bikes and things

Well it turns out that if you’re a German manufacturer of hyper accurate scales that the same gnome weighs differently depending on which part of the world you’re in! How to demonstrate this? Pack it up in a protective case with scales calibrated for their HQ in Germany and send it round the world. Get different scientists to weigh it and pass it on. Hint – it’s due to the earth not being perfectly round.

These scales are so sensitive that the object (or gnome in this case) has to be handled with rubber gloves to avoid adding grease or contaminants that would spoil the reading which is kind of bonkers really.

I’m sure it’s no accident that it’s reminiscent of the gnome that gets packed around the world in Amelie. Polaroid pictures are then taken with the gnome in far off destinations (thanks to a friendly air hostess) and posted back to cheer up the miserable, yet confused, next door neighbour.

And the best thing about all of this? I heard all about this idea from a friend at the weekend who dreamt up this whole thing!

So incredibly cute but also completely cuts through any of the associations many of us have with these icons or logos. Probably seen in their simplest terms.

One of the best things about Flickr is the community of other photographers that exists around it. This is the primary reason I’m still so addicted to it. Perhaps one of the best functions of this community is the ability to mark a photo as a favourite – add it to your library of things you like. I have a fairly large set of favourites, currently running at 4,144 photos so far!

For me one of the best ways of finding new and interesting work is by looking at another users favourites collection. It’s easy to go from user to user and find a bunch of incredible work to look at. It’s like a curated guide to Flickr.

With Associates have completed their November update to their redesign-our-site-once-a-month thing. The end result is great as usual but also sad to see our efforts for October go.

However the thing that’s far more interesting to me is the behind the scenes or process that goes into it. A fairly ambitious 4 hours was set to do the whole thing and again was recorded with a timelapse which fittingly is four minutes long.

And here’s a few more images from their Flickr set.

All images © With Associates.

A fascinating look into the Paris Metro system over at www.sleepycity.net. I love the idea of urban exploring and this really satisfies. The hidden disused stations are incredible.

The Paris Metro and the service it provides are deeply intertwined into the fabric of the city. As the 4.5 million passengers who ride it every day will probably attest it’s the quickest way around whether it’s for work, for play or both. The metro’s distinctive art-nouveau style is unmistakable and the plant like green wrought iron entrances topped with the orange orbs and Metropolitan signage designed by Hector Guimard which sprout up all over the city lead one down to the gleaming white tiled platforms to be whisked away all over the city. On my first trip to Paris I arrived into Gare du Nord and entered the dense maze that is the metro. Despite the crowds, the noise and the distinct odour of piss, I was in love. The kind of love which inspires one to risk life, limb and deportation to get up close and personal.

I’ve been helping a friend at work sort her website out. Rather than doing everything from scratch in Dreamweaver I suggested she use Indexhibit. After a quick install during a lunch a few weeks ago we got round to sorting out the CSS today at lunch. Lots of great work on there and definitely worth checking out.

megjones.net

Brilliant! Love the IT Crowd.

My friend Neil now has a blog worth checking it out. Mainly cycling related. Another one to add to my RSS feeds.

sonomoltostanco.blogspot.com

More and more magazines seem to be struggling with making revenue when there is so much seemingly real time information coming out on the web. One of those organisations is Building Design who are owned by UBM media. They’ve stopped free circulation of their weekly paper to architects due to falling ad revenue. They’ve even locked the website down so that only registered users can login, presumably so they can track users habits and provide greater insight for their advertisers. The trouble is that the login system has completely broken down today. So as well as no weekly paper, the website is completely inaccessible. Seems like one hell of a balls up, but then that’s computers for you.

So instead of seeing news stories, I’m seeing this.

Incredible.