Recycling Billboards into Modern Residential Buildings As more and more advertising goes online and transportation conservation becomes an increasing economic and ecological concern, what is the future fate of the infamous billboard? One proposal by Front Architects suggests turning these into lofted homes – small houses to be sure, but located in some potentially fascinating places. Some of these unusually thin homes could be built in place from scratch, others could be transported to new locations or even left where they are in the urban environment. As with so many good design projects the feasibility of this specific idea as such is not of singular or even primary importance – the concept provides a foundation for rethinking everyday urban structures, artifacts of the built environment, that we might find new and different uses for as times change. Alas, the above image is only a computer-generated overlay in a real situation.
Concept Clothing Responds To Social Situations Goldsmiths, University of London graduate Lilian Hipolyte Mushi has designed concept clothing specifically for introverts to help them in a highly extroverted world. The project, which the designer has titled An Introvert’s Transformation to Extroversion, consists of specific components that ‘react’ when someone gets too close to the wearer. The piece of clothing includes wooden arms that fan out at the back when built-in distance sensors detect someone within 80 centimeters of the wearer. According to Lilian, the concept clothing ‘explores how introverts use isolation as a mechanism for social recharge as well as a way to navigate social situations.’ View more images of the project below. Lilian Hipolyte Mushi
Brilliant iPhone Case From Kickstarter Finds a Home at Logitech The TidyTilt has to be one of the most clever iPhone cases we've ever seen. Similar to the iPad Smart Cover, the magnetic TidyTilt folds over to act as a stand for your iPhone. And since it's magnetic, you can even use it to slap your iPhone on the fridge. Lots of other people liked the TidyTilt, too, apparently, since the Kickstarter project received more than $200,000 in donations when it only asked for $10,000. "They were in their last year of design school, and it was their last project," Logitech CEO Bracken Darrell told Mashable. The space Darrell is referring to is smartphone cases. Logitech will offer the TidyTilt for the iPhone 5 only. Along with the TidyTilt, Logitech also gets TT Labs' JustMount magnetic organizer — essentially a small, wall-mounted magnet. How do you like the TidyTilt? Image by Mashable, Emil Lendof
4 time-saving content curation tools Do you spend too much time scouring the Web for content your fans will like? Try one of these tools and lighten your workload. By Michael Statford | Posted: June 20, 2013 A content curator is a service that uses algorithms to show a user only the most relevant and appropriate content in a specific niche or topic. In 2012, Forbes called content curation one of the five hottest new Web trends. Companies like American Express and Whole Foods actively curate content that might be interesting to their customers. [RELATED:Learn how companies like NASCAR drive engagement with content marketing at Ragan's Content Summit.] Here are four tools that will help you get the content you need on the topics you love without having to comb through Google: 1. LikeHack is an easy-to-use tool that saves you time by aggregating, curating and delivering the top stories on your topics of interest. Key features: Aggregates your Facebook, Twitter and blogs. 2. 3. Pearltrees is a visual and collaborative library. 4.
The Spiral Pump: A High Lift, Slow Turning Pump Table of Contents History of this Document First distribution 1986. OCR scan and conversion to HTML by Chris Pirazzi, chris@pirazzi.net, 2005. Internet address of this document: There are other interesting documents about water-powered water pumps at: which readers of this document may also find interesting. History and Theory of the Spiral Pump In some instances, records of preindustrial technology can be a source of concepts which can be updated with modern materials and modified to be utilized in today's technology transfer efforts. Wirtz invented the spiral pump to provide water for a dye works just outside of Zurich. The Wirtz spiral pump was constructed so the end of the outside pipe coil opened into a scoop. Figure 1: Historic Wirtz Pump—1842 drawing Figure 2: Historic Wirtz Pump—1842 drawing Gregory also described spiral pumps formed as a huge clock-spring-like spiral sandwiched between two wood disks. Construction
The Contemporary Hillside House by SB Architects The Contemporary Hillside House by SB Architects Designed by San Francisco-based SB Architects, an international firm well-known for the design of site-sensitive resort and mixed-use projects around the world, and built by well-known green builder McDonald Construction & Development, this home is a statement of what is possible combining “high design with high sustainability.” Nestled in the hills of Mill Valley, California, just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, Hillside House has just received certification as the first LEED for Homes Platinum custom home in Marin County, and one of only a handful in Northern California. Photograpghy by Mariko Reed. The four-story home – clad with beautiful, sustainable Western Red Cedar siding – is set on a steep hillside site that provides for a very vertical design with living and private zones situated on multiple separate floors. About Richard Barker Adelto Love Interior Design & Exotic Travel?
The Future Of Education Is Outside The Classroom The world is currently facing monumental education challenges. Decades of standardized testing, fear of technology, and fixation on memorization have impacted the world’s youth negatively and kept them from reaching their human potential. In a recent documentary, the telecommunications provider Ericsson sheds light on shifts happening in the worlds of various educators and the learning industry at large. Seth Godin believes the education system is scam. Jose Ferreira, Founder and CEO of Knewton, believes the textbook of the future will be housed on devices. Sugata Mitra believes that knowledge and knowing are becoming replaced by access to information. Stephen Heppell is working to shift the focus in education from exams and scores to be more data-led and technology friendly. Lois Mbugna and Margaret Kositany are Ericsson employees working in Kenya. Ericsson
Easy Sketch by Yun-Fan Chang Easy Sketchbook The Easy Sketch is a transparent drawing pad, which allows you to trace and sketch views during your outdoor trip. You don’t need to be the best of artists but just have the knack of thinking imaginatively. The pad is capable of combining different views into one painting, and incorporates color and brushworks. A good and engaging alternative to the digicam! Designer: Yun-Fan Chang
Scholars Sound the Alert From the 'Dark Side' of Tech Innovation - Technology By Marc Parry Milwaukee Companies, colleges, and columnists gush about the utopian possibilities of technology. But digital life has a bleaker side, too. Surveillance. After a week of faculty backlash against online education, including the refusal of San Jose State University professors to teach a Harvard philosophy course offered via edX, the down sides of digital learning emerged as a hot topic, too. In a talk dubbed "Courseware.com," Rita Raley, an associate professor of English at the University of California at Santa Barbara, described how societal and technological changes had "reconditioned the idea of the university into that of an educational enterprise that delivers content through big platforms on demand." Much discussion followed about the implications of that shift—in Ms. 'A Built-In Inequality' The conference's organizer, Richard Grusin, a scholar of new media, worried about the potentially "dire" consequences of massive open online courses, known as MOOCs. Education, Mr. Ms.
FreedomPop Goes 3G With Sprint FreedomPop is expanding its low-cost coverage in a big way with Sprint's 3G network. FreedomPop, the company that is basically giving you online access for free, is expanding its coverage dramatically with the addition of 3G service via Sprint's nationwide network. The company is now accepting orders for its first 3G/4G hotspot, the FreedomPop Overdrive Pro. What is FreedomPop, exactly? "The biggest criticism with our service to date has been the coverage gaps in certain parts of the country," said Stephen Stokols, FreedomPop's CEO. The Overdrive Pro costs $39.99. "We're planning on launching our full national LTE rollout by the end of this year, but until then, adding nationwide 3G coverage gives users the ability to connect from anywhere," Stokols said. So aside from the hassle of returning and re-ordering devices, this is only a good thing, because it means more cheap Internet all around. We'll be getting our hands on an Overdrive Pro from FreedomPop shortly.
Twist Bike by Jose Hurtado Minimal Twist on the Hubless If you can look past the hubless wheels, you’ll appreciate the fine symmetry behind this design- the Twist Bike. The unique gearing system allows each component to be easily removed for storage, repair, or transporting. Designer: Jose Hurtado