Big Ideas for a Small Planet

This is a great site. And if you haven’t seen this series, it’s fantastic. You can download any episode for $1.99… Watch the trailers by going to:

http://www.sundancechannel.com/films/500198031

Fulfilling the Promise of the Internet ......

Did you ever read something on the web that didn't agree with you? Maybe your bank account balance is too low. Perhaps the media is obsessing about Brittany Spears. Or maybe you're sick of looking at the website you're developing. You want to do something about it? Here is your zen:

http://www.netdisaster.com/

The Future of Design

Interesting issue of HOW Magazine (August 2007) out right now and here are some responses to the future of design and where we're going and how we'll need to rely on where we've been to do so.

Article

Get Inspired! Go TED.

Last night I watched an inspiring and powerful documentary about the TED conference. What a terrific gathering of amazing minds. The conference brings these people together once a year over 3 days where they share their bold ideas on changing the world. (Yes, far more bold than Eric's audio recordings if you can imagine!) I strongly recommend checking out the conference's website: www.ted.com

While watching this movie, I couldn't help but think that this is the perfect place for Beehive. We need to figure out how we can get involved! Sustainable Cities, Knowledge Concierge, SO many possibilities. You can download (thanks Netlfix!) or rent the movie, here's the link.

Netflix

If you don't want to watch the whole movie, you can download and watch ALL the amazing speakers online thanks to Adobe. For instance, here's one on Virtual Earth:
Virtual Earth

Check it out, I promise you will be inspired!

The Big Dig House

Check out the design firm that used 600,000 lbs of salvaged materials (steel structures, roadway panels, etc) from the multi million dollar Boston Big Dig Project.

http://www.singlespeeddesign.com/works/residential/bigdighouse/

iPhone, baby!

Let me say it loudly - I LOVE MY IPHONE!!! I've had several smart-phones - Kyocera and Palm TREOs - and each one had its problems, some of them quite severe. I've also had many computers and various other gadgets over the years. All I can say is that the iPhone is BY FAR the best first-generation product I have ever owned. I've only had the iPhone for a week but I couldn't be happier. The interface and software cannot be beaten and the minor issues I look forward to improvements on (volume, delete process for emails, true exchange sync, copy/paste, etc.) are all FAR OUTWEIGHED by the incredible elegance and reliability of this device. AT&T service is terrible, but if you are already suffering with it (as I was), I highly recommend the iPhone.

WHAT IS GOOD:
-- sensor that disables the touchscreen when the phone is at my ear
-- google maps animate/zoom when going through directions (zooms out to show you perspective, animates to show sections)
-- earphones with built-in mic are simple, elegant and stay in my ear better than other ipod earphones I've had
-- visual navigation of albums in ipod
-- sensor for vertical/horizontal web nav/photos/etc. - auto-rotates display in both directions
-- multitouch for zoom using two fingers (on maps, photos, web, etc.)
-- contacts - click to call/email/google maps automatically
-- scroll - fling for long list scan, slow movement for nudge, built-in letter navigation to get to contacts lower in list
-- keyboard - knows where the center of my fat fingers are, so even though the keys are small, I rarely miss my letter; adjusts keyboard for usage (adds "@" key as option when addressing an email, adds ".com" and "/" keys when putting in URL, etc.)
-- visual voicemail - FINALLY non-linear voicemail that I'm able to prioritize!
-- reordering favorites list works well - didn't know how to do it at first, but figured it out
-- WI-FI works great, if a bit slow
-- form factor & weight are perfection

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT:
-- copy/paste is missing!
-- cannot search the device though finding contacts, for instance, is still faster by flinging through contacts than when I used to search in my treo (that was SLOW)
-- deleting email (multiple delete is needed!)
-- volume (ipod volume is OK, but phone volume is low - only a problem when in noisy environment but STILL)

Peer-to-peer money

Peer-to-peer online marketplaces for borrowing and lending money that cut out the banks:

http://www.zopa.com (available in the US soon)

http://www.prosper.com

New technology for cooling, social networking, and maps

This is a multi-part beenovation:

Bee-ing Green
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2004-07-23-kantor_x.htm
http://www.benjerry.com/assets/flash/our_company/sounds_cool/soundsCool.cfm

Social Buzz
http://twitter.com/public_timeline
http://www.flickr.com/map

Map Stuff
http://www.flashearth.com/

Learning
http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/article.asp?SCID=14&CIID=82898&p=1

The 7 (new) Wonders in 3D

The New 7 Wonders of the Worldwere announced at a ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday, July 7, 2007 - 07.07.07

This site includes an archive of hundreds of 360 degree panoramic images which have been stitched together and are streamed via QuickTime Virtual Reality (QTVR).

I tried to find images like these integrated with Google Earth, but all of the placemark links seem to be 2D! It would be amazing to embed a QTVR inset into GE mapped to each location.

For more info on how these images are created, click here.

Paintjam

I love portraiture - the ability to capture someone's face and, in the best examples, their spirit, in a single drawing or painting. And to do it as part of a performance - in such a short timeframe - is just cool! This isn't an innovation, per se, just a really interesting experience to sit back and enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIJtKxdRQzY

Etsy.com has a navigation system with many innovative options for finding products listed on the site. While it has the usual list of product categories, such as "Candles" or "Quilts", it also allows for more right-brained/creative searches by color, user-created and compiled themes (such as "grass" or "hamburger" related items), or by geographical location.

Not to mention most of the search option interfaces are completely mesmerizing.

Michelinman.com attempts a similarly creative navigation. To learn about how Michelin is doing its part to save the environment, users must travel to the amazing 3d online compound of the Michelin men and search around buildings for more information. This makes the interface fun, and the 3d work is amazingly done but it's still overkill when they only have information about tires.

Unique Navigations/Concepts via the Webbys

I found these Beenovations via The Webby Awards website. The first 2 (IKEA and Peroni) are notable for their creative navigation with a 3D perspective. The other one is interesting navigation and in general an interesting concept in compiling how people around the world are feeling.

http://demo.fb.se/e/ikea/dreamkitchen/site/default.html

http://www.peroniitaly.com/gb/flash.html

http://www.wefeelfine.org/

3D Modeling

What struck me was the idea that kids are already working in 3D with Cosmic Blobs - and then when you think about 3D printers - wow! There are possible applications for construction - and for our visualization exercises.

http://www.innovateforum.com/innovate/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=431582

http://www.cosmicblobs.com/index.html

http://www.innovateforum.com/innovate/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=428334

http://www.innovateforum.com/innovate/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=424192

Spore

This is one of many videos of Will Wright's (SimCity, etc.) new game that is slated to be released next year. It shows a demo of the program at E3 and shows you how the program goes from a single-celled organism to an intergalactic sandbox. Pretty amazing and way, way beyond the state of the art.

Anyone finding cooler or higher-res examples please send them to me.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8372603330420559198

The Importance of Color

As a company where design is central to what we do, we are always considering so many things - user experience, brand, aesthetics, etc. And color is one of those choices that get made no mater how strong a brand direction we begin with. Coming up with a palette that just clicks can be a challenge for those of us who are not color theorists! When I came across this site, I was impressed with the simple idea - trust nature to provide palettes the eye will find pleasing. There are some surprising examples here and it got me thinking about what other ways nature can influence our work.....

http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2007/06/01/colorful-beauty-in-nature-butterflies/

Introducing Beenovations!

Beehive Media is a company in Boston focused on leveraging technology for knowledge and innovation. We build web applications and creative solutions to help leaders and the world at large solve global problems collaboratively. As part of our internal process, we meet weekly and every week we ask one employee to show off something cool. Whether it's a project we've done, something found on the web or something completely out of left field, it's an opportunity for us to showcase what's on our mind, what's helping us solve problems and address client needs every day.