Steckling by Takashi Sato

The clothes hanger is not only a useful addition, but a crucial element in the Steckling. By inserting the coat hangers into the maple pole the wardro..

Douglas Copeland

–> dear ada

Vessel: One

It’s way more complicated than it looks.

links for 2009-08-18

The 99% Site and Conference

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Taking the concept of the productivity-themed 99% conference to heart, Behance recently re-launched the 99% site as a resource chock block full of articles, interviews, tips and videos all geared towards making ideas happen.

Representing the culmination of six years of research on the subject of productivity, in addition to original content, the publication also culls the web for tidbits related to the topic. Check out their “Sessions” for small “best practices” workshops and their other consulting services. The site also offers full versions of select talks, like Seth Godin and Scott Thomas, given at the 99% conference last year.

Check back often as 99% will offer new tips on productivity daily. Also, be sure to sign up for updates as we are putting together speaker line ups and events for next year’s 99% conference on 15 and 16 April 2010.

407 – Buss, the Un-Discovered Island

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In September 1578, while sailing near Greenland’s southernmost point at Cape Farewell, captain James Newton of the Emmanuel recorded in his log the first sighting of an island “seeming to be fruiteful, full of woods, and a champion countrie.” The island came to be known as Buss, after the type of boat that discovered it – the Emmanuel being a short, two-masted herring buss. And despite its non-existence, Buss Island appeared on nautical maps of the area well into the 19th century, making it one of the more persistent of the many phantom islands that once dotted maps of the North Atlantic.

The existence of Buss Island was first made public in a book written by George Best in the same year of its discovery, called A True Discourse of the Late Voyages of Discouerie for Finding of a Passage to Cathaya by the North-Weast, under the Conduct of Martin Frobisher, Generall. It appeared on the Molyneux globe (1592) and a Plancius map (1594), and was again spotted in 1605 by James Hall, albeit in a different place from where he expected it. No matter: Buss Island continued to make regular map appearances, was deemed as real as Frisland (another fabrication since disproved – and mentioned earlier on this blog) or Greenland (which still exists). It was sighted again in 1668 by Zachariah Gillam, captain of the Nonsuch (sic).

The 1671 claim by Thomas Shepherd, captain of the Golden Lion, to have visited, explored and mapped the island extensively, led to an royal charter and an expedition aimed specifically at Buss. Shepherd’s description was tantalisingly precise (this map by John Seller, from 1673, details Shaftesbury Harbour and  Arlington Harbour and a small, outlying Shepherd Island, among other illegible data). But of course, the elusive island would only reveal itself to sailors not looking for it, not to those who sought it out. This stubborn refusal to be found, coupled with an increase of transatlantic traffic, caused the presumed size of Buss Island to shrink and later its very existence to be questioned. Eventually, it was presumed the island had ’sunk’, a theory that reconciled the earlier, incontrovertible eyewitness reports with its obvious absence.

It took another Arctic expedition to also put the sinking theory to rest. In 1818, the Isabella, captained by John Ross (and still looking, as Frobisher had been, for the Northwest Passage) established that there were no shallows in the area proposed for Buss’s sinking. Ironically, Ross himself mistook a North Atlantic mirage for dry land, naming it “Crocker Hills”; the controversy of their either-or-not-existence would later dent his reputation (which was later redeemed by his discovery of the magnetic north pole, and the heroic, 4-year expedition during which he made it).

Only in 1856 would Buss Island disappear from the last nautical charts, the rich potential of its existence finally yielding to the disappointing reality of its un-discovery. The only mysteries remaining are what might have been mistaken for Buss Island: mirages? Parts of Greenland? Lies or delusions to make a dreary North Atlantic trip more interesting?

This map taken from this page at Cape May Magazine.

Blockhead Bike Stem

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Today’s bike culture is all about customization, and cw&t‘s new Blockhead Bike Stem does just that. Carved out of a solid block of 7075 aluminum, the indestructible stem affixes handlebars in style. Focusing on ways we construct space, Che-Wei Wang and Taylor Levy—the Pratt Institute architecture professors that make up cw&t—perfectly exemplify this with their small but powerful component.

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The Blockhead Stem is available for purchase from the cw&t website for $89, but for the lucky five who get there first, cw&t is offering 25% off, simply enter “agoodword” at checkout.

Last Chance to Enter Guggenheim and Google Shelter Design Contest

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Our summer-long case of Frank Lloyd Wright fever comes to an end Sunday, with the closing of the Guggenheim’s stellar “Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward” exhibition. So time’s a wasting to enter the global design contest sponsored by Guggenheim and Google (a match-up that we like to call “Googlenheim”). As you may recall, the Design It: Shelter Competition invites amateur and professional designers to use Google Earth and Google SketchUp to create and submit designs for virtual 3-D shelters for a location of their choice anywhere on Earth (anywhere? anywhere!). Two prize winners (one chosen by a jury that includes architect Neil Denari and Pentagram’s Lisa Strausfeld, the other by public voting on ten finalists selected by students at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture) will be announced on October 21, the 50th anniversary of the Guggenheim Museum’s opening. More than 200 participants from more than 40 different countries have already submitted entries. You’ve got until Sunday.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Another Day, Another Graphic T-Shirt

ript.jpgIn a world of shrinking attention spans and contracting markets, a new breed of e-commerce company is banking on the one-shot deal: here today, gone tomorrow. One of our favorite newcomers to the fast-paced e-tail scene is RIPT Apparel, a Chicago-based online t-shirt shop that showcases one unique graphic t-shirt per day (yours for $10 plus $2.50 shipping in sizes ranging from small to 3XL) along with information about the artist behind the design. Since the site’s launch in June, we’ve been impressed by the diverse bunch of wearable graphics, which have included Romanian illustrator Liviu Matei‘s Frank Kline-y take on the Japanese flag, an aviating platypus, a killer popcorn popper, and robots, lots and lots of robots. After 24 hours, each shirt “rests in peace forever,” explains TJ Mapes, RIPT’s web director. Think of it as Threadless with ADD.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Wohngarten Sensengasse by Josef Weichenberger Architects and room8 architects

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Josef Weichenberger Architects and Room8 Architects have completed a residential project next to a park in Vienna, Austria. (more…)