Tuesday, July 15, 2003

Jon Gagan 10:47:05 PM    comment []; I think the problem with cell phones is that people tend to talk LOUD LIKE THIS because they think they need to. They don't realize the mics on phones are very sensitive, so they can pick up your whisper. Essentially, the annoying factor is the loudness, which in any case, any noise is annoying when loud. -David • 7/15/03; 5:03:50 PM I remember a design company last year coming up with cell phones that would give people who yelled into their phones mild electro-shocks. Maybe it is a generation problem. My dad still thinks if he calls overseas he has to yell...well, actually, what am I saying, he always yells into the phone.... 9:01:34 PM    comment []; Interview with Frog Design's founder Question: Then we had the '90s, which must have felt like a roller-coaster ride. How did the Internet bubble affect your business? Answer: The '90s were a dark time for design. Everything was about money, greed and hype. Worse, that decade helped create a generation of young designers who grew up believing that it's OK to deliver mediocre work if you only act cool and charge enough-that it's OK to forget about the basic values of human society like modesty, hard work and ethics. Now, they're learning the hard way what it takes to succeed in the real world-and I see improvements. Hartmut Esslinger founded Frog Design and his company worked for everyone, from Apple to Motorola. For a while in the Eighties I didn't know what would be the better dream, to get a recording contract or to work for Frog..... 8:57:30 PM    comment []; Wind Powers Brit Energy and Jobs Britain is pushing for a huge expansion of offshore wind farms. Inviting companies to bid on building new farms, the government aims to supply green power to more than 3 million households and create 20,000 jobs. [Wired News] 7:17:08 PM    comment []; The Quiet Car Remember how airplanes used to have smoking and non-smoking rows? Well, if the FAA starts allowing people to use cellphones in flight, the airlines should set aside part of the cabin for those of us who'd prefer not to be subjected to some idiot yammering away on a cellphone during our next seven-hour flight to California. Amtrak has already designated cellphone-free "quiet cars" on many of its trains. It doesn't always work, though, and the New York Times notes that the cars are self-policing, with many people ignoring the policy. They do so at their peril: at least one violator has had their cellphone smashed by a fellow commuter who was outraged to find someone talking in the quiet car. Read [Via Gothamist]... [Gizmodo] 1:11:06 PM    comment []; Have you ever philosophized about why humans find music to be beautiful? Many if not all the things we perceive to have “beauty” also have some survival value, and you can generally concoct a theory as to how a sense of beauty might have evolved via natural selection.  But I’ve never been able to rationalize human’s undoubted attraction to music. Is it a sexual attractor? Does it involve communication? Is the underlying mathematical basis of music the actual selectee, with music as a by-product? I thought since you’re a philosopher and a musician you might have a take. I’ll be monitoring your blog Ah, a challenge! Movement is essential for development, i.e. a kid that can draw a circle with one hand has advanced to a certain level of brain function. Maybe music is equally essential. We know that music helps kids and adults learn, but maybe it goes further than that. Many thousands of years ago, our human ancestors discovered music as they hummed to themselves and to their children. What if that discovery actually is what made them become human because it increased their brain function. In other words music came before language and language could only form because music, i.e. wordless singing modified the brain to be able to create language? That would make music an experience even older than language and certainly would explain why we receive such pleasure from it. First thoughts....I will have another go at it later..... 1:04:40 PM    comment []; iTunes saves the record business, one download at a time' Apple's iTunes Music Store came in at number 2 in this year's Blender 100, "a compendium of the most essential artists, trends, gadgets and sex objects in music today."... [MacMinute] 11:56:01 AM    comment []; Apple, Volkswagen launch "Pods Unite" Volkswagen and Apple have partnered to provide 2003 New Beetle sedan buyers with a complimentary App... [MacNN] 11:55:18 AM    comment []; Did you know... that more than sixty per cent of the coral reefs in the Caribbean region are under threat? Source: UNEP-WCMC World Atlas of Coral Reefs. [iceplant radio] 11:54:17 AM    comment []; The Cavalry of Mongoria (sic) 7:58:44 AM    comment []; Temple of Heaven - 100 years later I visited the temple of heaven in September 2000. It looked much the same. I guess heaven doesn't change much - Ole Eichhorn • 7/14/03; 10:45:49 PM Thanks for sending the link. It's so interesting to see photos about a hundred years apart.... 7:56:28 AM    comment []; New Yamaha scooter Competition for the Vespa, and half the price at just over $2,000....and nice looking, too! 7:50:29 AM    comment []; If you came to Santa Fe yesterday.... ...you would have smelled a whole lot of smoke. I had to close all of the windows because the smoke was so strong... 7:47:43 AM    comment [];

© Copyright 2003 Ottmar Liebert. Last update: 8/25/03; 11:57:25 AM.