100 dollar laptop success in Peru March 29, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in Uncategorized.add a comment
400,000 machines are heading for Peru.
http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/22041/?nlid=969
Dorkbot March 17, 2008
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Some of the coolest projects, and the ones which best encompass the Dorkbot spirit, are from this guy:
…Open again!!! March 12, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in blogger needs more features.add a comment
Image courtesy of mag3737
Uh, I decided that this blog didn’t look so rubbish after all, and also – though it pains me to say it – the installation of WordPress didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned. So Blogger has been given a reprieve. And even though I think Blogger is good, the lack of new features and templates is surely killing it off.
Sorry…we’re closed March 11, 2008
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Image courtesy of tonx
This site has been thrown into disarray when I unwittingly changed the template. All the tweaks have been untweaked, and now it looks terrible. So I will use this ‘opportunity’ to move over to WordPress:
Sorry…we’re closed March 11, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in Uncategorized.add a comment
Image courtesy of tonx
This site has been thrown into disarray when I unwittingly changed the template. All the tweaks have been untweaked, and now it looks terrible. So I will use this ‘opportunity’ to move over to WordPress:
Sorry…we’re closed March 11, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in Uncategorized.add a comment
Image courtesy of tonx
This site has been thrown into disarray when I unwittingly changed the template. All the tweaks have been untweaked, and now it looks terrible. So I will use this ‘opportunity’ to move over to WordPress:
Wookieepedia March 10, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in Star Wars, Wookie, Wookiepedia.add a comment
Image courtesy of mharrsch
“It’s not wise to upset a Wookiee.“
Han Solo
Well sadly that’s about all most of us know about Wookiees, besides from the obvious hairiness, and propensity to roar loud. And up until recently the only way to find out more was to consult your own fevered imagination. But rest assured Wookiee fans, because help is at hand. Wookieepedia is the definitive Star Wars resource, modelled on the likes of Wikipedia, where anyone can submit or change articles. And in there is every weird and wonderful Wookiee fact imaginable, so we can better understand our carpeted friends.
Hundred dollar laptop ROCKS!!! March 9, 2008
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Image courtesy of Irregular Shed
I went to the Design Museum today, and there was hundred dollar laptop on display! It was an exciting time, because though we’ve heard all about it in Britain, the chances of ever seeing one was very slim because the ‘give one, get one’ scheme doesn’t operate outside of the US and Canada.
For those who aren’t familiar with the project, the hundred dollar laptop was designed for third world countries in order to narrow the digital divide. The internet is arguably the greatest educational resource in the world, and providing affordable access to it is undoubtedly a highly desirable thing to do.
The laptop has been designed from the ground up to fulfil its purpose, and you can tell as soon as you see, never mind touch it. It looks very robust, with all outer edges being clad in green bumpers, and the whole thing looks pretty water proof, especially the keyboard. The keys are really squidgy, which I like, and the typing position is very comfortable. The OS is Linux, and as you can imagine its been designed to fit the part, featuring cool little retro games (the buttons either side of the screen are for this purpose), and easy to use software, like a word processor. The screen rotates, and lies flat, like a notebook. The mechanism seems robust enough. When the screen is folded away the laptop is very compact. A green handle on either side of the screen conceals a USB port and head phone jack amongst other things.
The processor was designed especially by AMD for low power consumption, which prolongs battery life, and means that it doesn’t need a fan. The laptop also features solid state memory, which makes the system more resilient to knocks than if it featured a hard drive.
All of which, in my eyes, makes this a great bit of design. Every feature has been well thought out, and every event accounted for, except the intervention of Intel and Microsoft….
They have marketed a competing machine, which is for profit (something which the $100 laptop certainly isn’t). Admittedly, the cost is still low, and the version of Windows is heavily stripped down, but this intervention could derail the $100 laptop project. The Wintel machines have been heavily marketed to those in the position to make the orders (often corrupt governors). And seeming as Intel and Windows are huge multinationals , they can set the prices low, because they already have the infrastructure and buying power to deliver these ultra-budget machines. The $100 dollar laptop on the other hand is a charity just starting out. And every contract which is given to the Wintel machines as opposed to the $100 laptop, seriously effects their ability to deliver on the magical $100 price point, which depends on manufacturing the machine in vast quantities.
So should Windows and Intel be involved in this apparently nefarious game? I’m not sure. Before the $100 laptop project, companies wouldn’t even dream of producing a laptop for this market. So whilst it seems hopeful that more people will get access to these technologies, it may just be in a package which lacks the sympathetic design of the $100 laptop. And having seen the $100 dollar laptop in all its glory, this is a great shame.
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Official site:
http://laptopfoundation.org/
Listen to the episode of This Week in Tech which discusses the intervention of Wintel:
http://twit.tv/124
Wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_dollar_laptop
Announcement of ‘give one, get one’ laptop scheme which was subsequently scrapped:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297858,00.html
Piecing together the… March 3, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in animation, creative economy, graphic.add a comment
You here the phrase ‘Knowledge Economy’ bandied around a lot nowadays, but what exactly does it mean? The government has published a report, answering just that question.
It mainly concerns the creative sector, and seeming as we make very little nowadays, we are increasingly dependent on intangible assets which result from the labours of artists, designers, film makers and the like. In fact, the creative sector has grown twice as much as the rest of the economy in recent years, so it is firmly on the government policy radar.
But where exactly is this growth happening? Well, undoubtedly the lions share is in London. No surprises there. But the reasons merit further discussion. London is a truly cosmopolitan place, and the creative industry thrives off the multiculturalism. In fact, the creative base is so strong, that it acts like a giant magnet. And even within London there are red hot areas for the creative sector: Soho for post production and visual effects, and Kings Cross for pretty much anything.
All this seems to suggest that young creatives should likewise set up shop in the big smog, but there are alternatives. Manchester has a strong creative industry, which will only be bolstered by the development of the MediaCity:UK in the Salford docks, which promises a centralised area for creative start ups to rub shoulders with the big players, such as the BBC.
Likewise, Edinburgh and Glasgow are strong in this sector, partially owing to the proximity of high quality art and design colleges.
And hopefully Liverpool will be stimulated by its year as Capital of Culture to forge ahead with the creative headway that its undoubtedly made in the past.
All of which points to a fairly positive future. It was one of my personal gripes that the late 20th Century city redevelopments centred on superficial improvements, which purported to be design and arts led, but did little for the wider creative economy. Hopefully, this new legislation will change that, with design and the arts being acknowledged as central to both our personal and economic well being.
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If you are interested in this, either from an arts or business perspective, then the following may be of interest.
New Talents for the New Economy
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And just to stress the point, here are some creative companies and individuals which are truly top notch, and as such deserve recognition.
Young animation company:
http://www.breakthrufilms.co.uk/
TV production company:
http://www.propellertv.co.uk/Default.aspx
Building infrastructure for the creative economy:
http://www.sohonet.co.uk/
Ethical product design:
http://www.diykyoto.com/
Post production:
http://www.dneg.com/
Visual effects:
http://www.the-mill.com/
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