Scollins86's Blog

Jacek Utko is an extraordinary Polish newspaper designer whose redesigns for papers in Eastern Europe not only win awards, but increase circulation by up to 100%. Can good design save the newspaper? It just might.

Jacek Utko revolutionized the way we look at Newspapers in an act to save them. Newspapers are a dying breed. Unfortunately they can not keep up with the newer more advanced ways of delivering news. I am glad that Utho is not naive enough to believe design alone can save the Newspaper but he has proved it has a huge effect. Explained in this video are results of tests, surveys and research Utko carried out. not just in design but overall characteristics people find newspapers lack by comparison.

For example, people want to read the news with their breakfast because after this they have heard the news on the radio on the way to work, or perhaps read the news on the internet. It should be tabloid or A4 size and be free and contain local news/activities.

Utko has increased the sales of Newspapers he has worked on by 100%

“A Robots Revolution is upon us” – PW Singer

I saw this on Ted.com and only wanted to watch it for my own benefit. After listening to it I decided I should blog about it. Its is so incredibly interesting a frightening at the same time. To see the advancement and use of robotics in warfare. When America first went into Iraq they had a handful of robots to assist them in different ways and means. That multiplied to having 5300 drones in the air as well as 12,000 ground systems when the military initially went in with none of these.

The Robots used today in war are quite advanced in their capabilities and are said to be the future of War. According to PW Singer in 25 years these Robots will be

“A billion times more powerful in their computing than today…because of the ability to pack in more and more computing power.”

This is said to be even bigger than the invention of the Atomic Bomb. Every revolution so far was about a system who shot faster or more powerful but now because of these advanced Robots;

“Mankinds 5000 year old monopoly on the fighting of war is breaking down.”

Its having rippling effects on society. The US are ahead in Robotics right now but will not always be that way. The person who invents it is not always the person or nation who utilises it the best. America could have created something that in time could lead to its’ own destruction. Apparently studying the cross between robotics and terrorism will be fascinating. To me it just all sounds like a Sci-Fi film but this is becoming more and more realistic everyday.

The other factor that comes in to consideration when using these Robots is the present generations obsession with Youtube. These robots record their movements and killings. These are then posted on Youtube. Surely this has to have negative social effects? According to PW Singer it “reshapes” the publics view on War. Building connections like never before between home place and place of war. I suppose by placing clips like that on Youtube it can have one of two effects. The positive effect being that the more people who view these terrible acts of War will wake up and realise that there could be a different way to deal with conflict. On the negative, but more realistic side, maybe it makes people will mistake it for entertainment. When seen or a medium like youtube it may be miscontrude as tv instead of real footage. Studied have proved that younger generations have lost the ability to be shocked. Perhaps this is true. People might become almost immune to footage on the news or youtube and almost ignore or not be horrified by the goings on in Countries at War.

Technology and Media are not always positive. Hopefully there will not be as negative an outcome as is predicted for these technologies.

Just came across a really interesting article that i previously knew nothing about. Maybe it is because I am not really interested in books or else its a fact that is not widely known; that google are scanning every book to create an online archive of digital books. A digital library. Obviously with the creation of Reader Digital Book from Sony books are becoming digitised but google will stop at nothing until every book is available in digital form.

However, there is a hitch in Google’s plan to digitise the world’s books and make them searchable online: scanning them is taking too long.

That’s because character recognition software needs a neat 2D image of the text. But book bindings cause pages to arch up either side of the spine – bending text and making it hard to interpret.

However, last week Google was granted a patent (US 7508978) on an answer to this problem. Its trick is to project an infrared pattern onto the open page spread. This lets a pair of infrared cameras map the three-dimensional shape of the pages by detecting distortion to the pattern. This in turn allows the distortion of the text to be determined – and therefore the degree of correction needed to read it accurately.

“More and more technology is going into active safety that prevents accidents”, he says, “rather than traditional passive measures like airbag and seatbelt designs that help after an accident.”

Accidents caused by car doors being opened into the path of oncoming vehicles or cyclists are common in cities. But these incidents could become a thing of the past, if doors that react to potential impacts catch on. This is a creation from Michael Graf at BMW and Michael Strolz’s team at the Technical University of Munich, the “haptic” – technology that gives tactile feedback – doors could cut both road injuries and repair bills, they say.

The current prototype looks like a normal car door, but an extra metal bar runs through its centre and connects to the car’s frame between the hinges. In normal mode, the bar moves freely and doesn’t affect the door’s movement. However, if sensors detect a nearby obstacle at the same time as an accelerometer detects an attempt to open the door, the door’s swing is restricted by a linear motor attached to the bar. To pass on more information to the user, the amount of door resistance is in proportion to the proximity of an object – for example, you might swing a door halfway open without problems before it gets stiffer as it nears a lamp post. 

This prototype also uses ultrasonic sensors to spot dangers, but because they have a limited field of view, the next version will use cameras that can span 180°, says Strolz.

“Then we will be able to sense the complete workspace of the door and detect people walking by the car or cycling towards it,” he says. The technology is mature enough that a car factory could be pumping it out in cars within a year, says Strolz.

The basic mechanism is like one already featured in some cars – for example, taxis with automatic passenger doors.

Last year for Christmas my dad got a USB cup which keeps your coffee/tea warmer for longer, but this invention is taking it to the next level. A USB Powered Lunchbox made by Tanko.

The USB pouch easily connects to your desktop PC and warms anything up to a temperature of 60 degrees Celcius. It comes with an integrated heater to keep its contents warm. Sandwiches and other snacks will heat well, as will a full blown meal. Just make sure the plastic container that you store your food in is of a certain grade and quality, similar to the quality expected but a microwave.

I think this is an excellent idea. Plug it into your laptop or computer in enough time for lunch. I can see myself buying one in the near future.

The Hot LunchBox Pouch is safe to use and only costs 20 Dolars.

“Red Point Measure might very well be one of the best concepts ever invented. It is almost 100% automatic and uses lasers and a computerized chip which is bound not to fail.”

 

 

It is designed by Huang Qiaokun. The Red Point Measure is a digital measure that applies current laser ray measure techniques to mathematics formula of triangles by simply measuring a target from afar. By using the laser beam measurement technology and a simple mathematical formula triangle principle.

 

 

Its also really easy to use. Once turned on two visible red laser beams will come out from its “arms”, leaving a small red marker point on the surfaces. All you have to do is open or close the measurement device so the red markers are where your measure tape should have been. Press a button and the Red Point Measure will tell you the exact distance between the two markers.

 

 

 

As I have decided to do stop motion as part of my Avant Garde assignment i was looking up didfferent techniques and styles. I came across this animator called “PES” (Adam Pesapane) who create advertisements using stop motion animation.

I have included a few examples;

 Check out this advertisement for Scrabble. It’s definitely worth a look.

“Pes has created short films which have won awards such as Best First Film award at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. In addition to becoming an internet phenomenon, “Roof Sex” was featured at over 100 film festivals worldwide and won numerous awards.It is thought to be one of the most widely-viewed stop-motion films of all time.”

“Imagine having a notepad with the ability to transfer what you’ve written on paper directly into your Windows operating system?”

	Take Notes Place any ordinary paper or notepad on the digital pad. Write on the paper with the digital inking pen. The digital pad digitally records anything you write in its built-in storage device or an optional CF card in real time. One page you write is stored as one digital page.
	Connect to the PC Connect the digital pad to your PC by USB port.
	Organize Your Notes With its DigiMemo Manager software, you can easily view, edit and organize your digital pages in Windows. Save any digital pages you arbitrarily select as a book file (e-Book).