Shulze, Franz. "Philip Johnson" Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1994
“Philip Johnson’s Glass House International Style” http://www.homehousedesign.com
“The Glass House” photo: Eirik Johnson. http://lookingaround.blogs.time.com/2007/06/22/people_who_live_in_glass_house/
“New York State Theater” http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_York_State_Theater_atrium_by_David_Shankbone.jpg
“Philip Johnson” http://tedmikulski.wordpress.com/2009/04/20/looking-like-an-artist-architect-designer/
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
"Commitment slows things down in the short run, but ultimately aligns interests."
"If Craigslist cost $1
Some things are better when they're not free.
If Craigslist charged a dollar for every listing, what would happen?
Well, the number of bogus listings and repetitive listings would plummet, making the site far easier to use.
The number of scam artists using the site would go down, because it's more difficult to be anonymous when money changes hands.
The revenue of the site would soar, which means that the people running the site could get (far) richer, or fund digital journalism or change the economy of an emerging nation.
Money creates a sort of friction. In the digital economy, magical things can happen when there is no friction. You can scale to infinity. On the other hand, sometimes you want friction.
If you lead a group that allows anyone to join, for free, your group might be large, but it's not tight, it's not organized to make important change. Commitment slows things down in the short run, but ultimately aligns interests."
This is so incredibly true. Just look at social networks like MySpace. In my mind, there is decreasing interest in sites like these because they are so inundated with repetitive pages and scammers. If you had to pay for your social networks, not only would you feel less vulnerable, but you would be more likely to invest time and effort into your network, thereby increasing the network's effectiveness for everyone.
via Seth Godin
Some things are better when they're not free.
If Craigslist charged a dollar for every listing, what would happen?
Well, the number of bogus listings and repetitive listings would plummet, making the site far easier to use.
The number of scam artists using the site would go down, because it's more difficult to be anonymous when money changes hands.
The revenue of the site would soar, which means that the people running the site could get (far) richer, or fund digital journalism or change the economy of an emerging nation.
Money creates a sort of friction. In the digital economy, magical things can happen when there is no friction. You can scale to infinity. On the other hand, sometimes you want friction.
If you lead a group that allows anyone to join, for free, your group might be large, but it's not tight, it's not organized to make important change. Commitment slows things down in the short run, but ultimately aligns interests."
This is so incredibly true. Just look at social networks like MySpace. In my mind, there is decreasing interest in sites like these because they are so inundated with repetitive pages and scammers. If you had to pay for your social networks, not only would you feel less vulnerable, but you would be more likely to invest time and effort into your network, thereby increasing the network's effectiveness for everyone.
via Seth Godin
Erm...
Somehow, this seems like a very bad idea... That cat looks like it is about to jump into the sleek new indoor fire.
Chimney-less Fire Pit
via core77
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Hyper-Measurement
"Everyone gets paid on commission
The Washington Post recently laid off a columnist because his blog posts didn't get enough web traffic.
Of course, in the old days, the newspaper had no real way to tell which columns got read and which ones didn't. So journalists were lulled into the sense that it didn't really matter. The Times quotes Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at NYU, “It’s an unusual public rationale for serious newspaper people, that’s for sure.”
Wrong tense. It's not going to be unusual for long.
In fact, in a digital world where everything can be measured, we all work on commission. And why not? If you do great work and it works, you should get rewarded. And if you don't, it's hard to see why a rational organization would keep you on.
You don't have to like the coming era of hyper-measurement, but that doesn't mean it's not here."
Where does this leave the millions of people who are paid living wages where the value is much higher than the ACTUAL value their work generates? If we were all paid on commission, the vast majority of us would starve! May as well let the robots take it all over and we can allow our species to slowly become obsolete.
Then again... I do understand Seth's point. As I'm preparing to enter the job market, I have to ask myself, "Is there anything I can do that it is worth a living wage to an employer?" More often than not, the answer I come up with is "No."
via Seth Godin
The Washington Post recently laid off a columnist because his blog posts didn't get enough web traffic.
Of course, in the old days, the newspaper had no real way to tell which columns got read and which ones didn't. So journalists were lulled into the sense that it didn't really matter. The Times quotes Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at NYU, “It’s an unusual public rationale for serious newspaper people, that’s for sure.”
Wrong tense. It's not going to be unusual for long.
In fact, in a digital world where everything can be measured, we all work on commission. And why not? If you do great work and it works, you should get rewarded. And if you don't, it's hard to see why a rational organization would keep you on.
You don't have to like the coming era of hyper-measurement, but that doesn't mean it's not here."
Where does this leave the millions of people who are paid living wages where the value is much higher than the ACTUAL value their work generates? If we were all paid on commission, the vast majority of us would starve! May as well let the robots take it all over and we can allow our species to slowly become obsolete.
Then again... I do understand Seth's point. As I'm preparing to enter the job market, I have to ask myself, "Is there anything I can do that it is worth a living wage to an employer?" More often than not, the answer I come up with is "No."
via Seth Godin
Night Clubs
I LOVE these interior designs. Designing an amazing space can transform a lackluster club into a true piece of art. When you go out (and spend money, of course), you want an experience, something that takes you out of the ordinary and into a world apart.
via core77
Monday, September 21, 2009
The Looking Glass
I love this concept. It's so imaginative and forward thinking. It reminds me of the way computers are often portrayed in futuristic movies. (Think "Minority Report.")
via core77
via core77
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Personally, I think...
...this applies to just about everything. Not just the web.
"Here's my list of difficult and important questions you have to answer before you spend a nickel:
What is the goal of the site?
In other words, when it's working great, what specific outcomes will occur?
Who are we trying to please? If it's the boss, what does she want? Is impressing a certain kind of person important? Which kind?
How many people on your team have to be involved? At what level?
Who are we trying to reach? Is it everyone? Our customers? A certain kind of prospect?
What are the sites that this group has demonstrated they enjoy interacting with?
Are we trying to close sales?
Are we telling a story?
Are we earning permission to follow up?
Are we hoping that people will watch or learn?
Do we need people to spread the word using various social media tools?
Are we building a tribe of people who will use the site to connect with each other?
Do people find the site via word of mouth? Are they looking to answer a specific question?
Is there ongoing news and updates that need to be presented to people?
Is the site part of a larger suite of places online where people can find out about us, or is this our one sign post?
Is that information high in bandwidth or just little bits of data?
Do we want people to call us?
How many times a month would we like people to come by? For how long?
Who needs to update this site? How often?
How often can we afford to overhaul this site?
Does showing up in the search engines matter? If so, for what terms? At what cost? Will we be willing to compromise any of the things above in order to achieve this goal?
Will the site need to be universally accessible? Do issues of disability or language or browser come into it?
How much money do we have to spend? How much time?
And finally,
Does the organization understand that 'everything' is not an option?"
How often do you see companies that CLEARLY have not thought through these questions? It's sad. Then again, maybe they've answered these questions and answered them INCORRECTLY...
via Seth Godin
"Here's my list of difficult and important questions you have to answer before you spend a nickel:
What is the goal of the site?
In other words, when it's working great, what specific outcomes will occur?
Who are we trying to please? If it's the boss, what does she want? Is impressing a certain kind of person important? Which kind?
How many people on your team have to be involved? At what level?
Who are we trying to reach? Is it everyone? Our customers? A certain kind of prospect?
What are the sites that this group has demonstrated they enjoy interacting with?
Are we trying to close sales?
Are we telling a story?
Are we earning permission to follow up?
Are we hoping that people will watch or learn?
Do we need people to spread the word using various social media tools?
Are we building a tribe of people who will use the site to connect with each other?
Do people find the site via word of mouth? Are they looking to answer a specific question?
Is there ongoing news and updates that need to be presented to people?
Is the site part of a larger suite of places online where people can find out about us, or is this our one sign post?
Is that information high in bandwidth or just little bits of data?
Do we want people to call us?
How many times a month would we like people to come by? For how long?
Who needs to update this site? How often?
How often can we afford to overhaul this site?
Does showing up in the search engines matter? If so, for what terms? At what cost? Will we be willing to compromise any of the things above in order to achieve this goal?
Will the site need to be universally accessible? Do issues of disability or language or browser come into it?
How much money do we have to spend? How much time?
And finally,
Does the organization understand that 'everything' is not an option?"
How often do you see companies that CLEARLY have not thought through these questions? It's sad. Then again, maybe they've answered these questions and answered them INCORRECTLY...
via Seth Godin
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
I love this.
Design Glut is marketing what they're calling "statement products." If I wasn't a poor, starving college student, I might actually shell out the money for the Homeland Security Blanket with the color-rated threat levels.
Core77 pooh-poohs the prices, but can one really place a dollar amount on owning a defiled piece of history?
Perhaps the prices themselves are a "statement product"?
via core77
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