Every once in a while a designer will come across somthing ugly and feel the need to do something about it. So it was with Squarespace Creative Director Tyler Thompson, who late last year found himself aesthetically offended by the mess that is a Delta Airlines boarding pass. Continue Reading →
Cars.com’s David Thomas speculates that the iPad could prove to be a serious problem for automakers that charge a ransom for rear entertainment systems. Continue Reading →
For those of you who still think that the whole story of Nokia started in 1984 with the Mobira Talkmen, then get ready for the raw truth: before getting involved with what is now its first source of revenue, Nokia was involved in a bunch of industries! Continue Reading →
Boring day at work? here’s how to keep you busy and entertained until day ends. This trick also works to keep children quiet for a while. Continue Reading →
Some time ago I wrote about this issue many of us unfortunately already faced once or regularly face when traveling by plane: the scarce number of electric plugs in airports.
As you might imagine, most airports were built long before we were all carrying around all kinds of electronic devices, and as such, finding a place to charge them up can turn today into a real challenge. I expect many of us have snooped around for the outlets the airport cleaners use or that operate vending machines (that’s bad!) so we can plug in and charge up our laptop or cellphone during a stopover. Some of us may eventually have ended-up charging their device in the bathroom. But that’s another story I guess…
So, unless airports management decide to undertake a costly reorganization of their infrastructure or implement a wireless power solution – which won’t be made available tomorrow to the many – , the problem may last some time.
The question is, “shall we cry on our cruel fate and accept that?”. I think we shall not!
Designer Ryan Klinger has identified this big flaw and has created the Empower Kinetic Rocking Chair which harnesses your body movements to provide power for your devices. A small box under the seat stores the generated power in a battery, which can then transfer into your devices using either a regular plug or USB. LED indicators on the box tell you how much of a charge the battery is holding.
So simple you wonder why nobody came up with this idea earlier.
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The Empower Kinetic Rocking Chair is a finalist in this year’s Greener Gadgets Design Competition. Let’s hope it will win and start blooming everywhere we need to plug.
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Hartmut Esslinger, one early superstar of high-tech design, was responsible for the design of Apple devices in the 80s. He then developed together with Steve Jobs a prototype of a touchscreen phone whose main function was to make possible sending digital bank checks though a phone wire. This quite revolutionnary gizmo – remember that we’re then in 1983 – was part of the Snow White design language applied to the IIc and the original Mac.
Was Apple already trying to raise the buzz?
“Modern aviation: like Icarus himself, how lowly this once-golden enterprise has fallen. None of us is getting thinner, yet the seats get smaller all the time. The air stewards, forced to flog booze, fags and scratch cards like street-market hawkers, mooch down the aisles with sullen hatred for their passengers. The crowding; the waiting; that generic short-haul smell — like being forced to bathe in a pigpen: the folk at Peta would be up in arms if animals were confined like this.
The pleasure and part of the fantasy of Up in the Air [...], is that it wafts us through a very different aerospace. This is a realm where all the officials treat “guests” with pearly-teethed gratitude, where queues are non-existent, and the seats recline just so. Up, up and away: to a retro-tinged zone free from the gravity and tedium that earth-bound drones have to endure.” – The Telegraph
If just like me you consider yourself a “World citizen”, not because you disapprove traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship (wikipedia) but because you’re actually travelling it, then you should go and watch this movie: Up in the Air.
I could of course make a thorough review of this movie, as they’re are many ways to do it – I guess everyone of us who has watched this movie has found something in it that reminds him or her of something individually experimented in their real life, should it be the rituals of their corporate life, this feeling of being at home while flying at 30,000 feet, the complexity of human relationships, or their quest for the most optimized trip through an airport. As for myself, I watched with delight the scene of the airport security control.
But that was not really the purpose of my post, and I’d rather leave this task to people who do that for their living (and do it good) and who’ll probably better explain why you should consider taking the time this evening or this week-end to go to your nearest theater to discover what’s in this mind-blowing movie.
And if today you’re too lazy to read, then just watch the trailer of Up in the Air. Within two minutes you’ll have a better idea of what I meant.
One dilemma we sometimes face when we’re having one cup of our favourite coffee or tea (in one hand) while browsing the Internet at the same time (with the other hand) is how to also have a bite of this delicious cookie (or brownie, or whatever sweet cake or biscuit) or a smoke of your cigarette – which by the way is much less healthy than this 464kCal cookie. But unless a third arm grows overnight, you won’t be able to perform those three tasks at the same time…
… until today! Thanks to this Clean Cup holder by Dmitry Boyko, you’ll always be able to do some multi-tasking even during your coffee break!
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According to Long Tran of Yanko Design, the “Clean Cup holder slides onto most disposable cups instantly turning them into a proper mug. You can even write on the neck so people know what you’re drinking and who it belongs to.”
A cool design that somehow reminds me of Joe Colombo’s ‘smoke glass’ (1964). Only a strange coincidence, I guess.
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Every designers’ dirty little secret is that they copy other designers’ work. They see work they like, and they imitate it. Rather cheekily, they call this inspiration.
— Aaron Russell
What I like about swiss people, apart from their exactitude, punctuality and concern for the environment, is their ability to mix practicality with design. That is the image I have of what I’d call “the Swiss spirit”. Continue Reading →
I can say with certainty that this is the best roller bag ever made. Why this particular bit of genius hasn’t caught on, I can’t imagine. Possibly because, like those who ride the accursed Segway, riders of this contraption would give off a certain “punch me” vibe. And yet, one can’t entirely suppress the feeling of wanting to switch places with them, if only for a moment. Shameful, but understandable.
The Trolley Scooter from Samsonite und Micro Mobility is the perfect tool for bloggers like myself who cumulates hundred of miles (and that’s no lie…) wandering and running in Airports and at trade shows all year long with packs full of gear.
To be perfectly honest, I’d rather scoot than spend the day sweating my shirt running between airport gates. All the more so as I’ll probably look like the coolest traveller Airport security guys will have ever seen!
No price is given and I can’t find it on Micro Mobility’s site, but I would ballpark its cost at around 100€ — $120 or thereabouts.
