- "Use only what you need"
- Interesting ad campaign promoting water conservation in Denver.
- Smart saw stops and retracts blade instantly upon contact with human flesh
- “Every contact with a conductive material (i.e. a human body as opposed to wood) results in a drop of voltage which in turn results in an aluminum block being ‘shot’ into the teeth of the blade.” [tx NG]
- Tom Suzuki, reknowned textbook designer
- Interesting quote from obit: “He had that important editorial designer gift — he actually read what he was designing for. And the art department worked interactively with the editorial department and the authors and consultants in developing art and photo concepts.”
- Federico Fellini on constraints
- “I don’t believe in total freedom for the artist. Left on his own, free to do anything he likes, the artist ends up doing nothing at all. If there’s one thing that’s dangerous for an artist, it’s precisely this question of total freedom, waiting for inspiration and all the rest of it.” [via CPU]
- Wagashi, traditional Japanese confections evolve into art form
- “The character pronounced ‘wa’ denotes things Japanese, while the characters for ‘gashi’, an alliteration of kashi, have come to mean confections. Wagashi represent the essence of Japanese culture, and continue to be vital force in Japanese life.” [tx LB]
- Kate Winslet says her curves inspired the design of a new Jaguar
- “The curvaceous Brit Titanic star and hater-of-all-things-skinny, Kate Winslet, is purportedly the muse behind the design of the new Jaguar XK. Apparently, according to Winslet in an interview on NBC’s The Tonight Show, the designer saw Winslet as ‘the ideal woman, and was inspired by the shape of my body or something…’”
- Choices = Headaches (Joel Spolsky on the OFF button in Windows Vista)
- Inevitably, you are going to think of a long list of intelligent, defensible reasons why each of these options is absolutely, positively essential. Don’t bother. I know. Each additional choice makes complete sense until you find yourself explaining to your uncle that he has to choose between 15 different ways to turn off a laptop.
- The joy of carpentry
- “Putting in a window should be a joy. You should love the new header and the sound of your electric screwdriver as it secures the new beams. The only good carpenter is the one who knows that he’s not good. He’s afraid that he’ll ruin the whole house, and he works slowly. It’s the same as cooking or driving. The good cook knows humility, and his soufflé never falls because he is terrified that it will fall the whole time he’s cooking.”
- How to carve an ox
- “A good cook changes his knife once a year-because he cuts. A mediocre cook changes his knife once a month-because he hacks.”
- Ricky Gervais asks Chris Martin ridiculous questions
Darrel
on 29 Nov 06The sawstop inventor is having a tough time actually getting the industry to use it:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5441114&ft=1&f=1006
Jeff Koke
on 29 Nov 06Seems like he’s having a tough time FORCING the industry to use it. I think it’s a great technology and the video with the hot dog is impressive, but changing the entire industrial power-tools industry is not going to happen overnight, and he stands to gain a lot if the technology is adopted.
If his only concern were the safety of workers, he could easily donate the technology, or sell it at a greatly reduced price, but I didn’t see any evidence that he wants to do that.
Don Schenck
on 29 Nov 06The saw industry is boycotting this invention because once the technology is generally accepted, then makers will be forced to adopt it or face lawsuits for not embracing the Best Available Technology regarding injury.
And Kate Winslet is VERY inspiring!! wink
Dan Boland
on 29 Nov 06The sawstop inventor is having a tough time actually getting the industry to use it.
Doesn’t surprise me one bit. About ten years ago, an inventor made waves with a similar saw. (Unlike this particular saw, the one I’m referring to didn’t stop running when touched by human skin, it just didn’t harm it. In the demo, the inventor ran it across his hand, then cut through a brick.) Maybe now, with insurance costs spiraling out of control, businesses will be more apt to cover their own butts with this kind of product.
Regarding the Denver Water ads, the bench is the one I like the least, mainly for the reason that in order to make a point, they ruined an otherwise perfectly good bench. The billboard is the most effective, hands down.
Joshua Kaufman
on 29 Nov 06the designer saw Winslet as ‘the ideal woman, and was inspired by the shape of my body or something…
I’d believe it. I’m not a car fan but the XK is gorgeous.
Killian
on 29 Nov 06I hate this recurring theme of how people should not be admired for developing a new product and trying to actually make money from their invention. If this invention is a sawing machine, a web application, art, or music I keep hearing this tired ‘what a sell-out’ refrain.
People need to be rewarded for their efforts – we all don’t have trust funds. It sort of reminds me of a story from an advertising-exec who would often be rebuffed from rappers when he approached them to get paid to do some sort of commerical… The rappers who turned him down on account of ‘keeping it real’ were always the well-to-do rappers who felt like they had to prove they were real. The guys who actually were ‘real’ were the ones who most wanted and needed to get paid for their craft and who jumped at the chance to actually make some money. Which aisle do you fit in?
JF
on 29 Nov 06I hate this recurring theme of how people should not be admired for developing a new product and trying to actually make money from their invention. If this invention is a sawing machine, a web application, art, or music I keep hearing this tired ‘what a sell-out’ refrain.
I agree completely. There’s nothing wrong with profit motive.
One of the easiest things in the world is to spend or manage someone else’s money. It’s easy to tell this person they should donate more or that person they’re making too much. It’s easy to say their margins are too high or they aren’t giving back enough to the community. It’s easy to pass financial judgement on someone else when it makes you feel better about yourself.
I think the real culprit is jealousy.
Profit motive is healthy. It’s a great motivator and innovation catalyst. Don’t be afraid of it.
Jeff Koke
on 29 Nov 06I don’t know if that was directed at me, but I wasn’t trying to suggest that people shouldn’t be rewarded monetarily for their inventions. It sounds like the table saw is selling very well, so I think he is.
I just think it’s a conflict of interest for him to petition the regulating body to force other manufacturers to use his technology, presumably with a license fee.
uioi
on 29 Nov 06六合彩 六合彩
David
on 29 Nov 06It looks to me that the bench is wasteful since nobody is sitting in the one available slot. I guess it should be BYOP (Plank)...
Steven Andrew Miller
on 29 Nov 06Speaking of cars inspired by famous women: How about the Renault Megane and JLo?
http://www.pistonheads.com/pics/news/10414/Renault_Megane-L.jpg
Dan
on 29 Nov 06In reference to the off options in windows vista: I haven’t used windows vista, and I do think that those look like too many options. That being said, I also feel like the article proposing a reduction to one button because choices make people unhappy ignored an aspect of the issue about which I feel strongly. When I run a computer program or operating system I want there to be as many ways to configure the thing as I can possibly imagine, but I don’t want them all to be turned on by default. This is the difficult balancing act.
A more complete solution to the problem of too many buttons would be to have a default setup like the one proposed but allow the user to add or remove any button they chose in addition to being able to assign functions for those buttons to closing the screen or pushing the power button. When I close my screen all I want to do is power off the monitor. When my dad closes his he wants to put his computer to sleep. When I press the power button I want the menu providing options: “shut down, restart, hibernate, etc.” to show up. My dad wants to just shut down. I’ve configured XP on my computer to do what I want with those behaviors. I think ultimately providing the ability for user who want more to be able to get it from your product is necessary, even if trimming features takes precedent.
I also have run into many people who have found fault with iPods not including an off switch. It makes less tech-savvy people uncomfortable when they can’t turn off a machine.
In the end it just seems like a waste to me to create software with the capability to do so many different things and to do exactly what someone wants if they are willing and able to make the effort to learn how to configure it and then to choose one generic configuration and set it in stone.
(Just want to say that I do realize that when talking about the majority of users they do need a simple default UI and on that level I agree with the article.)
Don Schenck
on 30 Nov 06Now if FoMoCo was really smart, they’d hire Winslet to pitch the Jag.
Disclaimer: I’m about to purchase some Ford stock (symbol: F).
gemorris
on 04 Dec 06We have a sawstop here in the materials lab at the college of design at NCSU. I also work as a technician in said lab. As someone who has dealt with shop related injuries before (thankfully minor) I must say, there really is no excuse for not using the safest equipment possible. I constantly have to hound fellow students to properly place and utilize guards, as well as to wear safety glasses. Lets not even start on people who think working in a shop in flip-flops is a-ok.
The problem with the sawstop is that while the stop mechanism is top notch, the format is antiquated. Cabinet saws? Seriously? Mainland Europe went to much safer sliding table saws over 10 years ago, why is the supposedly most advanced american saw still in the classic fixed table format?
Or is being innovative on more than one front too much to ask?
This discussion is closed.