Music has never played a large enough role in my life for DJ’ing to have much draw. Technology, however, does play a pretty significant role, and the thought of exploring VJ’ing has indeed crossed my mind (though the equipment prices have kept me from doing much with the thought). Next drool-worthy piece of technology? Check out this new VJ hardware from Cue:
Phenomenal mix of touchscreen, tactile instrumentation, and the sliding function of the single knob puts it over the edge. it’s still in the conceptual phase at the moment, but if I ever comes to light, I’m sure we’ll see more VJ’s cropping up at the clubs around NYC.
Having just come back from my (first) trip to the UK, this passport folio immediately caught my eye. After all, when you’re traveling, figuring out where to put your passport that it’ll be safe and you’ll still keep track of it is a pain. And, perhaps if I did more international travel, I’d have already gotten myself a passport wallet. But I digress.
Gus leather goods caught my eye immediately with their smart, no-nonsense designs. But the thing that sealed the deal for me with the passport holder was the SIM card slots. What a statement that attention to detail makes about the role that digital is playing in our lives these days! And, of course, the shift toward an “all plastic” lifestyle is also well-reflected in Gus’ goods.
While I’m not certain that my travel proclivities make the passport carrier a necessity for me, I’ll certainly be keeping their wallets in mind next time around.
A couple of months ago I mentioned UK-based artist and illustrator Russ Mills who’s working name is Byroglyphics. His work originally caught my eye due to the unique paint/inkpen technique that creates an outstanding graphic look. So, after the last entry, I wrote Russ just to see what’s up.
Turns out, he’s got a new show coming up that’s running under the title “Domestic Science”. If you’re going to be anywhere near London between May 22nd and June 13th, swing by the Signal Gallery to have a look at Russ’ latest pieces. There’s also a “private view” - which I assume is Londonese for “opening party” on May 21st, but I’m not certain if the evening is invite only.
I came across the woodwork of Chadhaus this morning and I’m pretty in love with their Vollen Series. A small shop based in Seattle, Chadhaus works with locally sourced materials to create modern renditions of classic pieces. here’s how they describe their work:
Chadhaus is part laboratory, part production shop; researching the finest materials and using fine-tuned craftsmanship. From first idea to finished product, quality and functionality are the focus.
Chadhaus uses locally milled steel and hardwoods, as well as FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified plywood with formaldahyde-free adhesives. Woodwork features non-toxic finishes derived from natural materials, like beeswax.
The Vollen Series looks to me like the perfect dining setup for a small NY apartment. I love the fact the communal feel that the bench brings and the warmth of the wood offers a throwback to the older days of sitting around a family table. At the same time, the clean lines of the pieces bring a decidedly contemporary air to an otherwise classic design.
I can’t begin to describe how awesome this video is to me! Being a tech geek/web nerd as well as a long time climber, this is pretty much the culmination of all of my interests piled into a single video.
For those who haven’t done much gym climbing, routes or boulder problems on an indoor wall are usually marked off in colored tape. A small strip of tape next to a hold indicates that the hold is fair game for that route. This, of course, leads to a wall that’s covered in random strips of tape around every hold, eventually making it difficult to find the next move in the sequence.
To get around the issue, iOO Design, an interactive space design firm, created the interactive climbing wall. Routes are programmed into the computer and then projected in sequence onto the climbing wall allowing the climber to “follow” the light”. Check out their page for a little more info, or just watch the video:
The crossover between fitness and technology is something that’s of great interest to me, and I’ve been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my Fitbit device for a few months now (according to a recent email, I’m looking at a May/June arrival). I’m really excited to see what kind of information the device offers and how it’ll help me in my everyday life. As far as I knew, the yet-unreleased device is the only one of its kind.
So, obviously, I was surprised this morning to catch a follow from GoWear Fit on Twitter. Turns out that the GoWear Fit is similar device to the Fitbit and actually offers a little bit more information about the wearer. In addition to tracking movement (via accelerometer) to count steps and calculate calorie expenditure, the GoWear Fit also tracks galvanic skin response and temperature to offer a more complete picture of your activity throughout the day.
Unfortunately, the extra information comes at a cost - or rather a few significant costs. Whereas the Fitbit runs a rather stomachable $99 including software, the GoWear Fit clocks in at twice that for the basic device. Plus, they charge as much as $12.95/mo. from then on to continue using their software to see the information you get from the device.
If costs aren’t enough of a deterrent, the GoWear Fit is also considerably larger than the Fitbit and has to be worn on an armband in order to function correctly (the Fitbit can simply be clipped to your belt/pocket/etc.). I’d imagine that armband might get a little stinky after continuous wear (but you can buy an extra for $8).
So, while I’m really impressed by GoWear Fit’s integration of further technology to offer more information, it appears that their product design and business plan leave a little something to be desired. Granted, you can actually get a GoWear Fit right now whereas the Fitbit is still in production…
I’m not usually much of one to go ga-ga over a TV show. Most of what’s on the air these days doesn’t warrant mention, let alone the time it takes to watch. And I won’t even touch on reality TV. Though, I’ll admit, I’m a huge fan of Hulu and have been known to kill an evening over a couple of episodes of whatever catches my eye here and there. So it was with that in mind that I turned on the double-length premier of Kings, NBC’s newest drama starring Ian McShane (of Deadwood).
While I enjoyed the first episode, I watched it in the background while playing online and didn’t give it a ton of though. It wasn’t until I was chatting with a fellow theatre-minded friend who pointed out the Shakespearean nature that it hit me. The following couple episodes really hit home for me. Not only is the show well produced, the writing is phenomenal. Absolutely fantastic! And the character development and storyline could have been ripped directly from your favorite Shakespeare play. Don’t take my word for it though. Just listen to the language in this clip (sorry about the ad - you can thank NBC for that one):
“Inspiration sites” are a dime a dozen these days. Despite the onslaught, however, GOOD inspiration sites are hard to find. I wrote about Singlefunction.com the other day - a great site with a mix of sites designed to do just one thing. But where do you go when you want to be inspired to build a site that has a little more to it?
siteInspire.net is a good place to start. Currently featuring 353 different websites, siteInspire breaks them all down into digestible categories like “big type”, “flash based”, and “horizontal scrolling”. Some are a little better than others, but for the most part, they’re all pretty stylishly designed. And the siteInspire showcase makes it easy to sift through them to find the perfect site to rip off inspire you when you’re looking to design something new.
