December 2007
Trendwatching.com's 2008 Trend Report →
It’s a slow day in the office, here’s what I’m reading while I should be working. Keywords: STATUS SPHERES, PREMIUMIZATION, SNACK CULTURE, ONLINE OXYGEN, ECO-ICONIC, BRAND BUTLERS, MIY | MAKE IT YOURSELF, CROWD MINING. A good read.
BLYGAD HEARTS MUSIC #17: Sigur Ros - Staralfur...
My favorite Sigur Ros track gets a pretty good remix from Mojib.
Also, the achingly beautiful original song gets a simple but emotionally effective fan created video on YouTube:
And finally, I didn’t think I’d ever be on the verge of tears watching a Wes Anderson flick, and especially didn’t see it coming in The Life Aquatic… but yup, this did the trick (and...
Predicting the Present: Nonprofits aim to scan 60... →
The resulting data will be read with optical character recognition software to produce searchable versions of the documents (and we hope the software works well, since it’s unlikely human eyes will ever proofread most of it). The data will be placed in the public domain and kept at the Internet Archive, the Boston Public Library, and anywhere else interested in hosting a copy of the archive.
DeLorean Revival →
The DeLorean—the gull-winged, steel-skinned, fastbacked coupe that shot Marty McFly back to the future—has returned from the boneyard of automotive ignominy. In Houston, Stephen Wynne’s DeLorean Motor Company is building them from scratch at the rate of 25 per year. Prices start at $57,500…
WatchEarthmine is “creating an entirely new datamine about our earth that is open, connected, flexible, immersive and scalable. A spatially accurate, truly 3D inventory of our world.”
For the upcoming MAPS! post on BLYGAD 1.0.
BLYGAD HEARTS MUSIC #16: Tone Loc & Peaches - Wild...
For our NYE party this year we’re going all out futuristic with a collaborative playlist. Using Google Docs, our guests can login and add their favorite 90s R&B and Booty Bass jams (or simply vote for songs that are already up). The other co-hosts and I will then go through the list and compile the cream of the crop, creating an Ultimate Mega-Mix that everybody is sure to get down to....
Minneapolis reclaims spot as most literate city →
— Reblogged from Mediation
Followed closely by it’s sister city St. Paul in 3rd.
Smashing Highlights 2007 →
Smashing Magazine is a one-stop-shop for all of your web design & development needs. One of the best blogs of the year.
2008: Year of the information overload? →
The Future We Will Create. →
A film.
Pangea Day - May 10th, 2008 (Trailer) →
“On May 10, 2008 – Pangea Day – sites in Cairo, Dharamsala, Kigali, London, New York City, Ramallah, Rio de Janeiro, and Tel Aviv will be videoconferenced live to produce a 4-hour program of powerful films, visionary speakers, and uplifting music.
The program will be broadcast live to the world through the Internet, television, digital cinemas, and mobile phones.”
Possibly coming...
John Maeda named next president of the Rhode... →
Looking into the application process now.
BLYGAD HEARTS MUSIC #15: Grizzly Bear (Feat....
“My favorite remix of 2007 brings back three of the best artists of 2006 and two of its best songs, Grizzly Bear’s “Knife” and “Wamp Wamp” by the Clipse.” - Blogs Are For Dogs
“In a mere ten months and ten issues, Tyler Brûlé has, without question,...”
– Adam Greenfield on design magazine Monocle.
Reading list for 1st 1/4 of 2008.
Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing by Adam Greenfield
Critical Cyberculture Studies - edited by David Silver and Adrienne Massanari
How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation by Anthony Mancuso
The End of America by Naomi Wolf
Against Civilization: Readings and Reflections edited by John Zerzan
And for fun: No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
The Graffiti Report Card →
BLYGAD HEARTS MUSIC #14: The Knife - We Share Our...
WatchBrendan found this great clip about the city of Lagos in Nigeria. It’s about 15 minutes long and very much worth your time.
BLYGAD HEARTS MUSIC #13: LCD Soundsystem - Yeah...
Another concert I missed this year. Ah well - here’ a favorite track from the self-titled 2005 release. (I especially heart when all hell starts to break loose at the 7:30 mark.)
“… you can look to the sky-piercing structures in the Middle East that use...”
– Cameron Sinclair on your ethical and global footprint.[via]
“Instead of one great disembodied world to be entered
through the looking glass...”
– Malcolm McCullough in his piece On the Urbanism of Locative Media for Places. Malcolm is one of the keynote speakers at the upcoming Mobile City Conference in Rotterdam.
BLYGAD HEARTS MUSIC #12: TV on the Radio - Staring...
This song pairs up the two artists I’m most sad to have missed while they were in town this year (with a little Dead Prez thrown in there at the beginning just for the H of it).
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More from Muenster, where bikes rule the road.
The Mayor of Muenster, Germany (a city I’ve covered before) gave a great speech at the University of Minnesota Oberstar Forum last year. Bicycling has proven to be a key factor in what makes a city livable, and to point, Muenster was named the world’s most livable medium sized city in the world in 2004. In the speech, the mayor outlines how bicycling is a integral part of the...
Compu-porn: Top 10 Supercomputers →
Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems involving quantum mechanical physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling, physical simulations, cryptanalysis, and the like. Major universities, military agencies and scientific research laboratories are heavy users.
FYI: These are the top ten publicly known supercomputers.
BLYGAD HEARTS MUSIC #11: M.I.A. - Paper Planes...
"The Hobbit" scheduled for 2010 (Peter Jackson is... →
If not, my vote would go to Guillermo del Toro.
What one thing do you think that countries,... →
“The Davos Question on Youtube. Starting January 1st, watch and rank others’ ideas. The highest-rated videos will be screened in Davos (January 23-27), where world leaders will watch your videos and make responses of their own.”
I’m fascinated by mega-conferences like the World Economic Forum in Davos & the Technology Entertainment Design Conference in Monterey. Like...
Africa to ban plastic bags →
San Fransisco first city to do the same. [via]
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Concrete Thinking for a Sustainable World: A...
OPPORTUNITIES
Category I – Recycling Center
Design an environmentally responsible Recycling Center focused on reusing today’s materials to preserve tomorrow’s resources.
Category II – Building Element
Design a single element of a building that provides a sustainable solution to real-world environmental challenges.
THE TIMELINE
Registration Deadline Feb 08 2008
Submission Deadline May...
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Happy Holidays from all of us at Cermak Rhoades... →
And props to Matt for designing our beautiful e-card.
Scientists: Global warming could kill coral reefs... →
“Frankly, the Federal government has become largely irrelevant to most of the...”
– Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak [via]
Weekend Linkdump
mySociety | UK non-profit using web 2.0 thinking to add value to democracy. IE.
MapJack | Similar to Google Street View but is beginning to tag locations along the street with relevant web-links. Hybrid map/ street display.
Beehive Collective | To cross-pollinate the grassroots, by creating collaborative, anti-copyright images that can be used as educational and organizing tools.
Google and...
Holiday Like You Give A Damn [BLYGAD 1.0] →
In which I reflect on the act of giving gifts and offer a few alternative suggestions for this holiday season.
“Falling in love is the ultimate act of revolution, of resistance to today’s...”
– CrimethInc. Ex-Workers’ Collective [via]