Balance, Technology
December 16, 2010
By Cerentha Harris
No, it’s not an Italian pasta cooking technique, but in fact a time management system created in the 80′s by one Francesco Cirililo that helps people stay focused at an optimal length of time (about the length of a sitcom). A friend of ours mentioned he’s currently using an app version of the system to help him focus, which utilizes 25 minute intervals (the “pomodoros”) for task completion. There is of course now a high tech version of what was once accomplished using a mechanical timer…
There are 5 steps to the Pomodoro technique:
1. Choose a task to be accomplished
2. Set the Pomodoro to 25 minutes (the Pomodoro is the timer)
3. Work on the task until the Pomodoro rings, then put a check on your sheet of paper
4. Take a short break (5 minutes is OK)
5. Every 4 Pomodoros take a longer break
Our friend is using an app called Focus Booster, now in beta mode and a free download. We like that the productivity app is minimal, and it’s also available for both Windows and OS X users (an online version is also available). There’s also an iPhone app for those who need to focus on the go for $1.00.
We’re giving it a try all today to see if the Pomodoro Technique helps us wrangle in the stress of trying to manage the myriad of stress inducing tasks we juggle each day, since the idea of short bursts of complete focus makes a whole lot of sense than meandering throughout the day. We might also make every longer break, after the 4th Pomodoro, be designated as a moment to do an exercise, utilizing the technique to improve both body and mind at once!
Learn more about the Pomodoro Technique at the official site, where you can also download the free eBook explaining the full time management system.
Other time management solutions from the Unplggd archives:
Cutting Down Online Stresses With Time Management
Mac Applications to Increase Productivity
5 Tips for Productivity: Improving the Daily Desk Flow
Minimalist iPhone Productivity App
By Gregory Han
This story appears in partnership with Unplggd, a site for people who embrace technology and design in their home.
Balance, Design, Products, Technology
December 15, 2010
By Amy Feezor
We’ve featured the witty, thought-provoking objects of Brooklyn-based Colleen & Eric before, and got curious about the music that inspires them. Take a look at the music that has gotten a lot of airtime in the home studio/shop of designers Colleen and Eric Whiteley as they’ve been developing their budding business over the last year.
What do you listen to while you work? Eric: I’ve worked for years for an amazing furniture maker who has taught me everything I know about woodworking. His motto is “All soul, all the time.” After five years of hearing old school R&B and Motown for eight hours a day, it’s really rubbed off on me. When there’s serious work to be done, I like to listen to something that has a great groove and I’ve heard a million times. It lets me concentrate on what I’m working on, and really makes the time fly. Colleen: Mondays I usually listen to podcasts of programs that aired over the weekend to start my day off. I especially enjoy Radiolab—Jad and Robert can make even tapeworms seem amazing. After that, music in almost all its forms makes up the rest of my day.
How do you listen? Eric: Colleen and I got Android phones about a year ago, and we’ve found tons of apps for music, like Pandora and Grooveshark. It kind of blows my mind that we can be anywhere, and get any music we feel like. There’s always a way to plug the phone into whatever speaker system is available. On the other end of technology’s timeline, we also recently set up a Technics turntable, and listen to all the classic records Colleen has collected over the years. What’s great is, we’re just in time for the return of vinyl, and all the new releases that come with mp3 downloads, too. The ritual of choosing a record, dropping the needle on it, and flipping to side two does make the music more special somehow.
Do you have any favorite music websites/providers? Colleen: Our good friend Vicky (her husband Thomas MacLean built our amazing website) introduced us to Grooveshark.com. It has an endless selection of music that you can pull from to create playlists or just find someone who like similar music and listen to their mixes. 8tracks is kinda rad, too—people post “mixtapes” that you can listen to. Eric: You get a lot of personality in the playlist that way, and we hear lots of music we never would have found otherwise.
Does music influence your work? Eric: There’s a collaborative element to our Flock of Birds. We designed them, but the owner decides how to fit the flock to their space. Giving up some control of the final design is akin to jazz music—the same song is different each time it’s performed. Same with Flock of Birds—no two sets are going to look alike.
Colleen: Music definitely influences our work. When you hear an amazing album, let’s say Bjork’s “Medúlla”—all a cappella, but it sounds like there’s dozens of different instruments—it’s another art form that challenges you to push your concepts and aesthetic.
Where do you find music recommendations? Colleen: Most often I hear about music through friends so I guess our friends influence our musical taste. While listening to 8tracks, I’ve heard music that I really like and end up buying the album—like Mumford and Sons.
If your work was a song or a musician, what or who would it be? Eric: I really like Four Tet’s music. He samples strange noises, cuts them apart just to be assembled backwards, and layers dissonant tempos together. Yet somehow, the music is beautiful. I love that concept in design, too—playing the beautiful against the ugly or ordinary. Droog does that a lot, and Achille Castiglioni’s Mezzadro tractor-seat stool is a great example. I like to think the wing nut in our Hold On Tight shelf does the same thing. Colleen: David Byrne—he’s a huge inspiration! I was fortunate enough to go to the opening of Playing the Building at The Battery Maritime Building where he played the building (thanks Liz!). I love how he combines all forms of art.
COLEEN AND ERIC’S PLAYLIST
New York, I Love You But Your Bringing Me Down, LCD Soundsystem
This Must Be the Place, Talking Heads
Triumph of a Heart, Bjork
The Greatest, Cat Power
My Angel Rocks Back and Forth, Four Tet
La Vie En Rose, Louis Armstrong
P.Y.T., Michael Jackson
Tezeta (Nostalgia), Mulatu Astatke
Young Americans, David Bowie
Mercy Mercy, The Rolling Stones
Tender, Blur
Nothin’ From Nothin’, Billy Preston
The Distance, Cake
Let Spring Decide, Chromix
Images: Colleen & Eric
Balance, Design, Products, Technology
December 14, 2010
By Cerentha Harris
Julie Wolfson is one of the most prolific online writers we know, dividing her time contributing to a myriad of sites that range from reporting as the lifestyles editor over at Angeleno-centric, LAist, to worldly tastemaker reporting for Cool Hunting, and even “gamer mom” video games new for IGN. It goes without saying that technology, especially that of the mobile variety, plays a big part in her everyday lifestyle. Here are 10 tech tools she can’t live without…
1. Blackberry Bold
Most days I am on the go covering a story. Having a Blackberry with me is key for keeping up with a flood of daily emails. Plus generally Verizon phone service is good. So as much as I would like to have an iPhone full of aps, my Blackberry serves me well.
2. Apple iMac
The large screen on my iMac helps me get through several projects at once. It is especially helpful when I am formatting photo galleries in Moveable Type for LAist and trying to keep track of my twitter feed at the same time. My Steel Casey desk is filled with some of my favorite things including StrangeCo’s blue King Ken, a Lalique Macallan crystal paperweight, a flash drive from Sesame Street, a mouse pad from Kidrobot, a mug from EA, PaperMate pens, a small bottle of Yamazaki 12 from a Japan Airlines flight, and my ticket to the Cloverfield premiere peeking out from behind my passport.
3. Apple MacBook
I also have a MacBook for when I am on the go. Currently has the eBoy skin from Gelaskins covering it. I am starting to think I could get by with an iPad on the road, so I am saving up for one. We have one iPad in the house, but when you live with three othere people (husband and two daughters) it is hard to gets my hands on it.
4. Leica D-LUX 4
I am listing my Leica D-LUX 4 as number 4 on my list, but in my life it is #1. I use it every day. I love the size of the camera, it is literally always in my purse pocket, or being carried around my neck. And since it is the only camera I use I took this photo of it in the mirror.
5. Kingston Card Reader
This Kingston card reader has served me well. I take so many photos for stories and also of my family, I tend to need to load them onto one or both of my computers every day.
6. HP Photo smart A616
Though most of the photos I take are for online and we occasionally order a Photo Book from Apple or Shutterfly, I still get request for printed photos. We mostly use it for my daughter’s school projects and sending photos to a few family member who are not so computer savvy.
7. Flip Mino HD
I use my flip for so many things. For home movies it works great. My kids love to make little horror films with it too. For work I have interviewed people and posted the videos on my YouTube Channel including Oscar the Grouch for LAist and Santino Rice from Project Runway for Design*Sponge. I also often use it to record people I am interviewing just for the purpose of transcribing the interview. It helps to load the video on my computer and be able to look at their face while I am transcribing. It is by far the easiest device I have for recording audio.
8. Whirlpool Cabrio H2 Low wash system and Accu Dry Dryer
The day your washer or dryer break down is a sad one. It means a big purchase of something necessary, but not so fun. Last month both of our 11 year old machines went on the fritz and we had to replace them. I love these new Whirlpools Cabrios so much that I took this image on the candlelight setting of my Leica. Though I must admit they make some fairly odd beeping sounds that when I am home working sometimes I think R2D2 is in the house.
9. Nespress Aeroccino
My Nespresso and I have a complicated relationship. Somedays I am thankful for the convenience and some days I am too much of a coffee snob and feel the urge to grind my own beans. Either way the Nepresso Aeroccino milk frother add some foaming warm milk to my morning caffeine fix. On the right is a Japanese ceramic hand grinder I bought at Intelligentsia. On a recent trip to New York I brought back some fresh beans from the Stumptown at the Ace Hotel and a cone filter from Muji. Fresh coffee with warm milk sounds good right now.
10. Nintendo DSi XL
For the last few years I have been writing about video games and have contributed stories to several sites including IGN’s What They Play. As much as I would love to play Wii and XBOX all day, I tend to spend the most time on my DSiXL. My new favorite game is Mario Donkey Kong Mini-Land Mayhem. Other recent obsessions included Scrabble, Picross, and I always loves search games like Mystery Case Files.
Balance
December 14, 2010
By Julie Zeff
Jealousy. We all experience it. That wish for someone else’s work-life. Instead of spending time and energy coveting someone else’s job and all the trappings that come with it, let’s focus on reaching for the things that enliven you. This is the season for shopping so put your career on your holiday shopping list. Here’s a way to shop for a work-life you’ll love.
Name it Window shop all you want – give yourself full permission – you probably do it anyway. You might as well enjoy it or use it to help you get what you want in your life. Get curious about others who have something in their lives that you want more of. Name it! Get specific. What do you want more of in your work-life?
Work Truth When you think about what you are coveting in someone else’s work-life see what excites you and enlivens you. Now, take the attention off the other person and bring it back to you. Is this something that you’d really like to have in your life? Does it bring you joy, excitement or peace when you imagine having it yourself? If so, great. Then head to the next step. Don’t just stop here.
Choose It, Create It, Visualize It You too can have what you thought looked fabulous in the window. What can you do today, next week and next month to choose and create an energy, environment or situation for yourself that will help you get what you desire? What are you willing to change and do differently to get what you want? If you really want it, you absolutely can choose it and then create it. Visualize yourself having, doing, and being it!
Fears Aside Keep moving your fears, doubts or negative self-talk aside. They are just there to keep you feeling miserable, jealous, like a failure or ineffectual. Their job is to keep you away from living a life you love. Send them to the moon, put them in a box, bury them or just ignore them and keep enjoying that window shopping.
Balance
December 13, 2010
By Heather John
You’ll be the toast of the town with this gorgeous Pomegranate Champagne Punch, which friend and frequent New York Times contributor Melissa Clark developed for us at Bon Appétit several years ago. I’ve served it every year since at our annual holiday party and it is hands down the most requested recipe in my arsenal. You can play around with the proportions—I like to scale back on the simple syrup by about half—and add more or less white rum and pomegranate juice to taste. The recipe calls for Champagne, but I use Cristalino Brut Cava, a perfect dry sparkler with bright citrus notes that complement the lemon slices in the punch. It’s a bargain at around $7 a bottle. I also like to make a rather splashy ice block by filling a Bundt pan with water and sprinkling in pomegranate seeds, and then freezing overnight. It looks beautiful in the bowl—and as it melts, it disperses more pomegranate seeds into the punch. You could add whatever you want though—lemon slices, fresh mint leaves, etc. Cheers!
Melissa Clark’s Pomegranate-Champagne Punch
Adapted from a recipe from Bon Appétit, December 2007
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 750-ml bottles chilled brut Champagne or cava
1 1/2 cups white rum
1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
1 large lemon, thinly sliced
Pomegranate seeds
Fresh mint leaves
1 ice block
Bring 1/2 cup water and sugar to boil in small saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer 5 minutes. Cool syrup completely. Combine Champagne, rum, and pomegranate juice in punch bowl. Add enough syrup to sweeten to taste. (I like to add about 1/3 to 1/2 cup simple syrup.) Mix in lemon slices, pomegranate seeds, and mint leaves. Add ice block to bowl.
To make ice block: Fill a Bundt pan with water. Sprinkle in pomegranate seeds and mint leaves. Freeze overnight. Let defrost just long enough to loosen the ice from its mold.
Design, Products
December 13, 2010
By Cerentha Harris
Just a little reminder that today is the last day of our sale. You can get 15% off a whole slew of beautiful designs including the award winning Setu chair, the Noguchi coffee table and the Eames Lounge Chair (for the full list click here).
Technology
December 13, 2010
By Cerentha Harris
Whether you’re sitting at your personal computer at home or slaving away at your work desk all day, we could all use having some “kawaii” tech around that can’t help but make us smile. We’ve put together a list of ten adorable tech peripherals that will bring a little more “cute” into your life.
Elecom Cube AC Power Adapter ($30) – Super kawaii USB AC Power Adapter cube for your iPhone or iPod. It’s also available in plain pink, white, black, but who could pass that cute face up
Mimobot USB Flash Drives ($25-$80) – These Mimibot designed flash drives come in various cute and colorful styles, including popular Sanrio characters like Hello Kitty. They come in 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB versions.
Nano:ztag ($10) – The Nano:ztag contains an RFID chip and when used in conjunction with the Nabaztag: tag or Nabaztag Mirror, it can perform different actions such as putting on a playlist or going to a favorite website.
Relax Bear USB Mouse ($22) – The Relax Bear mouse helps you relax by just looking at its adorable face. The loveliest part of all is that its ears are the left/right click.
Owl USB Flash Drive ($29) – This cute little owl is a 4GB USB drive housed in a removable water-resistant silicone jacket.
Hello Kitty USB Mouse & Mousepad Set ($55) – Classic optical Hello Kitty mouse and Mouse pad set, the left/right click and scroll wheel are positioned on Hello Kitty’s bow, which lights up when activated.
Carrot Flash Drive ($16/$19/$31) – You can use this little carrot flash drive to hold digital pictures of other cute things. Put it beside your Nano:ztag and experience cuteness overload daily at your desk. Comes in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB.
Para-Chan USB Mouse ($70) – Cute white mouse that, strangely enough, is the mascot for Toshiba.
USB Robo Owl ($20) – This USB powered Robo Owl from ThinkGeek sits on top of your monitor. Movements include turning its head from side-to-side and blinking.
Heart USB Mouse ($55) – What says ‘I love you’ more than this talking heart mouse? Also available in blue, pink and yellow.
By Vivian Kim.
This story appears in partnership with Unplggd, a site for people who embrace technology and design in their home.
Design, Products
December 10, 2010
By Cerentha Harris
The Setu chair earned a prestigious Design of the Decade Gold award as “Best Sustainable Design Solution” this week.
The Industrial Designers Society of America holds the IDEA awards each year, and then a larger multi-category review at the turn of each decade. This year the jury selected Setu as the best example of sustainable design. And we are thrilled! The challenge for Herman Miller and Studio 7.5 was to support the ergonomic needs of mobile workers and at the same time wrestle with environmental demands. The result is a chair that created a new benchmark for sustainability and comfort.
The Setu appears with Method Laundry Detergent and Nike Considered Footwear to round out the top three finalists in its category. And it joins our impressive list of past Design of the Decade winners, including the Equa chair (80s) and the Aeron chair (90s).
Balance, Design, Products
December 10, 2010
By Cerentha Harris
The week on the web…
1. Unhappy Hipsters This week between holiday preparations and work I’ve been indulging in Unhappy Hipsters again. Those brilliant one-liners attached to beautiful images just make me laugh. Where to start: This new hilarious series called Foto Friday where readers send in their own photos and captions.
2. Curbly There’s no better way to celebrate the holidays than diving into some home-made decorations and there is no better place to find ideas than Curbly. Where to start: The oh-so-cool paper Christmas trees.
3. Phaidon Agenda The book publisher’s have a great website that includes an Agenda section. You’ll find video interviews, slide shows and short films on all sorts of topics to do with design and architecture: Where to start: An interview with architect John Pawson or the incredible slide show covering the best buildings of 2010.
4. The Best Part A well-designed blog by Orlando artist, designer and blogger Jason Dean on “all things beautiful.” Where to start: His poster of the day series.
5. Pinterest Amy Feezor introduced me to Pinterest and while I am not drawn to posting on the site I do love looking at other people’s collections of images. Where to start: Erin Dollar’s Dream Studio page – lots of great home offices here.
Balance, Design, Products
December 9, 2010
By Cerentha Harris
Last week we published the full list of winners in our Design for You contest. Thank you to everyone that entered and congratulations to all the winners! We interviewed some of the winners and found out that this was the first time any of them had received a prize like this…unless you count a bottle of wine taken away from a four year old. You’ll need to read on to find out about that one!
Illinois-based graphic designer Karla C. won the Eames rocker hand-painted by Mark Giglio (above and below). We asked her what she most liked about the design,”I like everything about Eames, the rocker is very comfortable plus it is an incomparable design. I am a graphic designer and my husband is an industrial designer, we’ve liked Eames design for a long time. Plus my girls love to sit on it and they take turns to read on it, another plus! I will keep it in my living room, so everyone who comes to visit can see it.” Has she ever won anything before? “This is the first time, and it was a EAMES ROCKER, I can’t believe it!”
How did the others winners feel? Tristan K., who won the Eames Hang it All had this to say:
“I like that it’s functional yet playful. It’s nice that something as utilitarian as a coat rack can be made visually pleasing, and provide a bright spot of color in your home. We’ll most likely hang it in our child’s room when we have kids. Kids like good design too.”
We asked Tristan if he’d ever won anything: ”I won a raffle when I was 4. The prize was a bottle of wine, which I was not allowed to keep. Kind of a bummer. This is much better.”
Lastly we interviewed Robert M., who won the Eames Splint (pictured below suspended from the ceiling at the Eames Office in Santa Monica. Ca)
“Starting off with your last question first – I do not win drawings – period. So, I am super excited to have had my name drawn. Maybe this will be a turning point. I have won auctions before, but then, that’s really just the right to pay for something which really isn’t the same thing. When I learned that I won, I excitedly called my wife and exclaimed, ‘Babe, I just won a splint!’ Needless to say she was a little baffled.
As far as the design goes, the splint has a number of physical characteristics that appeal to me and includes a second (or vice versa) layer of symbolism. Aside from the obvious that the splint represents the dawn of an iconic furniture design era and form, it also represents an outstanding design solution.
As an urban planner practicing economic development for the City of Pasadena, Ca, I am regularly presented with challenges that require a different approach towards finding a solution for multiple and often divergent agendas – this splint is of course a literal interpretation of that concept – working with a material that is typically rigid and flat and applying differing techniques to mold, bend and flex to create a form that is more curvilinear and accepting thereby resolving a number of limitations.
There are other elements that are aesthetically pleasing as having a “Found Art” appeal. I have always been drawn to art that utilizes a variety of materials and techniques that result in a somewhat dark theme involving doll parts, bits and pieces of things all interwoven and layered towards composition. However, while I can appreciate that aesthetic, I choose not to live within it (or I should say my wife states that we will not) but this allows enough to satisfy my taste, and be clean enough to meet hers.
There is also something about the original purpose of the splint that seeks to resolve or repair the affects and conditions of war on the human body and represents survival, healing, and repair from the affects and in that sense further reminds us of the damages and costs associated.
I should also note that it is a bit ironic that I am the recipient, having been known to be a little accident prone myself; I hope that I never have the cause to use it.”
You can see the full list of winners here. (Click contest winners at the top of the page).