Hasta La Ideas

Reader Shalin wrote in this week and asked a question I hear often: Where is the line between convenience and simple living?

Honestly, I don’t believe there is a set line between convenience and simple living. They aren’t on opposite sides of a scale. What is convenient and contributes to a simple life for one person may not have the same effect for someone else.

Dish washing: I hate it with a passion. As a child, this was my chore, and I vowed as an adult never to live without an automatic dishwasher. To me, washing dishes by hand is a waste of time and steals valuable moments that I could be taking a walk with my family, playing a board game with them, or reading to my son. However, I have a friend who loves washing dishes. She enjoys having her family gather in the kitchen and everyone work together to clean up after a meal. Her family continues their conversation from dinner, each takes on a role in the chore, and washing dishes is as much a part of dinner as eating. To her, an automatic dishwasher detracts from a remarkable life.

Neither of us is correct, and neither of us is wrong. We have made decisions about a dishwasher based on what is right for our families and for our pursuits of remarkable living. The automatic dishwasher helps me to pursue the life I desire, and washing dishes by hand helps my friend to pursue hers. What is important is that both of us have taken the time to evaluate the technology and weighed its advantages and disadvantages for our specific circumstances.

Simply stated, either a product or service helps you to achieve the remarkable life you desire, or it doesn’t. Whenever you encounter a new technology or service, you need to learn about it and decide if it will help or hinder your life. Don’t worry if you’re breaking with traditions of the past or modern social norms — accept the technologies into your life that help you to focus more of your time on what matters most to you, and don’t accept those that distract from it.

pimg alt=”groupama3.jpg” src=”http://www.core77.com/blog/images/groupama3.jpg” width=”468″ height=”306″ class=”mt-image-none” style=”” //p

pOn March 21, skipper Franck Cammas and his crew onboard the 103 foot, maxi-triamaran Groupama 3, set a new around-the-world sailing record by completing the voyage in just over 48 days. This is the seventh time the record has been set, in pursuit of what is called the Jules Verne trophy, in recognition of his 1873 novel in which Phileas Fogg attempts to circle the globe in 80 days, using all means of transport. /p

pIn a post on a href=”http://www.sailinganarchy.com/index_page1.php”Sailing Anarchy/a titled bWhy sailing feats matter/b, author Nicholas Hayes talks about some of what made this remarkable feat possible – that the team “did everything that they had to do, and nothing that they didn’t.” He explains that they focused on two key needs: light and smart./p

blockquote- Light simply means efficient, sustainable, powerful, safe and durable.br /
– Smart simply means aware, logical, and practical.br /
– Together, light and smart sum to fast, agile, confident and bold./blockquote

pDesigners and design teams could do worse than analyzing how this group were able to accomplish their task, and take some lessons in communications and teamwork to achieve what otherwise appears impossible./p

pemThanks to a href=”www.design-lift.com”Dale Raymond/a for the tip!/em/pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/technology/light_and_smart_-_achieving_the_impossible_16281.asp”(more…)/a
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Nouveau showreel 2010 des installations interactives du studio Strukt, basé en Autriche. Une sélection des travaux pour Mercedes Benz, TocaMe ou ATV. Le tout sur la bande-son “Radiohead – Everything in its Right Place”. A découvrir en vidéo dans la suite.

Previously on Fubiz

• MGMT – Flash Delirium
• Four Letter Words
• Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition

Après le Segway, voici un projet du constructeur américain General Motors : le EN-V concept. Une forme de fauteuils bi-places, fonctionnant entièrement à l’électricité avec des design imaginés par le trio de designers Jiao Brillant, Miao Magique et Xiao Amusant. A découvrir dans la suite.

Ce concept est doté d’une autonomie de 40 km grâce à une batterie Li-ion, et sera présenté dans le cadre de l’exposition universelle 2010 de Shangai en octobre prochain.

Previously on Fubiz

• Opel Flextreme GT/E
• Google Maps Animation
• Alfa Romeo Pandion

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/03/adalovelace.jpg” width=”468″ height=”128″ alt=”adalovelace.jpg”//div
div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/03/dobson.jpg” width=”468″ height=”486″ alt=”dobson.jpg”//div

pIt’s a href=”http://findingada.com/”Ada Lovelace Day/a, and Adafruit Industries is featuring one woman in technology per hour on their a href=”http://www.adafruit.com/blog/”blog/a. So far we’ve seen a href=”br /
http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2010/03/24/natalie-jeremijenko-social-robotics-24-hours-of-lady-ada-lovelace-day-ald10/”Natalie Jeremijenko/a, Core-contributor a href=”http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2010/03/24/bethany-shorb-neckwear-designer-24-hours-of-lady-ada-lovelace-day-ald10/”Bethany Shorb/a, a href=”http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2010/03/24/fiona-raby-design-noir-24-hours-of-lady-ada-lovelace-day-ald10/”Fiona Raby/a, a href=”http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2010/03/24/kelly-dobson-machine-therapy-24-hours-of-lady-ada-lovelace-day-ald10/”Kelly Dobson/a (pictured above, performing machine therapy) and many more!/p

pAda Lovelace, whom the holiday commemorates, was one of the first computer programmers:blockquote Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) was one of the world’s first computer programmers, and one of the first people to see computers as more than just a machine for doing sums. She wrote programs for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, a general-purpose computing machine, despite the fact that it was never built. She also wrote the very first description of a computer and of software./blockquote/p

pLearn more a href=”http://findingada.com”here/a and a href=”http://www.adafruit.com/blog”here/a. /pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/technology/ada_lovelace_day_24_hours_of_women_in_technology__16248.asp”(more…)/a
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