nil desperandum

Rides

Cool rides in HK.

Volvo is sexy

My favourite car brand of the moment is easily Volvo. I didn't realise just how cool it was until one drove past me the other day. Volvo is very now if you think about it. It's functional, it's design/engineering focused, it's got swedish roots and it's safe. The only bit that might rock the boat is that it may not immediately be considered as a green car (some might say who cares, that's its positioning!) but I care. That thought got me doing a bit of research and found this lovely car C30. Check out its minisite, it totally exceded all expectations. It's aesthetically very pleasing...particularly it's bottom.

On average it does 40mpg. It's as good as any other urban motor. In fact, I think it's rather sexy?

Web 2.0 paranoia continues...

Hello friends.

I thought about your comments a bit more. Here are some of my thinking: backup for disparate content in multiple destinations is still not good enough. ride the bandwagon is great for backing up itunes but useless for my 30boxes calendar. Ultimately, under this model, you'll end up having to pay, manage and worry about multiple data backups. I want to take this idea of backing up a bit further.

Web2.0 is predominantly about encouraging ordinary people to participate in content generation - blogs, twitter, flickr etc etc. may be Web3.0 is/should be about encouraging people to develop tools for themselves as well. So if I have a flickr account all I need to do is store the source data (however they are compressed) some where on the interweb (as Faris suggested) may be with Gdrive. then ,if flickr buggers up, I will have the tools to rebuild my own flickr-esque platform. Simple tools, no coding. Web3.0 is/should be about getting people to participate in tool creation, not just content creation. Here's a TED talk that I think is relevant to this debate.

Development of the web is just like development of anything else right? Why don't we let the people generate tools that they want, as well as content that they want. The Web 2.0 development language (Ajax) is still too complicated. Marx and Engles are probably right yet again...in order for there to be a more equitable society we, the digital proletariats, need to take ownership of the means of production. Fundamentally this is about tools designed by the peeps, for the peeps. This should, at least in theory, reduce production cycles, making stuff more tailored, effective and fun. That's all. Comments on a postcard.

OpenSky 2.0

If anyone's in Japan they should check out the OpenSky 2.0 exhibition at the NTT Intercommunications Centre. It's well cool. Stuff from Miyazaki's Nausicaa is finally coming true!

Check these out:

The Return of the Han

The Han is back with his cool touch screens but this time with more demo on its applications. Enjoy

Top Chap

Today, I had tea with an extremely nice bloke called Simon Waldman. Simon is the Director of Digital Publishing of the Guardian Media Group. Simon has quite a plush office but he's not one who's afraid of getting muck in with the ol' Web 2.0. He showed me stuff like Devon Technologies which is a cool bit of kit to grab stuff of the tinternet and available for search, Google-style at a later stage.

Anyway, the chat I had wasn't so much about the Guardy - it was more about the web, how Simon sees the media landscape changing and his favourite businesses and restaurants.

I'll be in Paris this weekend. I'll try to get a connection and upload the interview. Here's a pic of this very lovely chap - and a loving husband and father I might add. Thank you Simon.

Life's too short, Learn

This article from LifeisCarbon really caught my eye. The spaces above is of a school in Denmark designed by Bosch & Fjord. It's cool because it understands the modal changes we make we when we learn about different kinds of stuff. So they have  spaces for teaching and creative thinking. There are wicked high windows to watch the world go by, concentration booths etc etc. It's hot.

It kind of reminds me of the space at Naked London (photos to follow) and some other ad agencies (W+K London, Chiat Day LA may be?).

Anyway - that led me to thinking, actually we should be learning all the time, school, home, work - wherever. Learning is good. I believe in learning. Therefore, whatever architect/desingers make, learning should be embedded. It should be fun and comfy.

I suppose people like Starbucks have done it inadvertently. Aren't those big red armchairs just like bean bags when you were a kid? Is this why starbucks is so successful? Because it's created a adult playground?

Convergence

Covergence's been the buzz word in the tech sector for years. Imagine if you're ipod can also make calls and such? Wouldn't that be cool? Convergence in tech is cool because ultimately it means we'll have to carry fewer devices.

Convergence in food is bad. I ordered an Italian chicken sandwich and it tastes exactly like a chicken tikka. What's the sandwich chef playing at?
Actually on a more serious point though, cuisines are increasingly tasting the same. And I think I know why that is the case. Firstly, I think there's a false belief that things need to be localised. "Ah...our food is not suitable for western palette, we must adapt our recipes". And when everyone does this. All cuisines end up tasting the same. Go to your local Chinese takeaway and they would serve Thai dishes similar to the Chinese dishes that they serve in Thai takeaways. And this is true for European restaurants on your high streets. You walk in to a regular cafe/restaurants and you wouldn't know whether you're being served italian food or french food or what.

The best meals I've had have been in more "authentic" restaurants. Or in places where "fusion" is taken seriously as a standalone discipline rather than a marriage of convenience. There you go. Bit of culinary rambling from me.