Sometimes to create the future you need to take a mental leap and work backwards. This highly edited and slick production from Microsoft gives us some hope that the software giant is well-suited to lead us to a grander place.
IstartedSomething
In the era of Quick N Easy Content, a few interesting things are happening. One is that a voice can come from anywhere. Another is that any voice can be relevant. Voices can create relevancy, by opening a dialogue or striking the right chord in a present conversation. In a traditional media world, much of the conversation was out of the consumers hands. These days people contribute where they see fit. And i think we are all benefiting.
A new PSA directed by acclaimed filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen for ThisIsReality.org, was created with the aim of debunking "clean coal" industry propaganda. It was produced in partnership with Al Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection. Clean Coal is one of the biggest misnomers out there. Its also a huge opportunity for us to shut down CC, and move onto Nuclear or sustainable power sources. Yet lobbyists have had such an impact, you will find mentions of clean coal in the last few decades of the President's state of the union address. Nice to see those with the clout and ability to make a conversation relevant like the Cohen's contribute in the right way.
BoingBoing
Im coming to the slow realization that my occupation allows for little time to blog...or anything else for that matter. So i will have to cede any thoughts of my own for some from other sources. A few things of interest on the intranets for your inspiration.
Magnetic Pushpin Cushin - Seems to turn magnets and pushpins on a sphere. Fix them to any surface and leave messages to your hearts content.
The future of web tech? - Seems Google may almost be dead in its tracks if new semantic web searches come to fruition. Semantics embed information in practically everything to make greater associations simpler and faster. Think Mash-ups without having to create some weird program...
Best of Lifehacker - Organize your life to actually be productive for once.
PSFK Conference - Will be in attendance with a co-worker. Anyone fancy a hello? Lineup looks good as always.
Krups Heineken Review - This is the future ladies and gents! Personalized brews and drinks in your own home. Probably will be one size fits all machine for coffee to soda to Gatorade. Dear Heineken, please send me one!
Facebook matches blood donors - Finally something worthy for social networking.
Apple's Design Process - Some insight into the process Apple's creators go through for new product concepts. HA! I know a company that does twice as many...
Japanese Schoolgirl Watch - Weird but futuristically advanced. The chart topping voice is synthesized yet grabs the kids like idol. Who knew Britney would be replaced by a robot?
Lenticular Clouds - Via Designverb - Cant forget mother nature can we? I sure do miss her in this jungle. These are just awesome.
Innovation is coming front and center as noted in today's Wall Street Journal.
MDC Partners is expected to announce today that it has acquired a majority stake in Redscout, a consulting firm that works with clients such as Nike, Johnson & Johnson and PepsiCo Inc. New York-based Redscout offers services such as trend watching, brand consulting and package design. It also develops new products -- something Madison Avenue has in vain tried to add to their arsenal. Jonah Disend, Founder and Chief Executive, talks about some of the problems today's advertisers are facing , the currency of ideas, and a few of the more intriguing trends influencing today's marketers.
The Wall Street Journal: Many ad agencies have flirted with trying to get into product or services development as a way to gain new revenue streams. But it's never really caught on. Why do you think they haven't been able to make that part of their business model?
Jonah Disend: "The discipline of making ads is often about being as different as possible from the competitors. This is not necessarily the goal with product development, and certainly not the starting point. So often with advertising you think, 'How do I add brand value through communications so that I make them want my brand versus your brand?' We think, 'How do I add value to the thing itself in order to drive desire?' Also, there is a totally different mindset when it comes to innovation versus marketing. Almost every time I interview someone from advertising and I ask them to come up with an innovation solution for a category, they immediately go to marketing and promotions solutions. They may get to targeting and distribution, but they rarely get to the foundational elements of the thing itself. These foundational elements include: the Achilles' heel of a competitor that can be exploited in our new product; recognizing categories which are desperate for a new approach, such as JetBlue to the airline industry; identifying a new behavior that is begging for a new service offering; or spotting technologies or capabilities in a client's stable which are being underleveraged. These are all critical to innovation."
Innovation is an emerging and greatly misunderstood field. Check out the article for more fascinating insights from one of the brightest and best-kept secrets in the world of brands.
Redscout Innovation in WSJ
Redscout
Redscout initiated the second in a series of innovation roundtables last week. The featured speaker was Rob Walker, contributing writer to the NYTimes, author, and idea provocateur for Murketing. He also has one of the best Flickr groups on the net with his street savvy eyes. Rob is often at the forefront of consumer theses and the subsequent branding implications, and each week seemingly stumbles upon another rich area for fodder. Rob was kind enough to share his opinion as a journalist, on consumers, marketing, and brands. The night was also an excellent networking opportunity for individuals from various backgrounds. Rob had quite a few interesting points such as:
-Red Bull starting as the epitome of anti-mass only to become a mass brand
-Apple's lack of transparency and openness, which can actually boiled down to "Cool Stuff for Sale"
-The power of youth today to have adopted marketing on granular levels to the extent they not only create brands for themselves, but communicate through brands
-The similarity between the ambiguity of Livestrong and the iPod. Both brands mean so many things to multiple crowds
-Reminded me that the true phenomena of Obey is that it was pre-internet, not just its expanse
-The power of brands ultimately lie in the value consumers place, not necessarily what the brand brings or percieves
-Real gurus invent their own words
-Mass culture might be gone with the invention of the net and democratized information
Rob gave a very thought-provoking style and let us know he has a new book dropping soon. Much of this will be explored in a further deep dive here on the Lifefilter. Stay tuned! Redscout will presenting another salon later on in the summer at a "secret location"
Murky Marketing
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Sorry for the absence of posts....
Im here in Chicago doing some work for my Gatorade client. If you are in town, and wanna grab a drink tomorrow evening drop me a line. On another note, im thoroughly disappointed at the lack of festive spirit here for halloween. :/
Lifefilter@gmail.com
Nice Carpet
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From the AP "Scientists said on Wednesday they have created a distinctive red and yellow butterfly in the laboratory by interbreeding two different species in a way similar to what they believe has occurred in nature. The laboratory hybrid is nearly identical to a wild species of butterfly in Colombia known as Heliconius heurippa.
"We re-created the evolutionary steps that may have given rise to Heliconius heurippa, a hybrid butterfly species, in the lab," said Jesus Mavarez, of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama City, Panama. Animal hybrids are thought to be very rare because they are less able to survive. The mule, for example--a hybrid between a donkey and a horse--is sterile so it is an evolutionary dead end. But some hybrids survive and establish new species.
The achievement by Mavarez and researchers in Colombia and Britain, which is reported in the journal Nature, suggests animal hybrids could be more common than previously thought." While cloning legalities are still being worked out in the US, this to me seems like a giant step. While cross-breeding butterflies won't ruffle too many feathers, what happens when dolphin/manatees....or goats/children become hybrids?? It may not be as hard to play god as we thought....
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Ive been posting less of late, but am more determined than ever to bring original thoughts and content to you. Well at least original thought, i don't have the time to go digging personally. More electronic paper news. Plastic Logic is developing licensable manufacturing solutions for printing thin and flexible active-matrix displays, Transtudio reports. Their electronic-paper imaging film enables highly portable, readable and power efficient displays, they claim. The initial application focus is e-readers (e.g. e-books, e-dictionaries, e-maps, e-newspapers). These displays will often be wirelessly connected to WAN devices such mobile phones and PDAs, allowing users to access content 'on-the-move' more comfortably and efficiently than is possible using a small integrated display.
There has been much talk recently (and previously) about the death of newspapers. It appears though that now there has been rapid advancement of technologie to support a paperless paper. This is needed in my mind to save the newspaper industry. The proliferation of techology has many getting their news from their own source. If newspapers had an element of technology which allowed them to be embedded in our lives, they could keep their place as a content driver. Course picking it up at the end of the driveway doesnt hurt either. As media becomes solely consumer driven (covergence will eliminate the overriding dependence on technology), certain channels will win. Newspapers might actually have a better shot, since often they do have excellent writers. Is this a media equilizer??
extra extra
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Got this one from Josh. Google just quietly launched Google Mars- This online application allows you to browse the martian landscape the same way Google Maps allows you to scan and research our planet earth. Browse the mountains, canyons, dunes, plains, ridges, and craters of mars. You can view in three different modes: elevation, visible, and infared. While its not a whole planet, its the closest any of us will ever come to visiting. Kudos to Google for taking us there. What don't these guys think of? Could this be the other Ross's doing? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....
Total Recall: Red Planet
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b.Lab Italia brings you Living Floor, interactive floor tiles that react to your steps, letting you leave disappearing footprints all over the room. Available in a variety of colors and metallic finishes, these PVC tiles are made up of a non-slip clear covering with an underlying interactive fluid layer. It’s like beach sand, moving and changing its appearance as you walk on it. Very Cool. IT looks like you are walking on water..sort of. Surely must be expensive
Liquid Floors
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Jacques Cousteau's grandson Fabien co-designed a shark-shaped submarine to study Great Whites. Covered in a skin-like material, the sub is propelled by a silent motorized tail fin. Cousteau calls the sub Troy, in reference to the mythical Trojan horse statue, in which Greek soldiers were spirited into the fortress kingdom of Troy. The idea for the sub, though, came from a slightly more prosaic source. Troy was inspired by Tintin, a Belgian comic book character. On the cover of the book Le Trésor de Rackham le Rouge (published in English as Red Rackham's Treasure), Tintin and his dog are pictured in a metal, shark-shaped submarine. I love Tintin and have so many books. Interesting to know Fabien reads tintin to. Incredible where inspiration can come from.
See the Shark Sub Swim Swiftly
Two Southern California utility companies are planning to develop a pair of sun-powered power plants that they claim will dwarf existing solar facilities and could rival fossil-fuel-driven power plants. Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric are working with Stirling Energy Systems, a Phoenix startup that has paired a large and efficient solar dish with a 200-year-old Stirling engine design. Though Stirling engines have been around for almost two centuries, there have been few efforts in the past to harness the sun to run them, said Stirling Energy Systems CEO Bruce Osborn. Osborn said the Stirling dishes are 30 percent efficient -- 30 percent of the sun's energy is converted into electricity -- which is two to three times as efficient as conventional photovoltaic cells. Someday this could be cheaper than fossil fuels. Good to know someone is using some conventional wisdom.
Burn Baby Burn
The man who may hold the key to a cure for Aids was urged by doctors last night to come forward for the sake of millions of virus carriers worldwide. The case of Andrew Stimpson, 25, who was diagnosed as HIV-positive in 2002 but found to be clear of the virus in 2003, has stunned the medical world. If doctors can establish why this happened, without treatment, it could benefit the 34.9 million virus carriers worldwide. Mr Stimpson subsequently tried to sue the hospital, believing his initial positive test was inaccurate. But he was told there was no case to answer because both tests were correct. The Trust spokeswoman insisted there was no chance a mistake had crept into the testing system. Mr Stimpson told the Mail on Sunday: "My doctor said 'you've cured yourself, you're fantastic'." "I can't help wondering if I hold the cure for Aids. There are 34.9 million people with HIV and if I have something to contribute, then I am willing and ready to help." The Scotsman, 25, who moved from the Ayrshire village of Skelmorlie, near Largs, to London four years ago, did not take any medication for HIV. The case was important because "inside his immune system is perhaps a key that could allow us to develop some kind of vaccine". The news will bring hope to millions dying of Aids who could benefit if medical scientists discover how Mr Stimpson's medical status changed. Could this be? It would be simply amazing. Supposedly stories come from Africa about vaccines and trials producing these miracle cases. Only time will tell
Miracle?
Small robots designed by University of Nebraska researchers may allow doctors on Earth to do surgery on patients in space. The tiny, wheeled robots, which are as wide as a lipstick case, can be slipped into small incisions and computer-controlled by surgeons. Some robots are equipped with cameras and lights and can send back views of affected areas to surgeons. Others have surgical tools attached that can maneuver inside the body. Because several robots can be inserted through one incision, they could reduce the amount and size of cuts needed for surgery. The robots may be also helpful on battlefields as they could enable surgeons in other places to work on injured soldiers on the front line. A robot capable of doing biopsies is in the works and another is being designed that can be inserted into a person's stomach via the esophagus. They look a little large to me to be sticking into one's body. Maybe if it were a couple centimeters big, but this might as well be a highlighter. Maybe you don't feel pain in space.....
Aibo becomes a surgeon
When Apple set out to change the landscape of music, did they envision that their groundbreaking tools would be used for other purposes? It's interesting that these consumer tools and devices are now giving Apple great additional exposure in the education, medicine and entertainment markets. Sometimes it's important to discover how certain groups of consumers are adapting your products. This learning could well help to open up new market opportunities. Its even more interesting how a great idea, transcends all and people begin to adapt it to their needs in their life. Apple being ever so clever, created something with legs that can be applied in many areas, and its design allow it to happen. Doctors carrying medical images on the ipod, peter jackson carrying king kong dailies on the pod, and stanford using the pod to distribute lectures. Really makes the device synonymous with our lives. Ok enough praising the ipod i have to listen to my itunes.
Check out my xrays
konga
higher education
Its pretty amazing to actually be able to tell as species evolve. Two instances captured recently are out to show how gorilla's are adapting to today's world. An infant gorilla in a Congo sanctuary is smashing palm nuts between two rocks to extract oil, surprising and intriguing scientists who say they have much to learn about what gorillas can do -- and about what that says about evolution. Scientists said that the finding indicates that complex tool use may not be a trait developed only by humans and chimpanzees, and could have its origins earlier in the evolutionary chain, among ancestors common to both humans and our closest relatives the great apes. They believed Itebero, named for a place near where she was found, started cracking nuts spontaneously and had not been influenced by the time she has spent among humans. Earlier this year, researchers reported observing gorillas in the wild in the neighboring Republic of Congo's rain forests using simple tools, according to a team led by Thomas Breuer of the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo. In an e-mail message Monday from the Republic of Congo's Nouabale-Ndoki National Park, Breuer said that in 10 years of observation, his team had seen only two instances of tool use among gorillas. In one a stick was used to test the depth of a pond and in another a small tree trunk was used for support and as a bridge. Its pretty cool to watch what is second nature to us, and comprehend how amazing it is for animals to display this behavior.
stick in the mud
crackin nuts
This is awesome stuff from CNET>"Robonaut, which NASA hopes to place on a shuttle flight in about 18 months, is one of a series of robots the space agency is developing to assist humans in outer space.
Others include Tendril, a robotic cable a centimeter in diameter that can snake into tight spaces and take pictures, and Scout, a four-wheel planetary rover, about the size of a golf cart, that will ferry astronauts around or carry their oxygen and other gear on planetary hikes.
Then there's Spidernaut, a 600-pound mechanical arachnid that will crawl around on the outside of space craft to fix things. Although it weighs considerably more than a person, its eight-leg design distributes the weight in manner that makes the robot's footfalls less potentially damaging to the skin of a spacecraft than those of a two-legged human.
The humanoid Robonaut will function something like an astronaut's assistant, Ambrose said. It can open doors, use a drill, climb ladders and perform other manual tasks with its two arms and two hands. Its head comes with stereoscopic cameras and a light-emitting diode, or LED, for illuminating surfaces.
Robonaut conceivably will anchor itself with all of the appropriate equipment required to perform an outer-space operation. Humans, who are much faster and more dexterous than robots but can carry only a limited amount of oxygen, will presumably pop outside to perform specific tasks and leave Robonaut out there to clean up.
HAHA. this robot looks hilarious. what a pansy!
R2 is that you?
Peter Diamandis, founder of the aerospace Ansari X Prize, plans to turn what sounds like science fiction into reality in about a year. At a ceremony Monday in New York, Diamandis unveiled the Rocket Racing League as its co-founder and chairman. "For me, it is a remembrance of sort of 'Star Wars' pod racing," said Diamandis, referring to the rocket race portrayed in 1999's "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace." Instead of a long time ago in another galaxy far, far away, these races aim to begin in October 2006 when Diamandis hopes to hold an exhibition event with four so-called X-Racer planes. A typical hourlong race imagines a spectacular X-Racer liftoff allowing fans to follow each rocket plane by tracking their 20-foot exhaust plumes and watching large-screen TVs. Streaming multi-angle video would be available from each aircraft, showing cockpit, "on-track" and "side-by-side" and wing-angle views. Fans also would be able to track races by using hand-held GPS devices connected to WiFi systems. The rocket planes will have a liquid oxygen/kerosene fuel mix, calculated to have a burn time of four minutes, requiring pilots to shut down their engines repeatedly and glide, then restart to pass opponents at up to 300 mph. The race course would be two miles long, a mile wide and about 5,000 feet high. So far 1 prototype has been built, conveniently called the ez-rocket. I know nascar is insanely addictive, but how can it be to watch a plane a couple thousand feet up. People love the destruction of NASCAR, destruction here means death. RedBull Air Race might have just been 1-upped.
GoGo GadgetRocketShipCarThing
43 contestants are battling for a spot in a government-sponsored desert race to speed development of unmanned military combat vehicles. The Grand Challenge is sponsored by the research arm of the Pentagon known as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, which is spending $9 million on this year's event. Nice to know the pentagon again looks to creative minids outside the government. This year's may have the best results yet -- and the winner could collect $2 million. The robotic vehicles began Wednesday in qualifying rounds at the California Speedway. Half will advance to the October 8th Grand Challenge. The grueling, weeklong semifinals are designed to test the vehicles' ability to cover a roughly 2-mile stretch of the track without a human driver or remote control. Participants ranging from souped-up SUVs to military behemoths will be graded on how well they can self-drive on rough road, make sharp turns and avoid obstacles -- hay bales, trash cans, wrecked cars -- while relying on GPS navigation and sensors, radar, lasers and cameras that feed information to computers. Last year none of the competitors finished the race. This year 7 finished the semi-final course on the first try. My money is on the computer science nerd.
mr. roboto drives
Well im still waiting to find out if i got the apartment. Pissed as hell. Could be moving twice....grumble grumble. Read Einstein's manuscript for 'Quantum theory of the monatomic ideal gas' as that will make you smarter. Much smarter than me........
E=MC2
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