A Price for Internet Freedom
Posted on February 28, 2007 by C Johnson
Culture, Tech | Leave a Comment
Nothing is free these days. And sadly, that includes speech. Especially when it comes to TV, print and radio— these supposed forums for free speech have, for the most part, become monopolized jungles held captive by corporate America. But the internet, well, now there’s a place where equality is a reality, not just an ideology. It’s a place where the Dali Lama shares equal floor space with Britney Spears. It’s the world’s most influential form of communication—a playground for the ideas and expressions of every individual on the planet, and a public marketplace for everyone from Donald Trump to the local auto body shop.
Congress and Web 2.0
Posted on February 27, 2007 by C Lin
Design | Leave a Comment
OpenCongress.org brings the U.S. government into a Web 2.0 space. Co-creator David Moore describes it:
One of the problems we were aiming to address is that there is a lack of comprehensive, usable web resources for people and groups writing about bills and issues in Congress. The Library of Congress website, Thomas, doesn’t do nearly enough to make Congressional information accessible—meaning that political bloggers didn’t have anywhere helpful to link when discussing Congress, that there wasn’t a way for their readers to get the “big picture” behind an issue. The lack of public knowledge about what’s really happening in Congress breeds apathy about political change in general.
OpenCongress helps close the information gap between political insiders and the public by bringing together official government information from Thomas (by way of GovTrack.us), news articles from Google News, blog posts from Technorati, campaign contribution data from OpenSecrets.org, and more—to give you the real story behind what’s happening in Congress.
When “Digital” means “Fingers”.
Posted on February 27, 2007 by Tuesday Creative
Design, Tech | Leave a Comment
In the last 2 years, there have been some advances in touch screen technology (or at last certain applications of it) that will invariably change the way we interact with computers, devices and each other.
I have often wondered when something like the Minority Report style UI’s would come into everyday use. Where the user needs only their hands (or other appendage) to direct any given device. Being able to use both hands without the cumbersome pointing devices in use today is an enticing thought. This prospect is very interesting because as a designer I have had to make quite a few UI’s for various things from sites to games to kiosks. Hardware is usually the first limitation.
C-Level Cyber Junkies
Posted on February 26, 2007 by C Johnson
Industry, Tech | Leave a Comment
It rather goes without saying that the web has forever changed the way we do business. In fact, such a statement should elicit a big fat “duh” from everyone reading this. What is interesting, however, are the results of a recent study conducted by Forbes.com and Gartner Research. They surveyed C-Level and Senior Execs from all over the world about their “media habits”. The results, although not exactly surprising, are quite insightful.
The fact of the matter is that Execs worldwide feel the internet is the most influential and important source of business information. The majority of C-Level execs think that the most informative form of advertising is found on the web. And an overwhelming percentage of both C Level execs and senior management much prefer logging onto the web than reading a copy of the newspaper.
FrogDesign’s DNA ‘Dattoos’
Posted on February 23, 2007 by C Johnson
Culture, Design, Tech | Leave a Comment
Right. So let’s just pretend for the moment that you’re down the pub with your mates. Friday night. Rank DJ, great beer. Been making eyes at someone all night and you’ve finally struck up conversation. And when the moment comes to either part ways or make a move, you simply shake hands and walk away. Damn pleased with yourself too, since you’ve just walked away with a phone number… transmitted to you by a simple touch of the hand.
The Positive Negative
Posted on February 22, 2007 by C Johnson
Design | Leave a Comment
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” So said Leonardo daVinci and, wouldn’t you know it, he was right. It’s a truth that designers 600 years later are exploring in both big and small ways. Or should I say, in Macro and Micro ways.
British designer Marc Boulton has written an intelligent and thought provoking piece called ‘Whitespace’ which is a delightfully fresh reminder to all of us that bad design is more often the result of failing to use white space, and not the other way around.
Macro white space, the negative space between the major elements in a composition is not (as some may argue) a lack of design. After all, one would hardly call the micro white space between words, captions and characters a ‘lack of design’. Both macro and micro white space serve similar functions—not only by adding a hint of elegance and sophistication, but by bringing balance to the design, letting the composition breathe, and even helping to guide the eye from one element to another. When combined, these two aspects of negative space create a powerfully positive result.
So go ahead: embrace the blank!
Second Life: Making My Long Distance Relationships Easier!
Posted on February 21, 2007 by Tuesday Creative
Culture, Design, Tech | Leave a Comment
I’m not an expert on long distance relationships, but I must say that I sure have a lot of them. My closest friends have always been thousands of miles away! It’s always been very difficult, but after about eight to nine years of keeping in touch through letters, e-mails and expensive phone calls, we all came together in Second Life.
Now I get to see them on a daily basis! Or rather, I get to see their avatars. It is quite like sitting down and playing a video game with your pals. Only the video game doesn’t have a script, you can play any character you want, your character can dress however you think they should be dressed, and the adventure can be in any genre.
Money Cat
Posted on February 21, 2007 by C Lin
Culture, Design | Leave a Comment
I bought this plastic tissue bag from an Asian grocery store because it caught my eye. I’m envisioning that the bag is meant to be placed inside those hard shelled tissue box covers you can get from Crate and Barrel. Although ‘Money Cat’ doesn’t make any sense to me (something I call: Engrish—ha ha), I think the design stands on it’s own. I wouldn’t want to place a cover over it, it’s too cute.
Desolation Row
Posted on February 20, 2007 by C Lin
Culture, Design | Leave a Comment
Desolation Row is a Flickr set of photographs taken from an abandoned resort area in Taiwan. The area is filled with these beautiful retro-futuristic buidlings from 20 years ago. Check out Desolation Row Redux as well.
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Ron Mueck Tags on Flickr
Posted on February 16, 2007 by Tuesday Creative
Art | Leave a Comment
The amazing art of the Australian-born sculptor Ron Mueck, as experienced through the collective eye of Flickr.
Also, check out this great set created by the Brooklyn Museum that shows Ron installing his work.
