Interesting Reading: 10/15
Solar Cell Phones Go On Sale
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703790404574472791840523758.html
Consumer demand for solar-based phones is hard to gauge, but makers are planning to market them as good for the environment as well as a way to hedge against running out of battery power.”Note: The price on these both these phones are in excess of $300, and take ten hours to charge in full sun. There is limited applicability for most urban dwellers, but these phones can be seen as precursors of what could be for rural populations in developing countries who are neither near, or can’t depend on consistent sources of power.--------
The Value of Visual Thinking
http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/2009/10/the-value-of-visual-thinking.html“So what's the value of visual thinking for business? For starters it can help educate, especially if you are launching a new product, initiative or idea. Take for example our own vision for Social Business Design. When I first joined the team, Jeff immersed me in the company vision and I spent several weeks wrapping my head around the idea. During this process, I knew that we would need more than words to communicate such a big idea. One of the first things I did was to begin to visualize what critical elements looked like so that other people would have a "mark" they could file mentally and recall whenever they heard a word such as "hiveminded" or "metafilter." and the image with "yummy." Education is one value that visual thinking has. When I present our ideas on Social Business Design, I display screen shots of websites and social networks, and I watch the audience as they take notes. But when the visualizations of our 4 archetypes flash on the screen, the note taking usually stops and eyes fixate on the screen studying the image and the words. It's almost as if I can see their thought process in action. “--------Rent a Bike Now
http://bikehugger.com/2009/10/rent-a-bike-now.html“Rent a Bike Now has developed a network of shops that rent bikes at various locations around the country. This makes sense - sort of odd for the “outter-booths” at Interbike. They vett the shops and make sure that the bikes they offer are up to snuff. With the rise in costs for travelling with a bike - rental is a really appealing option. In the past I’ve googled and chased shop reputations with local forums. This takes away that work and makes sure you get what you’re after. Perfect!”--------Panasonic Lumix GF1 Review, October 2009
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/PanasonicGF1/&Panasonic GF1 Field Report
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2009/10/panasonic-gf1-field-report.htmlTwo extensive reviews of the new Lumic GF1, perhaps the smallest interchangeable lens camera on the market. This camera has many features of my Ricoh GX 200, yet has a much larger sensor and faster operating speed. To my mind this is the first really interesting camera to come to market in a very long time.
