You can do an online questionaire to find out if your calendar age matches your 'RealAge' which is calculated from your medical history, the amount you exercise and lifestyle factors etc. It's a free test. There are other tips on the site to help you lower your 'RealAge' and to live longer.
W: http://www.realage.com
art, design, web culture, ideas, inspiration, community, lifestyle, environment
Monday, March 28, 2005
Sun Microsystems: Blog Heaven
Article on Technologyreview.com about more companies encouraging their employees to blog as a way to swap ideas with programmers, and get suggestions and feedback from customers etc.
"According to Phipps and Schwartz (from Sun Microsystems), not only do Sun’s blogs show customers that the company is paying attention to their concerns, but they have also become a major channel for communicating with programmers outside the company who write crucial third-party applications that run on Sun’s hardware and operating systems.
More than 1,000 of Sun’s 32,000 employees blog about their work (most at blogs.sun.com)..."
W: http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/04/issue/brief_sun.asp
"According to Phipps and Schwartz (from Sun Microsystems), not only do Sun’s blogs show customers that the company is paying attention to their concerns, but they have also become a major channel for communicating with programmers outside the company who write crucial third-party applications that run on Sun’s hardware and operating systems.
More than 1,000 of Sun’s 32,000 employees blog about their work (most at blogs.sun.com)..."
W: http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/05/04/issue/brief_sun.asp
Sunday, March 27, 2005
NSW KM Forum: Taking it to the People: Applying KM in Telstra - April 7
Taking it to the People: Applying KM in Telstra
WHY: Knowledge Management practitioners must convey their ideas in
simple, direct and comprehensible ways to get the support of
management and staff. Tonight's session looks at ways that KM tools
and techniques can be packaged for greater use and effectiveness -
using Telstra as an example.
WHO: Alister Webb currently works in Telstra's Consumer & Marketing
Division, developing KM techniques and helping his colleagues apply
them. Alistair has a background in IT project management and web
design and has also been a screenwriter and music journalist.
WHEN: 5.30pm for 6pm, Thursday 7th April
WHERE: Standards Australia, 286 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Call
James Digges 0414 191 009 for after hours entry to the building
HOW MUCH: Free
Details of each month's meeting are also available on the forum's wiki
site at http://www.nsw-km-forum.org.au/wiki.pl?NextMeeting
WHY: Knowledge Management practitioners must convey their ideas in
simple, direct and comprehensible ways to get the support of
management and staff. Tonight's session looks at ways that KM tools
and techniques can be packaged for greater use and effectiveness -
using Telstra as an example.
WHO: Alister Webb currently works in Telstra's Consumer & Marketing
Division, developing KM techniques and helping his colleagues apply
them. Alistair has a background in IT project management and web
design and has also been a screenwriter and music journalist.
WHEN: 5.30pm for 6pm, Thursday 7th April
WHERE: Standards Australia, 286 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Call
James Digges 0414 191 009 for after hours entry to the building
HOW MUCH: Free
Details of each month's meeting are also available on the forum's wiki
site at http://www.nsw-km-forum.org.au/wiki.pl?NextMeeting
Your body as a conduit for data
Article in the SMH titled: 'Undery my skin' about NTT, a Japanese communications company who have developed a technology called RedTacton, "which it claims can send data over the skin's surface at speeds of up to 2mbps – equivalent to a fast broadband data connection.
Using RedTacton-enabled devices, music from an MP3 player in your pocket would pass through your clothing and shoot over your body to headphones in your ears. Instead of fiddling with a cable to connect your digital camera to your computer, you could transfer pictures by touching the PC while the camera is around your neck. And since data can pass from one body to another, you could also exchange electronic business cards by shaking hands, trade music files by dancing cheek to cheek, or swap phone numbers just by kissing..."
W: http://www.smh.com.au/news/Icon/Under-my-skin/2005/03/25/1111692610620.html
Using RedTacton-enabled devices, music from an MP3 player in your pocket would pass through your clothing and shoot over your body to headphones in your ears. Instead of fiddling with a cable to connect your digital camera to your computer, you could transfer pictures by touching the PC while the camera is around your neck. And since data can pass from one body to another, you could also exchange electronic business cards by shaking hands, trade music files by dancing cheek to cheek, or swap phone numbers just by kissing..."
W: http://www.smh.com.au/news/Icon/Under-my-skin/2005/03/25/1111692610620.html
Firm develops PDF tracking tool
SMH article about a company called Remote Approach http://www.remoteapproach.com/ who have developed a way of tagging and tracking PDF documents so that file activity is reported.
"This allows our clients to see whether their documents are being read - not just downloaded - and if they are being forwarded and distributed through channels like email and peer to peer," the release said.
W: http://www.smh.com.au/news/Breaking/Firm-develops-PDF-tracking-tool/2005/03/25/1111692617609.html
"This allows our clients to see whether their documents are being read - not just downloaded - and if they are being forwarded and distributed through channels like email and peer to peer," the release said.
W: http://www.smh.com.au/news/Breaking/Firm-develops-PDF-tracking-tool/2005/03/25/1111692617609.html
Bargains galore as house prices plunge
"A report by Home Price Guide exclusively for The Sun-Herald reveals the price of hundreds of properties across Sydney on sale since before September have dropped by as much as 40 per cent...
"Expectations of further increases in interest rates are undermining demand," said CPM Research chief executive John Wakefield..."
W: http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Bargains-galore-as-house-prices-plunge/2005/03/26/1111692684868.html
"Expectations of further increases in interest rates are undermining demand," said CPM Research chief executive John Wakefield..."
W: http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Bargains-galore-as-house-prices-plunge/2005/03/26/1111692684868.html
Saturday, March 26, 2005
John Pawson is named Architect of the Year by Blueprint magazine
Article in the Guardian titled: 'Minimalist outsider wins architect award'
"John Pawson, the British architect whose minimalist designs include a Trappist monastery and Calvin Klein's flagship store, has been named architect of the year by Blueprint magazine.
Pawson was considered an outsider on a short list that included OMA, the company led by the legendary Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, and EMBT, which designed the new Scottish parliament building in Edinburgh..."
W: http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1445668,00.html
"John Pawson, the British architect whose minimalist designs include a Trappist monastery and Calvin Klein's flagship store, has been named architect of the year by Blueprint magazine.
Pawson was considered an outsider on a short list that included OMA, the company led by the legendary Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, and EMBT, which designed the new Scottish parliament building in Edinburgh..."
W: http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1445668,00.html
Bottled water found to be money down the drain
Article in 'The Australian' online reports that Australians now spend $525 million a year on bottled water.
"But is it any better for your health than what comes out of the tap for free? Not according to a chemical analysis commissioned by The Weekend Australian and undertaken by experts from the University of Technology, Sydney.
The analysis showed that the best-selling bottled water, Mount Franklin, was no cleaner than the cheapest brand. And none of the three bottled waters tested were any better for you than tap water from three capital cities - Melbourne, which reputedly has the nation's cleanest supplies, Sydney, and Adelaide, widely regarded as having the murkiest. Yet "premium" bottled water such as Mount Franklin sells in supermarkets for about $1.60 a litre - 209,333 per cent more than tap water, which in Melbourne costs 0.075 of a cent per litre..."
Article at: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12657970%5E23289,00.html
"But is it any better for your health than what comes out of the tap for free? Not according to a chemical analysis commissioned by The Weekend Australian and undertaken by experts from the University of Technology, Sydney.
The analysis showed that the best-selling bottled water, Mount Franklin, was no cleaner than the cheapest brand. And none of the three bottled waters tested were any better for you than tap water from three capital cities - Melbourne, which reputedly has the nation's cleanest supplies, Sydney, and Adelaide, widely regarded as having the murkiest. Yet "premium" bottled water such as Mount Franklin sells in supermarkets for about $1.60 a litre - 209,333 per cent more than tap water, which in Melbourne costs 0.075 of a cent per litre..."
Article at: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12657970%5E23289,00.html
Friday, March 25, 2005
Digital-video capture experimenting
Opened the DVD maker out of the box today. Had a play and tried to capture some footage from a video tape, dvd and a hi-8 tape. It worked! Still playing with the audio though as it seems to come through a bit crackly sounding from the video tape. Played with some settings and tried some different software and then it seemed a bit better. Tried to capture it to a new external hard-drive. But the hard-drive died after 20 minutes of operation. Will have to see about getting it looked at or replaced.
Tidied up a bit. Didn't venture too far out today. Figured not much would be open as it's Good Friday today. Got some fish and chips takeaway tonight for dinner. Good stodge food!
Tidied up a bit. Didn't venture too far out today. Figured not much would be open as it's Good Friday today. Got some fish and chips takeaway tonight for dinner. Good stodge food!
Freebie press pick-ups
Picked up quite a few freebie mags from Birdland (record store) and other places in the last week.
Came across 'Last' featuring Vanessa Mae on the cover. Tagline says it covers: sport, sex, style, substance.
W: http://www.last.net.au
Also managed to get a copy of the first issue of 'Mean' at the Semi-Permanent conference when the speakers handed some out after their talk. It's a publication coming out of Auckland, New Zealand. You can view the artwork at their website:
W: http://www.meanmeanmean.com
Some other publications in record stores etc at the moment are:
Lucky no. 16, Stu Rock issue, Halt magazine no. 9, Out4Fame no. 31, Artlook no.9 march issue (Canberra art magazine), and Cyclic Defrost.
Came across 'Last' featuring Vanessa Mae on the cover. Tagline says it covers: sport, sex, style, substance.
W: http://www.last.net.au
Also managed to get a copy of the first issue of 'Mean' at the Semi-Permanent conference when the speakers handed some out after their talk. It's a publication coming out of Auckland, New Zealand. You can view the artwork at their website:
W: http://www.meanmeanmean.com
Some other publications in record stores etc at the moment are:
Lucky no. 16, Stu Rock issue, Halt magazine no. 9, Out4Fame no. 31, Artlook no.9 march issue (Canberra art magazine), and Cyclic Defrost.
Eye 4 fashion - Hamish Ta-me - 12 May
The fashion world isn't all gloss and glamour. Just ask Hamish Ta-me, one of Sydney's busiest fashion photographers, whose candid and behind the scenes pictures put the champagne sipping industry in a whole new light. Hamish presents an entertaining slideshow of catwalk capers and carryings on.
When: Thursday 12 May, 6.30 pm (drinks in the Galleries from 6 pm)
Where: Metcalfe Auditorium, State Library of NSW
Cost: $13.50
Info and Bookings: http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/whatson/events.cfm
When: Thursday 12 May, 6.30 pm (drinks in the Galleries from 6 pm)
Where: Metcalfe Auditorium, State Library of NSW
Cost: $13.50
Info and Bookings: http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/whatson/events.cfm
Eye 4 Rock Stars - Tony Mott, photographer - 7 & 14 April
Tony Mott, Australia's only rock and roll photographer, has captured the likes of the Rolling Stones, U2, Madonna and Nick Cave. A regular fixture at live acts and music festivals, Tony has achieved his own legendary status within the Australian music industry. He presents more than 100 fascinating pictures and shares amusing anecdotes from behind the lens.
When: Thursday 7 April and 14 April, 6.30 pm - 8 pm
Where: Metcalfe Auditorium, Macquarie Street Wing, State Library of NSW
Cost: $13.50
Inifo and bookings: http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/whatson/events.cfm
When: Thursday 7 April and 14 April, 6.30 pm - 8 pm
Where: Metcalfe Auditorium, Macquarie Street Wing, State Library of NSW
Cost: $13.50
Inifo and bookings: http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/whatson/events.cfm
Greek Festival of Sydney
It's on 20 March - 27 April 2005. For more details, check out:
W: http://www.greekfestivalofsydney.com.au
W: http://www.greekfestivalofsydney.com.au
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Emerging Art, Contempo event, AGNSW. 7 April 2005
EXHIBITION VIEWING
Emerging Art Contempo
Thursday, Thursday 7th April 6.30-8.30pm
Esa Jaske Gallery, 27-39 Abercrombie St, Chippendale
"Esa Jaske Gallery, a newly established contemporary art gallery, has invited Contempo to an evening of lively discussion and thought provoking art, offering you a chance to delve into Sydney's young emerging art scene. Covering Installation, photography and mixed media, you’ll get an insiders view of what's on offer in the broader spectrum of Sydney's contemporary artists.
The exhibitions on show are Aaron Seeto: solo exhibition, and a group exhibition by Alice McAuliffe, Lydia Rodrigues, Jessica Olivieri and Christopher Hanrahan. Wine and finger food will be served.
$25 Members and guests
Book online or call 02 92251878.
Emerging Art Contempo
Thursday, Thursday 7th April 6.30-8.30pm
Esa Jaske Gallery, 27-39 Abercrombie St, Chippendale
"Esa Jaske Gallery, a newly established contemporary art gallery, has invited Contempo to an evening of lively discussion and thought provoking art, offering you a chance to delve into Sydney's young emerging art scene. Covering Installation, photography and mixed media, you’ll get an insiders view of what's on offer in the broader spectrum of Sydney's contemporary artists.
The exhibitions on show are Aaron Seeto: solo exhibition, and a group exhibition by Alice McAuliffe, Lydia Rodrigues, Jessica Olivieri and Christopher Hanrahan. Wine and finger food will be served.
$25 Members and guests
Book online or call 02 92251878.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Hugh Ballantyne talk, Contempo event, AGNSW, 20 April 2005
Film Night with Hugh Ballantyne, Wednesday, 20 April, AGNSW
"At this special film evening, Hugh Ballantyne will show a selection of his documentary work such as ALL THE WAY, UNDERGROUND OVERGROUND, and his latest film LITTLE BEDROOMS BIG BEATS.
ALL THE WAY chronicles the drama in the making of the Australian feature film The Night We Called it a Day, starring Dennis Hopper, Melanie Griffith, Joel Edgerton and Rose Byrne.
UNDERGROUND OVERGROUND unearths Australia’s underground music, fashion and art and culture, which include interview and live performance from: Pnau, Sneaky Sound System, Basement Jaxx and Adam Freeland.
LITTLE BEDROOMS BIG BEATS discovers Australia’s emerging and established hip hop, breaks and drum and bass artists. Interview and live performance include: Plump DJ’s, Kid Kenobi, Rodney P, Friendly, Koolism and Downsyde.
Hugh will talk about his experiences in: devising concepts, collaborating, writing and directing observational documentaries and pitching to networks/independent production companies.
After the talk please join Hugh for drinks in the foyer."
Event and bookings detail: http://www.contempo.org.au/events.asp?id=272
Power-pathic managers
Article in the SMH titled: 'Power-hungry managers bad for business'. Dr Glyn Brokensha of the Banks Management Group describes these people as "power-pathic".
"One in 10 Australian managers are deceitful, cold-hearted manipulators bent on attaining power for its own sake, new research shows...
Dr Brokensha said power-paths thrive in businesses with autocratic management cultures. In such environments power-paths, who are typically articulate, charming and confident, can quickly curry favour with their peers and superiors, while causing misery for the staff who report to them.
"You'll get senior management say, 'So-and-so is really good, he has cleared out all the dead wood, all the non-performers', and then find three years later that the dead wood has not been cleared out, he has cleared out anybody who knew what he was, anyone who opposed him," he said.
"He is actually a glib non-performer himself..."
W: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2005/03/21/1111253955069.html
"One in 10 Australian managers are deceitful, cold-hearted manipulators bent on attaining power for its own sake, new research shows...
Dr Brokensha said power-paths thrive in businesses with autocratic management cultures. In such environments power-paths, who are typically articulate, charming and confident, can quickly curry favour with their peers and superiors, while causing misery for the staff who report to them.
"You'll get senior management say, 'So-and-so is really good, he has cleared out all the dead wood, all the non-performers', and then find three years later that the dead wood has not been cleared out, he has cleared out anybody who knew what he was, anyone who opposed him," he said.
"He is actually a glib non-performer himself..."
W: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2005/03/21/1111253955069.html
Trendwatching and Springwise
Trendwatching.com is a free newsletter that reports on "hot, emerging consumer trends and related business ideas." They have a global network of 4000+ trendspotters. You can subscribe to their electronic newsletter for free.
An archive of the posts can be found at: http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/archives.html
W: http://www.trendwatching.com/
Springwise.com is another newsletter from the same group.
"Be in the know! It's a big world, and promising new business initiatives are popping up in each and every corner. Springwise scans the globe for you -- looking for brilliant new business-to-consumer ideas, concepts, innovations and ventures that we think YOU should know about.
Ideas that work. We focus on ideas that have proven themselves in local or regional markets, and are ready for expansion, partnership, franchising or copying. We present these bright new ideas in free, monthly newsletters, which are sent to over 50,000 business professionals in more than 120 countries."
Archived newsletters at: http://www.springwise.com/newbusinessideas/archives.html
You can also become a trend/ideas spotter for them and get points if your idea is published, which leads to gifts.
W: http://www.springwise.com/
An archive of the posts can be found at: http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/archives.html
W: http://www.trendwatching.com/
Springwise.com is another newsletter from the same group.
"Be in the know! It's a big world, and promising new business initiatives are popping up in each and every corner. Springwise scans the globe for you -- looking for brilliant new business-to-consumer ideas, concepts, innovations and ventures that we think YOU should know about.
Ideas that work. We focus on ideas that have proven themselves in local or regional markets, and are ready for expansion, partnership, franchising or copying. We present these bright new ideas in free, monthly newsletters, which are sent to over 50,000 business professionals in more than 120 countries."
Archived newsletters at: http://www.springwise.com/newbusinessideas/archives.html
You can also become a trend/ideas spotter for them and get points if your idea is published, which leads to gifts.
W: http://www.springwise.com/
Semi-Permanent 2005
TL+R: Ashley Wood's images, BL: The Wilderness, BR: Weta Digital
Went to the Semi-Permanent Digital Design conference last Fri 18 and Sat 19 of March.
Program was:
Friday 18 March
10:45am • Introduction
11:00am • Revolver Film http://www.revolverfilm.com/
12:00pm • Resn http://www.resn.co.nz/
1:00pm • Lunch Break
2:00pm • Ed Templeton http://www.toymachine.com/
3:00pm • Vice Magazine http://www.viceland.com/
4:00pm • Break
4:30pm • Qube Konstrukt http://www.qubekonstrukt.com/
5:30pm • DixonBaxi http://www.dixonbaxi.com/
6:30pm • End of Day One
Saturday 19 March
11:00am • TWiN http://www.atwinthing.com/
12:00pm • The Wilderness http://www.thewilderness.co.nz/
1:00pm • Lunch Break
2:00pm • Psyop http://www.psyop.tv/
3:00pm • Marok - Lodown http://www.marok.info/
4:00pm • Break
4:30pm • PlanBSE http://www.ashleywoodartist.com/, http://www.hellomuller.com/, http://www.planbse.com/
5:30pm • Weta Digital http://www.wetadigital.com/
6:30pm • Closing Comments
6.45pm • End of Conference
Ed Templeton is a 32yr old self-taught designer. He left high school two weeks before school ended as he was asked to go on a pro-skating tour. He mentioned that some people have come up to him and said they are busy with study and so therefore don't have the time to take photos and do things like Ed does. He asks them if they have a camera and if so, they can just start taking photos and get better at it. Ed said he continually learns and gets better and better at his craft and then opportunities present themselves to him. He documents his own life and uses a film camera rather than a digital camera. He likes to show suburban life as it is. His artwork for a skate magazine is pretty cool. He sees what he can get away with. He also co-owns a skateboard company and sells toys and things through his company. Interesting speaker.
Plan B Science and Entertainment consists of Ashley Wood (Perth, Aus)- comic artist and Tom Muller (UK) - web designer. They've collaborated for over 4 years online but only met in person for the first time the day before the conference. Tom saw Ashley's work and wanted to design a better website for him as he thought Ashley's website wasn't showcasing his wrok well enough. So Ashley let him do it but Tom had to do it for free. Since then, Tom's worked on many new versions of the website, putting up new images, designing comic book covers and more for Ashley. Ashley believes in doing his own thing, and doesn't want to get any clients and doesn't like being told what to do. He says Tom has helped his online profile as a comic book artist a lot. It was an interesting talk, and interesting how they were able to collaborate online. Interesting how they got together to work on personal projects rather than for commerical ones.
The TWiN brothers spoke for the second time at a Semi-Permanent conference. They're now getting more into the directing side of things.
The Wilderness are based in Auckland. They put a kind of zine together called 'Mean' http://www.meanmeanmean.com to showcase their friends' work as they like their friends' work and wanted to showcase their work without them being too worried about it being a big deal. Some of their friends worked in other fields like hairdressing, writing etc but had made some interesting artwork and so this was The Wilderness's way to get their friends involved and showing their work in a non-threatening way. So they produced a zine using cheap newspaper type print paper to convey its disposability factor. Poeple can also view all the artwork contained in the zine online.
Weta Digital's presentation was very professional and interesting. They incorporated some of the actor's facial expressions and movements into the character of Gollum. They had a human stand-in to interact and talk to the actors as Gollum so that the actors would have a real actor (creature) to talk to.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Returner
Saw the Returner on dvd on Sunday night. It's a sci-fi movie that is a bit Matrix with the long black coats, action and special effects, and a bit ET with the alien wanting to go home. It's another movie with Takeshi Kaneshiro in it. Worth seeing if you see it in your video shop.
W: http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/returner/index.html
W: http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/returner/index.html
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Shynola
Went and saw Shynola last Wednesday night at the Valhalla. It was organised by Popcorn Taxi. It was a packed house! It was great. They alternated between showing their music and other clips, and interviewing the guys. They accepted a lot of questions from the audience too. One of the interesting things that came up was that they are creative and focus on the ideas first, and then they figure out how to produce the piece. So they didn't see themselves as being highly technical and yet they're creating some really interesting pieces of digital video work.
W: http://www.shynola.com/
W: http://www.shynola.com/
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