Here are three interesting things we’ve recently run across on the web:
Globe Genie. Talk about discovery! This is a site project by Joseph G. McMichael, a graduate student at MIT, that transports the user to a random spot somewhere in the world by using images from Google Earth. You set some parameters (currently by continent), hit the “Submit” button, and you’re off on an adventure! An accompanying map shows your location.
It’s amazing just how much of the world looks similar when seen from a road – cars, trees, houses, sky, power lines (!). But it’s really fascinating when you end up somewhere very different, like the rural parts of Africa or Australia. And once you land someplace, you have all the usual Google Earth features: the ability to move along the street, rotate your view, etc.
Careful – you could literally spend hours at this! Give it a try here.
Design with Intent. The second is another graduate student project, this time from England. Dan Lockton, the designer, describes it this way:
“Officially titled Design with Intent: 101 Patterns for Influencing Behaviour Through Design, it’s in the form of 101 simple cards, each illustrating a particular ‘gambit’ for influencing people’s interactions with products, services, environments, and each other, via the design of systems. They’re loosely grouped according to eight ‘lenses’ bringing different disciplinary perspectives on behaviour change. The intention is that the cards are useful at the idea generation stage of the design process, helping designers, clients and – perhaps most importantly – potential users themselves explore behaviour change concepts from a number of disciplines, and think about how they might relate to the problem at hand.”
You can read more here.
Toaster Museum. And finally, another online collection. The Toaster Museum features an astounding collection of toaster appliances, primarily from earlier in the 20th Century. Archived by manufacturer and country, the site is testament to the inventiveness and creativity that can be brought to the creation of a humble household appliance. As someone who has dabbled in the world of electric appliance collections (clothing irons), I find this site simply amazing. It’s well catalogued and beautifully photographed.
And Susan and I discovered we have one of the toasters in our kitchen at home – a Universal E947 from 1920 (see photo). It still works great!
Visit the museum here.