Emily Davidow
My Fingers Wear Pants… and Read Books
Posted on 04.16.08 by Emily


I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley from Book Videos on Vimeo.

I Was Told Thered Be Cake by Sloane Crosby I had noted I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley as a book I would probably enjoy reading, but without a sense of urgency. Then comes this short film and these diorama diaries. Sloane creates elaborate multi-media dioramas in lucite boxes for a bunch of her stories and brings them to life in these videos. Ha! I am falling in love. And ordering your book. Thanks for making me laugh!

“Like most people I imagine do, I have three sets of magnetic poetry. I don’t know why you wouldn’t. One of them is cat themed, which is in no way pathetic.” (from Diary of a Diorama: Smell This)

Filed under: advertising and books and creativity and culture and design and emily approved and funny and marketing and nyc and shopping and video


links for 2008-03-05: Just Need 989 More Fans
Posted on 03.05.08 by Emily

links for 2008-02-12: connect the dots la la la la
Posted on 02.12.08 by Emily

Filed under: activism and advertising and animals and better world and creativity and culture and links and love and marketing and photography and science and taste and technology and travel and video and webstuff


G1G2 - Get One Give Two XO OLPCs
Posted on 02.11.08 by Emily

I received this note through a friend from Timothy Falconer of Waveplace Foundation (then edited with links and pix as I checked out the story — here’s the original):

Xoxo xo olpc g1g1Waveplace is a non-profit starting an XO pilot in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, in ten days [February 17th]. OLPC was going to be giving us laptops as part of the Get One Give One program, but it fell through, which is why I’m trying to get twenty XOs from elsewhere.

Angels of a Lower Flight: One Womans Mission to Save a Country One Child at a Time by Susie Scott KrabacherYour laptop may end up in the hands of one of the most needy children in the Western Hemisphere. The school where the laptop will be sent is run by Susie Scott Krabacher, who has been the Mother Theresa of Haiti for 15 years. In fact, a major motion picture is being made about her life right now, based upon her autobiography, Angels of a Lower Flight: One Womans Mission to Save a Country… One Child at a Time

You could really help by agreeing to sell us your laptop. We’ve only got ten days to get the laptops to Miami, as we’re leaving for Haiti on Feb 17th.

screenshot of children who will soon be getting XO laptops in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti from Waveplace videoTo see the kids that will get them, watch this video, which we shot last month.

Susie’s organization: Mercy and Sharing Foundation (Check on GuideStar.)

You can see a slideshow of the conditions and read an article by Susie from our newsletter.

One way or another, we’ll be in Haiti in ten days. [They're leaving for Haiti February 17th] Please help us bring more laptops.

Please pass the word, and if you have a laptop to sell, click contact on the Waveplace site.

Thank you!

I’m giving mine. David Weinberger’s giving his too. Timothy noted that Waveplace will update with news and video, some of which will include your XO laptop in the hands of the Haitian child who gets it.

Would love to have seen more transparency from the original One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project and the G1G1 (Get One Give One) program regarding the children who receive it and connection between the giver and the getter. Nevertheless, it’s a thrill to see the news and pictures from the pilot in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

girls with the olpc in mongolia

I loved the idea of OLPC project and the G1G1 program from the start and still do (despite some bungling in execution and logistics). Yes to empowering children around the world to learn, connect, explore and experiment with their own connected computers! (Yes to nutrition and health initiatives also! Why would that be an either/or?) It feels great to participate.

Commodore Pet Computer It’s hard to remember any specific classroom lessons from that age, but I distinctly remember the joy of experimenting on a Commodore PET, guided by books of python BASIC programs and stacks of Make BYTE magazines. The excitement of discovering the logic by altering the code and testing whether the programs ran (and sense of accomplishment when they did) stoked my curiosity, imagination and love of learning. Not to mention the fun of making ASCII art… (Thanks, Dad!)

Xoxo xo olpc g1g1That feeling rushed back as I opened and beheld the XO for the first time. This adorable, mesh networking, environmentally friendly(ish), highly portable and rugged networked laptop delights the kid in all of us. The magic really starts to happen when multiple XOs mesh with each other. But as much as I wanted it not to be true, it is designed for kids. The mini-keyboard’s a dealbreaker for writing anything longer than short messages with my adult fingers.

Engineered to withstand extreme environmental conditions like high heat, humidity and dust, I figured this three pound membrane-sealed computer would be ideal for tossing in my solar backpack for jaunts to cafes (including spills) and mountain hikes. It excels in high light environments, and the swiveling display delights. I was intrigued to learn even though it’s completely sealed to the elements and accident-resistant, it’s also easy to access and replace parts.

Apple MacBook Air MB03LL/A 13.3 in. laptop (1.6 ghz intel core 2 duo processor, 2gb ram, 80 gb hard drive)

If OLPC can make an XO that does that for around $200, how come Apple’s $1799 MacBook Air is so vulnerable to the elements and being dropped, yet impossible to open for something as simple as battery changing? Ok, ok, compromises must be made because it’s so thin. But the same vulnerability is true for the whole MacBook line and indeed, most laptop computers. (I know, the Toughbook. But aesthetics count, and you shouldn’t have to pay that much of a premium.)

What I’d really love is a powerful MacBook Air with XO’s ruggedness, openness and flexibility. An elegant and sophisticated yet slim and lightweight Fisher Price My First Mac case with Pro brains and easily replacable and recyclable components to cut down on the massive amounts of e-waste my gadget lust produces. Until then, I’ll settle (eagerly) for the MacBook Air, but if you have a laptop like that to sell or donate, please contact me.

So goodbye sweet XO, it’s been wonderful knowing you. Have fun with the new kid in Haiti and stay in touch!

XOXOXO
Emily

Comments: 4 Comments


What to Wear in NextCity
Posted on 02.09.08 by Emily

DDCLAB EMF Resistant Clothes

Tinfoil hats are so passĂ©. So what should you wear to Faraday’s Cafe?

Check out the latest collection of electromagnetic field blocking and “anti-identity theft” clothing at DDCLAB (427 W 14th St, New York NY 10014 map).

Here’s the text from the windows:

EMF: Electro Magnetic Field Block
Anti•Identity•Theft•Fabric
Electric Resistivity
measure of how strongly a material opposes the flow of electric current and allows the movement of electrical charge.

DDCLAB
Woven of super sheer mesh polyester fibers coated with blackened copper, this high performance ultra thin, light weight and flexible mesh shield has a high ohm/sq resistivity that protects against identity theft by blocking high tech scanners from lifting valuable passport and ID information.

Filed under: advertising and ask emily and consumerism and culture and design and environment and fashion and health and marketing and nyc and observations and retail and shopping and technology


links for 2008-02-04
Posted on 02.04.08 by Emily

@Everyone - Open Social on Earth… Come Play
Posted on 01.31.08 by Emily

sardiniawjohnborthwick.pngOne minute I’m checking messages in Facebook, the next I’m frolicking through olive orchards in Sardinia with John Borthwick wearing an astronaut suit. Oh what a world we live in…

More compelling than Scrabulous, Unype is a Facebook social network application that lets people see, chat and Skype with each other in Google Earth. Unype works with the Open Social API, so you can interact with people from Facebook, Ning, Orkut, hi5 and more to come. See Twitter messages and Upcoming event overlays too. You can mark up your favorite places and share recommendations, videos and 3d models.

There’s also a fun geography quiz game where you answer by flying to the correct place. Highly recommended for Miss Teen USA contestants, and such. eiffeltower480.png.

Filed under: creativity and culture and marketing and people and technology and travel and webstuff


NZ Notes: Sorry S.P…. I’m leaving you for Antipodes
Posted on 12.06.07 by Emily

Antipodes Sparkling Water from NZI love bubbly beverages: Champagne and sparkling water are always my drinks of choice. Among the sparklers, Antipodes stands out.

Coming from a deep natural aquifer to the surface in Whakatane, New Zealand, Antipodes has real mouth appeal. It’s less aggressively carbonated than my usual brew, San Pellegrino, and it’s easy on the eyes too.

Dressed in classic Mrs. Eaves, Antipodes complements any table without overpowering it. The oviform bottle echoes the round beads streaming up when opened. It’s a happy thing to hold.

I know, I know… you have issues with bottled water. I do too. But a girl’s gotta have a vice, and until I can pour sparkling from the tap, I’ll order the bottle. (When out… technically I could make my own at home.) If it makes you feel any better, Antipodes is the first premium water to be certified carbon neutral in production and export, and they plan to be carbon neutral to any table, hotel room or home anywhere in the world by 2008.

Antipodes is currently served only in hand-picked great restaurants around New Zealand, hence their restaurant list is a good guide to the restaurants I want to try. You can order Antipodes by the case for home delivery in the United States through New Zealand Natural Goods, but at $60 for 12, I’d have to consider it a design element to justify it. Oh, wonderful! Oprah already did.


links for 2007-05-23: places we love
Posted on 05.23.07 by Emily

Filed under: books and consumerism and culture and design and happiness and links and love and marketing and nyc and travel

Comments: 1 Comment


Links for 2007-04-02: Her Story is Strange
Posted on 04.02.07 by Emily
  • Debbie Millman interviews Maira Kalman for her Design Matters podcast, introducing her subject with a story about the sign at right.

    On Vagueness: “The word itself defines the entire essence of being and how things are always confused and unknown and then you go ahead and make some kind of sense out of it, and then you make some kind of nonsense about it and it’s a full time job, just figuring it out.”

    Her last installment of “The Principles of Uncertainty” comes tomorrow, but the book is coming out in Fall (with a fabulous index!).

  • Happy first birthday Photojojo, a delightful site/e-mail list that’s all about fun with digital photos. Inspired to try out today’s tip and tutorial on making Videoramas - full motion video panoramas.
  • Scrapblog is another fun tool for creating and sharing multimedia scrapbooks or presentations online with photos from Flickr/Yahoo/Photobucket and videos from YouTube.
  • Today’s Daily Om comes right on time: Centering And Expressing.
  • Lonely Planet launches travel video social networking channel lonelyplanet.tv, and Charles Simonyi blogs about traveling beyond this lonely planet, following in the weightless footsteps of the amazing Anousheh Ansari. If you’re over the moon about space tourism or terraforming, you’ll want to attend Esther’s Flight School.
  • If like Maira, you prefer to explore more vague territories, NYTimes points out you, along with everyone in China, can take “Topics in Philosophy of Language: Vagueness,” a graduate level course at M.I.T.
  • Apple announced that they will sell EMI’s entire catalog of music without copy-protection from the iTunes store. Thank you! The other important news here is that the music will be higher quality, encoded at 256 kilobits per second rather than 128 kbps. I’ll be one of their best customers once again, and not have to feel bad about the superfluous CD and packaging waste generated just to enjoy music. (Which reminds me, dear Poptech, why can’t I buy the Antibabel EP by Yungchen Lhamo and Reggie Watts as downloadable files? Will you carbon offset my CD purchase and shipping?) Lately, I’ve been receiving most of my aural gratification from the Hype Machine.


Filed under: art and books and branding and consumerism and creativity and culture and design and emily approved and environment and happiness and interconnected and links and love and marketing and music and nyc and passions and people and photography and retail and science and senses and shopping and sustainability and technology and travel and video and webstuff

Comments: 1 Comment



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