designswarm thoughts

So i created a new expression/category/tag for my virtual life… i call it iBitch. So from now on end, anything i find that rants, critiques or talks about Apple products, i will put under that category… no matter if positive or negative, because in the world of blogging, noone’s really right or wrong, its about whether anyone hears you to begin with : )

• Seth’s Blog: Adults are the new kids
  I think he meant “men” ;)
  (tags: marketing blog trends)
• Brash Dot Com: Five Thousand Dollars per Megabyte
  I think ill rename a category of my blog “iBitch” because we’re accumulating quite an interesting number of critical articles on the iPhone now… this one about the price of sms
  (tags: iphone)
• Amsterdam Weekly - Inside: Music, Film, Arts, Theatre, Clubs - Home
  Weekly free cultural newspaper of Amsterdam, full of neat things like concert dates, and film hours and nice editorial pieces.
  (tags: Amsterdam magazine free)

• le cool
  not really that interesting, but im trying to collect sites about what’s happening in Amsterdam
  (tags: amsterdam trend street events)
• On the mend | Electrical. | Guardian Unlimited Shopping
  Brilliant article by the Guardian on the business of the service society vs the consumer society. Or when objects are cheaper to buy by the dozen than repair.
  (tags: disposable service society Guardian)
• Clemens Kogler - Online Portfolio
  Brilliant video explaining the meaning of life in 3d powerpoint charts.
  (tags: visualization animation meaningoflife)

Snailmail experience of 2006:

Sent package with RoyalMail in London to Bogotà, in Colombia in October 2006 … never made it to it’s destination.

Now in 2007 I get book sent through Amazon.com to the Netherlands, (not Swaziland!) and i get this:

Bastards!

• zengestrom.com: Video of Stockholm MSN talk
  Very interesting and intriguing talk at MSN talk in Stockolm. I think especially the question session opens up the most possibilities about the future of the social web
  (tags: jaiku MSN Stockholm innovation mobile Web2.0 services)
• hitherto.net » Blog Archive » The World’s Best Nut Roast
  Apprently a great nut roast, keeping this for later.
  (tags: recipes food vegetarian)
• Beyond the Beyond
  Web3.0…. oh boy, here we go…
  (tags: wired bruce sterling web3.0 nuweb)
• The Ebeling Group Online Reel | More Information Contact 310.577.9963
  Best ad campaign in a long time: for Halo, video conferencing by HP
  (tags: Halo HP advertising)
• “Internet va bouleverser l’agenda de la campagne”
  I love how the french catch up with everyone else 20 years later. They now have just realised the power of the internet in the political arena for the next elections…sigh
  (tags: politics France web2.0)
• Cord Woodruff | Customer-Centered Experience Design: Creating Loyalty in an Experience Economy | Definition 6 | Other | Project Management | Sales and Marketing
  Very interesting article and should be something i get the students in Antwerp to read before i teach that workshop.
  (tags: service design experience economy)

One thing that I think has been grossly overlooked about the iphone is that on top of imposing lots of the usual Apple kingdom restrictions like DRM and a specific provider, it only offered a 2 mega pixel camera. Anything sound weird in that?

All of the top notch handset providers have been recently competing on how high res their cameras are. I’m assuming because they correctly assumed that their users were more often taking great pictures, sending them to each other on the go, at concerts, etc.

We have come to embrace amateur photography and are offered great tools that we can operate easily and get great quality pictures from. So why this lame camera on the phone thats supposed to redefine the way the cell phone industry functions? Does this indeed show a user-centered design? Is it a coincidence that Steve, in his keynote talks over and over again about “those great digital cameras”… hellooooooo noone is interested in carrying one around anymore! This is why that particular convergence has been so successful in terms of usage.

Don’t get me wrong, i like the iphone, i think it looks cool, and never having owned an ipod and having one of the oldest phones around i can say this is an appealing product… but i think the question still poses itself, would i rather be able to take great pictures on the go or listen to Alanis Morissette ?

Interesting article written by my friend Camille who’s studying interaction design at Umea on the different platforms for designers to do physical computing and quickly prototype behaviors.

PDF(2.4 MB) here.

• Method
  Really interesting video of a talk at Frog Design Mind on the design of an eco-friendly soap brand and their design challenges
  (tags: Method cleaning products video frogdesign)
• iPhone & LG KE850: separated at birth? - Engadget
  Let the iphone bashing begin
  (tags: iPhone UI design LG)
• Expatica
  worst possible website for expats living in Holland…yuck
  (tags: expats Netherlands tourism)

• Web 2.0 how-to design style guide
  Very interesting styling guide to everything “2.0″
  (tags: web2.0 css design graphic)
• Brooklyn Museum: Ron Mueck
  A must-see for people in NY and then in Ottowa. Very jealous not to be able to go.
  (tags: Ron Mueck brooklyn museum sculpture art)

• iPhone Countdown to June
  Nice countdown to the iphone and with nice pdf for the truly desperate like myself… might do something artsy with it too : )
  (tags: Apple iphone countdown)

• iPhone: Not touchy feely - (37signals)
  Great conversation around the lack of physical interface on the iPhone.
  (tags: iphone 37signals design UI)

That global warming is a hoax. Today in Amsterdam:

Last month in Amsterdam:

• N O R D I C design | communication
  Boring flash-based comms agency, yawn. A bit depressed at how little “a-ha” moments I get when i see qork by montreal firms…
  (tags: flash Montreal agency advertising)
• Babycakes NYC : Order : USA
  Damn good looking bakery in Ny… no sugar, no fat, no nothing bad for you…
  (tags: NY bakery)

• BODIES…The Exhibition
  Went to see this today… very good and sparked my long forgotten childhood interest in anatomy.
  (tags: anatomy exhibition bodies Amsterdam)
• iPod History, Discovery Channel - Google Video
  Interesting movie about the return of Apple.
  (tags: ipod apple documentary video)
• The WELL: Bruce Sterling: State of the World 2007
  Bruce Sterling’s yearly review
  (tags: BruceSterling 2007 future)
• HTel :: International shops
  nice collection of international food shops in Amsterdam
  (tags: food stores Amsterdam)

So I thought that for my first actual post of the year I’d be a little audacious and inspired by this meme reveal 5 things about me. I’m not promising they’ll be interesting though : )

1. I NEVER have cereal WITH milk in the bowl. I’ll always have a glass of milk on the side, have a spoonful of cereal and then gulp down some milk after. Always done it, don’t ask me why, can’t remember.

2. I always make my bed because of John Le Carré’s book “The perfect spy”. There’s a bit in it about making your bed as a way to order your life or something.

3. I wore the Hijab when I was 14, when my family and I were living in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for 6 months. That was not a fun time for a teenage girl let me tell you.

4. I would kill for dark chocolate. Milky chocolate is so inferior.

5. I used to be a lifeguard. Worked on a lakeside beach for 2 summers, red bathingsuit and all.

How’s that for blog confessions? : )