film & technology — #
Brain Farm Cinema’s Reel showcases their aerial cinematography chops.
29 July 2010
sustainability & technology — #
Study: Solar power is cheaper than nuclear — and, shall we say, less politically charged…
technology & culture — #
technology & design — #
Regarding iPhone 4’s antenna issues… why not add function to form?
17 July 2010
business & technology — #
IT is undergoing its biggest changes since the advent of client/server computing in the 1980s. These changes are being driven by many factors, chief amongst them the emergence of a different model of computing, – cloud computing. We are entering the Age of the Cloud.
culture & technology — #
The end of movable type in China
The use of movable type in China is now a rare business and found only in the rural village of Dongyuan for printing pedigrees. Although this traditional method has been replaced by offset and digital printing, there are single print shops in Hong Kong and Taiwan that still keep extensive collections of their lead type and press machines. Lately, there has been discussion about collecting these existing artifacts and setting up printing museums or digitalizing the complete fonts. Hopefully these projects will come to life soon, sharing and preserving Chinese cultural heritage.
23 June 2010
business & technology — #
The Odds Are Increasing That Microsoft’s Business Will Collapse
16 June 2010
technology — #
Nokia’s Bicycle Charger Kit Could Be the World’s Smartest Peripheral for Dumbphones
The Finnish firm’s Bicycle Charger Kit consists of a little bottle dynamo that you attach to the wheel of your bicycle to power up your phone as you pedal away. It comes with a phone holder that attaches to the handlebars using a hi-tech system composed of an elastic band and a plastic bag, in case of rain. Its price (in Kenya) is a little over $18 bucks, and it’s a wonder that no other phone manufacturer has thought of this before.
14 June 2010
technology & parenthood — #
TykeType! is a free, open-source application for toddler typing by the spectacular Golan Levin.
11 June 2010
art & technology — #
Former Eyebeam fellow James Powderly does awesome work somewhere between new media, interaction design and technology.
travel & technology — #
Kayak’s Explore feature is a neat way to see where you can travel to for a fixed amount of money.
10 June 2010
sustainability & technology — #
interface & technology — #
Hovers (and power users) still have a healthy future
I always felt like computers were meant to be used with at least a hand poised on the home row, because without that arsenal of verbs things just take too long. As a power user, watching someone who isn’t familiar with all the shortcuts can put your patience under observation. To some folks, everything about the desktop is a hindrance, like swimming in molasses.
But to the geeky or trained, the desktop is a fount of power and speed. Documents are side by side, text flies from here to there, IMs are answered and dismissed, mockups reloaded, batches processed, all with tiny movements of the fingers. For those of us who work all day on computers, touch interfaces are not an impending disruption.
While the future of the desktop is bright, like some maturing stars it also becomes more concentrated. If I place a bet, it’ll be that the desktop negotiates its place among tablets to settle on a role we haven’t seen in a while: the workstation. As for interface designers, we will sometimes shift out of the one-size-fits-all mindset to ask ourselves: Which device is this app really for? The workstation or the tablet?