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Hi, I am Martin.

This is my blog on mainly technology, entrepreneurship and design. Links about just about anything comes through now and then though. I also run a site on photography called Digital Photo Guide! If you are into photography, why not check that out?

Go to digitalphotoguide.net

Random

Majestic clouds now also over Romania

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Not so long ago I had an article about a very strange phenomena visible in the sky above Moscow, Russia. The cloud formation shaped just as a circle was said to be a freak cloud-formation with passing sun-light passing through. Now the same phenomena happened again in Romaina and the report of the clouds is once again – a freak formation of clouds. The story is contested by sceptics though who claim that this is something from another world.

One question raised from viewers of the clip on Live Leak was regarding the fact that this is something never seen before but now have been seen in two different places in the world with just a small period of time in between.

The meteorologists explain that this seem to be what is called a “fallstreak hole” (also known as Punch Hole Clouds due to their look of a hole in the clouds) though which do show up when super-cooled moisture can not turn into ice and therefore remain in a supercooled state in the sky. And by searching for images of these fallstreak holes one can find allot of really amazing images. How these phenomenon can mistaken for a UFO is not in any way strange when one look at them and it is also obvious here that the formations shown in Russia and Romania is not at all isolated to a few sightings.

Nature, is she not beautiful?

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallstreak_hole
http://ufos.about.com/b/2009/11/06/strange-cloud-formation-in-romania.htm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6438621/UFO-cloud-formation-filmed-in-Romania.html

Art & Design

Awsome fair trade urban backback

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When I first read the description of this bag it left me with a good bunch of questions. Not just the fact that the bag is made up by discarded truck-tires but also that it is supposed to be fair trade and on top of all this created using good design. But the images got me really hooked and I must say that this is one of the best looking backpacks in a long time. Good design together with fair trade. Wonderful!

The bag can be bought from Wannekes and comes in all available colors as long as you want it in black. It’s priced at 195 euros which is a bit over-priced in my opinion but for that price you get a fair trade, great looking bag so I’m all for an order!

Pangolin
Pangolin

Resources:

  • http://www.notcot.org/post/26101/
  • http://www.wannekes.com/categorie/personal_accessories/product/urban_design_backpack_fair_trade_bags_men
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade

Update (2011-04-21): Not longer available for 19 euros. New price is 209 euro.

Art & Design

Radio by motion

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In a world where everything need a touchscreen and finger swipes is the natural way of doing just everything comes a great conceptual product named R1. It is not good looking, it can not twitter, but still I so want one on my desk by some strange reason. The R1 is a radio which you control by moving it.

R1The pure aesthetic design of this product is not why I choose to write about it. This is an analog radio with nothing really fancy except the fact you can manage and use it even if completely blind. This is also the purpose of the radio according to the designer Il-Gu Cha, to make the radio more available for blind people. To turn it on you simply place it on a surface and move it away from you, he further away you move it and louder the volume. When the volume is correct you can move it sideways to change the tuning and to find a station.

The simplicity of this device do show that design is more then a shiny outer of a product. It can consist of a productified thought made into something which is made to work more then just to look good.

Resources:
http://dvice.com/archives/2009/11/r1-radio-has-a.php

Entertainment

Outsourced

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In a time where allot of companies choose to outsource their workforce comes this romantic comedy by fairly unknown John Jeffcoat. The story is set around a man who find himself being outsourced to an Indian company and we get to follow him on his adventures in being an American in Asia. What really made this movie interesting was that I could set it in perspective from my own stay in India a while ago.

OutsourcedTodd is a call-center manager who quite frankly do not like his job. Nevertheless he get upset when he find out that his company is outsourcing him and his team to an Indian company. He even get the task of learning his own replacement about what to do. All from his first views of the Indian society to the clash of cultures is coated in a warm and fuzzy feeling as it is a romantic comedy.

So how does the movie compare to my own observations then? Well first of all, there is more people – everywhere. In Outsourced all that was shown was these calm suburban streets found in the US, and those was not the case in the India I was located in. What was perfectly shown though was the amazing warmth and kindness of the Indian people. You did see smiles and colors almost where ever you went which was an amazing experience for me, coming from the cold and a bit reserved Scandinavia.

If you are ot for a general feel-good movie with no real surprises this is a movie for you. Eventhough the movie can be a bit predictable in parts it will deliver a couple of smiles.

Resources:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425326/

Lifehack

Whiteboard can now be everywhere

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Whiteboards have become a standard today in schools, conference-rooms and even in private personal work spaces. Big glossy surfaces in cheap framing nailed to walls is a great way of improvising productivity and creativity because it makes the process of brainstorming so much easier. Still they have remained glossy surfaces sitting in cheap frames. Well that has been the case up until now – let’s pain a whiteboard everywhere.

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You have most likely seen chalkboard-paint before, to make every wall a painting in the making. However these boards have also a great negative aspect of bringing allot of dirt into the room where they are located. The whiteboard do not do this and can also be in higher contrast using multiple colors and so forth. And this weekend I found out about a company called Ideapaint who sell whiteboard-paint on the gallon so that you can actually make every wall in your home a surface on which you can draw, brainstorm or write a novel on.

The great pros of whiteboard-paint does not end there. When we have the ability to pain everything in this manner we can create tables, kitchens or even bedrooms where we have surfaces just waiting to get scribbled upon with great ideas.

Random

Hot or cold water?

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Since I was young I’ve always been told to wash my hands in hot water because it’s more hygienic then to wash in cold water. I can’t remember who told me this the first time but I know for a fact that I have been raised with this claim. I even asked my mother last weekend if she remembered if she was the one telling me this as a fact but she denied that she was the one given me this claim. So if not form my parents it must have come from school. But really, is hot water really better then cold when it comes to washing you hands?

I was quite surprised when I read an article in NY Times some days ago about the fact that cold water is just as good as hot when it comes to wash my hands. It might me more comfortable to put your hands in but you will not be more clean afterwards then it you had splashed those hands with cold water. Hot water can even be less good as cold water due to the fact that the heat from the water might increase the possibility of irritations on the skin from the soap.

So there you have it. Hot or cold water wont really make any difference, as long as you mix it with soap and put your hands into it you will get the effect you wish.


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