I thought this article in Time Magazine was fascinating. Here’s a few highlights (and my inability to resist adding my own commentary) from the list I found particularly interesting:
Considering some of the other items on the list (i.e., The Hadron Collider and the Bionic Hand) I thought it was interesting that a website that allows you to watch TV episodes made it to the #4 spot. I love this website, it’s the only way I keep up with episodes of The Office.
What I found most fascinating about this invention was the name it was given: iLimb. This just shows how far reaching and influential Apple’s presence in our society has become. Now to go with your iTunes, iPod, iMac, you name it, you can buy an iLimb.
This truly must be seen to be belived. Dubai seems like a crazier, more surreal place every time I hear about it. The each of the 80 floors in the world’s first moving skyscraper will rotate 360 degrees at different times, creating an kind of twisting, double-helix effect. Here’s an animation from the architect’s website that is unreal. By the way, did I mention it was wind powered too?
#19 Montreal’s Public Bike System
Eugene, Oregon needs to follow suit on this one.
This is a whole new way of thinking about products, packaging, and how to give the consumer exactly what they want. I can’t help but be slightly weirded out by something that was growing in a plastic containter on the way to my grocery store though. Am I alone on that one?
The Catholic Church has released a new list of deadly sins to more accurately reflect the sins of the modern world. I’m extremely interested in the 7 Deadly Sins/Virtues, and made a coaster set for my letterpress project one term. You can see it on my website. If you are Catholic, or easily offended, you might want to skip the rest.
The list includes:
1.bioethical sins
2. morally dubious experiments that harm human embryos
3. drug abuse
4.polluting
5.social injustice
6.accumulating excessive wealth
7.creating poverty
Now, more or less, I agree with the premise of most of these. However, I find the last three in particular somewhat ironic for the Catholic Church, to be making moral commentary on.
First of all, #6: Accumulating excessive wealth. To me, this translates to, “Tithe your money to the church”. Now argue however you want, but anybody who has visited the Vatican will tell you it is one of the most ornate, elaborate representations of wealth I have seen in my life. I wonder what Jesus (a man praised for his life of simplicity) would think of it all.
Second, #7 Creating Poverty. If we are re-working aspects of the old belief system to reflect the world we’re living in today, can we please address the need for the Church to acknowledge safe-sex practices? One of many reasons most of Latin America (almost 90-something percent Catholic) is impoverished, is because talk of safe-sex practices is taboo, and when people lack knowledge or resources, they end up with more children than they can afford. Which, I believe also might quality for #5, social injustice.
Last disclaimer: I’m not saying I’m right, I’m just saying this is my opinion.
How cool is this?? How does it work, you might ask. This was the description on Time: “The photographer holds the camera up to his or her forehead, and a Braille-like screen on the back makes a raised image of whatever the lens sees.” I wonder if as a non-visually impaired person if my senses would have any way of picking this up….
1 Comment
December 9, 2008 at 10:43 pm
man, there are some brilliant people out there. i’d love to see that building in dubai – wow, smart thinking all around.