Goodnight, I'm off to work
Welcome to Idealog Weekly, the free email newsletter for New Zealand commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and anyone rich with ideas.
Goodnight, I’m off to work
Most people aren’t too productive when they sleep for 22 hours a day. But the mystery illness that caused Garth Murray’s extreme sleep-ins also gave him a prophetic dream—of making a speaker with reduced harmonic distortion. Whatever gets you through the night. While this may seem like a wasted prophesy, the people who Murray claims have cried when they’ve heard the Theophany Loudspeaker’s output don’t think so.
Music to your eyes
No one could accuse Wellington music mag Exposure of being over-exposed. Until now the free encyclopedia of Kiwi creativity has turned up at your café counter when it gets there, alright? But now Exposure creator Pat Shepherd has turned his attention to the project full-time, you’ll be ale to get your aural fill in word form, online or on shop counters. Starting now.
UCOL Palmerston North’s Bachelor of Applied Visual Imaging focuses on contemporary trends and industry relevant skills within the areas of photography, design, video, animation and web/interactive. The programme is industry based and flexible, allowing students to fine tune career opportunities by choosing their own mixture of subjects. Enrolments for 2008 are still being taken. Visit www.ucol.ac.nz for more information or to apply online
Save the seeds!
Don’t panic—we now have a panic room for seeds. One hundred million seeds have been loaded into a frozen vault in the Arctic circle, where they will be safe even if we’re not. Able to withstand fire, flood, earthquake and even nuclear war, the last man standing will be able to feast on everything from 100,000 different kinds of carrots to 40,000 kinds of beans—as long as he can find somewhere to plant them and some actual food to eat while they grow.
Google in the Earth
Google Earth, Google Video, Google Reader … this very public company hasn’t been underground for a long time. But that’s about to change. Google’s just announced that it’s helping lay a $300 million-dollar undersea cable between the US and Japan to meet increased broadband demand. Hey if there’s any of that cable left over …
Complicated compositions
Framing someone could take on a much more informative meaning with a digital frame that incorporates a camera, scanner, GPS and Internet connection. The hand-held device allows you to frame anything—or anyone—before sending the image for instant analysis on sites like Wikipedia, Google and Google Earth. You can also put your frame over words or phrases in books for an instant definition from a plethora of online dictionaries, thesauruses and reference books. So that solves the problem of buying into the right school zone—stay put and buy the kids an educational square instead.
Eyes of the prize
Then again why bother carting around an information-gathering frame when you could just get bionic eyesight. No really you could. A team at the University of Washington has created a contact lens complete with functional circuitry and LEDs. This could lead to applications such as telescopic vision for soldiers and virtual displays for pilots. Personally I’d rather have my pilot fly drunk than focused on his own eyeballs, but each to their own.
Bring back the brick
If listening to Michael Jackson on your iPod doesn’t make you feel like a kid again maybe this will. Someone inventive and childish—actually quite possibly Michael—has made a music player that looks just like a piece of Lego. Just as well not every plastic brick has raised dots that double as volume controls, or we’d have a serious plastic housing shortage.
Star Wars episode 3 year old
If anyone’s looking for a movie reviewer we’ve found one who is cheap, confident and Oxford-concise. This three-year-old movie buff has only seen Star Wars once, but that’s probably just as well—if she had anymore to go on she’d have no memory space left for motor skills.
Any which way
If yesterday’s Bike to Work Day ended up being another “get in the car!” day, you’ve got another chance to redeem yourself tonight. Critical Mass is a spontaneous leaderless bike ride that somehow occurs on the last Friday of every month in every major city of the world. Meet by the fountain in Auckland’s Albert Park at 5.30 then follow the people following you.
Morningside 4 life! Except when the Bro’Town boys are in Wellington for their stage show next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Quote of the week
“I was lying in bed and I actually saw myself making a speaker. I saw the ruler, I saw the dimensions. I woke up and then I spent six months learning how to build them.”
—Garth Murray, otherwise known as The Daydream Believer
More at Idealog online
Read more on our website: web exclusives, opinion, Idealog IP, the Idealog blogs and the Idealog podcast. See you at idealog.co.nz.
Idealog Weekly is sent to friends, subscribers and registered website users of Idealog magazine. Rather read your Idealog Weekly in your inbox? Subscribe here
|
