One hundred years from now, the role of science and technology will be about becoming part of nature rather than trying to control it.

—  Joi Ito

First responders. Military. Pornographers. Research. Retail. This changes many things.

- Jan Chipchase

When was the last time you saw a good viral video that actually communicated the product/brand value proposition? Never? Yeah, me too. 

Dollar Shave Club, you have created that mythical creature that clients clamor for and agencies continue to promise to deliver.

It’s too bad your site is down.

Childhood found… This is how I used to imagine me and my brothers looked when we cruised around the neighbourhood on our Big Wheels.

A finely tuned aesthethic…

Stendhal syndrome, Stendhal’s syndrome, hyperkulturemia, or Florence syndrome is a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly beautiful or a large amount of art is in a single place. The term can also be used to describe a similar reaction to a surfeit of choice in other circumstances, e.g. when confronted with immense beauty in the natural world.

The idea of being so struck by the beauty of something that one feels physical sensation seems like less of a disease and more of a gift.

(Source: Wikipedia)

sunfoundation:

The Colour Clock

Representing time as a hexadecimal value

The acquisition of Canada, this year, as far as the neighborhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching.

—  Thomas Jefferson, August 1812

(Source: walrusmagazine.com)

What does your Northface say about you?

In Korea, teenagers rely on not brand (the brand is given), but individual product skews in determining social status. As the range of personal expression narrows, social hierarchies become taller and more well-defined. What happens to the kids who don’t wear Northface jackets?

According to a Korean blog post that made the rounds late last month, North Face jacket wearers can be immediately classified according to the type of North Face jacket they wear. This is apparently a common phenomenon in elementary and middle schools in particular, where the jackets are so popular they have been dubbed “the uniform worn over the uniform,” or “backbreakers,” (thus called for the work put in by parents in order to afford the jackets for their children).

The rankings also specify what type of student should be wearing which specific type of North Face jacket. At the bottom of the scale is the North Face Nuptse 2, cost ₩250,000 (approximately US$220), which is generally worn by “losers” (찌질이). Next on the list is the “common” Nuptse 1, worn both by “losers” and “gang members” (일진). Two categories up is the Dry Loft, ₩470,000. “Losers don’t wear the jackets starting from this category because they’re afraid of having them swiped by gang members.” At the top, priced at ₩700,000 is the “rare” Himalayan Down Parka, the most expensive model worn by “the boss.”

As laughable as this list may seem, according to some students it simply puts into words what remains unspoken in school halls. “You can definitely label people according to what North Face jackets they wear,” says Park Jin, 14, who is the class president of his middle school in western Seoul. “If you wear a really expensive one, then the iljin (gang members) in school come and take it from you.”

(Source: cnngo.com)

Look, I’ve never had a dream in my life.
Because a dream is what you want to do, but still haven’t pursued.
I knew what I wanted and did it till it was done.
So I’ve been the dream that I wanted to be since day one.

—  Aesop Rock, No Regrets

History doesn’t repeat itself - at best it sometimes rhymes

—  Mark Twain

In China a fapioa – the official receipt used for expense claims has a resale face value of 2 – 10% of face value – leaving one behind in a restaurant or taxi is the equivalent of giving a tip (in a culture where tipping is uncommon) and not requesting one allows the person or establishment to avoid ringing the exchange through a cash register. There are two primary practices around handing out fapioa: the first is that they are printed to the exact value; the second is that the seller takes an equivalent sum from book of fapioa.

- Jan Chipchase, The Reverse Tip

datavis:

Data Breach by The Surgery for Raconteur

Uncertainty is a friend, for its bedfellow is opportunity.

—  Paul Saffo

Currencies are no longer the domain of the nation state as global (Facebook credits, Bitcoin) and hyperlocal currencies emerge. 

Brixton-born Bowie is on the 10-pound note, while the fiver features former Brixton Basketball Club star turned Chicago Bull Luol Deng. The 20-pound note is graced by World War II spy Violette Szabo, who inspired the 1958 film Carve Her Name with Pride.