Monday, November 15, 2010
The Human Cloud Is A Greener Workforce
http://www.nytimes.com/external/gigaom/2010/11/12/12gigaom-the-human-cloud-is-a-greener-workforce-6156.html?ref=technology
NY Times: For Frequent Fliers, a Radiation Risk in the Skies
"Despite recent concern about whether airline passengers get a potentially dangerous dose of radiation from the new security scanners at the airport checkpoints, the real risk is after you board the plane, according to two new publications."
There are new security scanners being tested right now that, "unlike diagnostic x-rays that doctors send through the body... go through the clothes and bounce back, so the machine can create an image of the traveler under the clothing." There was talk concern about whether or not people would receive too much radiation from the machines. The scanners meet the standard for a “general use” X-ray machine, meaning that a person would have to have 1,000 scans a year before approaching the maximum allowed dose for members of the general public. Later, the amount of radiation people get AFTER getting on the plane was discussed and it definitely shocked me! At airliner altitudes, we actually get radiation from the sun and the stars, which can be hundreds of times higher than on the surface of the earth, where the atmosphere filters out radiation. Well that's definitely something I never would have even thought about before! Another interesting fact: "airline crew members flying long-haul high-altitude routes receive, on average, greater exposures than the typical radiation workers in ground-based industries where radioactive sources or radiation producing machines are used, [and] flying round trip from New York to Tokyo seven times a year would put a passenger or crew member at the limit enforced at industrial sites." Holy Moly! If we're already getting that much radiation from simply flying, is it really necessary for airports to expose us to even MORE radiation when going through security? There has to be other ways to make a scanner without potentially being able to harm us with much use over time. Although most people don't fly very often, there are people who fly A LOT, like business frequent fliers, and what about the pilots of the planes? It seems to me the inventors/designers of these super high-tech should be thinking about the long-term best interest of everyone... yeah they would stop potential terrorists, etc. from getting through security checkpoints, but maybe there are other ways of creating really efficient scanners/security machines.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/for-frequent-fliers-a-radiation-risk-in-the-skies/?ref=science
There are new security scanners being tested right now that, "unlike diagnostic x-rays that doctors send through the body... go through the clothes and bounce back, so the machine can create an image of the traveler under the clothing." There was talk concern about whether or not people would receive too much radiation from the machines. The scanners meet the standard for a “general use” X-ray machine, meaning that a person would have to have 1,000 scans a year before approaching the maximum allowed dose for members of the general public. Later, the amount of radiation people get AFTER getting on the plane was discussed and it definitely shocked me! At airliner altitudes, we actually get radiation from the sun and the stars, which can be hundreds of times higher than on the surface of the earth, where the atmosphere filters out radiation. Well that's definitely something I never would have even thought about before! Another interesting fact: "airline crew members flying long-haul high-altitude routes receive, on average, greater exposures than the typical radiation workers in ground-based industries where radioactive sources or radiation producing machines are used, [and] flying round trip from New York to Tokyo seven times a year would put a passenger or crew member at the limit enforced at industrial sites." Holy Moly! If we're already getting that much radiation from simply flying, is it really necessary for airports to expose us to even MORE radiation when going through security? There has to be other ways to make a scanner without potentially being able to harm us with much use over time. Although most people don't fly very often, there are people who fly A LOT, like business frequent fliers, and what about the pilots of the planes? It seems to me the inventors/designers of these super high-tech should be thinking about the long-term best interest of everyone... yeah they would stop potential terrorists, etc. from getting through security checkpoints, but maybe there are other ways of creating really efficient scanners/security machines.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/for-frequent-fliers-a-radiation-risk-in-the-skies/?ref=science
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
NY Times: Company Accused of Firing Over Facebook Post
"This is the first case in which the labor board has stepped in to argue that workers’ criticisms of their bosses or companies on a social networking site are generally a protected activity and that employers would be violating the law by punishing workers for such statements."
An employee of a company was illegally fired after talking negatively about her supervisor on her Facebook page, which was later followed by agreeing comments by other employees as well. When is the line drawn between work and personal life, and how do you even know the difference these days? Facebook is supposed to be a personal network for your friends, although yes, in some instances, it promotes/aids in communication for business as well. But, if someone can be fired for expressing their emotions about work OUTSIDE of work, in the same way they would talk or text or email about it, how can they legally be fired for it? Is that right? "An administrative law judge is scheduled to begin hearing the case on Jan. 25," so I guess we'll find out then! To me, it partially makes sense but it's partially outrageous. I think because we are such an advanced, technology/electronic "dependent" and active society, we should be careful about what we are posting out there, because there really is always a way for it to get out into the public now. So if you really don't want certain people seeing these things, should you post it on a site that anybody could potentially have access to? Probably not.
An employee of a company was illegally fired after talking negatively about her supervisor on her Facebook page, which was later followed by agreeing comments by other employees as well. When is the line drawn between work and personal life, and how do you even know the difference these days? Facebook is supposed to be a personal network for your friends, although yes, in some instances, it promotes/aids in communication for business as well. But, if someone can be fired for expressing their emotions about work OUTSIDE of work, in the same way they would talk or text or email about it, how can they legally be fired for it? Is that right? "An administrative law judge is scheduled to begin hearing the case on Jan. 25," so I guess we'll find out then! To me, it partially makes sense but it's partially outrageous. I think because we are such an advanced, technology/electronic "dependent" and active society, we should be careful about what we are posting out there, because there really is always a way for it to get out into the public now. So if you really don't want certain people seeing these things, should you post it on a site that anybody could potentially have access to? Probably not.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Educating Youth to Design Solutions for Social Issues
From an article on psfk.com:
When it comes to utilizing design or creative thinking to shape our society, few avenues are more direct or have more potential than reaching out and fostering a commitment to social responsibility within our schools and our children. An interesting newcomer to this form of education is Design Ignites Change, an initiative created by Worldstudio Projects and Adobe’s Youth Voices, which promotes and encourages high school students to use design thinking to solve real world problems. Fostered through a mentoring program which pairs creative professionals or university organizations with area high schools, the projects address a range of issues from diversity and hunger, to homelessness and gun violence. Each project is highlighted on the initiative’s website, and selected groups will receive financial grant awards in the form of student tuition or project funding. Design Ignites Change is also an interesting way of introducing creative fields as a career path for young people, and instills early the myriad possibilities to use it to approach social issues.
Youth outreach is also an integral part of the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), a Brooklyn-based organization started in 1997 dedicated to making educational projects about places and how they change. We recently sat down with exiting Executive Director, Rosten Woo, a design historian and advocate for the demystifying of public policy. CUP approaches education from a number of directions, matching artists, designers, videographers, and urban planners, with community- or issue-based organizations, and youth groups. Masters of matching the right trifecta (artist/cause/school), CUP enables the production of research and design projects that engage students and effectively serve the community.
“Our work grows from a belief that the power of imagination is central to the practice of democracy, and that the work of governing must engage the dreams and visions of citizens. CUP believes in the legibility of the world around us. What can we learn by investigation? By learning how to investigate, we train ourselves to change what we see. “
By not just speaking at, but working with youth groups, projects like these hope to spark a lifelong interest in creatively serving the public good.
http://www.psfk.com/2009/04/educating-youth-to-design-solutions-for-social-issues.html#
PSKF is a great site for finding out about new designs and creating your own ideas! Check it out!
When it comes to utilizing design or creative thinking to shape our society, few avenues are more direct or have more potential than reaching out and fostering a commitment to social responsibility within our schools and our children. An interesting newcomer to this form of education is Design Ignites Change, an initiative created by Worldstudio Projects and Adobe’s Youth Voices, which promotes and encourages high school students to use design thinking to solve real world problems. Fostered through a mentoring program which pairs creative professionals or university organizations with area high schools, the projects address a range of issues from diversity and hunger, to homelessness and gun violence. Each project is highlighted on the initiative’s website, and selected groups will receive financial grant awards in the form of student tuition or project funding. Design Ignites Change is also an interesting way of introducing creative fields as a career path for young people, and instills early the myriad possibilities to use it to approach social issues.
Youth outreach is also an integral part of the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), a Brooklyn-based organization started in 1997 dedicated to making educational projects about places and how they change. We recently sat down with exiting Executive Director, Rosten Woo, a design historian and advocate for the demystifying of public policy. CUP approaches education from a number of directions, matching artists, designers, videographers, and urban planners, with community- or issue-based organizations, and youth groups. Masters of matching the right trifecta (artist/cause/school), CUP enables the production of research and design projects that engage students and effectively serve the community.
“Our work grows from a belief that the power of imagination is central to the practice of democracy, and that the work of governing must engage the dreams and visions of citizens. CUP believes in the legibility of the world around us. What can we learn by investigation? By learning how to investigate, we train ourselves to change what we see. “
By not just speaking at, but working with youth groups, projects like these hope to spark a lifelong interest in creatively serving the public good.
http://www.psfk.com/2009/04/educating-youth-to-design-solutions-for-social-issues.html#
PSKF is a great site for finding out about new designs and creating your own ideas! Check it out!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Trash-D!
http://www.trash-d.co.uk/index.html
Ethical, sustainable, and environmentally responsible clothing line! Check it out!
Ethical, sustainable, and environmentally responsible clothing line! Check it out!
NYTimes: Japan’s Auto Parts Makers Try to Anticipate Shift to Electric Cars
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/03/business/global/03japancar.html?ref=todayspaper
Up!
Up! Illuminate your face? Now illuminate your space!
For Design Problem 2, Laura and I did a collaborative project on upcycling and the idea of reduce, reuse, and recycle. By focusing on a product that most women have in their homes, we created a series of fairly simple designs to create tea light candle holders using old makeup compacts. We were inspired by the thought that women use and consume so many cosmetic products, whose empty containers are usually later thrown away, left to sit in landfills, further destroying and polluting the planet we live on. Why not reuse them in a cool, fun, aesthetically pleasing way?! Not to mention reducing consumption on new items that you could easily (and enjoyably) design and make on your own, as well as reducing the pollution, etc. created from making the products. We then created a blog for Up!, http://upilluminateyourspace.wordpress.com/, with do-it-yourself instructions, images, and videos to follow to design and create these candle holders! This allows and encourages people to reuse what they already have and reduce further consumption and pollution from purchasing new items. A fun, different, and fairly simple way to make their home more beautiful, our planet cleaner, and their pockets fuller! Sounds like a win-win situation to me! :)
Up! Organic Tree Tabletop Candle Holder
Up! Organic Tree Candle Holder Series (Tabletop Piece, Standing Floor Piece, Hanging Wall Piece)
Up! Reflective Hanging Wall Candle Holder
Up! Lotus Compact Votive
NYTimes: From Farm to Fridge to Garbage Can
Posted November 1, 2010
This article, "From Farm to Fridge to Garbage Can" states that a quarter to half of all food produced in the United States goes uneaten — left in fields, spoiled in transport, thrown out at the grocery store, scraped into the garbage or forgotten until it spoils. A study in Tompkins County, N.Y., showed that 40 percent of food waste occurred in the home." They pointed out the ways to avoid food waste, why we do it, and why it's bad. While all of this is good to recognize, it doesn't DO anything. Living in the U.S. I feel like we feel as if we have the "right" to waste food... that if anything seems as if there might be the slightest chance that it has gone bad, we throw it out -- "when in doubt, throw it out" when the food should sometimes be "[given] the benefit of the doubt." However, according to this article, we still throw out perfectly good food a lot of the time. An estimated twenty five percent of the food we bring into our homes is wasted. "Wasted food also takes an environmental toll. Food scraps make up about 19 percent of the waste dumped in landfills, where it ends up rotting and producing methane, a greenhouse gas." People around the world are starving, some starving to death, and we throw out perfectly good lettuce just because it has a tiny brown spot, or buy double of things we already have because the fridge is already too packed that it's been left unnoticed. A little smack on the hand isn't going to change our ways, just like any other habit we have that affects the environment we live in and the people around the world. What is it going to take?
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/from-farm-to-fridge-to-garbage-can/?ref=health
This article, "From Farm to Fridge to Garbage Can" states that a quarter to half of all food produced in the United States goes uneaten — left in fields, spoiled in transport, thrown out at the grocery store, scraped into the garbage or forgotten until it spoils. A study in Tompkins County, N.Y., showed that 40 percent of food waste occurred in the home." They pointed out the ways to avoid food waste, why we do it, and why it's bad. While all of this is good to recognize, it doesn't DO anything. Living in the U.S. I feel like we feel as if we have the "right" to waste food... that if anything seems as if there might be the slightest chance that it has gone bad, we throw it out -- "when in doubt, throw it out" when the food should sometimes be "[given] the benefit of the doubt." However, according to this article, we still throw out perfectly good food a lot of the time. An estimated twenty five percent of the food we bring into our homes is wasted. "Wasted food also takes an environmental toll. Food scraps make up about 19 percent of the waste dumped in landfills, where it ends up rotting and producing methane, a greenhouse gas." People around the world are starving, some starving to death, and we throw out perfectly good lettuce just because it has a tiny brown spot, or buy double of things we already have because the fridge is already too packed that it's been left unnoticed. A little smack on the hand isn't going to change our ways, just like any other habit we have that affects the environment we live in and the people around the world. What is it going to take?
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/from-farm-to-fridge-to-garbage-can/?ref=health
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