“Wearable tech” is the latest hot buzz phrase, and its been surging in consumer electronics circles. But despite how simple the label sounds on the surface, its a category thats extremely tricky to pin down.
See the full story: So what the heck is wearable tech, anyway? | Wearable tech – CNET Reviews.
About one of every seven people in the world uses Facebook. Now, Mark Zuckerberg, its co-founder and chief executive, wants to make a play for the rest — including the four billion or so who lack Internet access.
On Wednesday, Facebook plans to announce an effort aimed at drastically cutting the cost of delivering basic Internet services on mobile phones, particularly in developing countries, where Facebook and other tech companies need to find new users. Half a dozen of the world’s tech giants, including Samsung, Nokia, Qualcomm and Ericsson, have agreed to work with the company as partners on the initiative, which they call Internet.org.
The companies intend to accomplish their goal in part by simplifying phone applications so they run more efficiently and by improving the components of phones and networks so that they transmit more data while using less battery power.
There is considerably more content to this article. See the full story: Facebook Leads an Effort to Lower Barriers to Internet Access | NYTimes.com.
Furniture is probably the last thing on the mind of most open source proponents but now it doesn’t have to be. OpenDesk is a free, open source line of furniture that you can make yourself or order unassembled from a maker with a CNC machine. Not only is the furniture cheap – free if you have the wood and hardware – it’s actually cool-looking.
Created by Joni & David Steiner and Development 00, OpenDesk is the first project that is compatible with FabHub, a site that allows you to search for fabricators in your area. You could also find someone with a ShopBot to cut the pieces for you and drop them off at your domicile or office.
See the full story: OpenDesk.cc Is Like Ikea For Open Source Zealots | TechCrunch.
Staring down an expanse of vast and powerful ocean in late summer is guaranteed to make you question two things: your own sense of self-worth, and that of your e-reader. Nothing like the glare, the saltwater, the sunscreened fingers, the sand to recommend a hard-copy book. But the closest thing to literature on pages you can see is the bulk of September Vogue.
Now imagine, dear beach reader, that you’re lying underneath a soft, fabric-covered alcove on a breezy stretch of South of France coastline, the sound of Mediterranean waters lapping at the shore. Behind you is a library with up to 350 books–real-life, paperback books–at your curious disposal.
This is the precisely the dreamy vacation scenario that French industrial designer Matali Crasset fulfilled by creating a mobile library (yes, it actually exists) for the town of Istres. Located on the beach of Romaniquette, the freestanding steel literary haven is open to readers through September. “This project interested me for its relationship with real life,” Crasset tells Co.Design. “It is a dynamic object. I was able to develop a project that meets, in terms of usage scenarios, a logic and a demand that is very present, human, and alive.”
The Bibliotheque de Plage is stocked with titles ranging from classic Jane Austen to works chosen by the designer herself, those that provided inspiration through the course of the project’s execution. It was also essential to Crasset that the temporary beach library was a tribute to the importance of maintaining physical, personally curated collections of books. She collaborated with the town’s municipal library to establish “a comprehensive cultural policy of access to the books.” Her summer structure, she says, “brings books to the population to encourage the practice of not only reading, but of lending.”
Technology depends upon Innovation. Without boundary-pushing ideas, technology (and those who depend upon it) would get nowhere. Innovation also drives businesses and society. Many people assume that most innovation is derived from closed source software and developers. That assumption is, in many instances, very wrong.
There are thousands upon thousands of open source projects that bring about innovation. Some do so on a small scale, while others are thinking massive and global.
The author lists 10 projects that are leading innovation in the world of technology.
See the full story: 10 open source projects that are leading innovation | TechRepublic.
From simple alphabets to secret symbolic languages, graphic designer Saki Mafundikwa celebrates the many forms of written communication across the continent of Africa. He highlights the history and legacy that are embodied in written words and symbols, and urges African designers to draw on these graphic forms for fresh inspiration. It’s summed up in his favorite Ghanaian glyph, Sankofa, which means “return and get it” — or “learn from the past.”
via Saki Mafundikwa: Ingenuity and elegance in ancient African alphabets | Video on TED.com.
Steve Jobs was skilled at many things–technology, marketing, and managing just for starters. But while his talents could be attributed to many factors, one that surely played a role in his success was his ability to consider things from perspectives no one had. Here are seven rare videos which span his career and take us behind the scenes of his famous slogan.
via Seven Rare Steve Jobs Videos That Show How To “Think Different” ⚙ Co.Labs ⚙ code + community.
Recovering the Classics is a joint project by the Creative Action Network, DailyLit, and Harvard Bookstore that hopes to attract designers and illustrators–namely, people like you–to crowdsource public domain covers for what they’ve deemed the 50 greatest literary works in public domain history.
Technically, these covers will then enter the public domain for you to use as you see fit. But for ease of distribution, the Harvard Bookstore will print you any public domain book you’d like with any cover you’d like for $15, with profits split between the organizations and cover’s creator. eBooks will be available for $3.
Info ladies crisscross the countryside offering the chance to see a loved one, get a blood sugar check or even legal advice.
Read this amazing story of entrepreneurial spirit: ‘Info ladies’ go biking to bring remote Bangladeshi villages online | Global development | Guardian Weekly.
infophile 