Stilgherrian » design

Links for 03 July 2008 through 04 July 2008

del.icio.us — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:07:38 +0000

Stilgherrian’s links for 03 July 2008 through 04 July 2008, gathered with joy and mutton:

Draft Report | Garnaut Climate Change Review: The Draft Report describes the methodology for evaluating the costs and benefits of climate change mitigation; to the application of the science of climate change to Australia; to the international context, and to Australian mitigation policy.
Turing Test | xkcd: On the other hand, maybe the test is to make the examiner think that HE'S the computer!
Turing test | Wikipedia: "The Turing test is a proposal for a test of a machine's capability to demonstrate intelligence." What I love about the REAL Turing test is the subtlety of it… It's not faking a human, it's faking a human faking.
Manned Cloud by Jean-Marie Massaud | Dezeen: This just has to be the most beautiful design for an airship I've ever seen. Guys, build it soon!
The BBC and the future of broadcasting | Stephen Fry: Stephen Fry's speech on the future of public service broadcasting, and the BBC in particular.

5 Random Semi-Related Posts

Your career as a “Timeline of Understanding”

Stilgherrian — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 02:25:59 +0000

My good friend and colleague Zern Liew has updated the website for his business, Eicolab. It’s glorious. And one of the most glorious parts is this visually stunning timeline of his career — presented not as a list of employers and projects, but as a record of his evolving professional thoughts.

If you click through to the full-size graphic, you’ll see how it begins in 1998 with observations like “Flash is bad” and variations on “Appropriate technology” through to current observations like “markets are conversations” and “business is personal” — things I happen to agree on.

What would your career look like in this format? What were the observations, tools and guiding principles which shaped your career path?

5 Random Semi-Related Posts

Sydney Writers Festival from tomorrow

Stilgherrian — Sun, 27 May 2007 02:40:46 +0000

The Sydney Writers Festival starts tomorrow and runs all next week. I’m impressed with their website: a minimalist design which actually concentrates on the content — words!

5 Random Semi-Related Posts

Web 2.0 design

Stilgherrian — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 20:37:06 +0000

What is “Web 2.0 design”? Is there such a thing? Before he explains how to do Web 2.0 design, Ben Hunt points out: “In sociological terms, movements impact people on many levels: economic, cultural, political, etc. Is skate-punk about entertainment and sport, music and the music industry, fashion, or the breakdown of society?”

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I need a hand…

Stilgherrian — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 01:21:25 +0000

I don’t have time to learn and understand everything. Who does? Me and my business need various skills to make things happen more quickly — now. So if you know anyone who can help, put them in touch.

I need a telephone geek to get my Nokia N80 and 3G network stuff working more efficiently. A workflow from the phone through to WordPress and Flickr would be nice.

I need another telephone geek to re-organise my business phones. Telcos are useless — they just want to sell products. Maybe someone who knows Asterisk is the answer?

I need a web developer who can work in XHTML/CSS code (no Flash or Dreamweaver muppets!) with excellent attention to detail and, ideally, a knowledge of WordPress and proper object-oriented PHP. We don’t do complex work, but we do want quality. I’ll be advertising this soon.

I’m still looking for a good technical support human who’s actually human. This is a full-time job.

A junior systems administrator wouldn’t go astray. This would suit a student who’s familiar with Linux, has run a website or two and needs a few hours paid work a week.

A techno producer who can work in a minimalist German style for a crassly commercial music project.

A graphic artist/designer who can do finished artwork for print as well as basic web stuff. We sometimes end up doing a full corporate image for clients. We need someone for the grunt-work, like doing ten newspaper adverts to a pre-existing style, or preparing fifty product shots for a website.

5 Random Semi-Related Posts

The Grammar of Ornament

Stilgherrian — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 01:21:06 +0000

The classic book The Grammar of Ornament has been digitised! Thanks to The Other Andrew and Things Magazine for the heads-up.

5 Random Semi-Related Posts

Apple iPhone parodies

Stilgherrian — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 12:40:02 +0000

Thanks to the ever-observant people at Signal vs Noise, I can draw your attention to Worth1000.com’s competition for fake designs for non-existent Apple products.

I can’t be the only one with infantile humour, because there’s lots of toilet-themed entries — though for my money this is the best.

As David Pogue writes in the New York Times, “All of these are funny because Apple is so about design. It’s just ripe for parody, in a way that no other company is.” Yes, as he asks, what would a parody of an HP computer look like?

SvN put a nice business spin on this:

If someone was going to make fun of your company, how would they do it? (And if there’s no answer, is that a sign you’re lacking a defined point of view?)

I suppose I really should post my analysis of the whole iPhone thing — but I might leave it until all the Apple zealots have grabbed a tissue and wiped themselves down.