Architecture in Photography

NYTimes posted this article about Iwan Baan, an architecture photographer. He traveled to nine major cities all over the world in a three week period to feature and capture great design and architecture by the best guys in the biz. Mr. Baan, 34, into almost certainly the most wandering architectural photographer in the world as well as one of the most widely published.

This picture featured is the an elevated railway over the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, with its Rem Koolhaas-designed encircling tube.
A slideshow of other great architecture in beautiful technology, click.

OLED

Another new invention by Konica Minolota that will revolutionize the world. Recently, OLED is attracting attention as the next generation lighting. Konica Minolta is the world leader in OLED. The target is lighting. As of July 2006, they have already released an OLED lighting device which possesses the light emission efficiency and lifespan equal to that of a fluorescent lamp. This device has created much excitement.

OLED stands for Organic EL (Electro-Luminescence), and is the phenomenon of light emitted by organic materials to which a voltage has been applied. This helpful chart shows the difference between OLED and other light forms. The creations of five designs have sprouted from this: flat, slim, curved, lower, and environmentally sound design.

New light that is safer and more efficient while being more advanced in its design and actual job is innovative and exactly what other companies should be striving for.

Museum + Technology

NYTimes featured a side button (not an article) about the latest from Konica Minolta, a company specializing in the advancement of imaging. A couple of their latest projects caught my eye. The one I'm featuring in this post is the one about the Venus de Milo; taking beauty from art to a whole new level. This new invention takes looking at art and enhances it by combining computer technology and 3D imaging to bring out the detail and the unseen.

The advanced technology of the Non-Contact 3D Digitizer, developed by Konica Minolta. This digitizer uses a laser to scan the target object and then analyzes the reflected light to perform detailed measurement of the object's shape. This technology was used as the basis for a grand project in which the Venus de Milo was recreated in perfect 3D detail on a computer.
Their site features a video going into more detail and showing exactly what is happening with new imaging. The sights are spectacular.

The iPad competition

Already! GOOGLE has come out with it's own version of the tablet. Delicious.com linked me to this article by TechCrunch where we can see the compeition to the iPad. The iPad obviously has its flaws, as any first edition would. Google's tablet claims to have fewer glitches and a better way to feature certain apps.

This actually looks legit. I didn't think something would come close in the runnings with Apple, but Google is the exception.

I'm curious to see all the tablet users in a year, and which one is the most popular. I won't have one any time soon, but I like the idea of tablets taking over our lives!!

America, America, America

This article by coolhunting really grabbed me. "America's new heartbeat is Silicon Valley!?" One, I've been to the Valley, and I know several tech-ies, so I feel like I am a little more in that state of mind, understand that world, whatever.

The post talks about how the new America is so fixated on technology and the latest piece of it; not cars like in the 50s, or fashion like in Milan, or art like in Paris.

It is a total reality check--we are so obsessed with technology, it is what sweeps the magazine covers, newspaper headlines, and our Christmas lists.

Sign of the Times

Driving along any major road in America, we are bombarded by signs. Every major brand has its own unique design of sign: style, shape, color, font, etc.

Think about it: a company pops into mind, and usually the sign will correspond.

Josef Schulz, a Düsseldorf-based photographer, captures images and edits them into a new way to look at them. His pictures make up his latest exhibition, "Sign Out," at the Galerie Heinz-Martin Weigand.

The signs are empty, without the makeup of font or words, and erasing certain colors. It is a very interesting piece, something that correlates to the recession, maybe. All in all, this work screams America.