New Hack Swing

MacHack CDFrom TidBITS: “The centerpiece of the annual MacHack conference is the MacHax Group’s Best Hack Contest, in which the world’s best programmers compete (preferably during the preceding 48 hours) to come up with software that displays the ultimate in programming creativity, knowledge, or arcana, ideally presented with tongue firmly planted in cheek.”For hardcore Mac geeks who couldn’t attend this past spring’s MacHack, the The MacHax Best Hack Contest CD is now for sale.

Continue Reading

+

Out Box

Tigerbeat6 RecordsMiscellaneous links: Get your fill of Kid 606 and plenty other beeps’n’blips artists at Tigerbeat6 Records, whose site is an oddly charming mix of DIY and Web design savvy. Marcus Ericsson has a notably elegant portfolio at Subdisc.com, which is a rare case of an overbearing visual metaphor that doesn’t veer into the obnoxious. The much-anticipated, massively multiplayer video game “Star Wars Galaxies” looks amazing and beautifully rendered, judging from this hand-shot demo footage. It could be the video game that makes me buy a video game.

Continue Reading

+

Notbooks

Toshiba Satellite 5105A last minute emergency yesterday forced us at Behavior to run out and purchase two laptops for immediate use. I’ve been kind of sour on Wintel laptops for a while, and I was reminded of why. The really well-designed ones, like Sony’s VAIO line, are miserably overpriced under-performers. The ones with great specs and that can actually hold their own in a production environment, like the Toshiba Satellite 5105s that we bought yesterday, are hideous disasters of industrial design. Design loses again.

Continue Reading

+

Road Rage

My cable modem was out from Saturday morning through Monday morning. After spending a few hours on the phone with the very polite tech support folks at Time Warner Cable New York’s Road Runner division, I am more convinced than ever that it’s impossible for people at huge organizations to know anything beyond the slim parameters of their own specific job descriptions. It’s depressing.

Continue Reading

+

Bollywood or Bust

The Art of Bollywood BlockbustersThe design industry could stand to appreciate more than just its American, Western European and Japanese roots. John Manschot brings us a little closer to the Indian sub-continent in his book, “The Art of Bollywood Blockbusters.” The Web site includes some so-so scans that barely do justice to the plethora of exquisitely illustrated posters and videocovers from the world’s largest film industry. Last year I got my hands on a copy of “Thai Graphic Design” by Anake Nawigamune, which is also big, bold and beautiful — impossible to find domestically, but now you have an excuse to visit Thailand.

Continue Reading

+

You Very Own Droid

R2-D2At last! It’s now possible to have your own little droid sidekick, ever at the ready with navigational acumen, mechanical resourcefulness and all-around spunk and charm. On the other hand, it looks like this 15″ R2-D2 toy is mostly good at shuttling a can of beer to you across the living room, judging from the marketing photos.

Continue Reading

+

Clinton on Bush

Former President Clinton had some unkind words on Friday about the Bush administration’s shoddy handling of corporate malfeasance and the Middle East. Bravo.One other thing I’ve been thinking about: people are saying that Shrub’s administration is like his father’s in that it’s strong on foreign policy and weak on domestic affairs. What?! Strong on foreign policy?! I’d say they’ve been obstinately unilateral, un-educated, tone deaf and destructive.

Continue Reading

+