Gravity Lamp

I think that this technology is quite amazing. The only problem with the design is that the "turn on" method seems a little tedious. The overall design of the product is very sleek.

By Susan Trulove

BLACKSBURG, Va., February 19, 2008 -- A Virginia Tech student has created a floor lamp powered by gravity.

Clay Moulton of Springfield, Va., who received his master of science degree in architecture (concentration in industrial design) from the College of Architecture and Urban Studies in 2007, created the lamp when he was an industrial design graduate student. The light-emitting diode (LED) lamp, named Gravia, has just won second place in the Greener Gadgets Design Competition as part of the Greener Gadgets Conference in New York City.

Concept illustrations of Gravia depict an acrylic column a little over four feet high. The entire column glows when activated. The electricity is generated by the slow fall of a mass that spins a rotor. The resulting energy powers 10 high-output LEDs that fire into the acrylic lens, creating a diffuse light. The operation is silent and the housing is elegant and cord free -- completely independent of electrical infrastructure.

The light output will be 600-800 lumens - roughly equal to a 40-watt incandescent bulb over a period of four hours.

To "turn on" the lamp, the user moves weights from the bottom to the top of the lamp. An hour glass-like mechanism is turned over and the weights are placed in the mass sled near the top of the lamp. The sled begins its gentle glide back down and, within a few seconds, the LEDs come on and light the lamp, Moulton said. "It's more complicated than flipping a switch but can be an acceptable, even enjoyable routine, like winding a beautiful clock or making good coffee," he said.

Moulton estimates that Gravia's mechanisms will last more than 200 years, if used eight hours a day, 365 days a year. "The LEDs, which are generally considered long-life devices, become short-life components in comparison to the drive mechanisms," he said.

The acrylic lens will be altered by time in an attractive fashion, Moulton said. "The LEDs produce a slightly unnatural blue-ish light. As the acrylic ages, it becomes slightly yellowed and crazed through exposure to ultraviolet light," he said. "The yellowing and crazing will tend to mitigate the unnatural blue hue of the LED light. Thus, Gravia will produce a more natural color of light with age."

He predicted that the acrylic will begin to yellow within 10 to 15 years when Gravia is used in a home's interior room.

Air Poo

It is about time that someone decided to combine two great things, the number two and Apple products. I know I have been waiting for this!....well not really. Innovation? I am not sure, I suppose that it is because I have never seen anything like this, but what is the actual practicality of something like this? I guess we will soon find out...they should probably work on the name too.

Vampire Weekend

This has become one of my favorite albums as of late. The music is very innovative combining several styles of music to create a great unique sound. Their sounds come from all over the place and the band has a feeling of a mix of the Talking Heads, Arcade Fire, and vocals similar to that of Bright Eyes and the Strokes. Great guitar riffs and drum beats accompanied by flutes and organs really give this group a full sound. Great Listening.

[uncrate]
Vampire Weekend ($8) is the self-titled debut from the NY-based four-piece, which covers musical ground from indie rock to afro-pop, mixing in shades of punk and early sixities Brit-pop with its quirky, intelligently-written lyrics. Standout Tracks: "Mansard Roof," "Oxford Comma," "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa."

You Suck at Photoshop

This is an awesome series of depressingly funny yet informative instructional videos on how to use photoshop. The narrator sounds like comedian Dane Cook, and he takes you through how to cut out photos, clean up backgrounds, and do some fairly complicated things in Photoshop. The humor makes learning a hard computer program more enjoyable. The stress that the narrator is going through makes your Photoshop troubles seem like nothing. Check it out and see for yourself.

Strida 5.0 Collapsable Bicycle

Here is an innovative product that comes from across the pond. There is an innovative design for the frame of this bike that allows for it to fold up very nicely. The compact bike allows for easy travel to and from the office or the train. I.D. magazine gives this bike very high praise and I would love to try this bike myself to see if it is as good as they say it is.

[business week]
A Really Good Collapsible Bike
Strida 5.0 is the newest iteration in a series of foldable bikes by British designer Mark Sanders. Long available in Europe, the line finally landed in the U.S.

by Cliff Kuang

Big-city bike riders tend to fall into two camps. There are the utility commuters who don't care if their bike's a junker, as long as it's dependable. Then there are those who dork out over pedals and handlebar tape, or the finer points of steel versus aluminum. The two roll in separate worlds, and so do their bikes.

Strida 5.0 is the newest iteration in a series of foldable bikes by British designer Mark Sanders; after 16 years of adoration in Europe, the line finally landed in the U.S. last fall courtesy of New York-based design distributors Areaware. When I signed up to review the bizarrely shaped 5.0, I assumed it was aimed squarely at those utility commuters, who are usually willing to sacrifice looks and performance if a bike's easy to carry and store. But after a week with Sanders's creation, I'm not so sure. The Strida, with its suave, brushed-aluminum finish, is that rare combination of function and flash; from day one, it drew more stares than Gisele Bündchen in a see-through dress.

The Strida's calling card is its unique, patented frame. Most foldable bikes are shaped like an H; the vertical stalks are the steering and seat posts, and the horizontal piece is the frame. To fold everything, you first bend the steering post down via a beefy hinge. The seat post then telescopes into the frame, and another hinge folds the frame in half lengthwise. Contrast that mess of rickety joints with the Strida's elegant origami. When the bike is unfolded, the seat lies along one side of a triangle, with the handlebars at the peak and the wheels and drivetrain at either end of the base. To fold the bike, you unlock the bottom crossbar and swing it up; the post supporting the front wheel levers back, and the two wheels kiss and fasten, thanks to magnets in their hubs.

Sanders intended the Strida for hybrid commuters who might go from house to railway to street to office. Those aspirations show in every detail, from parallel wheels that make it a cinch to push the folded bike along as you walk—a nifty amenity over any distance longer than a block—to the brilliant greaseless rubber chain. Yet the best part of the design is the stable ride it produces, thanks to a triangle's natural cross-bracing. Nimbleness is a given on a bike with such a short wheelbase, but well-balanced handling results from the frame's lateral strength.

The seat slides up and down the rear post, and riding posture can vary from sitting to nearly standing, depending on your height. But I was skeptical because most foldable bikes come in small, medium, and large models; a one-size-fits-all bike like the Strida usually accommodates only an average-size person like myself. A handy test subject arrived as I was turning figure eights and popping wheelies on a sidewalk on the Lower East Side. Along came a man in a velvet tracksuit—maybe 6'2", 250 pounds—asking where he could buy the thing. I offered him a ride, and he happily sat down and shot around the corner. Realizing I'd handed off an $800 bike to a total stranger, I gave chase, only to find him nimbly picking his way among the pedestrian shoppers, looking like a bear on a circus bike. Turns out the sturdy frame makes the bike's handling easy to predict straightaway, regardless of your size; what's more, the frame's geometry won't make an awkward jumble of even the tallest rider's arms and legs.

The Strida shines in comparison with other foldable bikes, but it isn't perfect. Sure, the 5.0 has tougher, lighter components than its predecessor the 3.2, including a stouter flywheel that doesn't backslide during heavy uphill pedaling. But at $800, the parts should be better. A plastic chain ring (which joins the pedal cranks and chain) seemed flimsy, and the brake levers and neoprene saddle are cheap. Despite Strida's claims of lightness, 19.4 pounds is still on the porky side for a high-end folder (some are under 17 pounds), while the 16-inch wheels are relatively small, slowing the bike down and making it tooth-rattling over bumps. Meanwhile, multiple gears are becoming de rigueur for folders, and the Strida has only one.

But it's the mark of a good design that the Strida is perfectible. Its bulk comes mostly from thick aluminum tubes and blocky joints; a crackerjack frame designer could easily cut weight without sacrificing strength. (Aluminum tube walls can be as thin as a few business cards.) Minor tweaks to the frame could accommodate 20-inch wheels. Those same tweaks could improve the hold points and weight distribution, making the bike even easier to push when it's folded. Sanders has actually proposed similar changes but says that Ming, the manufacturer that now owns the patents, is wary of straying from what already works. That's a pity: The Strida's frame is remarkable, but with a few modifications, the bike could own the world.

Provided by I.D. Magazine—The International Design Magazine

Jeff Han TED Talk

[TED]

In this demo, Jeff Han shows off (for the first time publicly) a high-resolution multi-touch computer screen that may herald the end of the point-and-click mouse. The demo, which drew spontaneous applause and audible gasps from the audience, begins with a simple lava lamp, then turns into a virtual photo-editing tabletop, where Han flicks photos across the screen as if they were paper snapshots. (The Apple iPhone, to be released a year later, also does multi-touch -- but only with two fingers.)

Chris Bangle TED Talk

[TED]

American designer Chris Bangle explains his philosophy that car design is an art form in its own right, with an engaging account of the BMW Group's Deep Blue project, intended to create the SUV of the future. Sending a team of German designers to live in the US and research the future of the SUV seemed like a good idea at the time. It didn't, however, have quite the results Bangle was expecting. Instead, the project unearthed some fundamental problems of car design, including the tensions between designer and engineer. This passionate, entertaining -- and ultimately moving -- account of the process sheds new light on a design discipline that's often overlooked.

Great Innovation Books

[Business Week]

Best Innovation and Design Books for 2006
We looked past obvious titles to compile a list of books that will inform the thinking about innovation beyond this year

by Bruce Nussbaum

Community and creativity dominated the innovation space—and the authors who write about it—this year. The buzz? Mass collaboration, social networking, co-creation, and, of course, consumer experience. As we browsed the 2006 aisle looking for books to include in our best-of list, we left some of the more predictable titles on the shelf—books like The World Is Flat and The Long Tail, which have already become clichés. Instead, our team—Jessie Scanlon, Helen Walters, Reena Jana, Jessi Hempel, Aili McConnon, and I—chose what we see as the most significant books to hit the stores this year, the books that will continue to shape our thinking into '07.

Let's start with the not-so-obvious theme of social network analysis and network cartography that could really catch fire this coming year. The next big step in open-source innovation and social networking is plotting out just how people do communicate and work with each other, and displaying those data in insightful ways. Edward Tufte's Beautiful Evidence is a masterpiece from a pioneer in the field of data visualization. His book is brilliant. Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams' Wikinomics is right in that space as well.

Innovation may be the new black as chief executives everywhere get their PR writers to script them speeches that embrace it. But beyond the blah-blah, building effective innovation procedures and processes remains the single most important challenge for top managers. Five books provide serious, insightful advice: Payback by James Andrew and Harold Sirkin, Juicing the Orange by Pat Fallon and Fred Senn, Mavericks at Work by William Taylor and Polly LaBarre, Zag by Marty Neumeier, and Open Business Models: How to Thrive in the New Innovation Landscape by Berkeley professor Henry Chesbrough.

INTERACTING WITH IT ALL
We're all obsessing over Second Life and virtual communities, but it's worth remembering the universal power of the town square, the arena, and the other very real places where we come together. The book to read about why we love to experience things together and publicly is David Rockwell and Bruce Mau's Spectacle. It's a coffee-table-size exposition of NASCAR, Burning Man, Hindu religious rites in the Ganges, and other glorious spectacles that people experience together.

Some books just can't be categorized, like Bill Moggridge's Designing Interactions. A pioneer of interaction design, Moggridge had a hand in designing one of the world's first laptops, the GRID, and co-founded the successful design consultancy Ideo. Now he has amassed interviews with just about everyone who counts in a dazzling tour of the past 20 years (all on the CD sold with the book). His great lesson—it's not about the UI (user interface), it's about the people who use it.

Which brings us back to, well, us—the buyers, users, readers, citizens, and inhabitants of our planet. Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century, edited by Alex Steffen, gives us the tools to get to a green economy and society. Green tech and green growth will be very '07.