Penguin Classics has recently released a new line of jacket-less hardcovers featuring handsome covers. The designer, Coralie Bickford-Smith, is known for her brilliant and simplistic fusion of plot themes with visually stimulating layouts, including a three set collection of the Arabian Nights and a Gothic Horror Series. This particular series is unfortunately only being sold in the UK, exclusively through Waterstone’s. According to Bickford-Smith, the pattern design was organized with collaboration from researchers familiar with ...

A recent survey conducted by Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project offers some interesting statistics to keep our techno-lust in check. While every day seems to see the launch of some new gadget, application, or other efficiency-boosting device, Pew reveals that our experience with the latest technology is often far from efficient. Specifically: Nearly half (48%) of American adults who use the internet or have a cell phone say they usually need someone ...

Japanese car manufacturer Nissan has a unique vision for the future of electric automobiles. Carlos Tavares, Nissan’s VP for product planning and development is betting that people will buy cars, but lease batteries. The thinking behind this is that battery technology and storage capacity will inevitable get better over time, and owners will need to upgrade batteries accordingly. Makes sense - much better to get a new battery than a whole new car. Nissan’s recently ...

UPS and HP have been working on a combination scanner/printer that prints sorting labels directly on to packages. This innovation may seem small, but it promises big results. The existing system uses a large thermal printer, PC, monitor and scanner. Combining and scaling down all these functions into a tiny hand held device ends up saving huge amounts of time and resources. UPS estimates they will save approximately 92,456 hours year through increased productivity, 1,338 ...

Adevaru e ca nici eu nu le-am vazut pe amandoua in acelasi loc in acelasi timp... hmmm... mi se pare cel putin dubios!

Elektroschock writes "Marco Cappato, a Liberal member of the European Parliament, wanted to inspect the EU's contracts with Microsoft. His request was denied. '...the [divulging] of [this] information could jeopardize the protection of commercial interest of Microsoft.' Apparently the European Council sees no clear public interest in the release of such contractual material, and so 'the Secretariat general concludes that the protection of Microsoft's commercial interests, being one of the commercial partners of the European ...

At Future Trends 08, Spike TV presented research that they released earlier this year. The research has obviously been created to help sell advertising but for anyone out there who is making products, services or communications for men in America, it might provide some useful data points. Luckily, you readers don’t have to make it to Miami. Simply download the PDF here and a summary is on this page here. Spike © Piers Fawkes for ...

Περί τα 6 εκατ. ευρώ πόνταραν οι παίκτες του "Πάμε Στοίχημα" στο ντέρμπυ του Παναθηναϊκού με τον Ολυμπιακό, στην πρεμιέρα της Πειραϊκής ομάδας στο κουπόνι του στοιχήματος, αν και είναι δύσκολο να υπολογιστεί το ακριβές νούμερο, καθώς το παιχνίδι των "αιωνίων" δεν ήταν σε μονό κουπόνι.Εν τω μεταξύ, εντός του Νοεμβρίου, ο ΟΠΑΠ θα αυξήσει τη στήλη στα 0,50 ευρώ από 0,30 ευρώ σε Λόττο, Τζοκέρ και Πρότο.Επίσης, μέχρι τέλος του 2008 ο οργανισμός θα ...

The Future Time Machine Builder reminds us that it could always be worse. --PGOAT Getting a job in philosophy is a bit like trying to satisfy this posting:Actually, this one might be easier to satisfy than the demands of some philosophy departments.--TFTMB (The Future Time Machine Builder)

The wheels come off the telecoms gravy train in Europe does not do justice to the normally good reporting by telecomtv.com I reproduce a comment from David Harrington below on the original article(I agree with David's comment). The emphasis is mine. It is sad that telecomtv.com wrote this and as David said, the article might well have been written by Deutsche Telekom or France Telecom, or another of the unreconstructed monopolists in the EU Martyn ...

Thumbjocky points us to some insightful statistics on corporate innovation. An online survey of 261 global executives was conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which revealed the challenges they face bringing ideas to adoption. The 30 page report is full of details about barriers to innovation, and how some companies navigate them to success. Download the report from Thumbjocky here. © Dan Gould for PSFK, 2008. | Permalink | Comments | Add to del.icio.us

In this slideshow presentation, Jan Chipchase introduces the Nokia Open Studios design research method for engaging shantytown communities in the mobile design process. The slides focus on how Nokia is “providing an alternative way for people to articulate their wants and needs - within the context of their community” rather than the direct design output of the initiative. However, if you want to see some of their results, BusinessWeek is currently featuring some renderings of ...

To further their quest to “organize the creative world,” Behance has made their popular Action Pads digital with their new software (appropriately) called Action Method Online. The online program is a new approach to productivity and project management, designed for creative people and teams, developed by interviewing productive people. As Twyla Tharp underscored in her book “The Creative Habit,” brilliant ideas and sparks of genius can’t happen without discipline and organization. Action Method Online divides ...

John Geraci, creator of Outside.In, recently introduced us to his latest project, DIYcity, a site and online-offline community devoted to “finding ways people can make their cities work better with the use of emerging web technologies.” DIYcity asks users to share their ideas on how to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability in their cities through user-built web applications (i.e. apps built on Twitter, Google Maps mash-ups, etc). Anyone in the community can submit problems they ...

We’ve been talking about bedouin workers for a while now, but a recent interview on webmonkey with two mega-bedouins simply made us smile. After their lease ran up, Pittsburgh web designers Nathan Swartz and Olivia Meiring, along with their 7-year-old son Tristan, donated most of their stuff to Goodwill, bought an RV and hit the road for a year long road trip - maintaining freelance design gigs and home schooling their child along the way. ...

With the economy in a negative downturn and precious resources ( food, gas, shelter) going for record prices, people and businesses are looking for anyway to get ahead (or just stay afloat). Wired suggests one way to conserve resources that creates a winning situation for everyone - why not just get rid of offices? The overhead costs to maintain a physical office eat away at the bottom line, and many studies have concluded that telecommuters ...