The Design of Science

Posted on July 30, 2008 by B Juergens
Design, Tech | Leave a Comment

Dickson Despommier, a professor at Columbia University, and 82 graduate students designed a vertical farm concept based on LA’s Capitol Records building. Like other designs of vertical farms, such as the one presented by the Center for Urban Agriculture in Seattle and another concept by Atelier SOA Architects in Paris; the high-concept design would ensure protection for a cities’ food supply against floods, droughts, and pathogens. Each vertical farm would be sustained through renewable energy sources i.e. solar panels, wind turbines, and salvaged rainwater. The overall idea is not solely for high-rise downtown city farms, in fact, ‘they’ are hoping you put a small-scale version in your backyard. Welcome to the future of sustainable living.

Consumer Electronics Purchasing Woes

Posted on July 23, 2008 by S Osako
Culture, Tech | 1 Comment

I recently purchased a new monitor for my home office and boy was it frustrating. The thought of buying something new is fun and exciting and I’m envious when I see others getting boxes of goodies at work. Of course I couldn’t just buy the first monitor I saw, I had to do tons of research to avoid buyer’s remorse. I started my exploration for the right monitor with high spirits. By the end of one week, my spirits were crushed. Not only was I drowning in conflicting reviews from “experts” and users, but the manufacturers seem to number their products with the goal of confusing consumers. Why can’t they just number their models intuitively and make it very clear what the differences are?

7-Point System for CS3

Posted on June 17, 2008 by S Running
Design, Tech | Leave a Comment

Judging from the title, I was expecting it to be a beginners-only book. As it turns out, the book assumes you already have a comfort level with the finer workings of Photoshop. The underlying concept of the book is that all other Photoshop books simply dissect the various components of the application and tell you how to use them. Do you have a dark image? Use levels to lighten it. Have a blurry image? Use Unsharp mask. Want to get rid of a blemish? Use the rubber stamp tool. The issue that Kelby addresses is that many digital artists don’t know how to assess a photo and determine what needs to be done to it overall and in what order. In simpler terms, the question becomes how to make a good photo a great photo. As a master Photoshop user, Kelby audited his own process as he worked on hundreds of images. He realized that the majority of photos required a combination of the same seven steps. In the book, Kelby breaks down each of those seven steps and applies them to real photos using detailed tutorials.

Why Creative Commons is a Good Idea

Posted on June 12, 2008 by C Lin
Culture, Industry, Tech | Leave a Comment

Creative Commons is a non-profit organization which provides free licenses to copyright holders to use when releasing their works on the web. The idea is to avoid current copyright law issues when dealing with the sharing of information. CC sort of clears the clutter and confusion of copyright infringement for web users and creators. They are also really good at visually organizing these complex copyright laws in a very digestible way. Besides, the group has a nicely designed website and their free licensing icons are beautiful. The free software and open-source web world is in need of these guidelines! “We work to offer creators a best-of-both-worlds way to protect their works while encouraging certain uses of them – to declare ‘some rights reserved.’” – Creative Commons

Wearable Technology

Posted on March 10, 2008 by B Juergens
Culture, Tech | 2 Comments

While the two are not inseparable, fashion and technology have always been somewhat related. Let’s take, for instance, the first recorded mention of a “pocket-clock” in 1462, by Italian clock maker Bartholomew Manfredi. At the time, such a device was quite bulky and worn around the neck. It wasn’t until the 16th century that they were small enough to fit into a pocket. This led to a creation of a specific pocket in the waistcoat and vest for the watch. Fast forward four centuries to trendy pockets built in gal’s bags made for mobile devices and handsomely stylized self-contained cases to be worn around guy’s belts! Reminiscent of the short-lived, yet notably popular ring-watch of the 80’s, the up-coming GM500 Cell watch is a cousin of wearable technology.

The Ethics of Stealing a WiFi Connection

Posted on January 16, 2008 by C Johnson
Advertising, Culture, Industry, Tech | Leave a Comment

It is my considered opinion that fine folks at Arts Technica deserve a Pulitzer Prize. Their recent article “The Ethics of ‘stealing’ a WiFi Connection” blows the baloney out of the idea that accessing WiFi is a black-and-white crime and is one of those rare, shining moments in internet journalism where you just want to stand up and salute.

Bad Web Layout Conventions

Posted on December 11, 2007 by C Lin
Design, Tech | Leave a Comment

‘Design View,’ a blog by Andy Rutledge of Unit Interactive, offers up his opinions on poor web layout conventions which are still being implemented by some of the most frequented and notably well-designed sites on the internet such as Apple and Amazon. He dissects the common centered 3-column layout, an early popular convention used by such sites, pointing out the flaws in design and usability. Another typical convention many news sites make the mistake of doing is mimicking old-school newsprint layout. According to Rutledge, these sites fail to see that the difference between mediums (print vs. web) should be reason enough to change die-hard habits of design and layout. His points are well taken and it’s a surprise that even award winning sites Amazon and Apple are still hanger-ons—especially in this Web 2.0 day in age.

Check out his criticism and solutions to these design problems.

Getting Things Done

Posted on November 29, 2007 by C Johnson
Advertising, Culture, Design, Tech | Leave a Comment

Just like the endless barrage of airbrushed cosmetic commercials advertising ‘new and improved must have products’ that are ‘guaranteed to change your life forever,’ it seems these days you can’t spend too much time online without encountering another ‘take charge of your life and get organized’ 2.0 GTD site. Seemingly endless in their availability, GTD 2.0 makes getting organized look ever so attractive and (dare we say it) fun, and are currently cluttering search engines everywhere.

Google’s Open Handset Alliance

Posted on November 8, 2007 by C Johnson
Tech | Leave a Comment

For a while there, it looked like we were on the verge of a generation of iPhone one-uppers. The so-called “gPhone” has been the subject of much gossip and speculation and yesterday Google finally revealed its gPhone to be … well … not a gPhone at all. Instead, Google has opted to take a big picture approach to mobile technology advancement. What they’ve brought to the table is something called the Open Handset Alliance.

eBay’s Woes on Acquiring Skype

Posted on October 8, 2007 by C Johnson
Industry, Tech | 1 Comment

In the first place, no one was really thrilled about it to begin with: a proposed feature that would allow eBay sellers to add voice-calling capabilities to their online stores. It wasn’t necessary, power sellers were lukewarm about it at best, and what’s more, the asking price was much too high. And yet eBay bought Skype in 2005 for a mind-blowing $4.1 billion dollars, confident that synergies between the two companies (such as the voice-call feature) would lead to major profits.