Beautiful work by Jean-Charles Desevre (via ShareSomeCandy)

A special thing happens when designers open up to code, or when coders gain a deeper grasp of design. Suddenly function and beauty start to blend naturally. This is where interaction design shines both as a creative pursuit and a craft

—Amit Pitaru, new Co-Chair of the MFA Interaction Design department, SVA

Some of you old school web designers out there will recognize Amit. He’s the co-creator of InsertSilence and an early experimenter in interactive design and art in the early 2000’s and someone who’s work I admired when I first started my career in web design.
Yes, Flash has gone out of fashion and wasn’t designed to make the jump to mobile computing, but the work Pitaru created would not have been possible without Flash. He, along with many other digital artists like James Paterson (creator of Presstube) and Joshua Davis (creator of PrayStation) helped lay the groundwork for for all the so-called ‘progressive’ interactions we’re now seeing done with JavaScript and HTML5.
Praising the great work being done in HTML and JavaScript today without acknowledging the work these guys did over 10 years ago in Flash is like being a fan of The White Stripes without knowing who Led Zeppelin was.

Is that Nokia’s new phone in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
Oh wait, Nokia hasn’t announced a ship date, it couldn’t be a new Nokia phone in your pocket.
Seriously though, that is a big phone:

Beautiful new phones by Nokia. With no release date.
It’s clear all of Apple’s competitors are announcing their new products ahead of Apple’s September 12 event.
The thing is, whether or not Apple explicitly announces a new product event, everyone and their mother should know when Apple is dropping a new product. Their product refresh cycle is very regular. Hell, MacRumors has a Buyer’s Guide (for at least the 8 years I’ve been visiting their site) to find out when you should expect new versions of each device Apple makes.
So we’re now into year 5 of regular iPhone releases and these clowns still aren’t ready? No excuse.

It’s gotta suck to have nothing and still lose.

Jim Dalrymple, in reference to Microsoft’s mobile marketshare,
Amplified, Episode 23

Better Book Titles (via Laughing Squid)

Check out the bookshelf. Books on symbols, graphic design and type.
Nice.
via Retronaut

There’s 8 days to go on this Kickstarter:

SunVolt is a portable charging platform which will efficiently convert the sun’s rays into powerful charging current for your mobile electronic devices. On a clear day, a SunVolt Solar Power Station can charge multiple devices with the same speed as if they were plugged in and charged from the wall. A custom designed carrying case which is light, stylish, and functional, enables the system to be highly portable. In mere seconds, users can easily set up the panel, plug in their devices, and start the charging process. When charging is complete, the panel quickly and safely stores for future use.

I’m really into solar power—what I’m hesitant about is having my gadgets out in the sun with this charger. Even if I could place them in the shade, I live in the San Fernando Valley were it’s currently getting up to 105 degrees by noon.
If I were to use this at home, I’d need a long enough cable so I could keep my iPad and iPhone on the kitchen counter.
First world problems.

CNN: ‘Queen of Cocaine’ killed in Colombia:

An elderly woman who was known as Colombia’s “Queen of Cocaine” was gunned down in the northwestern city of Medellin, police said Tuesday.

Griselda Blanco, 69, was killed by two bullets at close range — a violent end not unlike the ones that authorities say she ordered during her prime in the 1970s and 1980s.

If you love documentaries like I do, I highly recommend Cocaine Cowboys. Griselda Blanco is obviously featured prominently in it. Movies like Scarface and video games like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City were inspired by the real stories you’ll hear in this flick.

The Atlantic has a write-up on Outgrow.me:

Many of the products on Kickstarter live their lives in the conditional tense. “This would be cool,” we say to ourselves when we see an especially nifty gadget being pitched on the site. “Oh, wow, that could be awesome.”

But what happens when funded projects make their move from potential to actual? Where do you go to explore — and maybe buy — the Kickstarter projects that have actually been kickstarted?

Great idea. Inevitable, really.

There it is. The iPhone 5 is coming September 12 (nice shadow).
via Fortune
Update: I just realized this is also 5 years since the iPhone launched. The ‘5’ in the shadow could mean a few things.

There it is. The iPhone 5 is coming September 12 (nice shadow).

via Fortune

Update: I just realized this is also 5 years since the iPhone launched. The ‘5’ in the shadow could mean a few things.