The bed covers are warm and nestled just below your chin, a small sliver of morning light slips under your curtains, and your dreams continue, blissfully interrupted – until you are rudely interrupted by the shrill screech of your bedside alarm clock. With the SnūzNLūz WiFi Donation Alarm Clock there is no room to hit the snooze button and roll over for a few more moments of guilty dozing. As soon as your finger presses the snooze button, the alarm clock wirelessly links to your bank account and donates to a cause that makes your blood boil. Drawing on the concept of hate and animosity, the SnūzNLūz concept encourages meat eaters to donate to a vegetarian cause or property developers to donate to the Wilderness Society.
Technology
A space age take on photography, satellite imagery captures galactic scenery and transforms it into readable and useful visual data. Visual artist duo Semiconductor is comprised of Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt, who work together to explore life around us and the physical universe. With impressive fellowships under their belts including stints with the Smithsonian Artists Research department and NASA Space Sciences, the duo used moving images and raw satellite to produce Brilliant Noise, a video portrait of the sun. Delving into the depths of the NASA data vaults, Ruth and Joe reorganised satellite images into time-lapse progressions. Incorporating natural solar-radio sound and white noise from cosmic rays, Semiconductor proves that art can leap into other dimensions, and cross space and time. Until July 31 at the Institute of Modern Art.
Thanks to the internet, budding astrologers, explorers and lunar lovers can now take an online leap to the moon, where its endless craters are waiting to be discovered and charted. A virtual exploration collective, Moon Zoo aims to conduct a global study to compile a map of the moon’s surface in unparalleled detail. Using images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), Moon Zoo invites users from all over to the world to view and monitor the moon’s craters, robotic space debris and lava movement. A citizen science project, Moon Zoo forms part of the Zooniverse, an online project that draws on the efforts and knowledge of volunteers and amateur scientists to assist with scientific research and data sorting.
There are some blogs/websites that are inspiring, funny, lovely that we habitually revisit each time we open our desktops, they’re the sites that keep us coming back into the “webosphere”. “Le Love” is one of these web gems. It’s a pick-me-up when you’re finding life a little lack-lusture. The site is a collective love note from lovers to; ex-lovers, current lovers and want-to-be-lovers. Admittedly some of the stories and images shared by readers are heartbreaking, but mostly the site is touching, whimsical and reminds readers that love is the greatest emotion we share.
Can business help to mitigate human rights? Google thinks they can at least try. Google’s efforts to stop China’s tight control of information, particularly web sites pertaining to human rights movements and the tragic events of Tiananmen Square, has resulted in Google retreating from China. While Google’s search results have been restricted by government orders since the site’s inception, Google eventually decided to stop censoring web pages blocked by the Chinese government. In January, Google discovered that the gmail accounts of human rights activists had been hacked through a series of sophisticated attacks suspected to be launched from Chinese governments. In retaliation, Google removed all restrictions to sites, allowing China to search freely. This act was not without punishment, and following unrelenting pressure from the Chinese government, Google redirected their Chinese site to a web domain run from Hong Kong.
Click. Jump onto Google. Click. Read up on the latest headlines. Click. Boot up mobile phone. Click. Become lost in cyberspace. Whilst the internet and modern mass-communication provides a space for global interaction and the spread of positive ideas, as we browse/call/text we are also inundated with advertising and negative news. The DoGood iPhone Application encourages users to do one good deed each day, through simple reminder messages sent via mobile. The application strives to help thousands of people to each perform the same act of kindness, simultaneously each day. The DoGood movement encourages positive actions and advertising, and provides users with the opportunity to absorb optimistic messages whilst using the latest technologies. DoGood Headquarters donate 50% of profits gained through advertising sales, to environmentally friendly movements and charities.
It is startling to think that a few years ago, the Apple iPod didn’t exist. Even looking back on an iPod from 2007 can be a shocking experience; bulky and primitive looking, the rapid evolution of the iPod accentuates the rising rate of technology. Apple’s innovation has translated to a monopoly of portable electronic products, and Apple is adding to their repertoire of creative technologies with the Apple iPad. Extremely thin and lightweight, Apple has released the ‘giant iPhone’, in a flurry of speculation and hype. Complete with the features of an iPod, iPhone and Mac computer, the iPad can conquer all your requests and bring to life ‘Jetsons’ dreams. New applications, tunes and internet windows whizz by on the elegant screen, allowing users to create spreadsheets and presentations easily on the smart layout. It will also be used with iBookstore, the instaneous portable book store, making reading books, magazines and newspapers a seamless function of the iPad.
Somewhere between August 2009 and January 2010, I became so saturated in information about the environment, I lost interest. I withdrew. I ceased treading water in the ocean of blogs and sites and people and views and ‘sign here’s, and ‘tell five friends’, and climate change is real but only if you look at this report, not that report.
You get the point.
I ceased bobbing with wave after wave of data and let myself sink into the quiet. At first I told myself I’d be back. I’d do it tomorrow. Next week. Has it been a month? Suddenly it’s been three.
What I speak of isn’t uncommon: the reaction to be overwhelmed by data. Its term is yet to be officially defined, but what I speak of is information overload. To learn more I took the time to talk with someone who is addicted more than most to information and I discovered some very interesting concepts.
Eddie Harran is a digital addict. He is just one example of a person who has attached himself to the information flow from avatars and usernames of thousands of people, who in turn plug him in to their own thousands of networks, forming a constant, 24/7 stream of data. His twitter followers number 2,844, he recently attended Palomar 5, and in February he leaves for San Francisco to continue working on a specific data project as a resident of GAFFTA. He conservatively estimates he’s online for 18hrs daily, noting that with devices like the iPhone, you rarely aren’t, until you lay that shiny black pebble beside you on the bedside table. But more importantly than when he’s online is why.
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Surely this has been coming for a while, but news today that an artificial intelligence program to be used by doctors can identify domestic abuse. It works by collating the results from many studies on domestic violence into one program that will alert doctors to the likelihood of domestic abuse based on the health patterns of the patient. Injuries such as bruising to the core of the body or the middle of the forearm can be indicators as is depression and the onset of alcoholism. It is believed that many health practitioners are sometimes so focused on treating a condition, that the context is often missed. This software will act as a red-flag, and is said to save victims up to six years of unrecognised abuse. For more information click here.
If you don’t have a spare two hours to watch the demo of Google’s latest version of email – Google Wave, visit Lifehacker for a few 30-second highlights. It looks impressive. And just like you needed an invitation to join Gmail when it was first released, you’ll need an invite to join Google Wave.
Mama’s homemade apple pie just got a bit techy. The recipe and instructions can be found via Evil Mad Scientist.
I never thought I would be ‘awwwing’ at a fish-eye camera that fits in the palm of your hand. It’s just so cute! This SuperHeadz Fisheye camera by Demekin is the first 110 camera with a fisheye lens. It also has a hole at the bottom for a tripod. This is the perfect party camera to have stashed away in your bag ready to start snapping. For some reason, fisheye lenses produce consistently flattering photos that are fun to take and less damaging to friends’ egos when posted on facebook. I’m not sure if they’re available in Australia, but I’m sure you could purchase them online.
Great branding campaign for Mircrosoft who will need to live up to the hype, in order to put its less than innovative past behind them. Regardless of who enables this future however, I want in.
If graphic designers geeked out over the movie Helvetica, then industrial designers will surely do the same for Objectified. I can’t wait to see it. The world premiere is next week at the South by SouthWest festival.
From: Fast Company by Anya Kamenetz
Think: did you leave a light on this morning? What if you could pull up your homepage and find out, right now?
As I wrote about last fall, companies from IBM and GE to startups are getting excited about green IT: Managing natural resources using computing intelligence. In the electricity industry, this means “smart grids” that distribute power more efficiently, avoiding peak loads, and home-based smart meters and software to help people measure and control demand in real-time. The Obama stimulus package would provide 40 million US Homes with the meters, but consumers still need a system to see and analyze the information. That’s where Google comes in.
Google PowerMeter, now in internal testing, hooks up with smart meters to provide simple, clear realtime graphs of electricity use. You can post the gadget on your iGoogle homepage and share with friends to encourage competition. Studies show that simply seeing your home energy use can lead to savings of 5 to 15 %.
Besides promoting environmental goodness, Google obviously sees an opportunity to enter new markets here. They’re investing with smart grid companies, and advocating with state and federal government for open standards and protocols to keep the market free for software solutions like PowerMeter, that are not controlled by utilities. They’ve partnered with GE and are holding a Smart Grid event together in DC on the 17 (GE ran a cute, if puzzling, Smart Grid ad as their first-ever Superbowl commercial).
By putting more information and thus power in the hands of consumers, the potential is to disrupt utilities’ monopoly over the energy industry, the same way the Internet disrupted telecom and media ten years ago. Which makes this a real power move for Google.
What are you doing? This is the question that Twitter poses to every user, everyday. By answering this simple question, users can network and share information, ideals, websites and cool finds. Joining together like-minded folk, Twitter has created unique online communities around the world. In September last year, a Twitter community in London decided to come out from behind the web interface to meet and socialise face-to-face, in order to network and raise money for a local homeless charity. The move has sparked a worldwide Twitter phenomenon, where Twitter communities have been inspired to come together in the name of charity and goodwill. And so Twestival was born. 175 cities around the world – from Lima to Honolulu, Tokyo, Brighton and Brisbane – will host the first-ever Twitter festival in the name of charity: water, a non-profit organisation that funds clean water solutions in developing nations around the world. (more…)
This Eskimo proverb provides a timely insight into the potential of innovation as a source of economical, social, technical and environmental change. One of the world’s most innovative companies, Ideo, invites discussion on its ‘Big conversations & small talk’ facebook group titled ‘Turning recession on its head: is there an upside to the downturn’? For readers of Street Editors with an inkling for entrepreneurship, a bone for invention and a deep craving to make a difference, this forum will provide some appetizing brain food. And it seems timing is everything. Just yesterday it was brought to my attention that this week celebrates the inaugural Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative launched by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The international program of events encourages youth to think big, turn their ideas into reality, and make their mark. For those in Sydney on Wednesday night, Vibewire is co-presenting an evening with the School for Social Entrepreneurs in Ultimo.
That is the Adobe Photoshop interface re-created by hand with, yes, a real paintbucket for the ‘paintbucket’ tool! You can see how agency Bates141 Jakarta created this clever poster at flckr. It’s really fun and cute, but pehaps also a critical and subversive comment on how digital technology has greatly changed areas of design process and primary art skills. If you like this, there is also a Gmail interface made by hand.
This is an incredible example of how to use the web creatively for educational purposes! I’m not into pushing drugs but I have to say you should go ahead and click …
Joakim Oscarsson, is a Swedish designer exploring ideas of products that are highly interactive with the people and the environments in which they occupy. The ideas in his folio are unbuilt, but still intriguing nonetheless. One such idea is “Growth” which is an interactive interior designed to encourage more people to use the stairs for some everyday exercise. The idea is that each time someone uses the stairs a new branch of leaves appears on an electronic wallpaper. Together people contribute to the growth of a beautiful blooming entrance, and at the same time the growth of their own health. As new branches randomly appears and old ones slowly fades away and a forever changing pattern on the wall would be made. As part of Brisbane City Council’s Inhabit program, there is currently an artwork at the GPO (the shortcut between Queen and Elizabeth Street) which works on a similar idea around people’s walking behaviour and interactive projections. (more…)
