CURIOUS ANDROID

2011 Calendar Designs

curiousandroid — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 13:46:15 +0000

Every year the Japanese Graphic Designers Association puts together a special set of calendars. Their Calendar Salone 2011 site showcases a nice flash interface with calendars to fit every taste. Happy calendering!

Orwellian design

curiousandroid — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 11:18:34 +0000

Not surprisingly, Stefan Sagmeister’s new website pushes the limits of what it means to get an “inside look.”

Joy +/-

curiousandroid — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:00:14 +0000

Some great cover art for the new deluxe boxset from Joy Division. Unfortunately, it’s already sold out. But the standard edition below is still available. Creative direction by Peter Saville and Studio Parris Wakefield. Sleevage has the full post.

I could have loved stats

curiousandroid — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:10:42 +0000

I think the most tired I ever remember being was during the statistics part of my graduate degree. As a very visual and tactile learner, I think a large part of it was getting my head around the information in a way that I could understand. Yes, that would be pictures. This video on the joy of stats, would have a been a delightful reprieve.

Retro at its finest

curiousandroid — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:57:46 +0000

Came across these remakes by Olly Moss, an English designer. He has a pretty amazing portfolio of print work both conceptual and client that goes from Star Trek to RoboCop.

Failure is as failure thinks

curiousandroid — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:30:38 +0000

As an entrepreneur, I tend to be pretty optimistic about what is typically called failure. Setbacks are important in helping shape perspective and approach and critical in developing a personalized approach to learning and development. This TED video of Diana Laufenberg, talks about why it’s important to move away from typical definitions of failure in the the education system.

America needs a new gold standard

curiousandroid — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 08:00:54 +0000

I stumbled upon a project called the Charter for Compassion that was envisioned by Karen Armstrong who is a religious scholar focusing a lot on comparative religion. Having grown up in a Christian environment when I was young and then living for a number of years outside the country, I could empathize with Armstrong’s own epiphany after first visiting Jerusalem after having gone through training as a nun. Perspectives are reshaped when you are made physically aware how big and different the world actually is.

Overall, the concept of the Charter is quite simple: don’t do unto others what you wouldn’t want done unto you (or do unto others as you would have them do unto you – it’s been phrased both ways). Usually we call it the golden rule.

But to be honest, I like word compassion. Just hearing the word made we feel like there were possibilities. Kind of hope and change rolled into one. Enjoy!

“Biosphere 1, we have a problem.”

curiousandroid — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 08:00:50 +0000

A friend recently traveled to Biosphere 2 just north of Tucson, Arizona, so these images especially caught my eye (more images after link). I remember in the mid-1990′s when the Biospherians were put into Biosphere 2. Sealed off to fend for their own, I think most people, and the media from what I can fuzzily recall, thought the whole thing a bit over the top. Of course with concrete being the main culprit of deprived oxygen conditions there were lots of reasons to chuckle.

But now with missions to Mars and a renewed interest in space, it seems that over the top was nothing more than real vision. Some interesting information on the Biosphere 2 website and an interesting talk by Jane Poynter about her 2 years and 20 minutes on the inside where she talks about implications for a new lunar project.

A nice second take on the two-wheeler

curiousandroid — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 08:00:34 +0000

The Mantis Human Powered Vehicle is actually targeting kids, but I wouldn’t mind cruising this around town. My only addition would be to change the pedal stroke to make it more like a stairclimber. You’d get the benefits of walking combined with the speed and distance potential of a bike (not to mention avoiding complete boredom in the gym).

Education gone wild

curiousandroid — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 08:00:10 +0000

Thanks to Bill at Akoio for pointing out this interesting Fast Company information graphic on education. The most interesting thing I found was use of time: 10 hours per week partying, 8 hours per week studying, and 9 hours per day engaged with media/technology. Kind of interesting to move the numbers around:

1. 10 hrs/pw partying + 8 hrs/pw studying + 9 hrs/pd talking, watching, twittering, FBing, etc.

2. 9 hrs/pd partying + 10 hrs/pw studying + 8 hrs/pw talking, watching, twittering, FBing, etc.

3. 8 hrs/pw partying + 9 hrs/pd studying + 10 hrs/pw talking, watching, twittering FBing, etc.