Monthly Archives: September 2014

The Natural Moss on This Wooden Bookcase Is Preserved Forever in Resin | Gizmodo

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Your usual piece of wooden furniture—cut, sanded, painted— bears little resemblance to the tree it came from. So to create the Undergrowth bookcase, Italian design duo Alcarol deliberately took the opposite tack, preserving the unhewn edges of their lumber—moss and lichen and all.

The oak wood itself comes from logs found in the undergrowth of the Dolomite mountains in Italy. Once cut into planks, the woods natural mossy edges were cast in resin, a technique often used to make moss jewelry. Alcarol then stacked three planks together to create a bookcase, each shelf decorated with what looks like a tiny terrarium.

MORE PICS: The Natural Moss on This Wooden Bookcase Is Preserved Forever in Resin | Gizmodo

[Top 100] Books that have stayed with us | Facebook

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Favorite books are something friends like to share and discuss. A Facebook meme facilitates this very interaction. You may have seen one of your friends post something like “List 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Don’t take more than a few minutes, and don’t think too hard. They do not have to be the ‘right’ books or great works of literature, just ones that have affected you in some way.” If not great works of literature, what are the books that have stayed with us?

List of the Top 100: Books that have stayed with us | Facebook

Expiring Facebook Posts | Mashable + Mark Cuban Cyber Dust | readwrite + Print SMS to Scrolls | TechCrunch

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The ephemeral messaging apps space dominated by Snapchat keeps growing. Now it seems Facebook is adding to the trend again — in a whole new way. In a question and answer section on Facebook, the company now describes how to set a post you’ve published to expire, a process that allows the message to disappear. READ MORE: Facebook Experiments With Disappearing Post | Mashable.

Mark Cuban doesn’t like the trolls on Twitter. According to the startup investor, star of Shark Tank and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, he has to think twice before tweeting anything, because there are hordes of jerks on the social network who want to pick him apart. That’s why his application Cyber Dust makes everything disappear. READ MORE: Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban Wants To Erase Your Digital Footprint.  | readwrite

What kind of stories are locked up in your Messages app? Love stories? Tales of friendships made, and lost, and patched up once again? What about the story of your first funding, or acquisition? Txto.io is ready to remind you of those stories, from start to finish, with a clever little service that lets you print out your text history on a miniature scroll. “Unroll your story,” they promise. READ MORE: TxTo Unrolls Your Story By Printing Out SMS Conversations Onto Scrolls | TechCrunch

Library of Congress to Receive Hundreds of Rosa Parks Personal Items | Jezebel

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Memorabilia and personal items belonging to late civil rights activist Rosa Parks are set to go on display at the Library of Congress.

READ MORE: Library of Congress to Receive Hundreds of Rosa Parks Personal Items | Jezebel

Sure I could have chosen one of the more conventional blogs to repost this news from but I really appreciate the Jezebel POV (general interest women’s website). It’s worth your time checking out. Of all the blogs I follow, Jezebel is the one that provides the most insightful, critical, controversial…and entertaining…commentary. The authors at Jezebel provide a much needed female perspective on current issues, social and cultural events, fashion, technology, etc. Warning content is highly opinionated and at times NSFW. Grab the Jezebel RSS here.

“Monkey Selfie” is Making Everyone Bananas! |Information Space

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It’s Wildlife Photographer vs. Wikimedia in who has the rights to a photograph taken by an ape.

READ MORE: “Monkey Selfie” is Making Everyone Bananas! | Information Space

9 Fashionable Wearables for the Sartorially Savvy | Mashable

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The fashion world wants to get functional. Smart, wearable technology has always had a bit of an image problem. Google Glass, Fitbit and other popular tech companies have found it difficult to add a sartorial touch to smart gear. Jamming an ugly smartwatch onto a chic outfit has always been the curse of those who sit at the crossroad between taste and technology. But the designer world is here to help. Thanks to a number of collaborations with fashion mavens such as Diane von Furstenberg and Tory Burch, stylish wristbands, smartwatches and even Google Glass are getting gorgeous upgrades. Here are nine gadgets that are actually smart and chic.

READ MORE: 9 Fashionable Wearables for the Sartorially Savvy | Mashable

What I Learned From My Internship at Twitter | Information Space

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This past April, between the demands of a packed schedule and midterm season, I secured my dream internship: a chance to work at Twitter in their San Francisco headquarters.

READ MORE: What I Learned From My Internship at Twitter | Information Space

Kids Need To Learn Digital Literacy—Not How To Code | ReadWrite

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The new narrative in education, echoed from Silicon Valley to Washington, D.C., is: “Everyone should learn to code.” But something’s getting lost in translation between technologists and parents of students around the country. Let’s get this out of the way: Not everyone needs to learn how to code. Coding is just one part of the constantly evolving technological landscape. There’s a big difference between learning how to code and having a fundamental understanding of how technology and software operate. Of the two, the latter is way more important for most people. What students—and, really, anyone who wants to function in careers in the future—should learn is how to be digitally literate.

READ MORE: Kids Need To Learn Digital Literacy—Not How To Code | ReadWrite

How Adult Literacy Is Transforming a Village | Craig and Marc Kielburger | HuffPo

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Imagine being cut off from the world around you — unable to read a contract or count your pay, to read the newspaper or write an email. Imagine a community where the majority of citizens are unable to find decent work to support their families.

Literacy is the foundation of sustainable development. Individuals are empowered to participate in their community’s economic, social and political life. The community benefits from the ideas and contributions of all its members. A literate society can more ably tackle its challenges — from poverty and health, to crime and exclusion, to natural disasters.

Read the full story: How Adult Literacy Is Transforming a Village | Craig and Marc Kielburger | HuffPo

5 Habits of Truly Amazing Communicators | The Muse

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When it comes to job coaching, almost every conversation I have with a client involves the topic of communication. The motives can vary widely: Some people want to be more assertive, others need help with conflict management, and still others find it hard to speak their minds in a group setting.

As I reflect on all the conversations I have, I realize that most of the time, we’re not talking about complex ideas. It’s really the basics about workplace communication that seem to trip most people up.

So, since we could all use a good reminder, here are the top five things I help my clients with when it comes to communication. Identify the ones that you need to work on, and start moving them into your conversation skill set today.

READ MORE: 5 Habits of Truly Amazing Communicators | The Muse