Hasta La Ideas

A watched pot never boils, but unwatched toast can definitely burn. The Magimix Le Toaster Vision precludes this; hard to believe it’s taken someone this long to think up, but this is the first toaster concept we’ve ever seen that features glass walls so you can see exactly how brown your bread’s getting and hit “eject” at the right time.

via dvice

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In Australia lo stanno già festeggiando, qui mancano una manciata di ore…preparo l’arsenale per questa sera e vi auguro un buon 2010!!!

Well, as the old saying goes, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. After reading this brief report about the Orange County Museum of Art deciding to postpone a Richard Diebenkorn exhibit for the second time this year, due to its not being able to handle the many hundreds of thousands of dollars it would cost to put it together, it made us think that reading Daniel Grant‘s recap of the museum industry in 2009, “Portrait of a Challenging Year,” all the more relevant and worthy of posting another year-in-review link. Grant provides a great overview of all the good and bad that came this year (mostly the latter), ranging largely from those museums who had to scale way back once their endowments disappeared and audiences stopped coming or came with less money to give, to those museums who just couldn’t weather the storm and were forced to close. We here at UnBeige have reported on hundreds of museum stories this year, and told in small doses, it’s easy to lose sight of what an incredibly tumultuous year 2009 has been. Good to see the big picture and read a bit about how those who survived will be trying to get their homes back in order.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

I had a great deal of fun going through all of the 2009 unitaskers for yesterday’s best unitaskers post, so I spent a few hours and did the same with all of the Unclutterer posts. The following are the posts that I loved writing this year. They’re not necessarily the most read or commented on or likely to be your favorites — they’re simply the ones that rang “favorite” with me. Enjoy!

Outfitting a minimalist kitchen:

Making “essentials” lists is a risky endeavor. Obviously, the items I turn to every day aren’t going to be what other people use. It was still a fun experiment and I created my list by answering the question: “If my home were destroyed in a disaster, what 10 items would I replace first?”

Ask Unclutterer: Having it all:

Reader April asked the following question in the comments section of a recent post: “How do you have time for all of this – running a blog, writing a book, all of these musical activities & all the other stuff you seem to do?”

10 uncluttering things to do every day:

8. Get ready for bed an hour before you plan to go to sleep. Doing this means that your dirty clothes are more likely to be returned to a hanger, dropped in the hamper, or put in a mesh bag for dry cleaning, hand washing, or repairing. Also, a set bedtime routine signals your brain that it’s time to relax and prepare for sleep.

Official release: Unclutter Your Life in One Week:

Today is the day Unclutter Your Life in One Week officially goes on sale. It has been a roller-coaster ride, and I am so glad to finally be at this stage in the process. Expanding the Unclutterer message to a new medium is honestly a dream come true. My sincerest desire is that this book will help people discover the benefits of an uncluttered life and inspire them to clear the clutter to pursue what they value most.

Ask Unclutterer: How many hours will a family of four spend on laundry each week?:

Kids seem to generate a lot of clothing — spills, sports practices, uniforms for after-school jobs, indecision about what to wear, etc. If I generate 16 pounds of clothing in a week, I imagine that a middle schooler or high schooler could easily create 14 to 15 pounds of clothing in a week. Multiply that by two and add in two adults, and a family of four probably generates between 60 and 65 pounds of clothing per week. In our washing machine, that would be five to six loads of clothing.

Productivity and organizing insights found in Lean systems:

Even if you don’t implement the full systems, simply knowing about their methods can help to improve the way you do your work. I have definitely gained many helpful tips and tricks studying their processes.

What Unclutterer posts did you count among your favorites this year? Share your list in the comments.

Some sad news for fans of architecture in New York. The NY Times has reported that Norval White, author of the famed AIA Guide to New York City, has passed away this week. The book, which was first published in the late-’60s and is soon to be on its fifth edition, has long been considered the end-all-be-all for information about building in the city. White was also a committed activist for preservation in the city, both through his role as an educator, in his books, and working with groups to save the city’s landmark buildings. Here’s a bit about his AIA Guide and its importance:

The guide made architecture accessible to a broad public by discussing buildings in context rather than treating them in isolation. And it did not require readers to know the difference between a volute and a voussoir.

It celebrated the vernacular background buildings that are as much a part of the city’s character as its best-known landmarks. By establishing the provenance of these structures, the guide introduced readers to a legion of second-tier architects who had done first-rate work. It also raised the profile of the American Institute of Architects and its New York chapter, which sponsored the guide.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.