Archive for November, 2006
The ARCHOS 604 WiFi features a large, 4.3-inch color touch screen LCD that allows you to navigate through menus easily with a stylus or even a fingertip. The integrated 802.11g wireless interface will appeal to those who want to access their media wherever they go, including surfing the Web, sending and receiving email from Web-based mail applications, and connecting the device to a home network to transfer files or play content directly from the network. The ARCHOS 604 WiFi is the perfect companion for people on the move: its 30 GB hard drive capacity allows you to store up to 120 hours of video encoded with a PC, or 25 movies in DVD quality.
Submitted by Steve
Light years ahead ~ Philips Lumalive light emitting textiles
Published by square. November 30th, 2006 0 Comments
Philips Research has impressed the visitors at this year’s IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung) with a world-first demonstration of promotional jackets and furniture featuring its innovative Lumalive technology. Lumalive textiles make it possible to create fabrics that carry dynamic advertisements, graphics and constantly changing color surfaces.
Lumalive fabrics feature flexible arrays of colored light-emitting diodes (LEDs) fully integrated into the fabric - without compromising the softness or flexibility of the cloth. These light emitting textiles make it possible to create materials that can carry dynamic messages, graphics or multicolored surfaces. Fabrics like drapes, cushions or sofa coverings become active when they illuminate in order to enhance the observer’s mood and positively influence his/her behavior.
The jackets are comfortable to wear, and the Lumalive fabrics only become obvious when they light up to display vivid colored patterns, logos, short text messages or even full color animations. The electronics, batteries and LED arrays are fully integrated and invisible to the observer and wearer. The jackets feature panels of up to 200 by 200 mm², although the active sections can be scaled up to cover much larger areas such as a sofa.
On a site of historical importance and within a conservation area in the Yorkshire moors Sybarite have created a gallery to display the sculptures of local artist, John Bunting. The brief was to create a gallery that was self-sustainable, secure and one that had minimal impact on the landscape so that the sculptures (created from local quarried stone and timber) are displayed in their natural habitat.
Curved glass walls minimise the glare on the surrounding landscape and allow free views straight through the gallery across the moors. The glass wall perimeter meanders in and out so that the three-dimensional sculptures can be observed from many angles. The choice of materials (glass, stainless steel, coloured polished concrete) means there is no repeat of the materials used in the display pieces. The perception of the gallery at night is of a ‘shard of light’ on the landscape. The gallery is intended for evening viewing just as much as for viewing during the day.
Foster and Partners’ first project in Latin America is The Aleph, the centerpiece of Buenos Aires’ new cultural district, developed in collaboration with hotelier, cultural entrepreneur and man about town Alan Faena. The Aleph will be a spectacular new build, comprising of live-work spaces and a new covered market square for events. Foster is proposing elegant apartments with double-height living spaces, generous balconies and a façade composed of sliding screens, a nod to the area’s traditional architecture. If all goes according to plan, the first apartment block will start on site soon, with the entire complex up and running in time for the celebrations of 200 years of Argentinean independence in 2010.
“USB, an abbreviation for a technical user interface, is nowadays often used as a synonym for a universal connection. originally only used by computer experts and nerds, this so-called former high-tech standard has developed into an every-day item and low-tech symbol for such universal connections. this is an example of technology being clearly understood and accepted by the general public. something democratic evolves and develops and therefore often even receives a totally different usage than was originally intended. given the current, often exotic use of USB, it would even be argued that there is a ‘USB subculture’!”
“A new experience in light is what we hoped for,” says Yves Behar, designer of the Leaf personal light for Herman Miller. As a result of innovative engineering and design development, Behar’s hopes became reality.
Leaf offers maximum lighting options with minimal mass in an intriguing, organic form and with controls that invite human connection. The proprietary technology also addresses the most vexing problems in existing LED solutions–light intensity and heat build-up.
“Leaf is designed to give the user a full spectrum of choices to express light’s magical and sensory variations,” says Behar. “It allows the human senses to become engaged by allowing the user to choose the intensity and color of light which best suits a functional need, mood, or location.”
OK, picture the scene; you’re about to go off on your holidays and you’re wondering who will water your precious plants. Well help is at hand… The Wet Pot System could be the answer to all your botanical nightmares. Wet Pot Systems does not rely on complicated mechanical parts but instead uses the laws of nature. The supply of water is regulated by the unique, natural characteristics of clay for water absorbtion, which is controlled by a specially formulate glaze, which partially covers the clay pot. The plant draws the water it needs through the pot. They call this technique capillary attraction.
WordCount™ is an artistic experiment in the way we use language. It presents the 86,800 most frequently used English words, ranked in order of commonness. Each word is scaled to reflect its frequency relative to the words that precede and follow it, giving a visual barometer of relevance. The larger the word, the more we use it. The smaller the word, the more uncommon it is.
WordCount data currently comes from the British National Corpus®, a 100 million word collection of samples of written and spoken language from a wide range of sources, designed to represent an accurate cross-section of current English usage. WordCount includes all words that occur at least twice in the BNC®. In the future, WordCount will be modified to track word usage within any desired text, website, and eventually the entire Internet.
