Ursus Wehrli presented at the TED conference recently and I have to admit, his book on “Tidying up Art” is a virus. The basic principle is to take great masterpieces in art and destructure them to the simple elements that they are mad up of. A signiture becomes 30 broken branches, a painting of a person becomes 15 fruit shaped objects, etc. After seeing him lecture and glancing through his book, I’ve been infected and try to tidy up everything I see now.
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Want to tumble down a steep hill at 30 mph while soaking in a swirl of spashing water!! If so, give the ZORB a try.
I’ve always wanted to give these spheres a try, but I never knew where. Besides New Zealand, there seems to be a place in Austin you can give these wild orbs a spin. Let me know if you get the chance to.
Sandscapes is addictive simulated tangible interface designed to help users understand landscapes through a projected surface of sand. Simulations range from height, slopes, contours, shadows, drainage, and also has the ability to interact with physical models such as buildings cars or whatever else you program into it.
I’ve played around with Sandscapes and its pure joy. Swing by the MIT MediaLab when you have the chance to check out their other great projects!
Want to see the other side of the Natalie Portman…well, hold tight, this rap rappin video on Saturday Night Live throws a real curve ball into the sweet, elegant, cute, and sexy queen of Star Wars.NBC via BoingBoing
Who says cats don’t appreciate great designs. Cat Interiors is a company in Germany with a wonderful assortment of cat pads, my particular favorite is their wall mounted homes.via DesignSponge Cat Interiors
A few bored girls in Ohio took the opportunity to make physical replicas of those “coin boxes” from the classic game “super mario brothers” and place them in random parts of their city, trees primarily. Personally, I think they rock!!! Nothin like jazzin up a city scape with a bit of mario action. Then again, they are being arrested for this prank for reasonable terms.
TED TED TED. What more can I say. It is by FAR THE BEST brain charging, mind-boggling confernece I have ever been to. It’s a life changing experience that is hard to explain. I’ve been fortunate to attend the last 4 TEDs (Technology, Entertainment, Design) and just returned from TED2006. Instead of writing about every single amazzzzing event, I’ll link to some other blogs articles on the conference. Otherwise, some of my highlights were:
1. AL GORE (he is seriously funny)
2. Tony Robbins (what an energizer)
3. Ken Robinson (Man with wonderful words)
4. Playing in a Drum circle at midnight with a bunch of CEOs, Directors, managers, all from fortune 500 companies.
5. Drinking, eating, chillin, with those same people at a private monterey aquarium party.(FABULOUS!)
6. Drinking, chatting, brainstorming with the same peeps at the bar across the street.
7. Watching, listening, laughing, at Charles Fleisher. (Probably one of the most talented, smartests, and funny people on earth)
8. Listening to an 11 yr old violinist zip through some tough classical pieces.
9. TOM RIELLY (As always, a man that sees it all)
10. Beach Party. Great converesations, great weather, great people!
11. Being amazzed at Dynamo.
12. Sitting next to Sergey Brin, Charles Fleischer, Danny Hillis, Peter Gabriel, and Chee Pearlman, all at the same time, watching a session.
13. Watching the Children of Uganda dance!!!!! Unbelievable!!!
14. Listening to Larry Brilliant. Watch the webcast with the other 2 winners.
15. Realizing I was at TED again…TED’s a knowledge heaven that really exisits.
Too many highlights to talk about, but here are some other blogs to check out.
This video has surfed the web for the past few weeks, but I had the wonderful opportunity to meet and hear from the creator, Jeff Han, about his multi-touch screen interface at the TED conference. Check out the video and be prepared to be awed.YouTube video
update:Â a nice article on Jef’s developement with the multi-touch screen from FastCompany which includes an exclusive video on the newer larger version here.
“Position this ingenious disc-shaped slicer on any apple and rotate to release perfect slices for snacking or cooking. Don’t need a whole apple at once? Just leave the disc pressed against the fruit, and it will not dry out or turn brown. Made of stainless steel. Dishwasher safe.”Moma Store
Sandscapes is addictive simulated tangible interface designed to help users understand landscapes through a projected surface of sand. Simulations range from height, slopes, contours, shadows, drainage, and also has the ability to interact with physical models such as buildings cars or whatever else you program into it.
A few bored girls in Ohio took the opportunity to make physical replicas of those “coin boxes” from the classic game “super mario brothers” and place them in random parts of their city, trees primarily. Personally, I think they rock!!! Nothin like jazzin up a city scape with a bit of mario action. Then again, they are being 
I just had to post this, even though it’s been around for some time.
Lovable and cute!
