devolute.net

The good thing about the new Adobe icons is they’re very easy to recreate in Post-its. Still, god knows how long this took. Music by Röyksopp. (via @laughingsquid)

It’s probably the starcraft in Star Wars that have featured the most iconic and memorable design. The racing stripes on the wedge-shaped A-Wing starfighter always looked cool (like dogfighting in a Dodge Viper?) and the spindly angularity of the Nebulon-B escort frigate made it look like it was going to beat the crap out of you. I think that strong design helped Star Wars become what it did, as fans could have the familiarity of recognisable ships as they moved from watching the movies to playing the games.

Likewise, a simliar level of work went into much of the architecture. The Architects Journal have detailed how some creations have influenced real-life counterparts and sometimes vis-versa.

Bright Tree Village is an exemplar of sustainable, low-tech development. This Ewok settlement on the forest moon of Endor follows the traditional pattern: thatched-roof huts are arranged on the main branches of a tree around the chief’s hut on the trunk. Rated BREEAM Excellent, the development – by architect Wicket W Warrick – makes use of locally sourced materials, is carbon-neutral and far exceeds Endor’s notoriously strict building regulations.

Top 10: The architecture of Star Wars – The Architects Journal (via Lola)

All the kids love Wu-Tang, but some of the album art for the album covers is pretty crap. I’d actually say that album art for hip-hop albums is probably worse than other genres, on average. I don’t know why that is. Maybe designers don’t like hip-hop? Maybe artists and labels concentrate more on the music instead and consider good design an unnecessary expense. Maybe typography is a naughty word. Designer Logan Walters has taken it upon himself to redesign some of the old Wu albums. They’re a bit reminiscent of old Hitchcock movie posters. I think they’re a great improvement on the originals:

36 Chambers remix

I can’t slag the original designs off without saying that I’ve always thought one Wu-tang album has excellent album art: Bobby Digital in Stereo, a side-project by the RZA. It’s probably my favourite cover and a pretty good album to boot.

View pt 1 of the collection of ‘new’ Wu-Tang albums at Logans blog. I hear he’s planning a pt 2.

This film explores power of mass collaboration, government and the internet. Ideas such as allowing people to choose policy, not the government are discussed. It features David Milliband saying, interestingly, that an election every 4 years isn’t enough. I’m inclined to agree with him.

Representative democracy is based on the idea that people are thick. That’s not true.

There are a host of interesting people featured here, from Cabinet ministers, users of Mumsnet, mySociety folk and even Linux geeks. More importantly; it looks past the current extent of e-Democracy which seems to be, basically, “Lets put everything on YouTube, yeah?”

via Core77

A short story about a disembodied head and the mouse that loved her. The quaintness of the animation here does not match the screwed-up nature of the story!

They’ll sample anything these days. Music Video for ‘Printer Jam’ by Mistabishi on Hospital Records. Video by Tin Spider.

by Jude Buffum, via Tiny Cartridge

Google Street View is a pretty amazing addition to Maps now we’ve got it in the UK. I’ve seen my nans house, my office and my old car but now I’m bored. I need someone to find the best bits for me. Only a few cities are covered so far, but fortunately for me that includes Sheffield. I’m finding from blogs and twitter that people that understand the technology don’t care about the intrusion, because it’s just so damn cool.

Friend of Catch21, Conrad, created this flickr group to highlight the best of Street View UK . I’ve displayed a highlight here *proudly plays national anthem*

Visit the Google Street View flickr group.

Stewart Lee

Stewart Lee isn’t just good at pissing off Christians, he’s also a very funny stand-up comic. Now he might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s great to have a comedian on that early in the evening on BBC2 who doesn’t insult my intelligence. Especially as he spends most of the time slagging off the BBC staples of Moyles, Clarkson et al. It’s not even a one off. He’s got a series out of it. God knows who let that happen. Presumably the same person who allowed the classic TMWRNJ with Richard Herring. It’s even produced by Armando Iannucci for crying out loud! What more do you people want?

Last nights show focused on ‘Toilet Books’, or rather celebrity hardbacks. Leigh deals with the whole thing not with anger, or angst but with a lofty disapproval. He’s cleverer than all of us (and of course much funnier). That’s just something we have to deal with.

See it on iPlayer here for the next few days.

And yes, it’s got the actor Kevin Eldon in it, obviously.

I’m tired of all this Microsoft Surface hype, but I like to see some new innovative ‘future-interfaces’ in action. I think this video shows what it will feel like to be a web developer in about 10 years. y’know, after everyone has stopped using IE6 so we can all do something remotely complex?

World Builder from Bruce Branit on Vimeo.

It’s all there. The developer taking care of every tiny little detail (is that a 1px error I see in your navigation?) and then creepily watching the user from a shadowy corner (Google Analytics!).

via Bloggerheads

The Nintendo DS has always seemed a little bit too ‘kiddy’ for me, but with the release of Chinatown Wars, things look like they’re about to change. This game looks better for the fact that it’s a DS-specific title, not some hand-me down re-jigging of a Playstation title. The stylus seems to be an integral part of the game, rather than some tagged-on annoyance.

What also helps is the presence of personal fav MF Doom on the soundtrack. Oh, and Ghostface Killah. Delicious. Time to get me a DS.

The game is out next week. Check out some trailers etc. at the official site.

[edit: definative review imho here ]

Star of this is Ed Helms of course, who’s musical stylings are probably the best part of the whole show. This post is primarily for one of my keenest commenters, Rami.

via Huff post

Giraffe

That’s all for this week.

Spoiler: This is pretty much the film.