Crane Merchandising Systems will unveil a new vending machine platform at the National Automatic Merchandising Association's OneShow this month in Las Vegas. The line features integrated cashless payment capability, wireless and Ethernet network access and contemporary user interface options, all "right out of the box."
The company is the vending and payment business unit of Crane Co. (Stamford, CT), with offices in Bridgeton, MO, and manufacturing facilities in Williston, SC. Crane explained that the Media concept was developed to bring the experience of shopping at vending machines in line with the expectations and desires of today's consumers.
The next-generation line of snack, cold beverage and food venders will be marketed under the "Media" brand. The series has been conceived to chart a new course in machine design that will deliver a more engaging, rewarding and reliable customer experience.
"The solution is long overdue," said Tom Edwards, Crane Merchandising Systems vice-president of global food and beverage initiatives. "It answers a need by being built around the consumer, who has never been linked into the equation effectively."
The new vending platform is the culmination of three years of development inspired by NAMA research that identified lack of consumer confidence in vending as a root cause of declines in same-store sales in recent years. Consumers cited high product cost, low value, worn and dirty machines and the lack of cashless acceptance, among factors that deterred them from using vending machines.
"We built the Media platform to attack those issues and to help restore consumer confidence," Edwards said. He added that the goals of the new equipment offering align with those of NAMA's Industry Growth Strategy, which aims to revitalize vending by engaging 18- to 27-year-old "Gen Y" consumers, communicating a positive message and changing obsolete paradigms.
"Media represents revolutionary change in technology, functionality, look and feel. These combined attributes are changing consumer perception and driving growth," Edwards explained. "There is opportunity to forge stronger relationships with current users, and to make a stronger appeal to nonusers."
Crane's Media machines are designed to turn heads and draw consumers with sleek, modern styling highlighted by a high-impact LED lighting scheme, which conveys high technology.
In the vanguard of the new line are the Merchant Media snack vender and BevMax Media drink machine. Both have larger cabinet footprints than their predecessors, permitting increased product variety to spur incremental sales. The added capacity also allows for more inventory on site, reducing out-of-stocks and service visits.
The new snack machines can support up to 50% more spirals than standard five-wide models, and the beverage venders can accommodate 10 additional selections, amounting to 80 more bottles (three-plus cases) of additional inventory. Both variations offer powerful product presentation through a wide glass front.
A new delivery door on the Merchant Media is one of several key consumer-focused improvements. When the user pushes the door downward, the bottom of the bin elevates to present the purchased product in full view, eliminating the need to fish around in a dark bin to retrieve a purchase.
The new BevMax Media uses the theatrical appeal of an XY-positioning robotic arm to conveniently deliver cold drinks, upright and in full view, through a newly designed delivery port.
The delivery mechanisms, along with the two machines' user interfaces and payment systems, comply with the new ADA requirements.
2012年4月22日星期日
No shortcuts in counseling
It’s STAR testing time, and Valencia High School counselor Kathy Stroh seizes the opportunity to meet with larger groups of students than she can during regular class schedules.
The weeklong period of standardized testing slows the hustle and bustle of packed counseling centers throughout the William S. Hart Union High School District as regular academic programming goes on pause.
“The real challenge for counselors has become finding time to make face-to-face contact with students,” Stroh said of state budget cuts’ impact on her field.
Addressing basic requirements en masse is one way the district has tried to be more efficient with counselors’ time as their workload increases.
“Instead of meeting with every class, we’re giving group presentations,” Stroh said. “You spend all the rest of the time trying to meet the student.”
California’s budget crisis has led to some $20 billion in cuts to state public education over the past five years.
One effect has been shrinking college opportunities for students as state universities cut enrollments.
“Kids are needing to do more and more, and with the way our economy is, it’s so much harder to get into college,” said Stroh, a former Saugus High School teacher who has more than 20 years of experience at the Santa Clarita Valley’s only high school district.
“In the past, if you had a 3.6 (grade point average), I could guarantee there would be a spot somewhere for you. If you have a 3.7 now, there might not be a place that can take you.”
Counselors receive automated reports alerting them to poor classroom performances by the students assigned to them.
While the reports put counselors on notice of behavior that could lead to a failing grade, there is no mechanism for alerting them if students’ slipping performances could knock them out of the running for college admission.
Counselors’ one-on-one time with students, which has become increasingly sparse, is crucial for students as they set out on their individual academic paths, said Principal Sal Frias of Golden Valley High School.
“If a student wants to pursue a path of college, career tech, military or other, the courses our students are required to take vary,” Frias explained. “We need to make sure our plan is in place for the student’s goals to be realized.”
But counselors are facing more and more challenges.
“We have a higher counselor-to-student ratio now,” Frias said. “This means that each counselor has a caseload of more students. We also have less workdays. In short, we have less time to see and work with more students.”
The Hart district has 58 counselors to help approximately 23,000 students — a ratio of approximately 400-to-1, according to district spokeswoman Gail Pinsker.
A union contract stipulates that a school is allotted a counselor for every 450 students, and the school is required to hire an additional counselor if the remainder of that number of students comes out to at least 226, explained Bob Vincent, principal of West Ranch High School.
Since the public school funding crisis began, districts statewide have been forced to divert counseling funds elsewhere to save jobs.
Most recently, the Hart district eliminated a career adviser position, and the number of students each counselor serves has steadily risen.
“You want to keep things sensible,” Stroh said. “It’s really just a numbers game, but we have gone up in the last few years,” she said. “Where (Valencia) used to have 375 (students per counselor), now we’re at 450, which is our contractual limit,” noting the ratio can differ from school to school.
Counselor Karla Arriaran-Rodriguez has seen her job change radically in the past few years.
She was a full-time counselor at Hart High School last year, but then she received a pink-slip notification, meaning her position might be eliminated.
“It said, ‘returning — location to be determined,’” she said.
It wasn’t unfamiliar territory to the 16-year education veteran with a doctorate in the field from University of California, Santa Barbara.
She came to the Hart district after she was laid off from the Moorpark Unified School District due to budget cuts in 2009.
This year, Arriaran-Rodriguez works at four different schools within the Hart district: Sequoia Charter School; Hart at Home for home-schooling students assisted by the charter; and Golden Valley and Hart high schools.
In addition to counseling students at all four schools, Arriaran-Rodriguez also runs various career-advisement events, student-peer support groups, the bilingual Padres Unidos program and various other academic events hosted by all four schools.
It can create a real time crunch during periods when there tend to be more students in the counseling center, such as December registration and right around report-card time.
Counseling cuts have changed the landscape at every school and brought a new focus and urgency to the job, Stroh said.
“You have to work as a team,” Stroh said. “And it’s not that it didn’t used to be that way, but now it’s more of a concerted effort.”
The weeklong period of standardized testing slows the hustle and bustle of packed counseling centers throughout the William S. Hart Union High School District as regular academic programming goes on pause.
“The real challenge for counselors has become finding time to make face-to-face contact with students,” Stroh said of state budget cuts’ impact on her field.
Addressing basic requirements en masse is one way the district has tried to be more efficient with counselors’ time as their workload increases.
“Instead of meeting with every class, we’re giving group presentations,” Stroh said. “You spend all the rest of the time trying to meet the student.”
California’s budget crisis has led to some $20 billion in cuts to state public education over the past five years.
One effect has been shrinking college opportunities for students as state universities cut enrollments.
“Kids are needing to do more and more, and with the way our economy is, it’s so much harder to get into college,” said Stroh, a former Saugus High School teacher who has more than 20 years of experience at the Santa Clarita Valley’s only high school district.
“In the past, if you had a 3.6 (grade point average), I could guarantee there would be a spot somewhere for you. If you have a 3.7 now, there might not be a place that can take you.”
Counselors receive automated reports alerting them to poor classroom performances by the students assigned to them.
While the reports put counselors on notice of behavior that could lead to a failing grade, there is no mechanism for alerting them if students’ slipping performances could knock them out of the running for college admission.
Counselors’ one-on-one time with students, which has become increasingly sparse, is crucial for students as they set out on their individual academic paths, said Principal Sal Frias of Golden Valley High School.
“If a student wants to pursue a path of college, career tech, military or other, the courses our students are required to take vary,” Frias explained. “We need to make sure our plan is in place for the student’s goals to be realized.”
But counselors are facing more and more challenges.
“We have a higher counselor-to-student ratio now,” Frias said. “This means that each counselor has a caseload of more students. We also have less workdays. In short, we have less time to see and work with more students.”
The Hart district has 58 counselors to help approximately 23,000 students — a ratio of approximately 400-to-1, according to district spokeswoman Gail Pinsker.
A union contract stipulates that a school is allotted a counselor for every 450 students, and the school is required to hire an additional counselor if the remainder of that number of students comes out to at least 226, explained Bob Vincent, principal of West Ranch High School.
Since the public school funding crisis began, districts statewide have been forced to divert counseling funds elsewhere to save jobs.
Most recently, the Hart district eliminated a career adviser position, and the number of students each counselor serves has steadily risen.
“You want to keep things sensible,” Stroh said. “It’s really just a numbers game, but we have gone up in the last few years,” she said. “Where (Valencia) used to have 375 (students per counselor), now we’re at 450, which is our contractual limit,” noting the ratio can differ from school to school.
Counselor Karla Arriaran-Rodriguez has seen her job change radically in the past few years.
She was a full-time counselor at Hart High School last year, but then she received a pink-slip notification, meaning her position might be eliminated.
“It said, ‘returning — location to be determined,’” she said.
It wasn’t unfamiliar territory to the 16-year education veteran with a doctorate in the field from University of California, Santa Barbara.
She came to the Hart district after she was laid off from the Moorpark Unified School District due to budget cuts in 2009.
This year, Arriaran-Rodriguez works at four different schools within the Hart district: Sequoia Charter School; Hart at Home for home-schooling students assisted by the charter; and Golden Valley and Hart high schools.
In addition to counseling students at all four schools, Arriaran-Rodriguez also runs various career-advisement events, student-peer support groups, the bilingual Padres Unidos program and various other academic events hosted by all four schools.
It can create a real time crunch during periods when there tend to be more students in the counseling center, such as December registration and right around report-card time.
Counseling cuts have changed the landscape at every school and brought a new focus and urgency to the job, Stroh said.
“You have to work as a team,” Stroh said. “And it’s not that it didn’t used to be that way, but now it’s more of a concerted effort.”
2012年4月10日星期二
Geographic information systems demonstrate links
The neighborhoods in which children and adolescents live and spend their time play a role in whether or not they eat a healthy diet, get enough exercise or become obese, concludes a collection of studies in a special theme issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Each of the six studies uses the latest concepts and methods in geographic information systems (GIS)-based research to determine how the geographic location affects physical health. A study titled “Spatial Classification of Youth Physical Activity Patterns” shows, for example, that while rural youth get the largest proportion of their physical activity while at school, urban and suburban youth are most active when commuting. Not only does this finding suggest that the walk to school might be just as important to some children’s health as is the physical education they receive as part of the school curriculum, it is also important given that adolescent health behaviors are predictive of behaviors in adults.
Another study by researchers in the United Kingdom concludes that adolescents in rural areas ate fast food more often when fast-food outlets were easily accessible, whereas the opposite was true for adolescents living in urban areas. The researchers, led by Lorna J. Fraser of the University of Leeds, conclude that although the need continues to exist for nutritional education regarding fast food, placing restrictions on the location of fast-food outlets may not decrease consumption of fast food in the same ways in all areas.
Brian E. Saelens and Lawrence D. Frank, along with their colleagues, authored two papers for the theme issue. “Obesogenic Neighborhood Environments, Child and Parent Obesity: The Neighborhood Impact on Kids Study” evaluated child and parent weight status across neighborhoods in Seattle and San Diego and ultimately found evidence that GIS-based definitions of obesogenic neighborhoods that consider both physical activity and the availability of healthy food options were strongly related to childhood obesity.
In a second study, the researchers used GIS-based measures to determine the ‘walkability’ and proximity to healthy food of certain neighborhoods in the San Diego and Seattle regions. The study recommends that such measures be used to study physical activity, nutrition and obesity outcomes.
In a paper titled “Obesogenic Environments in Youth: Concepts and Methods from a Longitudinal National Sample,” Janne Boone-Heinonen and colleagues describe the challenges inherent to longitudinal neighborhood environment research, as well as the insights they gained and the advances and remaining gaps in study design. The researchers note that understanding which neighborhood environment features influence weight gain in various age groups is essential to effectively prevent and reduce childhood obesity.
Two commentaries included in the theme issue examine the ways that computer-based GIS systems—which transform geospatial data into visual representations of the real world—can help prevent childhood obesity. “Thinking About Place, Spatial Behavior, and Spatial Process in Childhood Obesity” by Stephen A. Matthews, outlines the content of the theme, concluding that although GIS is not a panacea, it “offers an important means of better understanding and dealing with some of the most pressing problems of our time, and provides valuable tools for researchers and policymakers alike.”
Each of the six studies uses the latest concepts and methods in geographic information systems (GIS)-based research to determine how the geographic location affects physical health. A study titled “Spatial Classification of Youth Physical Activity Patterns” shows, for example, that while rural youth get the largest proportion of their physical activity while at school, urban and suburban youth are most active when commuting. Not only does this finding suggest that the walk to school might be just as important to some children’s health as is the physical education they receive as part of the school curriculum, it is also important given that adolescent health behaviors are predictive of behaviors in adults.
Another study by researchers in the United Kingdom concludes that adolescents in rural areas ate fast food more often when fast-food outlets were easily accessible, whereas the opposite was true for adolescents living in urban areas. The researchers, led by Lorna J. Fraser of the University of Leeds, conclude that although the need continues to exist for nutritional education regarding fast food, placing restrictions on the location of fast-food outlets may not decrease consumption of fast food in the same ways in all areas.
Brian E. Saelens and Lawrence D. Frank, along with their colleagues, authored two papers for the theme issue. “Obesogenic Neighborhood Environments, Child and Parent Obesity: The Neighborhood Impact on Kids Study” evaluated child and parent weight status across neighborhoods in Seattle and San Diego and ultimately found evidence that GIS-based definitions of obesogenic neighborhoods that consider both physical activity and the availability of healthy food options were strongly related to childhood obesity.
In a second study, the researchers used GIS-based measures to determine the ‘walkability’ and proximity to healthy food of certain neighborhoods in the San Diego and Seattle regions. The study recommends that such measures be used to study physical activity, nutrition and obesity outcomes.
In a paper titled “Obesogenic Environments in Youth: Concepts and Methods from a Longitudinal National Sample,” Janne Boone-Heinonen and colleagues describe the challenges inherent to longitudinal neighborhood environment research, as well as the insights they gained and the advances and remaining gaps in study design. The researchers note that understanding which neighborhood environment features influence weight gain in various age groups is essential to effectively prevent and reduce childhood obesity.
Two commentaries included in the theme issue examine the ways that computer-based GIS systems—which transform geospatial data into visual representations of the real world—can help prevent childhood obesity. “Thinking About Place, Spatial Behavior, and Spatial Process in Childhood Obesity” by Stephen A. Matthews, outlines the content of the theme, concluding that although GIS is not a panacea, it “offers an important means of better understanding and dealing with some of the most pressing problems of our time, and provides valuable tools for researchers and policymakers alike.”
2012年2月23日星期四
‘The Secret World of Arrietty’ brings whimsical story to dazzling life
"The Secret World of Arrietty" looks to shrink us down, both in size and in age, to a smaller, simpler world where little people inhabit the walls and an empty meadow holds all the promise and potential of imagination. It is nothing short of captivating and magical, and although both words are well overused when describing a Studio Ghibli movie, there is simply no other way to say it.
This world comes to the screen by way of English children's writer Mary Norton and her successful series, "The Borrowers." In this universe, mazes are constructed through walls, dollhouses and floorboards to allow miniature versions of people, called "borrowers," in and out of the "beings" world — the realm of normalsized humans. Borrowers live by a credo to take what they need and nothing more, with the one condition that a being can never notice what's been taken. Here, a single tealeaf will last for a week, a sugar cube a month and a tissue possibly forever. Water drops in slow beads like syrup, and when it rains, the borrowers are able to brush off each drop individually. At the same time, cats and other animals appear mountainous, and a brush with a creature as small as a rat can be fatal.
In this dangerous yet fascinating world, Pod (Will Arnett) has started to teach his daughter Arrietty (Bridgit Mendler) how to navigate through the walls as well as the various climbing techniques required of any successful borrower. While hunting for a tissue, however, they are seen by a twelveyearold boy, Shawn (David Henrie), who is resting in the country before undergoing surgery on his failing heart. Arrietty and Shawn eventually become friends, but in keeping with the borrower code, Arrietty's parents decide they must move because they've been discovered. The old caretaker, Hara (Carol Burnett), long suspicious of the borrowers' existence, has other plans and tries to trap the borrowers to prove once and for all that she is not crazy.
Part of what makes the environment of "The Secret World of Arrietty" so compelling is the lack of any immediate antagonist or villain to push the plot along, allowing the magnificent visuals to shine through. Sure, the occasional crow or cat saunters along to chase the borrowers around the house, but these actions are more a compulsion than ill will. Similarly, Hara seeks them out not to destroy or hurt them, but rather because she cannot help herself.
Instead, the real conflict is found in the juxtaposition of Arrietty's magic wonderland with the truth of Shawn's cruel circumstances — that life is just not fair to some people. When the beings' recognition of the borrowers' world forces Arrietty's family to move, she must confront the unfortunate reality that it was a result of her own carelessness. Likewise, Shawn and those around him remain silently fixated on the fact that he will not survive in the coming weeks. His talk of death and the pointlessness of existence is sharp, especially coming from someone his age.
It is only when Shawn is willing to believe in the mystical around him that he can confidently look toward his future with all the imagination and wonder he deprived himself of as a child. Meanwhile, Hara's singlemindedness in tracking down the borrowers will never end until she is willing to quit hunting and just believe.
The real heart of the movie is found in Hayao Miyazaki's tradition and Hiromasa Yonebayashi's flourishing, modest direction. While Peter Hewitt and John Goodman's "The Borrowers" (1997) may have been impressive in the technical details, "The Secret World of Arrietty" manages to retain the mystique without sacrificing the tone for slapstick. There are no moments where Arrietty's femininity superficially stands in the way of her capability, nor does the movie trade quick jokes for a hollow laugh. Instead, this is an animated movie in the classic style of greatness: full of heart, sincerity and confidence in its message.
This world comes to the screen by way of English children's writer Mary Norton and her successful series, "The Borrowers." In this universe, mazes are constructed through walls, dollhouses and floorboards to allow miniature versions of people, called "borrowers," in and out of the "beings" world — the realm of normalsized humans. Borrowers live by a credo to take what they need and nothing more, with the one condition that a being can never notice what's been taken. Here, a single tealeaf will last for a week, a sugar cube a month and a tissue possibly forever. Water drops in slow beads like syrup, and when it rains, the borrowers are able to brush off each drop individually. At the same time, cats and other animals appear mountainous, and a brush with a creature as small as a rat can be fatal.
In this dangerous yet fascinating world, Pod (Will Arnett) has started to teach his daughter Arrietty (Bridgit Mendler) how to navigate through the walls as well as the various climbing techniques required of any successful borrower. While hunting for a tissue, however, they are seen by a twelveyearold boy, Shawn (David Henrie), who is resting in the country before undergoing surgery on his failing heart. Arrietty and Shawn eventually become friends, but in keeping with the borrower code, Arrietty's parents decide they must move because they've been discovered. The old caretaker, Hara (Carol Burnett), long suspicious of the borrowers' existence, has other plans and tries to trap the borrowers to prove once and for all that she is not crazy.
Part of what makes the environment of "The Secret World of Arrietty" so compelling is the lack of any immediate antagonist or villain to push the plot along, allowing the magnificent visuals to shine through. Sure, the occasional crow or cat saunters along to chase the borrowers around the house, but these actions are more a compulsion than ill will. Similarly, Hara seeks them out not to destroy or hurt them, but rather because she cannot help herself.
Instead, the real conflict is found in the juxtaposition of Arrietty's magic wonderland with the truth of Shawn's cruel circumstances — that life is just not fair to some people. When the beings' recognition of the borrowers' world forces Arrietty's family to move, she must confront the unfortunate reality that it was a result of her own carelessness. Likewise, Shawn and those around him remain silently fixated on the fact that he will not survive in the coming weeks. His talk of death and the pointlessness of existence is sharp, especially coming from someone his age.
It is only when Shawn is willing to believe in the mystical around him that he can confidently look toward his future with all the imagination and wonder he deprived himself of as a child. Meanwhile, Hara's singlemindedness in tracking down the borrowers will never end until she is willing to quit hunting and just believe.
The real heart of the movie is found in Hayao Miyazaki's tradition and Hiromasa Yonebayashi's flourishing, modest direction. While Peter Hewitt and John Goodman's "The Borrowers" (1997) may have been impressive in the technical details, "The Secret World of Arrietty" manages to retain the mystique without sacrificing the tone for slapstick. There are no moments where Arrietty's femininity superficially stands in the way of her capability, nor does the movie trade quick jokes for a hollow laugh. Instead, this is an animated movie in the classic style of greatness: full of heart, sincerity and confidence in its message.
2012年2月21日星期二
From hard edges to London glamour
BIGGER, BETTER, brighter and British. That was the national sense of pride in London yesterday as Fashion Week drew to a close after an impressive number of promising winter collections proved its status as a fashion capital is secure.
This confidence and authority showed in the event itself, which has become far more professional and well organised. A busy schedule of nearly 60 catwalk shows along with a host of ancillary launches, exhibitions and presentations lured influential international buyers and press, many from Asia and the US.
The presence of Anna Wintour, powerful editor of US Vogue, at many shows gave them an added frisson and imprimatur. Locations were as varied as the collections and provided a sightseeing tour of London, from the Royal Courts of Justice and the Old Billingsgate market to the White Cube art gallery and the modern high rise Broadgate Tower.
Walking into Somerset House every day was to face a battery of bloggers, camera teams, photographers and what’s called “bloggerazzi” detaining the fashion packs from all over the world. A noticeable trend was the curious lack of clapping, particularly after many really good presentations, explained by so many in the audience videoing the finale or frantically tweeting or instagramming.
There has never been a better time to be a young designer in the UK with huge support from government and from industry, all sorts of funds and a determined effort by the British Fashion Council to get business skills on a par with the country’s celebrated design talents.
It wants to encourage home manufacturing and bring standards up to luxury level; make locally, sell globally is the mantra. Many designers are already doing so, such as Catherine Teatum who, with partner Bob Jones, launched the Teatum Jones label last year. It is made in the UK, stocked at Liberty and exported to the US.
As for winter clothes, among the trends noticeable on the catwalk were: modern interpretations of lace, which were often veiled, embellished or rubberised; the pervasive and continuing play of print and pattern; the preponderance of peplum waists; and the fearless use of fur. Skirt suits were much in evidence, often pleated, as were skinny trousers. Colours such as inky blues, black, grey and oxblood saturated the catwalks. If there was an overall look, it was hard edged, street cool, but ladylike. There were many contrast or stand alone collar details.
Print continues to dominate, however, and yesterday Mary Katrantzou, whose Topshop collaboration has been a sellout, lived up to her reputation as the queen of prints with a collection of decorative exuberance and Victorian shapeliness that introduced Lesage embroideries on printed knits for the first time. “I use my mouse as a paint box,” she says.
But it was Sarah Burton, the creative director of Alexander McQueen, who provided the standout show of the week for the company’s second line McQ. It reprised many of the familiar McQ motifs, the sharp military style tailoring, the Scottish tartans and romantic ballerina dresses, in a fresh, appealing way without excessive styling. The unveiling of a little house in a fairytale forest of real trees at the end to highlight the opening of McQ’s new London shop was a real coup de thtre and a fitting end to a memorable week.
This confidence and authority showed in the event itself, which has become far more professional and well organised. A busy schedule of nearly 60 catwalk shows along with a host of ancillary launches, exhibitions and presentations lured influential international buyers and press, many from Asia and the US.
The presence of Anna Wintour, powerful editor of US Vogue, at many shows gave them an added frisson and imprimatur. Locations were as varied as the collections and provided a sightseeing tour of London, from the Royal Courts of Justice and the Old Billingsgate market to the White Cube art gallery and the modern high rise Broadgate Tower.
Walking into Somerset House every day was to face a battery of bloggers, camera teams, photographers and what’s called “bloggerazzi” detaining the fashion packs from all over the world. A noticeable trend was the curious lack of clapping, particularly after many really good presentations, explained by so many in the audience videoing the finale or frantically tweeting or instagramming.
There has never been a better time to be a young designer in the UK with huge support from government and from industry, all sorts of funds and a determined effort by the British Fashion Council to get business skills on a par with the country’s celebrated design talents.
It wants to encourage home manufacturing and bring standards up to luxury level; make locally, sell globally is the mantra. Many designers are already doing so, such as Catherine Teatum who, with partner Bob Jones, launched the Teatum Jones label last year. It is made in the UK, stocked at Liberty and exported to the US.
As for winter clothes, among the trends noticeable on the catwalk were: modern interpretations of lace, which were often veiled, embellished or rubberised; the pervasive and continuing play of print and pattern; the preponderance of peplum waists; and the fearless use of fur. Skirt suits were much in evidence, often pleated, as were skinny trousers. Colours such as inky blues, black, grey and oxblood saturated the catwalks. If there was an overall look, it was hard edged, street cool, but ladylike. There were many contrast or stand alone collar details.
Print continues to dominate, however, and yesterday Mary Katrantzou, whose Topshop collaboration has been a sellout, lived up to her reputation as the queen of prints with a collection of decorative exuberance and Victorian shapeliness that introduced Lesage embroideries on printed knits for the first time. “I use my mouse as a paint box,” she says.
But it was Sarah Burton, the creative director of Alexander McQueen, who provided the standout show of the week for the company’s second line McQ. It reprised many of the familiar McQ motifs, the sharp military style tailoring, the Scottish tartans and romantic ballerina dresses, in a fresh, appealing way without excessive styling. The unveiling of a little house in a fairytale forest of real trees at the end to highlight the opening of McQ’s new London shop was a real coup de thtre and a fitting end to a memorable week.
2012年2月16日星期四
‘The Secret World of Arrietty’ a dead-end tale
The new anime version of “The Borrowers,” titled “The Secret World of Arrietty” by screenwriter and “supervisor” Hayao Miyazaki, has the fascination with household “spirits,” the same lovely colour palette and attention to detail for which his films are famous.
But Miyazaki, director of “Ponyo,” “Spirited Away” and “My Neighbor Totoro,” didn’t direct this Studio Ghibli film. Perhaps that is why it lacks his sense of whimsy, that little sprinkling of Miyazki magic that the Japanese director has given his best work over the decades.
Mary Norton’s oft-filmed 60-year-old novel is about the miniature people who live in the walls and below the floorboards of old houses, creatures who “borrow” what they need from the “human beans.” Every shopping trip is an expedition — nabbing one cube of sugar, that could last them months, a cracker than can be crushed to make Borrower bread. They live by two rules. “Borrowers take only what they need,” and once they’ve been seen, it’s time to move. Those humans and their curiosity are nothing but trouble for Borrowers.
Arrietty is a 13-year-old straining at the limits of her world. She only knows her family, can only hope that there are other Borrowers, still surviving elsewhere. She sneaks outside , tempts the evil ravens who wouldn’t mind gobbling her up as a snack — and is spied by a sickly human boy. Shawn wants to help, and Arrietty wants to make contact. She sees no threat from this fellow her own age and no need to move, or even tell her parents. Naturally, they see things differently.
The gorgeous pastels of Studio Ghibli films and famous attention to detail are much in evidence in this Hiromasa Yonebayashi film. The Borrowers’ world of re-purposed human detritus — pins and empty spools and discarded bolts, double sided tape, which allows father Pod (Arnett) to scale the heights of a kitchen counter to fetch sugar — is ingeniously realized.
Carol Burnett voices an old housekeeper who longs for the day when she can catch a real Borrower and be exonerated from those childhood charges that she was “crazy,” one of the film’s many lightly humorous touches. And there are hints of the larger world of Borrowers beyond this garden cottage. Norton wrote more than one book in the series, after all.
But Miyazaki, who co-wrote the script, had nowhere to take it. Either the Borrowers leave, or they stay. They’re either discovered and survive or captured and exposed. There’s no romance, no way to open the tale up, despite the fact that they’re using that most fantastical film form, animation.
But Miyazaki, director of “Ponyo,” “Spirited Away” and “My Neighbor Totoro,” didn’t direct this Studio Ghibli film. Perhaps that is why it lacks his sense of whimsy, that little sprinkling of Miyazki magic that the Japanese director has given his best work over the decades.
Mary Norton’s oft-filmed 60-year-old novel is about the miniature people who live in the walls and below the floorboards of old houses, creatures who “borrow” what they need from the “human beans.” Every shopping trip is an expedition — nabbing one cube of sugar, that could last them months, a cracker than can be crushed to make Borrower bread. They live by two rules. “Borrowers take only what they need,” and once they’ve been seen, it’s time to move. Those humans and their curiosity are nothing but trouble for Borrowers.
Arrietty is a 13-year-old straining at the limits of her world. She only knows her family, can only hope that there are other Borrowers, still surviving elsewhere. She sneaks outside , tempts the evil ravens who wouldn’t mind gobbling her up as a snack — and is spied by a sickly human boy. Shawn wants to help, and Arrietty wants to make contact. She sees no threat from this fellow her own age and no need to move, or even tell her parents. Naturally, they see things differently.
The gorgeous pastels of Studio Ghibli films and famous attention to detail are much in evidence in this Hiromasa Yonebayashi film. The Borrowers’ world of re-purposed human detritus — pins and empty spools and discarded bolts, double sided tape, which allows father Pod (Arnett) to scale the heights of a kitchen counter to fetch sugar — is ingeniously realized.
Carol Burnett voices an old housekeeper who longs for the day when she can catch a real Borrower and be exonerated from those childhood charges that she was “crazy,” one of the film’s many lightly humorous touches. And there are hints of the larger world of Borrowers beyond this garden cottage. Norton wrote more than one book in the series, after all.
But Miyazaki, who co-wrote the script, had nowhere to take it. Either the Borrowers leave, or they stay. They’re either discovered and survive or captured and exposed. There’s no romance, no way to open the tale up, despite the fact that they’re using that most fantastical film form, animation.
2012年1月31日星期二
NBC to Dissect Super Bowl Ads in Post-Game Google+ Hangout
When Google first rolled out Hangout video chats for Google+, part of the plan involved allowing hanger-outers to watch YouTube videos together. While many questioned the usefulness of the feature, we’re now seeing what Google had in mind all along: a Super Bowl post-game Hangout where users dissect the big game’s commercials.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t part of the Google+ Master Plan at the initial unveiling, but a Hangout based around Super Bowl ads does strike us as one of the better uses of the service’s YouTube integration. Google’s partnering with NBC to run the Hangout, tapping sports business reporter Darren Rovell to host.
“The day after the Super Bowl is when people head back to their office water coolers to discuss what they loved and what they didn’t,” Rovell said in a press release. “Our conversation is about taking all those water cooler conversations and bringing it to a national, digital stage.”
As part of the deal, NBC will promote YouTube’s Ad Blitz, the page where the site asks users to vote on their favorite Super Bowl ads. In turn, YouTube will serve up NBC ads and promos for the big game all weekend. This marks the first time YouTube has had any kind of partnership with the Super Bowl broadcaster. Rovell will reveal the winning ad of the Ad Blitz on his CNBC show, SportsBiz: Game On on Feb. 17.
Google+ Hangouts are generally limited to 10 users, but some users can create “Hangouts on Air,” which expand beyond that limit by allowing others to watch the Hangout as a live stream on YouTube.
Love the idea of an official Google+ Hangout about the ads? Will you join? Let us know in the comments.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t part of the Google+ Master Plan at the initial unveiling, but a Hangout based around Super Bowl ads does strike us as one of the better uses of the service’s YouTube integration. Google’s partnering with NBC to run the Hangout, tapping sports business reporter Darren Rovell to host.
“The day after the Super Bowl is when people head back to their office water coolers to discuss what they loved and what they didn’t,” Rovell said in a press release. “Our conversation is about taking all those water cooler conversations and bringing it to a national, digital stage.”
As part of the deal, NBC will promote YouTube’s Ad Blitz, the page where the site asks users to vote on their favorite Super Bowl ads. In turn, YouTube will serve up NBC ads and promos for the big game all weekend. This marks the first time YouTube has had any kind of partnership with the Super Bowl broadcaster. Rovell will reveal the winning ad of the Ad Blitz on his CNBC show, SportsBiz: Game On on Feb. 17.
Google+ Hangouts are generally limited to 10 users, but some users can create “Hangouts on Air,” which expand beyond that limit by allowing others to watch the Hangout as a live stream on YouTube.
Love the idea of an official Google+ Hangout about the ads? Will you join? Let us know in the comments.
2012年1月18日星期三
Explaining The Orange Juice Scare
Doctor Oz opens the show and says he has been bombed with questions about orange juice and he is going to answer a lot of questions today. The common factor in this scare is that the fungicide Carbendazim was found in Orange juice processed in Brazil. Alissa Hamilton is on the show and she talks about orange juice that comes from Brazil. By the mid 1980′s Brazil surpassed Florida in juice orange production and is the largest producer of orange juice in the world. Gary Ginsberg says this fungicide can cause a range of genetic problems in humans. The FDA found up to 35 parts per billion concentrations and this warranted more testing. The chemical gets into orange juice when the oranges are squeezed. The second way is from the flavor additive that is used when we process orange juice and this comes from the peel also. Now the FDA has set a limit of 10 parts per billion and will send back any orange juice with that level. There is no real danger from any of the sources. Dr. Ginsberg says that this is the first time that the FDA has tested for this fungicide and it is their job. To avoid this fungicide altogether, use only US orange juice or 100% organic orange juice.
The second segment deals with boosting your metabolism so you will feel better and focuses on early morning. First, use 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and it is great to boosting your energy. Second, N-Acetyl Cysteine will help boost your immunity and you need 600mg twice a day. Finally, get 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up to rev up your metabolism. Oz says cereal with yogurt, 3 egg omelets, or a powdered protein shake will get you there quickly so your body starts the day in high gear.
Oz now gives us his “super diet plan” and he has borrowed the best parts of three major diets to come up with his own. First, get rid of the salt you eat. Use Italian seasoning, lemon pepper, and Chinese 5 spice instead of salt. This will help your diet and blood pressure. Second, use tub margarine, wheat germ, sesame seeds, and pistachio nuts will help lower your cholesterol. Finally, eat healthy fats like Olive and Canola oil, sardines, and nuts. Any nut is fine as long as you take them moderately.
Doctor Oz gets Lidia Bastianich on the show to give us tips on how to make great Italian Food that will keep the bad carbs away. She is making a traditional Pesto dish. Use tomatoes, basil, almonds, garlic, peperoncino, sea salt and blend in a food processor while drizzling in olive oil for a great pesto sauce. Use whole wheat pasta and parmigiano. This is a great easy recipe that gives you real Italian Flavor and is healthy. Mix the sauce with the pasta and add a few ground up herbs and cheese. This recipe is half the calories of a regular pesto dish in the US.
The final segment is gadgets that will help keep you healthy and cost under $30 dollars. The Oster Myblend Blender and is has a container that doubles as a cup to carry with you. Next, we see the Eatsmart digital food scale to measure out your food portions perfectly. Finally, the Mastred magic chip maker and it makes perfect chip slices and it has a microwave tray that makes great and healthy chips because there is no oil. All of these products will help keep you on track and won’t break your wallet.
The show ends with Oz giving us one more tip. Use ice cube trays to make smoothie cubes and you have a great healthy snack anytime. You can go to the official Dr. Oz web site to register for free prizes and get more info on all of the topics discussed today by following the link below.
The second segment deals with boosting your metabolism so you will feel better and focuses on early morning. First, use 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and it is great to boosting your energy. Second, N-Acetyl Cysteine will help boost your immunity and you need 600mg twice a day. Finally, get 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up to rev up your metabolism. Oz says cereal with yogurt, 3 egg omelets, or a powdered protein shake will get you there quickly so your body starts the day in high gear.
Oz now gives us his “super diet plan” and he has borrowed the best parts of three major diets to come up with his own. First, get rid of the salt you eat. Use Italian seasoning, lemon pepper, and Chinese 5 spice instead of salt. This will help your diet and blood pressure. Second, use tub margarine, wheat germ, sesame seeds, and pistachio nuts will help lower your cholesterol. Finally, eat healthy fats like Olive and Canola oil, sardines, and nuts. Any nut is fine as long as you take them moderately.
Doctor Oz gets Lidia Bastianich on the show to give us tips on how to make great Italian Food that will keep the bad carbs away. She is making a traditional Pesto dish. Use tomatoes, basil, almonds, garlic, peperoncino, sea salt and blend in a food processor while drizzling in olive oil for a great pesto sauce. Use whole wheat pasta and parmigiano. This is a great easy recipe that gives you real Italian Flavor and is healthy. Mix the sauce with the pasta and add a few ground up herbs and cheese. This recipe is half the calories of a regular pesto dish in the US.
The final segment is gadgets that will help keep you healthy and cost under $30 dollars. The Oster Myblend Blender and is has a container that doubles as a cup to carry with you. Next, we see the Eatsmart digital food scale to measure out your food portions perfectly. Finally, the Mastred magic chip maker and it makes perfect chip slices and it has a microwave tray that makes great and healthy chips because there is no oil. All of these products will help keep you on track and won’t break your wallet.
The show ends with Oz giving us one more tip. Use ice cube trays to make smoothie cubes and you have a great healthy snack anytime. You can go to the official Dr. Oz web site to register for free prizes and get more info on all of the topics discussed today by following the link below.
2012年1月15日星期日
'I killed Vinnie Jones - in front of my kids' says Jamelia
POP star Jamelia has revealed how she murdered Vinnie Jones – in front of her children.
The Birmingham singer is making her acting debut in a movie starring tough guys Vinnie and Celebrity Big Brother star Michael Madsen.
But it was unfortunate timing when she had to gun down Vinnie, just as her daughters arrived on the Hungarian film set of Magic Boys.
Jamelia, who is single and mum to six-year-old Tiani and Teja, 10, said: “It was quite a harrowing day.
“My kids had just flown over with my mom and wanted to see me at work. What they saw was me as a murderer.
“I had to explain to them what was happening and show them that the fake blood was just syrup, and nothing to be scared of.
“It’s quite a claim to fame, to say ‘I’ve killed Vinnie Jones!’
“He was fantastic, though, and really helped me in my first acting role. I was playing an air hostess avenging her father’s murder.
“The shoot lasted for three months in Hungary and I got to do lots of different things, including a couple of kissing scenes which I hated! It was with a Hungarian actor who couldn’t speak English, a complete stranger who I didn’t fancy.
“They say you get used to doing those intimate scenes but I never did. I’d like to try more acting, though.
“Michael Madsen was really funny but I was very surprised to see him in Celebrity Big Brother. It’s not the sort of thing I thought he’d do.”
Jamelia turned 31 last week and celebrated with a pamper day at Birmingham’s swankiest new spa, The Club and Spa at The Cube development in the city centre.
Brought up in a council house in inner city Hockley, Jamelia has never left the Midlands and now lives in the smart village of Barnt Green.
A year ago she made the Channel 4 documentary The House That Made Me, in which she had an emotional reunion with the father who walked out on her as a child.
She hadn’t seen convicted armed robber Donald Williams for seven years but wanted to tell him what a traumatic effect his absence has had on her life and that of her brothers, two of whom are in prison after gang-related shootings.
Now she plans to make another TV documentary on the subject of absent fathers.
“I want to show them the effect it has on the children and what the women they leave behind have to go through,” explains Jamelia, who has also been asked to make a documentary about mothers in prison.
“I could never leave my children so I don’t understand how men can. I think some just don’t understand the consequences of their actions. My father was genuinely surprised when I told him how much pain he’d caused me.
“I have spoken to him since we met again but not seen him. I feel like I’ve got closure and it’s a relationship I don’t need to have now.”
Jamelia’s hit Superstar was one of the most played songs of the Noughties, and she is currently recording her first album in four years.
“I hope to release a single in the next couple of months and an album in September,” she adds.
“I’m working with people who have produced Rihanna and Mary J Blige. It’s the longest album I’ve taken to make, and the longer it takes, the more I worry about whether it’s right.”
The Birmingham singer is making her acting debut in a movie starring tough guys Vinnie and Celebrity Big Brother star Michael Madsen.
But it was unfortunate timing when she had to gun down Vinnie, just as her daughters arrived on the Hungarian film set of Magic Boys.
Jamelia, who is single and mum to six-year-old Tiani and Teja, 10, said: “It was quite a harrowing day.
“My kids had just flown over with my mom and wanted to see me at work. What they saw was me as a murderer.
“I had to explain to them what was happening and show them that the fake blood was just syrup, and nothing to be scared of.
“It’s quite a claim to fame, to say ‘I’ve killed Vinnie Jones!’
“He was fantastic, though, and really helped me in my first acting role. I was playing an air hostess avenging her father’s murder.
“The shoot lasted for three months in Hungary and I got to do lots of different things, including a couple of kissing scenes which I hated! It was with a Hungarian actor who couldn’t speak English, a complete stranger who I didn’t fancy.
“They say you get used to doing those intimate scenes but I never did. I’d like to try more acting, though.
“Michael Madsen was really funny but I was very surprised to see him in Celebrity Big Brother. It’s not the sort of thing I thought he’d do.”
Jamelia turned 31 last week and celebrated with a pamper day at Birmingham’s swankiest new spa, The Club and Spa at The Cube development in the city centre.
Brought up in a council house in inner city Hockley, Jamelia has never left the Midlands and now lives in the smart village of Barnt Green.
A year ago she made the Channel 4 documentary The House That Made Me, in which she had an emotional reunion with the father who walked out on her as a child.
She hadn’t seen convicted armed robber Donald Williams for seven years but wanted to tell him what a traumatic effect his absence has had on her life and that of her brothers, two of whom are in prison after gang-related shootings.
Now she plans to make another TV documentary on the subject of absent fathers.
“I want to show them the effect it has on the children and what the women they leave behind have to go through,” explains Jamelia, who has also been asked to make a documentary about mothers in prison.
“I could never leave my children so I don’t understand how men can. I think some just don’t understand the consequences of their actions. My father was genuinely surprised when I told him how much pain he’d caused me.
“I have spoken to him since we met again but not seen him. I feel like I’ve got closure and it’s a relationship I don’t need to have now.”
Jamelia’s hit Superstar was one of the most played songs of the Noughties, and she is currently recording her first album in four years.
“I hope to release a single in the next couple of months and an album in September,” she adds.
“I’m working with people who have produced Rihanna and Mary J Blige. It’s the longest album I’ve taken to make, and the longer it takes, the more I worry about whether it’s right.”
2011年12月28日星期三
Russ Choka created what we all yearn for – a place of community
On Friday, Russ Choka was laid to his rest, a much-deserved one. The gray skies reflected the somber mood at the morning vigil outside his restaurant, later at his funeral in the cathedral and finally at his grave in the Catholic cemetery.
So what was it then? Homage to Mr. Choka or simply that old familiar craving for a coney dog that drove us downtown three nights before Christmas? I don't know, but whatever it was when we pulled into the last space in the darkened parking lot, it was evident we were not alone. The place was jam-packed!
We stumbled through the back door, down the steps, through the kitchen, past the stove with the huge pots and the counter with tubs of dirty dishes into the restaurant, where we joined half of Fort Wayne. There was no room at this inn. We latecomers huddled together at the front and rear entrances of the old-timey establishment, eyeing the crowded tables, wondering “how long,” eager for our chance at the trough.
I'm telling you, that blazing Santa Claus sign was the slickest promotion Choka ever devised, shooting his revenue through the roof every December.
There were big-bellied Steelers fans chomping down dogs. Small shepherds and wise men with their worn-out parents chomping down dogs. Hot-shot high-schoolers in letter jackets with their girlfriends, businessmen, a woman in a fur coat, the ragged, the rich, the young and the old, all chomping down dogs. Why, it was “weinermania”! A fat baby in a high chair with a hot dog in one hand and pacifier in the other. An 89-year-old Leo Lion retelling the tale of his 1940 championship season when the whole team celebrated at this very establishment.
Knowledge handed down from one generation to the next is a beautiful thing to behold, and I watched as a doting grandfather hoisted his little angel onto a barstool at the counter. It took the child three seconds flat to discover the mystery of the motion of the swiveling stool, as she looked up in gratitude at her grandpa.
It had now been almost 10 hours since the vigil, and still the exhausted staff displayed a professionalism that would put the high-class joints in town to shame. In their soiled aprons and sweaty T-shirts proclaiming “Our buns are steamed,” I observed as they smiled patiently doing their best to satisfy all comers, sorting out Rubik's-cube orders — “Twenty- one coneys, nine with mustard, four without, five no onion.”
Thank heavens, a righteous man in a dark suit and tie, obviously straight from the church, was helping out, acting as maitre'd and busboy, alternately wiping tables and his brow.
Soon it was our turn to be seated, and in just an instant, like magic, our chili and coney dogs were placed before us. Gloria in the highest! Those dogs are the world's best!
Confirmed by the neon “World Famous Coney” sign blinking back in the window, I surveyed the scene. Only Norman Rockwell could have captured the magnitude of the neighborliness — friends sharing tall tales, strangers invited to pull up a chair, the laughter, the hugs, the “Merry Christmases”…
It was then I spotted her looking down on all of us — Mary with her baby, on a memorial blanket hung on a wall at the far end. Now my husband thinks I'm goofy, tearing up at the most inappropriate times, but honestly, that did it — that and the knowledge that Choka had chopped 50 pounds of onions seven days a week for more than 50 years!
And in that instant I knew why the place was packed, why business was booming, why the children would bring their children. The recipe was simple. With a humble hotdog, a spoonful of sauce and a fresh bun, Russ Choka had created what we all yearn for: a place of community.
So what was it then? Homage to Mr. Choka or simply that old familiar craving for a coney dog that drove us downtown three nights before Christmas? I don't know, but whatever it was when we pulled into the last space in the darkened parking lot, it was evident we were not alone. The place was jam-packed!
We stumbled through the back door, down the steps, through the kitchen, past the stove with the huge pots and the counter with tubs of dirty dishes into the restaurant, where we joined half of Fort Wayne. There was no room at this inn. We latecomers huddled together at the front and rear entrances of the old-timey establishment, eyeing the crowded tables, wondering “how long,” eager for our chance at the trough.
I'm telling you, that blazing Santa Claus sign was the slickest promotion Choka ever devised, shooting his revenue through the roof every December.
There were big-bellied Steelers fans chomping down dogs. Small shepherds and wise men with their worn-out parents chomping down dogs. Hot-shot high-schoolers in letter jackets with their girlfriends, businessmen, a woman in a fur coat, the ragged, the rich, the young and the old, all chomping down dogs. Why, it was “weinermania”! A fat baby in a high chair with a hot dog in one hand and pacifier in the other. An 89-year-old Leo Lion retelling the tale of his 1940 championship season when the whole team celebrated at this very establishment.
Knowledge handed down from one generation to the next is a beautiful thing to behold, and I watched as a doting grandfather hoisted his little angel onto a barstool at the counter. It took the child three seconds flat to discover the mystery of the motion of the swiveling stool, as she looked up in gratitude at her grandpa.
It had now been almost 10 hours since the vigil, and still the exhausted staff displayed a professionalism that would put the high-class joints in town to shame. In their soiled aprons and sweaty T-shirts proclaiming “Our buns are steamed,” I observed as they smiled patiently doing their best to satisfy all comers, sorting out Rubik's-cube orders — “Twenty- one coneys, nine with mustard, four without, five no onion.”
Thank heavens, a righteous man in a dark suit and tie, obviously straight from the church, was helping out, acting as maitre'd and busboy, alternately wiping tables and his brow.
Soon it was our turn to be seated, and in just an instant, like magic, our chili and coney dogs were placed before us. Gloria in the highest! Those dogs are the world's best!
Confirmed by the neon “World Famous Coney” sign blinking back in the window, I surveyed the scene. Only Norman Rockwell could have captured the magnitude of the neighborliness — friends sharing tall tales, strangers invited to pull up a chair, the laughter, the hugs, the “Merry Christmases”…
It was then I spotted her looking down on all of us — Mary with her baby, on a memorial blanket hung on a wall at the far end. Now my husband thinks I'm goofy, tearing up at the most inappropriate times, but honestly, that did it — that and the knowledge that Choka had chopped 50 pounds of onions seven days a week for more than 50 years!
And in that instant I knew why the place was packed, why business was booming, why the children would bring their children. The recipe was simple. With a humble hotdog, a spoonful of sauce and a fresh bun, Russ Choka had created what we all yearn for: a place of community.
2011年12月27日星期二
Indie Ink: Office Queen
Anna Lee strutted into the office, her heels clicking obnoxiously. Heads popped up like gophers throughout the cube farm, silently observing. She scanned the room before settling into her own space. No matter if no one liked her personally, they would come flocking all in good time.
She booted up her system and read through the emails. Another bug found in the database. She shook her head in disgust. Morons. The company paid thousands of dollars for worthless software.
A tap at her entrance grabber her attention and she swiveled around, pasting a huge fake smile on her face. Her crimson caked lips spread to expose just enough of her gleaming white teeth. A young girl stood at the door, her feet shuffling and her hands twisting around her fingers. Lank, nondescript hair fell in a waterfall across her face.
Anna Lee quirked an eyebrow, wondering where the hell the company found these losers. “Can I help you?” She asked, her voice dripping with saccharine. The girl started, her head flying up, her wide brown eyes meeting Anna Lee’s cold, calculating ones.
“Uhm…my system…it’s not working. And David over there,” she pointed in a vague direction off to the right. “He said…he said you could fix it?”
“Why yes, I do believe I have that ability,” Anna Lee purred. She stood and straightened her skirt. The girl looked at her with a faint sense of hero worship. Anna Lee felt her heart melt, just a touch. She once was this girl, unsure and shy with bad hair and worse fashion sense. Leaning in conspiratorially she wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulder and pulled her in close.
“I’ll show you a trick,” she said kindly. The two walked in silence to the girl’s cubicle. Once there, Anna Lee saw the familiar sight of the blue screen and green writing. She sat down and waved the girl close. With a few deft clicks she had the system unfrozen and operating normally. The girl’s eyes widened.
“How come IT doesn’t know that trick? Why does everyone come to you to fix their systems?” she asked.
Anna Lee smiled. “I can’t fix everything, just this one problem. I’ve tried explaining it,” she lied. “But they just don’t get it. So I try to make myself useful to the rest of the department.”
“Wow,” the girl breathed. “Thanks, Anna Lee.”
“You’re welcome sugar. Tell me, what’s your name?”
“Juliet,” she mumbled, ducking her head. Anna Lee smiled and patted her on the arm. She stepped out of Juliet’s cube and encountered other members of her department. The spoke over each other, trying to get her attention.
“Anna Lee, I need you.”
“No, me first, Anna Lee! I have that deadline.”
“But you pass right by my cube, come fix my system first!”
Anna Lee entered the office, the same as always. She walked with her familiar arrogance, eyeing the occupants of the cubes with superiority. The heads of her colleagues remained down, eyes averted. She plopped down in her chair and went through her morning routines. There was a pile of files stacked up in her inbox but she brought out her nail file instead. Someone would do her work for her, as always.
She leaned back and waited for that first breathless “Anna Lee could you…”
Her perfectly arched brows furrowed in confusion. She opened her email, her eyes flicking over the subject lines looking for an announcement about the database. Nothing.
She stood and walked down the aisle towards the break room. Everyone was studiously working, fingers clicking on the keyboard. She absently poured a cup of coffee, stirring in the cream halfheartedly. As she lifted it for a sip she heard that familiar electronic bong and the accompanying “Shit”. Her lips curved into a smile and she set down her coffee, waiting for the plaintive, “Anna Lee.”
Juliet passed by the door to the break room and hung a left at the entrance to the cube where the expletive had emerged. Anna Lee could hear murmured voices and she edged close enough to hear, “Thanks Juliet. That’s so simple. I won’t need anyone help to fix the system now.”
Juliet exited the cube, almost skipping down the aisle. She caught sight of Anna Lee hovering in the door and smiled broadly, saying nothing. Anna Lee watched her continue towards her own cube only to be stopped by an imploring hand. All along the aisle, Juliet paused periodically to help her colleagues with their systems.
She booted up her system and read through the emails. Another bug found in the database. She shook her head in disgust. Morons. The company paid thousands of dollars for worthless software.
A tap at her entrance grabber her attention and she swiveled around, pasting a huge fake smile on her face. Her crimson caked lips spread to expose just enough of her gleaming white teeth. A young girl stood at the door, her feet shuffling and her hands twisting around her fingers. Lank, nondescript hair fell in a waterfall across her face.
Anna Lee quirked an eyebrow, wondering where the hell the company found these losers. “Can I help you?” She asked, her voice dripping with saccharine. The girl started, her head flying up, her wide brown eyes meeting Anna Lee’s cold, calculating ones.
“Uhm…my system…it’s not working. And David over there,” she pointed in a vague direction off to the right. “He said…he said you could fix it?”
“Why yes, I do believe I have that ability,” Anna Lee purred. She stood and straightened her skirt. The girl looked at her with a faint sense of hero worship. Anna Lee felt her heart melt, just a touch. She once was this girl, unsure and shy with bad hair and worse fashion sense. Leaning in conspiratorially she wrapped an arm around the girl’s shoulder and pulled her in close.
“I’ll show you a trick,” she said kindly. The two walked in silence to the girl’s cubicle. Once there, Anna Lee saw the familiar sight of the blue screen and green writing. She sat down and waved the girl close. With a few deft clicks she had the system unfrozen and operating normally. The girl’s eyes widened.
“How come IT doesn’t know that trick? Why does everyone come to you to fix their systems?” she asked.
Anna Lee smiled. “I can’t fix everything, just this one problem. I’ve tried explaining it,” she lied. “But they just don’t get it. So I try to make myself useful to the rest of the department.”
“Wow,” the girl breathed. “Thanks, Anna Lee.”
“You’re welcome sugar. Tell me, what’s your name?”
“Juliet,” she mumbled, ducking her head. Anna Lee smiled and patted her on the arm. She stepped out of Juliet’s cube and encountered other members of her department. The spoke over each other, trying to get her attention.
“Anna Lee, I need you.”
“No, me first, Anna Lee! I have that deadline.”
“But you pass right by my cube, come fix my system first!”
Anna Lee entered the office, the same as always. She walked with her familiar arrogance, eyeing the occupants of the cubes with superiority. The heads of her colleagues remained down, eyes averted. She plopped down in her chair and went through her morning routines. There was a pile of files stacked up in her inbox but she brought out her nail file instead. Someone would do her work for her, as always.
She leaned back and waited for that first breathless “Anna Lee could you…”
Her perfectly arched brows furrowed in confusion. She opened her email, her eyes flicking over the subject lines looking for an announcement about the database. Nothing.
She stood and walked down the aisle towards the break room. Everyone was studiously working, fingers clicking on the keyboard. She absently poured a cup of coffee, stirring in the cream halfheartedly. As she lifted it for a sip she heard that familiar electronic bong and the accompanying “Shit”. Her lips curved into a smile and she set down her coffee, waiting for the plaintive, “Anna Lee.”
Juliet passed by the door to the break room and hung a left at the entrance to the cube where the expletive had emerged. Anna Lee could hear murmured voices and she edged close enough to hear, “Thanks Juliet. That’s so simple. I won’t need anyone help to fix the system now.”
Juliet exited the cube, almost skipping down the aisle. She caught sight of Anna Lee hovering in the door and smiled broadly, saying nothing. Anna Lee watched her continue towards her own cube only to be stopped by an imploring hand. All along the aisle, Juliet paused periodically to help her colleagues with their systems.
2011年12月8日星期四
How to make your own Alaska ice lanterns
Ice lanterns are an easy way to brighten any winter setting. They’re also easy to make, as staff at Alaska Dispatch has discovered during three years of field tests.
We like them because there is something magical about the warm glow of light and fire cutting through the dark depths of winter. In Norse mythology, the space where the worlds of fire and ice meet is the place of creation, a place of light, air and warmth.
Whether gracing a patio, walkway, or adorning an ice skating lake or wintery trail, ice lanterns are a fitting way to dress up the surroundings. With a lit candle inside, they emit a warm glow, and each ice creation captures and reflects the light in its own, unique pattern.
Lanterns can be used to illuminate a runway path for Santa and his reindeer to land, add cheer to your individual home or brighten an entire neighborhood over the holidays.
Building one is simple. Fill a container with water, and set outside to freeze. The goal is to allow the outermost layer freeze. Different thickness will produce different effects, but some liquid must remain in order for the mold to produce a hollowed shape that will become the lantern. Think of a half-frozen ice cube and you've got the idea. Bigger molds container larger volumes of water will take longer to freeze than smaller ones.
Ice globes, made using balloons, are a particularly intriguing spin on the tradition of ice luminaries. Start now, and with a few supplies and a little patience, you'll have a unique lantern ready for Christmas or New Year's Eve. To make your own globe lantern, you'll need a balloon, candle and matches. (Heavy duty balloons like those found in party stores work best.)
Fill the balloon with water, blow a small puff of air in and tie it off. Then, set it either outside or in the freezer. The goal is to leave the balloon in the cold long enough for ice to form and take shape, but before it freezes solid.
Metal cooking bowls work well as a holding shell - they help the globe maintain its shape and naturally create a flat bottom -- but are not necessary. The longer you leave the globe in the cold, the thicker the walls become. Thin ice shells are pretty, but thick walls allow for more light play.
After 12 hours or so, check the balloon. When the ice is the thickness you want, drain the water from the center by creating a hole in the weakest layer of ice, which should be at the bottom of the lantern and may not be entirely frozen yet. The hole needs to be large enough to slip over the candle you’ve selected.
Next, make a chimney at the top of the globe for air flow. This can be done with the candle itself (using the flame to melt a hole), a small drill, or carefully with a stream of warm water (be careful, water can cause the ice to crack).
You're ready to light the lantern and enjoy!
One thing we really like about this project is that even the duds are pretty. Cracks, oblong shapes, unusual crystals -- they all add character and catch light in different ways.
One final word of advice - don't display the lanterns directly on wood. Give them a snow cushion or some branches to rest on, otherwise you risk freezing them firmly to the surface.
We like them because there is something magical about the warm glow of light and fire cutting through the dark depths of winter. In Norse mythology, the space where the worlds of fire and ice meet is the place of creation, a place of light, air and warmth.
Whether gracing a patio, walkway, or adorning an ice skating lake or wintery trail, ice lanterns are a fitting way to dress up the surroundings. With a lit candle inside, they emit a warm glow, and each ice creation captures and reflects the light in its own, unique pattern.
Lanterns can be used to illuminate a runway path for Santa and his reindeer to land, add cheer to your individual home or brighten an entire neighborhood over the holidays.
Building one is simple. Fill a container with water, and set outside to freeze. The goal is to allow the outermost layer freeze. Different thickness will produce different effects, but some liquid must remain in order for the mold to produce a hollowed shape that will become the lantern. Think of a half-frozen ice cube and you've got the idea. Bigger molds container larger volumes of water will take longer to freeze than smaller ones.
Ice globes, made using balloons, are a particularly intriguing spin on the tradition of ice luminaries. Start now, and with a few supplies and a little patience, you'll have a unique lantern ready for Christmas or New Year's Eve. To make your own globe lantern, you'll need a balloon, candle and matches. (Heavy duty balloons like those found in party stores work best.)
Fill the balloon with water, blow a small puff of air in and tie it off. Then, set it either outside or in the freezer. The goal is to leave the balloon in the cold long enough for ice to form and take shape, but before it freezes solid.
Metal cooking bowls work well as a holding shell - they help the globe maintain its shape and naturally create a flat bottom -- but are not necessary. The longer you leave the globe in the cold, the thicker the walls become. Thin ice shells are pretty, but thick walls allow for more light play.
After 12 hours or so, check the balloon. When the ice is the thickness you want, drain the water from the center by creating a hole in the weakest layer of ice, which should be at the bottom of the lantern and may not be entirely frozen yet. The hole needs to be large enough to slip over the candle you’ve selected.
Next, make a chimney at the top of the globe for air flow. This can be done with the candle itself (using the flame to melt a hole), a small drill, or carefully with a stream of warm water (be careful, water can cause the ice to crack).
You're ready to light the lantern and enjoy!
One thing we really like about this project is that even the duds are pretty. Cracks, oblong shapes, unusual crystals -- they all add character and catch light in different ways.
One final word of advice - don't display the lanterns directly on wood. Give them a snow cushion or some branches to rest on, otherwise you risk freezing them firmly to the surface.
2011年12月5日星期一
Celluon Magic Cube Virtual Bluetooth Keyboard
We’ve seen an Apple iPhone 5 prototype and were very hopeful that Apple would bring it to life for us. The prototype featured a virtual keyboard that projected onto any opaque surface and works like a true to life keyboard. Apple didn’t product the iPhone with this technology but technology Celluon tried their hand at the projected keyboard and it looks like they’ve done a good job with their Magic Cube.
The Magic Cube is the size of a small computer speaker that projects a virtual full sized keyboard onto your desk and connects to your iPhone+iPad computer, notebooks, smart phone or tablet via USB and Bluetooth. The Celluon Magic Cube has already been produced and is for sale at Amazon for $169.99.
The Magic Cube is the size of a small computer speaker that projects a virtual full sized keyboard onto your desk and connects to your iPhone+iPad computer, notebooks, smart phone or tablet via USB and Bluetooth. The Celluon Magic Cube has already been produced and is for sale at Amazon for $169.99.
2011年11月30日星期三
A keyboard in the palm of your hand
It's not unusual these days to see virtual keyboards on the touch screens of portable devices like tablets and phones. These devices lack a physical keyboard but make up for it by displaying a picture of one on the screen and letting the user tap away on that.
But virtual keyboards are not just constrained to the screen. Today almost anything can become a keyboard – from a table top to the palm of your hand.
Korean company Celluon has been developing virtual keyboards for several years and their latest product is the Magic Cube, a small box that fits in your hand yet provides a full-size keyboard when needed.
Switch it on, sit it on a desk and it projects an image of a keyboard on to the surface in front of it. Tap the virtual keys and the corresponding characters are communicated wirelessly to any compatible device, from a laptop to a smartphone.
The principles involved are very simple. The projection of the keyboard is just that – made by a tiny projector at the top of the box. At the bottom of the box beams of infrared light are emitted just above the surface of the desk. As your fingers tap the surface they cut through these beams which are reflected up to a camera in the middle of the box. The camera sees the reflection and works out from its position which key you have "pressed".
Though the Magic Cube is clever it is essentially just a very portable replacement for a real keyboard.
More radical possibilities are on the horizon. Microsoft researchers Hrvoje Benko and Andrew Wilson, along with Chris Harrison of Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, recently showed off a system they call OmniTouch, which turns any surface into a touch screen.
OmniTouch is made up of a shoulder-mounted projector and depth-sensing camera combination. The projector displays interactive images on any nearby surface – a wall, a table, a pad or even parts of the user's body. The camera tracks the user's fingers, working out where and when they touch other objects.
Putting it all together allows the user to, for example, dial a phone number on a keypad displayed on the palm of their hand, or draw projected pictures on an ordinary paper pad.
Pretty much anything, in fact, that you can do with an ordinary touch-sensitive display, except that the display itself can be any suitable surface.
We take it for granted that the size of portable devices is a compromise between compactness and usability. But if the display and controls need not be physically part of the device, all bets are off. It's too early to tell whether systems like OmniTouch will take off. But in a few years they may virtually replace their physical counterparts in many situations, in more ways than one.
But virtual keyboards are not just constrained to the screen. Today almost anything can become a keyboard – from a table top to the palm of your hand.
Korean company Celluon has been developing virtual keyboards for several years and their latest product is the Magic Cube, a small box that fits in your hand yet provides a full-size keyboard when needed.
Switch it on, sit it on a desk and it projects an image of a keyboard on to the surface in front of it. Tap the virtual keys and the corresponding characters are communicated wirelessly to any compatible device, from a laptop to a smartphone.
The principles involved are very simple. The projection of the keyboard is just that – made by a tiny projector at the top of the box. At the bottom of the box beams of infrared light are emitted just above the surface of the desk. As your fingers tap the surface they cut through these beams which are reflected up to a camera in the middle of the box. The camera sees the reflection and works out from its position which key you have "pressed".
Though the Magic Cube is clever it is essentially just a very portable replacement for a real keyboard.
More radical possibilities are on the horizon. Microsoft researchers Hrvoje Benko and Andrew Wilson, along with Chris Harrison of Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, recently showed off a system they call OmniTouch, which turns any surface into a touch screen.
OmniTouch is made up of a shoulder-mounted projector and depth-sensing camera combination. The projector displays interactive images on any nearby surface – a wall, a table, a pad or even parts of the user's body. The camera tracks the user's fingers, working out where and when they touch other objects.
Putting it all together allows the user to, for example, dial a phone number on a keypad displayed on the palm of their hand, or draw projected pictures on an ordinary paper pad.
Pretty much anything, in fact, that you can do with an ordinary touch-sensitive display, except that the display itself can be any suitable surface.
We take it for granted that the size of portable devices is a compromise between compactness and usability. But if the display and controls need not be physically part of the device, all bets are off. It's too early to tell whether systems like OmniTouch will take off. But in a few years they may virtually replace their physical counterparts in many situations, in more ways than one.
2011年11月17日星期四
Novotel invites you into the room of the future !
Take part in a world first by trying out a completely new experience in the hotel room of the future. Created and brought to life
by Novotel and Microsoft, the room of the future packs the best
of new technologies into an outside-of-the-box architectural concept.
Last September, Denis Hennequin announced Accor's new strategic objective to become the global benchmark in hotels and revolutionize the customer experience. In line with this commitment to innovation, Novotel is offering a new type of room that makes a clean break with traditional hotel thinking by redefining the use of space and adding cutting edge technologies and amenities.
"We wanted to reinvent the hotel room experience by harmoniously melding design and new digital technologies," explains Grégoire Champetier Global Chief Marketing Officer. "It's crucial to take our customers' changing habits and expectations into account. In particular, this means re-thinking our rooms in digital terms.
Guests can try out this revolutionary, yet perfectly realistic experience in the pilot room for the next three months. All of the equipment is fully functional and could be deployed throughout the Novotel network in the near future. Microsoft was at the center of the room's design, notably with the integration of the Xbox 360 console and its revolutionary Kinect sensor, which uses body gesture and voice recognition to control games and entertainment. This partnership between Novotel and Microsoft is the logical next step in a relationship that began four years ago when Novotel started offering Xbox 360 consoles in the public areas of its hotels.
"In the era of technological convergence, Microsoft is as always front and center," says Eric Boustouller, CEO of Microsoft France. "In our partnership with Novotel, we are taking this innovative room concept to a higher level with our best tech- nologies. This new-generation room is an invitation to discover the latest advances in consumer technologies in a creative universe with a unique design.
Discover the unique ambiance of Room 3120 as you walk into the entrance, designed to serve as a decompression chamber between the outside world and a spacious sensorial environment filled with ingenious practical features and interactive technology that surrounds you without being overwhelming.
"We wanted to do something fresh, surprising and imaginative that would unleash people's energy," explains Marcelo Joulia, head of Nao, the architecture firm chosen by Novotel to design Room 3120. "We started by re-thinking the basic space, which meant leaving the stuffy old cube behind. We also worked with light and found ways to keep the furniture from being in the way. Multifunctional, flexible and unhindered, Room 3120 adapts to the guest's desires, not vice-versa.
Although the innovative nature of the experiences available in Room 3120 may be surprising, they are extremely intuitive and ergonomic. The features are also designed for families, so they can play, surf or be entertained simply and easily.
It will only take you a few seconds to get used to the Kinect interface and take command of the Xbox 360 console. You can also try out the brand new Sensorit mirror, also based on Kinect technology, where information tags seem to appear by magic, or turn on the fitness interface. Want to play with the kids? The Surface multimedia table offers numerous pos- sibilities for two more players.
There's plenty for the grown-ups too, with fingertip access to a wide range of multimedia content, as well as music and news. Radio station NOVA (Le Grand Mix) and BFM Business, France's leading business and financial news media, have chosen to partner the Room 3120 project, which makes a point of providing rapid access to world news.
by Novotel and Microsoft, the room of the future packs the best
of new technologies into an outside-of-the-box architectural concept.
Last September, Denis Hennequin announced Accor's new strategic objective to become the global benchmark in hotels and revolutionize the customer experience. In line with this commitment to innovation, Novotel is offering a new type of room that makes a clean break with traditional hotel thinking by redefining the use of space and adding cutting edge technologies and amenities.
"We wanted to reinvent the hotel room experience by harmoniously melding design and new digital technologies," explains Grégoire Champetier Global Chief Marketing Officer. "It's crucial to take our customers' changing habits and expectations into account. In particular, this means re-thinking our rooms in digital terms.
Guests can try out this revolutionary, yet perfectly realistic experience in the pilot room for the next three months. All of the equipment is fully functional and could be deployed throughout the Novotel network in the near future. Microsoft was at the center of the room's design, notably with the integration of the Xbox 360 console and its revolutionary Kinect sensor, which uses body gesture and voice recognition to control games and entertainment. This partnership between Novotel and Microsoft is the logical next step in a relationship that began four years ago when Novotel started offering Xbox 360 consoles in the public areas of its hotels.
"In the era of technological convergence, Microsoft is as always front and center," says Eric Boustouller, CEO of Microsoft France. "In our partnership with Novotel, we are taking this innovative room concept to a higher level with our best tech- nologies. This new-generation room is an invitation to discover the latest advances in consumer technologies in a creative universe with a unique design.
Discover the unique ambiance of Room 3120 as you walk into the entrance, designed to serve as a decompression chamber between the outside world and a spacious sensorial environment filled with ingenious practical features and interactive technology that surrounds you without being overwhelming.
"We wanted to do something fresh, surprising and imaginative that would unleash people's energy," explains Marcelo Joulia, head of Nao, the architecture firm chosen by Novotel to design Room 3120. "We started by re-thinking the basic space, which meant leaving the stuffy old cube behind. We also worked with light and found ways to keep the furniture from being in the way. Multifunctional, flexible and unhindered, Room 3120 adapts to the guest's desires, not vice-versa.
Although the innovative nature of the experiences available in Room 3120 may be surprising, they are extremely intuitive and ergonomic. The features are also designed for families, so they can play, surf or be entertained simply and easily.
It will only take you a few seconds to get used to the Kinect interface and take command of the Xbox 360 console. You can also try out the brand new Sensorit mirror, also based on Kinect technology, where information tags seem to appear by magic, or turn on the fitness interface. Want to play with the kids? The Surface multimedia table offers numerous pos- sibilities for two more players.
There's plenty for the grown-ups too, with fingertip access to a wide range of multimedia content, as well as music and news. Radio station NOVA (Le Grand Mix) and BFM Business, France's leading business and financial news media, have chosen to partner the Room 3120 project, which makes a point of providing rapid access to world news.
2011年10月17日星期一
Steve Jobs’ magic on Apple stores
When the architect Peter Bohlin arrived for his first meeting with Steve Jobs, he wore a tie. "Steve laughed, and I never wore a tie again," Bohlin recalled.
Thus began a collaboration that has extended from Pixar's headquarters, completed in 2001, to more than 30 Apple Stores (and counting) around the globe, all designed by Bohlin and a team of architects from Bohlin Cywinski Jackson led by Karl Backus - and Jobs himself.
"The best clients, to my mind, don't say that whatever you do is fine," Bohlin said last week, a few days after Jobs' death. "They're intertwined in the process. When I look back, it's hard to remember who had what thought when. That's the best, most satisfying work, whether a large building or a house."
Just as Jobs transformed the notion of the personal computer and the cellphone, he left an indelible stamp on architecture, especially the retail kind, traditionally a backwater of the profession.
"No one in commercial architecture has ever channelled a product into architecture for a client the way Peter did for Apple," said James Timberlake, a founding partner of Kieran-Timberlake, who is now designing the new American embassy in London.
"Most commercial architecture is under-detailed, under-edited and underbudgeted. It's gross and ugly, and most of it is an eyesore on the American landscape."
The work of Bohlin and his colleagues for Apple, by contrast, is sleek, transparent, inviting, technologically advanced - and expensive.
In many ways, the retail architecture is simply the largest box in which an Apple product is wrapped, and Jobs was famously attentive to every detail in an Apple product's presentation and customer experience.
The extensive use of glass in structures like Apple's cube on Fifth Avenue in New York, its cylinder in the Pudong district of Shanghai or its soaring market hall on the Upper West Side of Manhattan have become so distinctive that Apple is seeking to patent the glass elements.
Bohlin's firm has won 42 awards for its work for Apple, and Bohlin himself was awarded the American Institute of Architects' gold medal in 2010.
In their years working together, Jobs and Bohlin, who is 74, appeared to have achieved a rare chemistry. Jobs was "a very public person," Timberlake observed. "That's in contrast to Peter. He's not a Frank Lloyd Wright or a Philip Johnson.
He doesn't sweep into a room and take over. You go to a design meeting, and it's more like a fireside chat." Backus, who lives in California and focuses full time on Apple work, said the team learned early on to approach Jobs with alternatives. "He liked to be presented with options and would often make very insightful suggestions," Backus recalled. "We all enjoyed the collaboration."
The notion of glass as Apple's signature architectural statement first appeared in the staircase in the company's New York store in So-Ho, housed in a historic building."We had a two-story space, which is a great challenge to get people to go up or down," Bohlin said.
"So we thought of glass. Steve loved the glass stair way idea. He got it. You make magic. We made these stairs that were quite ethereal." Just as Jobs obsessed over Apple products, he pushed Bohlin to make the glass structures ever more refined and pure."We got James O'Callaghan involved.
He's brilliant, a British structural engineer with offices in New York and London," Bohlin said. "Now we're cantilevering the stairs from top to bottom." In the newest Apple store, in Hamburg, Germany, the stairs float in space, attached only at the top and bottom. The fittings are embedded in the glass, "so you get this magical sleek profile when you look up the wall." Bohlin said.
"This is the kind of detail Steve wanted," he added. "We've been driving for this, doing more and more with less and less. This has been a vision of architecture since earlier in the last century.
Thus began a collaboration that has extended from Pixar's headquarters, completed in 2001, to more than 30 Apple Stores (and counting) around the globe, all designed by Bohlin and a team of architects from Bohlin Cywinski Jackson led by Karl Backus - and Jobs himself.
"The best clients, to my mind, don't say that whatever you do is fine," Bohlin said last week, a few days after Jobs' death. "They're intertwined in the process. When I look back, it's hard to remember who had what thought when. That's the best, most satisfying work, whether a large building or a house."
Just as Jobs transformed the notion of the personal computer and the cellphone, he left an indelible stamp on architecture, especially the retail kind, traditionally a backwater of the profession.
"No one in commercial architecture has ever channelled a product into architecture for a client the way Peter did for Apple," said James Timberlake, a founding partner of Kieran-Timberlake, who is now designing the new American embassy in London.
"Most commercial architecture is under-detailed, under-edited and underbudgeted. It's gross and ugly, and most of it is an eyesore on the American landscape."
The work of Bohlin and his colleagues for Apple, by contrast, is sleek, transparent, inviting, technologically advanced - and expensive.
In many ways, the retail architecture is simply the largest box in which an Apple product is wrapped, and Jobs was famously attentive to every detail in an Apple product's presentation and customer experience.
The extensive use of glass in structures like Apple's cube on Fifth Avenue in New York, its cylinder in the Pudong district of Shanghai or its soaring market hall on the Upper West Side of Manhattan have become so distinctive that Apple is seeking to patent the glass elements.
Bohlin's firm has won 42 awards for its work for Apple, and Bohlin himself was awarded the American Institute of Architects' gold medal in 2010.
In their years working together, Jobs and Bohlin, who is 74, appeared to have achieved a rare chemistry. Jobs was "a very public person," Timberlake observed. "That's in contrast to Peter. He's not a Frank Lloyd Wright or a Philip Johnson.
He doesn't sweep into a room and take over. You go to a design meeting, and it's more like a fireside chat." Backus, who lives in California and focuses full time on Apple work, said the team learned early on to approach Jobs with alternatives. "He liked to be presented with options and would often make very insightful suggestions," Backus recalled. "We all enjoyed the collaboration."
The notion of glass as Apple's signature architectural statement first appeared in the staircase in the company's New York store in So-Ho, housed in a historic building."We had a two-story space, which is a great challenge to get people to go up or down," Bohlin said.
"So we thought of glass. Steve loved the glass stair way idea. He got it. You make magic. We made these stairs that were quite ethereal." Just as Jobs obsessed over Apple products, he pushed Bohlin to make the glass structures ever more refined and pure."We got James O'Callaghan involved.
He's brilliant, a British structural engineer with offices in New York and London," Bohlin said. "Now we're cantilevering the stairs from top to bottom." In the newest Apple store, in Hamburg, Germany, the stairs float in space, attached only at the top and bottom. The fittings are embedded in the glass, "so you get this magical sleek profile when you look up the wall." Bohlin said.
"This is the kind of detail Steve wanted," he added. "We've been driving for this, doing more and more with less and less. This has been a vision of architecture since earlier in the last century.
2011年3月30日星期三
Build your April Fools' Day arsenal with these fun pranks and 'gifts'
Guys can start April Fools' Day off on the right foot by presenting their girlfriends with the 2-carat Cup ($15 at Andaluz). It looks like a big, sparkling, diamond solitaire engagement ring in an oversized jewelry box -- but the ring is really just a cleverly disguised handle to a coffee mug (albeit a handle she can slip over her ring finger). This should probably come with a disclaimer: Make sure you have a comfortable doghouse -- you may find yourself in it.
Prefer to begin your morning with a jolt of fear? The Mixed Messages do-it-yourself ransom note mug ($16 at Andaluz and Fireworks) makes it easy to create your own ransom message with colorful letters that cling to the enclosed white mug. Your significant other will be sure to meet your caffeine demands when faced with the message, "Fill with coffee and nobody gets hurt."
Another fun way to wake up family members: Pop some Frozen Smiles ice cube dentures ($9.95 at Portage Bay Goods) into an unsuspecting sleepy person's glass and watch them perk right up.
Once you're ready to head out the door, don't forget to accessorize: Fingerless gloves are all the rage, but you can make a real fashion statement by wearing Handerpants (“underpants for your hands,” $11.95 at the legendary Archie McPhee) on April Fools' Day.
Gross out your friends
Have some fun at school, the gym or at the office: Bring along Stuck Up Magnets ($6 at Andaluz), which look just like chewed-up wads of gum.
Not gross enough for you? The latest hot item from Fred & Friends is Lunch Bugs, a box of standard plastic sandwich bags -- with a great big roach printed on the front. These make a boring brown-bag lunch a real scream. Lunch Bugs are so new that none of the stores in Seattle have them yet (Andaluz is awaiting a shipment), but you can score them at Perpetualkid.com (24 bags for $5.95) and on Amazon.com ($11.95). Or, if you're tired of colleagues stealing your lunch out of the office refrigerator, employ the ingenious Anti-theft lunch bags ($7.99 at perpetualkid.com), which deter lunch theft by making it look like your sandwich is covered in mold. (Hopefully, you'll still be in the mood to eat it.)
Amuse and alienate co-workers
Remember in "The Office," when Jim came in early and moved all Dwight's furniture into the men's room? That's far too labor-intensive, but you can stick it to your co-workers by coming in early and putting tiny, creepy-cute eyes and mouths on all their office supplies, courtesy of In Antimate stickers ($3.95 at Portage Bay Goods). It's aliiiive!
Here's an idea from the annals of passive-aggressiveness: Leave a box of Get Along with your Co-workers Tea ($10 for 16 tea bags at Andaluz) on someone's desk. This makes a very Seattle gift -- it's organic.
Get fired
Participate in office meetings by adding your own cartoon soundtrack effects with the Special Sound Machine ($16.50 at Fireworks). Fart machines are so grade school -- this grown-up gadget offers good, clean April Fools' fun by adding effects like head-injury twittering birds, falling anvils, a high-speed running exit and more. It's more fun than Board Room Bingo.
Prefer to begin your morning with a jolt of fear? The Mixed Messages do-it-yourself ransom note mug ($16 at Andaluz and Fireworks) makes it easy to create your own ransom message with colorful letters that cling to the enclosed white mug. Your significant other will be sure to meet your caffeine demands when faced with the message, "Fill with coffee and nobody gets hurt."
Another fun way to wake up family members: Pop some Frozen Smiles ice cube dentures ($9.95 at Portage Bay Goods) into an unsuspecting sleepy person's glass and watch them perk right up.
Once you're ready to head out the door, don't forget to accessorize: Fingerless gloves are all the rage, but you can make a real fashion statement by wearing Handerpants (“underpants for your hands,” $11.95 at the legendary Archie McPhee) on April Fools' Day.
Gross out your friends
Have some fun at school, the gym or at the office: Bring along Stuck Up Magnets ($6 at Andaluz), which look just like chewed-up wads of gum.
Not gross enough for you? The latest hot item from Fred & Friends is Lunch Bugs, a box of standard plastic sandwich bags -- with a great big roach printed on the front. These make a boring brown-bag lunch a real scream. Lunch Bugs are so new that none of the stores in Seattle have them yet (Andaluz is awaiting a shipment), but you can score them at Perpetualkid.com (24 bags for $5.95) and on Amazon.com ($11.95). Or, if you're tired of colleagues stealing your lunch out of the office refrigerator, employ the ingenious Anti-theft lunch bags ($7.99 at perpetualkid.com), which deter lunch theft by making it look like your sandwich is covered in mold. (Hopefully, you'll still be in the mood to eat it.)
Amuse and alienate co-workers
Remember in "The Office," when Jim came in early and moved all Dwight's furniture into the men's room? That's far too labor-intensive, but you can stick it to your co-workers by coming in early and putting tiny, creepy-cute eyes and mouths on all their office supplies, courtesy of In Antimate stickers ($3.95 at Portage Bay Goods). It's aliiiive!
Here's an idea from the annals of passive-aggressiveness: Leave a box of Get Along with your Co-workers Tea ($10 for 16 tea bags at Andaluz) on someone's desk. This makes a very Seattle gift -- it's organic.
Get fired
Participate in office meetings by adding your own cartoon soundtrack effects with the Special Sound Machine ($16.50 at Fireworks). Fart machines are so grade school -- this grown-up gadget offers good, clean April Fools' fun by adding effects like head-injury twittering birds, falling anvils, a high-speed running exit and more. It's more fun than Board Room Bingo.
2011年3月13日星期日
Android game Mr. Hat and the Magic Cube plays to the small crowd
There's no better judge of a kids' game than a kid. My six-year-old spent a good 30 minutes
with Mr. Hat and the Magic Cube. She likes it, so who am I to disagree?
Based on the gameplay, which I tested on Nexus One running Gingerbread, I'd say the game is
aimed at ages six and under. Animated sequences begin and run throughout the game. The
storyline involves a set of kids who stumble upon a magic cube, and get drawn inside. There
they meet Mr. Hat and his crystal wand. Mr. Hat is happy to use his wand to send them home,
but just before he does, Dr. Romo flies by in an airship to steal all the jewels from the
wand. Your kid's mission is to play the games and solve the puzzles to get the jewels back
and go home.
There's a tilt table, which my kid loved, where you guide a colored rolling ball into its
matching colored hole. A conveyor belt of letters, where you must touch the missing letter to
spell the word that matches a picture. You'll also find a memory game, where you select pairs
of identical characters out of a group, and a counting game.
Any complaints? Well, a couple of small ones. There's a second or two of blank screen between
the end of an animated sequence and the start of a game section. The game also froze a couple
of times when I tried it after my daughter finally handed back my phone. It's worth noting,
however, that she never complained about these things. She just laughed when she did well,
and groaned when she didn't.
with Mr. Hat and the Magic Cube. She likes it, so who am I to disagree?
Based on the gameplay, which I tested on Nexus One running Gingerbread, I'd say the game is
aimed at ages six and under. Animated sequences begin and run throughout the game. The
storyline involves a set of kids who stumble upon a magic cube, and get drawn inside. There
they meet Mr. Hat and his crystal wand. Mr. Hat is happy to use his wand to send them home,
but just before he does, Dr. Romo flies by in an airship to steal all the jewels from the
wand. Your kid's mission is to play the games and solve the puzzles to get the jewels back
and go home.
There's a tilt table, which my kid loved, where you guide a colored rolling ball into its
matching colored hole. A conveyor belt of letters, where you must touch the missing letter to
spell the word that matches a picture. You'll also find a memory game, where you select pairs
of identical characters out of a group, and a counting game.
Any complaints? Well, a couple of small ones. There's a second or two of blank screen between
the end of an animated sequence and the start of a game section. The game also froze a couple
of times when I tried it after my daughter finally handed back my phone. It's worth noting,
however, that she never complained about these things. She just laughed when she did well,
and groaned when she didn't.
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