which is nice in the remote) Then there’s GelForce,a must watch (video demo) which is pretty fascinating technology because of the simple implementation and the scalability.(It’s incredible to play with)

I’ll post all the videos of each technology after the jump.
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Kiva.org

Posted by _tango! on June 21, 2007
Posted in: brand, ideas, information, inspiration, tech, thoughts. 2 comments
kiva kiva.org

“Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can “sponsor a business” and help the world’s working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you’ve sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back.”

I’m not one to usually seek into these money gathering foundations but I have a few friends who can’t stop talking about how successful, exciting, professional, and rewarding Kiva is. Having the friends approval, a great NewYorkTimes video review, many other press reviews, and over 70,000 people loaning over 7 million dollars so far, I think I’m sparked to make some needed loans.(as little as $25) The money may not be an investment for more money, but the reward is more than money could buy.

Learn more about Kiva.org, browse through their business listings, check out their blog, and join the club.

Sao Paulo: City Without Ads

Posted by _tango! on June 19, 2007
Posted in: art, brand, design, experience, ideas, information, inspiration, style, tech, thoughts. 16 comments
sao paulo brazil adfree city

What happens when a mayor decides to ban advertisements in a vibrant city of 11 million people with more than 8,000 billboards? Impossible, insane, absurd, or just plain genius? Well this is what happened this past January when mayor Gilberto Kassabs “Clean City” law was introduced in Sao Paulo Brazil banning any form of advertising throughout the city to rid of “visual clutter”. (reminds me of the “advertising is graffiti” stunt, or my dislike for posters in Milan)

I’ve always wondered what an ad-free environment would be like, how a persons behavior would change, or what a city’s culture and personality would become. I’m not sure how long this law will last, but for a huge city, its a definite moment to figure out the overall affects of ads in our spaces for the good or worse. The results have been surprisingly uplifting, peaceful, educational, and positive. As much as I hate and love the art of advertising, I must admit I can’t live without it, but then again, I’ve never lived in such an environment.

Read two articles by BusinessWeek and NPR(with a MP3 interview) then skip on over to photographer Tony de Marcos Flickr set of the changing cityscape, with insightful comments here.

I’ll post the articles with the MP3 interview and some pictures after the jump.

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Michael Moore: Sicko Documentry

Posted by _tango! on June 18, 2007
Posted in: entertainment, experience, information, inspiration, me, thoughts. 2 comments
Sicko documentry michael moore

“SiCKO is a documentary film by Michael Moore, scheduled for release on June 29, 2007. It investigates the American health care system with a focus on the behavior of large health insurance companies and contrasts the U.S. system with those of other countries with universal health care coverage.”
via wikipedia

I’m not one to promote nor be against films by Michael Moore, but I do admire his messages though many individuals may find his messages factually lopsided. Even though this film is scheduled for release later this month, you can view it online though the links keep jumping around and closing. I watched it on Google video here, but now it’s here (watch it today or it’ll jump). Outer-Court seems to keep the listing up to date.(it keeps jumping)(new links below)It’s also up for downloading on various p2p sites. If you can’t track the film online, give a look at the previews.

Quick thoughts: It’s very good, compelling, moving, and provoking along with the witty comments which Moore is known for. Much like the Climate Crisis in Inconvenient Truth, it makes you wonder, mad, angry, and question. I’ve somewhat known about this unfair health care system in the states, but I’ve never thought about it much until watching this film. It makes me want to move out of this country, move to Canada, or just sit here and complain about this issue as much as the Climate Crisis has made me change for the good. Give it a watch online if you can, otherwise, there are plenty of reviews and user reactions online if you dig around.

update: try these:
part 1 http://www.veoh.com/static/flash/player … ;version=4
part 2 http://www.veoh.com/static/flash/player … ;version=4
part 3 http://www.veoh.com/static/flash/player … ;version=4
part 4 http://www.veoh.com/static/flash/player … ;version=4

update: Michael Moore himself has posted a video on YouTube asking for users to post their own stories about health care issues, problems, stories here…Read the responses and watch the video responses.

Drivers of Change cards

Posted by _tango! on June 13, 2007
Posted in: brand, design, experience, fun, ideas, information, inspiration, materials, me, tech, thoughts. 3 comments
drivers of change book cards

“What will our world be like in 2050? This set of cards identifies some of the leading drivers of change that affect our future.

Each card depicts a single driver. A factoid and rhetorical question are on one face, backed up by a brief indication of the breadth and depth of the content on the other face. The set was devised by the Foresight & Innovation team at Arup, a group tasked with exploring emerging trends and how they impact upon business of Arup and its clients. The publication serves not only as a vibrant visual record of research, but also as a tool for discussion groups, personal prompts, for workshop events or as a ‘thought for the week’.”

I’ve had these cards for a few months (thanks TED) and they rock! Very inspirational, educational, great coffee table item, easy to read, and an amazing conversation starter for big topics in technology, our environment, economics, political culture, and social awareness in a globally changing sustainable future.

Drivers of Change website.
Drivers of Change Blog
Buy Cards here.

Replate.org: Recycle your food

Posted by _tango! on June 11, 2007
Posted in: brand, food, green, ideas, information, inspiration, materials, thoughts. 6 comments
replate.org

Are you the type that never finishes a meal on the go ends up trashing it? Are you also the type that sees people in need of food on the streets asking for pocket change or food? We’ll Replate.org’s hope is to fix both these problems by bringing awareness of wasting less and helping more. If you have unwanted leftovers on the go, leave it on top of a nearby trashcan rather than in one so it doesn’t go to waste. I know this might seem odd at first, but I’ve countlessly seen people dig through trashcans seeking good edible food. It’s somewhat disheartening, but treat it like recycling… It’s still usable so help someone out by letting them know. Reduce, reuse, recycle.

I’ve always wondered about grocery stores, fast food joints, restaurants, etc throwing away perfectly good food(I see it alllll the time at grocery stores). I forget where, but I once read/heard that all the food thrown away in the states would be enough food for the 3rd world countries in need. For a brief video on this topic have a look at Current.tv‘s video on Freeganism. Here are a few other organizations surrounding this topic: Freegan.info and FoodNotBombs.net.
(thanks axel)

Rotating Wall

Posted by _tango! on June 8, 2007
Posted in: art, entertainment, information, wacky. Leave a Comment


rotating wall scuplture

Hmmm..call this rotating wall sculpture a work of art, really bizarre, or just freaking cool! Watch the video above and start to ponder…

“The UK city of Liverpool is playing host to a rather kooky piece of artwork for the next 18 months. Called Turning The Place Over (I do hope that’s not a reference to Scousers being nifty burglars) by Richard Wilson, it consists of a rotating wall that turns 360º. Cut in the wall of an old Yates’s Wine Lodge, the installation sits opposite one of the city’s train stations and is costing almost $900,000 – that’s $50,000 for each month of its existence.”
via Gizmodo

Spin N’ Snap Camera Concept

Posted by _tango! on June 6, 2007
Posted in: brand, design, ideas, information, inspiration, materials, style, tech. 5 comments
snap n spin sony camera concept

Sony just showed off a series of pretty sweet concept ideas on environmentally friendly sustainable electronics in Japan.”One of the more interesting devices of the lot is the Spin N’ Snap digital camera (pictured above), which you charge up simply by placing your fingers in the two holes (which also double as a viewfinder) and spinning it around a few times.”

Check out the pictures via Engadget or the whole article via DigitalCamerWatch.

Personally I love kinetic powering ideas though it’ll take more than one twist to take a picture most likely. We already have the hand-cranking 100$ OLPC laptop, so why not have a minority report like fling-charging camera. I’d buy one.

BestBuy: brand value and experience, booo.

Posted by _tango! on June 5, 2007
Posted in: brand, design, experience, information, me, thoughts. Leave a Comment

best.buy.yack

I recently voyaged to one of my favorite hands-on testing grounds store BestBuy, but what I left with was a diminish in their brand value and trust. The events experienced were not new, but they were unnoticed in the past as in recent years my expectations in brands, customer-centric services, and brand experiences have changed a bit.

So, what happened? I needed an external hard drive since my measly laptop was under 1 gig of space. I went to BestBuy and bought a pretty nifty external Hard Drive that you basically just plug in via USB and your set to use. At the check out counter, the sales rep kept insisting that I have a GeekSquad service added to install it since there was a sticker on the box. I said no thanks, and she kept telling me about how much easier it would be to install etc. I told her that all I needed to do was plug it in. Then she said “oh, well I don’t even know what you are buying.” Right there and then, I lost my brand value and trust in BestBuy. First, they had a dumb sticker on a product that does not need a person to come help install it for $$$.(It’s like having a person come install a toaster at your house). Secondly, the person working and selling me the product did not even understand the product nor understand what I meant when I said hard drive.

For crying out loud, don’t hire people into your company that don’t understand the products you are selling. I’m not just ranting at BestBuy, but there are many other brands that have employees that don’t have a clue to what the company does. Yes, I know it cost more to hire people that breathe your brand, but I’m guessing it cost more money to re-market your brand value to customers that have had a bad experience. Good things are easy to forget and bad experiences are never forgotten. I’ll stop my ranting here, but BestBuy, take for example some kick-butt brands like Jetblue, Wholefoods, Patagonia, or TraderJoes; they get it, their employees do it, and their customers know, experience, and live their brands like a religion. Brands are truthful users experiences today, not just portrayed over-marketed lifestyles anymore. We live the digital age…we ignore ads, research deeply, and leave nothing hidden.

mix1 beverage: all-natural fast food

Posted by _tango! on June 5, 2007
Posted in: brand, design, food, information, me, thoughts. 1 comment

mix1 beverage life fast food

On another random drink journey to Wholefoods I came across these brightly packaged Mix1 beverages claiming to be the “all natural fast food” drink packed full of the optimal mix of ingredients to maximize your all-day energy and balance needs.

At first glance, these bottles seemed more like mini paint buckets or large nail polish canisters with their flat sides and corners, but hey, they grabbed my attention being surrounded by the the other over-texted transparent like packages upon the shelf. I picked up the lime flavor to try out. It taste like a mini blended smoothie with bits of protein. It also had this distinct flavor that reminded me of the famous Asian mini bacteria drink called “Yakult“, though pronounce in Cantonese “Yu look doe”. Anyhow, the drink itself was tasty and refreshing, though I’m not sure how much of a boost it gave me.

On a side note: It’s amazing to see how many new companies are spawning out that become their own brand, or need to. Take for instance Mix1. They all sell a story, a story about how they themselves started and wanted to create a drink they would use. Not only does the story apply to the founders, but every single worker down to the sales rep. Another great example is HonestTea. The founders had a hard time finding a drink in the market that was not too sweet yet tasty. Most Iced teas were jammed full of sugars, so they created Honest Tea, which taste like real home brewed iced tea without the over saturation of soda like sugars.(read there story here, or an interview with the co-founder here)

Venting Our (Carbon Dioxide) Problems into Space

Posted by _tango! on June 4, 2007
Posted in: green, ideas, information, inspiration, tech, wacky. Leave a Comment
earth carbon venting mr wong concept

Here’s an intriguing proposal to help rid the carbon problems in earths atmosphere; vent it out to space! I’ve never thought of such an idea, but then again, I never really understood our atmosphere scientifically as Mr. Wong below describes. I’d also question what happens when it’s all out in space? Is space the solution for all of our problems? anyhow, just thought ya’ll might like this read:”This week’s issue of The Economist reports on an interesting scheme proposed by Alfred Y. Wong, professor of physics and director of the Plasma Physics Laboratory at the University of California, Los Angeles, to rid the Earth of carbon dioxide emissions. Wong posits that a conveyor built in the Arctic could take advantage of the Earth’s magnetic field to expel emissions into outer space.

The Antarctic and the Arctic are the only two sites on the planet above which the sky opens up to space. There, particles from the sun that get through and cross the atmosphere could be harnessed for their gigawatts of power to lower the concentration of greenhouse gases by expelling them.

read the rest after the jump… via treehugger
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