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John Kay, an eminent (at least in his opinion) British economist recently opined in the influential Financial Times that ‘environmentalism’ isn’t just a way of thinking about your place in the world but is the successor to organized religion and the secular cult of Marxism. While all three, according to Mr. Kay, offer the world simplistic right-and-wrong visions of the world, environmentalism succeeds in combining both narratives of the natural world (as defined by religion) and anti-capitalist rhetoric (‘stolen’ from socialism) into a new form that supersedes both.
But where does global climate change fit in to Mr. Kay’s definition? Never mind the evidence: ‘the inconvenient truth’ is, on a philosophical level, the necessary Apocalypse to the environmental religion, the eventual pay-back for our industrial sins (if we even cause warming, John Kay isn’t sure.) Global warming completes the narrative of Eden, sin, and Fall.
While Mr. Kay has a point about the often Messianic fervor of some environmentalists, his piece still unfairly juxtaposes two wildly disparate concepts; namely, individual action and personal religion. Whereas prayer can only be verified through faith, the results of environmentalism are clearly manifested around us in measurable forms: cleaner air, clearer water, non-extinct animals and plants, etc.
We may be passionate about being green but we don’t think we’re part of an ‘Apocalyptic’ fight between good and evil. Life is more complicated than that. It seems to me that Mr. Kay would prefer we see the world in shades of gray – you know, like the conservative, profit-driven plutocrats who read the Financial Times.
Link to John Kay’s op-ed
According to reports written by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, one of the largest suppliers of arms to the black market in Baghdad isn’t Iran, Syria, or Saudi Arabia: it’s the United States. The SIGIR details some of the thousands of weapons that have been “misplaced” between arrival in Iraq and their distribution to Iraqi security forces. A sampling, from Report 06-033:
518 MP-5 machine guns purchased; 419 distributed. 99 missing (19%)
7% of all 9mm pistols missing; nearly 13,200 guns, the bulk of missing weapons.
751 M1-F assault rifles purchased; Zero delivered. All missing.
Few people will argue that the war in Iraq has been managed particularly well. The tragedy here is that our own government’s continued incompetence contributes directly to putting our soldiers in harm’s way by literally giving weapons to our enemies. Good luck out there, and keep your head down.
Link to Special Inspector Reports. Data from page 14, Report 06-033.
Method wins, hands down. Perhaps I’m a little biased – Method is SF based and founder Matt Lowry is a Stanford Alum – but it’s hard not to love Method. They’ve been breaking boundaries and setting the standard for what future-considerate products look like for over seven years now. Their new Omop is just the next logical step and it’s kickin’ ass and takin’ names. Swiffer, look out.
To start, the Omop boasts an of-the-day design aesthetic that crushes the Swiffer: no pad stuffed in a hole and curled up over the edge!
Furthermore, the Omop works with a variety of pads. Instead of the petroleum-based use-and-toss Swiffer wipes, Method offers all-floor and wood cleaning microfiber pads that are washable and reusable at least 50 times!
If washing isn’t your thing, Method offers choices. (At Vestal, we believe that consumers need to be presented with appealing and intuitive choices that lead the user in positive directions.) Instead of reusable pads, you can wipe to your heart’s disposable content with their compostable sweeping cloths, made from corn-based Ingeo PLA.
When Method started out, they kept their conscience on the DL. Well, the cat’s out of the bag. The Prius-aware, Inconvenient Truth era consumer is hungry and Method is coming out of the closet.
Like many musicians, Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird will be going on tour across the country this Spring in support of his latest album, playing twenty-two dates in a little under six weeks. But instead of the typical rock star rider (M&Ms separated by color, perhaps) Mr. Bird is taking his tour green, trying to turn every concert into a carbon-neutral event.
Andrew Bird is buying offsets for all his lights and gear, asking for eco-friendly food backstage, and driving a biodiesel tour bus from town to town. Concertgoers can do their part by buying special merchandise at the venue, with all proceeds going to offset carbon emissions from fan transportation.
Bird’s efforts are being supported by the nonprofit group Reverb, an environmental group founded in 2004 by Lauren Sullivan and her husband, Guster guitarist Adam Gardner. Reverb’s goal has two parts: “educating, inspiring and activating music fans while “greening” artists’ tours and the music industry at large.” Every little step…
Breaking News! At 6pm on Valentine’s Day, hundreds of lovers and fighters clashed in a feather-flying melee in downtown San Francisco!
I haven’t seen such carnage since the 1929 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago! (A piece of history random history a day keeps the doctor away!)
Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
<3 Vestal Design
The Prelinger Archives, recently acquired by the Library of Congress, is a one-of-a-kind repository for over 60,000 “sponsored films” – shorts made over the past hundred years by private business, governments, organizations, and anyone else outside the Hollywood system. Ranging from “Duck and Cover” Cold War relics to corporate training films to private propaganda campaigns [a favorite, “Steel: Man’s Servant”] the Archives are an invaluable record of 20th Century society, for better or worse.
Published last month by the National Film Preservation Foundation, The Field Guide to Sponsored Films is a 152-page overview of some of the most notable movies from the Prelinger Archive, with a brief synopsis and whatever history is relevant to understanding the piece. Many from the guide are viewable on archive.org, but be careful: once you start watching “What To Do On A Date?” or “This Is Hormel” you may never stop.
Link to the Prelinger Archives on archive.org
Link to download The Field Guide to Sponsored Films at filmpreservation.org
I was at a high school carnival in Hawaii last weekend which had an art gallery for charity. I came upon the amazing wood work art by Mark Chai. Above is a piece, Umeke, which used no adhesives or fasteners, just pure maple wood. I had to sneak these pictures, since I didn’t want to even risk asking the gallery curators whether it would be alright to take a picture and essentially give free promotion to this artist. This raises an interesting point about the state of copyright in the US… how has it gotten to the point where we have to worry about taking a picture of something anybody could walk in and see? Anyways, visit Mark Chai’s site for more amazing pictures of his work.
The Vestal One Week Film Project was a raging success here in Lima, as half our designers were able to complete a short movie in just seven days. Trying to fit the movie-making process around the work day proved difficult for some, but Jeff Warren and Jeff Goodman found a way, each composing their own mini-epics to premiere right here on the blog. So pop some popcorn and enjoy!
Jeffrey Goodman’s Peeping Cat
A heartwarming tale of a cat and revenge.
Jeff Warren’s Cut Out
An animated film of mystery and intrigue. Made with Photoshop, Keynote, and iMovie.
From several sources I received a link to Colorblind Barrier Free, a webpage on making your presentations colorblind-proof. Depending on who you talk to, colorblindness affects 8-15% of the male population (and 2-4% of females). While Colorblind Barrier Free is primarily oriented towards the academic community, it’s surprisingly in-depth and useful for almost any presentation where you’ll be talking about charts, etc.
Ironically, I find the text so small on the site, that it’s a major usability issue.
Colorblind Barrier Free (Thanks Em!)
This “Magic Paper” interface developed by the Microsoft-MIT Alliance is incredible – it allows the user to sketch objects which have distinct meanings – objects can be “fixed” to a location or can emulate “cables” or “springs”. Wheels and axles are also implemented. Watch as the computer understands the sketch which the subject creates, and simulates the physics of the scene he draws. It seems like the software is downloadable here, but requires a Windows Tablet PC.Imagine a version of this which integrates information about, say, pedestrian circulation, or sunlight and thermal insulation, and this could be an extremely useful interface for urban planners or green architects.
A work in progress, the above simulation starts with a “seed” unit and multiplies outward. I believe that to achieve more structural forms I’ll have to look at different types of random aggregation functions – I’ve discovered a reference to DLA, or Diffusion-limited aggregation, on a Flickr post by user toxi who also used Processing to achieve these effects. His best work, in my opinion, is pictured in this gallery, which was rendered with SunFlow.
Try clicking in the applet above.
Also see these incredible DLA images by Andy Lomas: Link
Today I wanted to read Stanley Fish’s blog post on presidential signing statements, which was linked to from the front page of NYTimes.com. But to my surprise, I was presented with the above error, a WordPress screen. I had suspected since the new NYTimes site was launched in April 2006 that it might have been built on WordPress… and this is further evidence. While it might be just the blogs which are run on WordPress, it’s possible that they run the whole system on it, and it’s nice to know that sites as large as NYTimes.com are part of the WordPress community.
Read more about that launch on Khoi Vinh’s blog. He’s currently Design Director of the New York Times and his own website is very nice as well.
Rather than grow apathetic in the South American summer, Vestal designers in Lima are challenging themselves to a little friendly film-making competition. The rules are simple: each director has one week to conceive, write, film, and edit a movie to premiere, done or not, on Sunday night. The budget for each production is 10 Peruvian soles, or about $3. There is no prize.
Sometimes it’s easy to fall into a routine, a rut, that leaves little time to seek out new experiences. With this festival, we’re forcing ourselves to create art, to try something different, at least for a week. If the films are any good, hopefully we’ll post a few here on Monday.
Anyone else interested should start filming immediately. Call up your friends, break out the cameras, and go for it!
After sacrificing his body to a vicious slide tackle, Vestal designer Diego Rotalde had his ankle set until the swelling and pain subsided. Seven crutch-filled days later, Diego got the gift of mobility back, along with his cast. The Peruvian wasted no time turning his former shackle into something of artistic value, the DIY Leg Lamp. As we say here in Lima, when life hands you limones, you make limonada.
DIY Leg Lamp:
Time – Five Minutes
Materials – Lamp with energy-saving light bulb, a CD, leg cast.
Tools – A good knife
1. Find a lamp that either has a decorative piece to balance the cast on or is built in such a way to avoid having the bulb touch the guaze. Many lamps have guards around the bulb used to support regular lampshades. This is probably safer. If you cast has been cut in half, you can use a bandage (or glue) to reform it to the shape of your leg.
2. Cut a decently large hole in the toe (or bottom of the foot, or wherever seems best)
3. Slip the cast over the bulb. Use the CD (or a piece of cardboard depending on how wide your calf is) to regulate the amount of light coming out the top.
4. Enjoy!
Fans of holiday films might recognize a similarity to the ‘major award’ won by the father in A Christmas Story.
Founded in 2005 by Rockefeller Philanthropy, the Sustainable Endowments Institute works to transform colleges’ investment policies and campus practices into something greener than the ivy in spring. Last week, the SEI released a report card for the nation’s 100 leading schools, – judging them on issues such as green building, endowment transparency, recycling, etc. – and the results were largely discouraging. Only 26 schools received grades of B- or higher, while 20 got Ds.
Given their larger mission to both educate and serve as an example for society, universities should be pushing themselves towards sustainability harder than any individual or private company. With a combined endowment of $258 billion, these hundred schools have no real excuse besides the stubbornness of their administration and the institutions’ own intransigence.
Congratulations to Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, and Williams for scoring the highest grade achieved, A-. While Harvard’s score was almost certainly the result of grade inflation, Yale’s score read like my sophomore year report card: all A’s and a C.
Stupid Latin 121…te odeo, interfice te cochleare!
Yesterday was our first day of classes with our new students from the University of San Marcos, and we dove right into CSS/HTML coding and the basics of web design. In the coming weeks we’ll cover advanced HTML, WordPress installation and management, database skills, and many others; Diego Rotalde had the great idea of having them create portfolios for themselves as a first project.
Luckily, we’ll have our former student (and current intern) Christian here to help out teaching – he’s become quite familiar with WordPress and even some more complex PHP coding over the last few months, and will be a lot of help in the classroom.
This time, we’re also encouraging the students to work in our office more, both to encourage peer learning and so that they can ask us questions as they go. With that in mind, we’re having “lab” days between classes, where they can come in and use our computer cluster all day. This is also important because none of our new students have Internet connections from home.
To read more about the program, take a look at Cut&Paste Labs’ website and our online video tutorial repository at cutpastelabs.org
Following another dominant year in the Japanese Leagues, Daisuke Matsuzaka, the feared ace of the Seibu Lions, is coming to America after the Boston Red Sox paid a $51 million posting fee to his team and another $52 million to Daisuke himself. What could make a man worth so much money? Besides pinpoint control, a plus fastball, and a nice slider, rumors are swirling that Daisuke Matsuzaka can throw the gyroball, the mythical unstoppable pitch from the Far East.
Developed by Dr. Ryutaro Himeno, a professor of physics, and baseball instructor Kazushi Tezuka in the late 1990s, the gyroball would be the first new pitch in the Major Leagues in forty years. What makes the gyroball so effective is that it combines the power of a fastball and the movement of a breaking pitch; basically, it’s a power forkball. Thrown sidearm like a football in a tight spiral, the gyroball is almost impossible to recognize and hit effectively.
That is, if it exists and Matsuzaka actually throws it. Yale professor Robert Adair – author of The Physics of Baseball – doubts such a pitch would be anywhere near as effective as claimed. Others contend Daisuke, as an overhand power pitcher, couldn’t throw a ball designed for side-armers, and that – as talented as he is with his fastballs, sliders, and change-ups – he has no need. We won’t know until April, but for $103 million, the Red Sox better get their money’s worth.
Link to Sports Illustrated article
Link to supposed video of a Matsuzaka gyroball
Link to video of a Barry Zito Bugs Bunny curveball, a real (and really good) pitch, just for fun.
Seeing this series of videos of old people playing with the Nintendo Wii was really impressive. They’re having as much or more fun than if they were, say, miniature golfing for real. If I had designed the Wii, this would be very rewarding – look how happy the woman is towards the end of the clip!
A friend of mine who is going into the gaming industry said he was tired of feeling “worthless” when he finished playing a game. I know what he means – after 3 hours of WarCraft, I used to feel terrible. Maybe the Wii is the beginning of a new kind of gaming…
You may have heard about a new way of storing data- 256 Gb (~54 DVDs) on a single sheet of A4 paper, using colors and geometric shapes. Known as the “Rainbow Format,” does it sound too good to be true? Well, maybe…
TechWorld has a scathing article on why they think the technology is a hoax. While some of their objections are technically complicated, others are ludicrous and miss the entire potential of the Rainbow Format. For example, their last point:
14. Paper problems Paper distorts and inks fade so the long term storage potential is strictly limited. Paper also burns and can get torn which also restricts the method’s usability. Paper can be folded which would distort the represented information in the area of the fold.
What they fail to mention is that to date, paper-esque storage is our most reliable storage medium. We’re still reading texts that are thousands of years old. In comparison “archival” CDs claim to have a lifespan of merely 75 years. Not to mention the concerns that the 1s and 0s on those CDs are meaningless unless you have the proper format and tools to read them. Archival paper, on the other hand, can easily last hundreds of years, and needs no tools to decipher the contents, although a Rosetta Stone may come in handy.
A lot of TechWorld’s article (and the view of the tech community in general) seems to evaluate this as a replacement for hard drives and DVDs. Wrong! Obviously, a paper-based storage format would be horrible for conditions where the information needs to be read millions of times, and changed. If nothing else, changing paper is a mechanical process which will always be slower than the magnetic/light techniques we use to change information on hard drives and DVDs.
Instead, this format should be viewed as a revolutionary step in the process of archiving. With huge concerns as the Library of Congress digitizes their entire collection, due to the physical space constraints, in order to house all their documents, the Rainbow Format offers a new chance to preserve information in a lasting form. As long as we’re sure to intermingle Rosetta Stone-esque pages in with those in the Rainbow Format, we’ve given future historians a fighting chance.
To put it in more real-world terms, a 256 GB piece of Rainbow formatted paper could hold the contents of 50,000 Bibles. Let’s say, in the end, the Rainbow Format can only hold 0.00002% of its’ original storage claims: that’s still an entire Bible on a single sheet of paper. Now we’re looking at some serious space savings.
Pete Habuda and I were looking at new office space for our Boulder office last week when we came across this excellent clock in one of the lobbies. An amazing example of how even the simplest design can convey a very powerful statement.
We’d get one for the new place, except the Boulder office usually works 10-6.
[Jeff Goodman reports: This is a M&Co. 5 O’Clock, designed by the husband-and-wife team of Tibor and Maria Kalman, and is available through the MOMA Store online. Though one of the most important graphic designers of 1980s, Tibor may be best known for his work with Talking Heads, including the cover for Remain in Light and The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads. Sadly Tibor Kalman died in 1999.]