At some point I would like to make a post on different applications of LEGO to daily life, but for now here is an enclosure case for Raspberry-pi:

http://blog.makezine.com/2012/06/11/lego-raspberry-pi-enclosure/

I like having something green in the house - I also like having something to do with space :) How about this for the kid's room? NASA inspires garden: http://www.fastcodesign.com/1669892/nasa-inspired-garden-grows-plants-in-a-ferris-wheel

I have been interested in natural dyes for a long time. I finally got a chance to experiment with black walnut producing khaki brown green colors.

Here is a good resource on it:
http://www.practicalprimitive.com/skillofthemonth/blackwalnutdye.html

Someday I would love to produce blue or indigo ( there is a professor at IU that specializes in it):
http://www.indigrowingblue.com/index.html

http://www.rickettsindigo.com/
http://homepages.indiana.edu/web/page/normal/13665.html

For now I will have to keep my eyes open.

P.S. How do materials and the process matter for us?
P.S.S. Experiment with turmeric.

Cardboard Computer

We live in the age when so many things are possible - You want a computer - no problem - put it together you good to go!

http://www.sustainable-computer.com/index.php

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/01/recompute-cardboard-pc-in-the-flesh-its-real-it-boots-its-m/

Ask your own questiones...

Don’t just read it; fight it! Ask your own questions, look for your own examples, discover your own proofs. Is the hypothesis necessary? Is the converse true? What happens in the classical special case? What about the degenerate cases? Where does the proof use the hypothesis? (Paul Halmos, “I want to be a mathematician”)

OpenZoom

The other day I ran into a note by a friend, about doing something different for a lab presentation. Instead of using slide by slide Powerpoint architecture, we can create a single document with zoomable parts designed to communicate the necessary points of the presentation. This might be interesting especially if you use a multi-touch pad-computer - you can do some interesting things. This also make me think of interface design from "Minority Report."

Experiment and let me know what you think.
http://openzoom.org/

Couple of examples:
http://www.albawater.com.vn/#/en/composition/

similar project from microsoft labs
http://seadragon.com/
(check out simple bike poster-presentation)

Sporting Sails

Sporting-sails, I like sailboats and sails, however this something different. Still there is something neat about this idea.

Who needs a store bought Instrument?

Sometimes we get so caught up in the at we idea that we need a particular tool, but the truth is that we can always improvise.

Here is a preview for "It Might Get Loud," check out the scene with Jack White:


Another interesting artist that uses trees sand and other instruments to make his music (Diego Stocco):

http://www.motherboard.tv/2010/3/29/sound-builders-diego-stocco-constructs-blockbuster-music-in-his-backyard

Chess Set Designs

Who said that you need an official chess set? Make your own.
Check out these art designs:

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/9399/the-art-of-chess.html

Avatar

I saw Avatar the other day, and I was taken by the magic of that world. I think the reason that it captivated me was because I always wondered what if things were even more connected, what if we could send thoughts between people, animals, etc.

Did you know that Aspen trees in many places in North America are interconnected. They have the same root system for miles at a time. Is that not amazing!..

What if intelligent life developed in the forms of trees, or maybe that is where it is going...

***

The second thought that has struck me is the story of James Cameron. There is definitely a lesson here:

He grew up in Canada, and later on in California when his family moved. He was captivated by the movie industry, but did not see a way to make it happen. "I couldn't see myself as a future film director. In fact, there was a definite feeling on my part that those people were somehow born into it, almost like a caste system. Little kids from a small town in Canada didn't get to direct movies."

He enrolled in California State University at Fullerton, where he decided to study physics. "I liked science and I thought I might want to be a marine biologist or physicist. But I also liked to write, so I was pulled in a lot of different directions. I liked the idea of an ocean, even though I'd never seen or been in one. I loved the idea of being in another world, and anything that could transport me to another world is what I was interested in."

While he was doing well in school, it was not his thing and he ended up dropping out and working a series of random jobs "such as working in a machine shop, being a truck driver, a school bus driver, painting pictures, while he continued to write at night."

"I was completely self taught in special effects. I'd go down to the USC library and pull any theses that graduate students had written about optical printing, or front screen projection, or dye transfers, anything that related to film technology…if they'd let me photocopy it, I would. If not, I'd make notes."

"Filmmakers, especially those with a technical bent, admire Cameron for "his willingness to incorporate new technologies in his films without waiting for them to be perfected," says Bruce Davis, the executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It adds to the risky nature of Cameron's projects, but his storytelling has reaped enormous benefits. There's a term in Hollywood for Cameron's style of directing, Davis says: "They call this ‘building the parachute on the way down.'"

By Anne Thompson
- Popular Mechanics

http://www.filmmakers.com/artists/cameron/biography/index.htm

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2009/12/11/innovative-new-d-tech-james-camerons-avatar/

Origami/Origata

There is something about the way we present our ideas, food, or gifts. I like simplicity, and origami is an interesting way to blend something that is intricate but still simple.










http://pingmag.jp/2008/04/24/origata/

Lego - How can we utilize lego in our everyday life?

via lifehacker

I saw this project the other day, and I started thinking - How can we utilize lego in our everyday life?

Furnuture

Shelves

Storage

Flower pots

...

My mind is dancing around something, it is on a tip of my tongue. What else?

Bern Hill Railroad Posters

via 37signals/svn

There is certain simplicity, beauty, and power in these posters (can this be transposed to our projects in whatever field that we are engaged in?)

My Theory of Blogs

There are couple of main ideas behind blogs:

Personal History/Journal

Thoughts and Ideas Journal 

Resource Board/Finder (e.g. Lifehacker, 2 or 3 things I know, etc.)

Life Puzzle

What's going on inside of our heads?

www.complexification.net/gallery

levitated.net/daily/levInvaderFractal.html