Simple Simon

Ever since school, I feel like I’ve been continuing my own education; on the internet, with people I meet, around my city; mostly picking and choosing what I want to learn but often re-learning about stuff they tried to teach us in the classroom, stuff that somehow, never really seemed to stick. I suppose learning about something just isn’t as interesting when you know you’re going to be hit with a big fat test on it at the end of the semester. (I never really liked school).

So here’s a concept that speaks to me: a fun little Youtube series about the major movements in design history that you kiiind of know the details of, but could probably use a brief, punchy animated refresher, narrated by the smooth Scottish narration of actor Ewan McGregor, in a nutshell. Appropriately named “Design In a Nutshell”, the series of six short animations was developed by the UK’s Open University as a fun way to market their design courses.

Try a few of them out (in no particular order):

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Full six-part series here, including Modernism, Post-Modernism, and Bauhaus.

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Imagine a thoroughly modern playhouse full of kid-friendly features and free of kitsch.

San Francisco-based Modern Cabana (recently acquired by Blu Homes) offers a prefab modern shed in miniature: the Kiddo Cabana. With imagination-friendly features such as chalk paint interior walls and a paper roll art station, the Kiddo Cabana comes with a fully finished interior and exterior. The easy-to-assemble kit of prefabricated parts ships nationwide (currently free of charge). Free assembly for pick up is offered for those who live within the San Francisco Bay Area. For information and pricing, see Blu Homes.

For those with four-legged family members, Modern Cabana also has a Dog Cabana model.

Above: The Kiddo Cabana is constructed with FSC certified lumber, translucent Polygal roof and siding pieces, and non-toxic paints and finishes.

Above: While flooring is not included (or necessary), the Kiddo Cabana can be set on a foundation if preferred.

Above: The interior includes a cleverly placed fold-down table.

Above: Artist-friendly surfaces are included.

Above: A Kiddo Cabana modified with a green roof and a front porch.

N.B.: See our earlier post The Modern Cabana for adult-sized versions.

This is an update of a post originally published August 20, 2013.

So… that’s how Garrett Chow can go so fast on that thing.

Tools of the trade:
Yashica t4
Fuji Pro 400H

Photos by Brad Wenner

Oh man. I’ve got the touring bug yet again and the newest Poler Adventure isn’t helping. Check it out here!

Each year, tour designs come and go but I can say with certainty that this piece by Ben Foster is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Pick up this design on a number of different products here.

I’ve seen a lot of Merckx photos, but this one is still one of my favorites. The photographer (whoever they are) really captured that Merckx moment. Happy Monday.

I have no idea who the photographer is, if you do, please share.

Here’s a photo of Jeff from Factory 5 riding down an open road somewhere west of Shanghai. After all the smog (which is still visible in the background), trash and shitty roads, sections like this were a gem… I’m ramping up to my book release and gallery show in SF on June 15th. More details to come.

Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4
Neopan 400

Photos by Brenton Salo

I can always count on Brenton to photograph track events like the PDW Omnium in Portland and so it should be no surprise that his photos came out killer. See the whole set right here.

Photos by Keith Teket

Chris Bishop’s Columbus MS track frame made the rounds on the internet almost immediately after it was built and documented. I’d say that it was one of his most popular frames to date. So popular that when Ben put a deposit down, he specifically requested the road version of the beloved MS track frame and that’s exactly what he got! See more at the Bishop Flickr!

I always love Woof’s artwork. Here’s his newest piece, entitled “Get a Grip“.

I took this. Thanks for the cred

whatshouldwecallme:

Medical problems can cause your gas to smell horrendous or be produced in large volumes. So, assuming it works, the Subtle Butt “disposable gas neutralizer” might be great if you have this problem.

I put it here on this page for the customer who gave it one star because “I am looking for a product that will intensify the smell.” 

Back in November 2012, the New York Department of Transportation released a report called Measuring the Street: New Metrics for the 21st Century, which had some compelling figures on the way that local business benefits from bike-lanes, for the fairly obvious reason that cyclists find it easy to stop and shop, as compared to drivers, who are more likely to continue on to a mall with a big parking lot, or shop online.

In many ways, these data come as no surprise. We know that when towns invest in bicycle infrastructure, people will ride more — the number of people traveling by bicycle increases when there is infrastructure to make traveling by bike safe and easy.

We also know that people who travel along a street by bicycle have fewer barriers to stopping at a local business than people who travel along the same street by car. It's very easy to hop off a bicycle and find a place to secure the bike; not so with finding parking for an automobile. In fact, a recent study suggest that bicycle riders tend to spend more at local businesses over the course of a month.

This new study makes it clear: investing in bicycle improvements boosts small businesses. And what town or city doesn't want to boost activity at local businesses?

NYC Study Finds Protected Bicycle Lanes Boost Local Business (via Kottke)

Butcher Billy a illustré des chanteurs de groupes de musique dans le style de superhéros sur des couvertures de Comics.

Train in vain

This is amazing: Alan Taylor rounds up some homemade inventions from China, including DIY submarines, giant motorcycles, home-built robots, and can't-possibly-fly airplanes. I can't pick a favorite, but this homemade welding mask is outstanding:

Ok, and this giant motorcycle:

Oh, and this rickshaw-pulling robot:

And, and, and... (via @faketv)

Children already at risk may also risk further abuse if they are seen to be seeking help, hence this twist on lenticular printing – a message that reads one way to tall adults, and another to small minors.

The ANAR Foundation needed a way for potential victims to read their communication secretly (including the unspoken visual content – bruises on the portrait), without alerting those accompanying them on the street.

Shifting from one perspective to the other slowly reveals an increasingly different image as well as additional text, including the helpline phone number.

Lenticular images are often used to create dynamic billboards that shift as people walk or drive by, but this variant flips the typical format on its side and gives it a higher purpose than mere marketing.

Unlike most street art, INSA‘s murals weren’t made to be seen in person – they’re best viewed online. That’s because the UK-based artist painstakingly paints, photographs and re-paints each of his works several times over in order to create these amazing animated GIF images.

Each piece is created with movement in mind, with the artist envisioning the final animated result as he paints each step. What looks like a relatively ordinary mural when passed on the street becomes mesmerizingly kinetic when seen as a final work of art.

These made-for-the-internet works of physical street art defy the conventional wisdom that art is best appreciated in person, though it would still be nice to check out all of the details up close. The internet brings what was once hyper-local to the masses.

In an interview with Adobe, INSA says “I realized I was viewing more paintings online than in real life, the majority of art I was accessing was on the internet. Whether that was street art from around the world, or exhibition openings on blogs, and it disheartened me a little, because although it was great to be able to see so much work, I realized this was never the way the artist would have intended for their work to be seen. So I thought an interesting way to play with this idea was to create art specifically to be viewed online: to the point that you could not actually see it in reality. So, in fact, the internet becomes the best viewing platform for the work.”

Apollo 12 Pacific Recovery by NASA Goddard Photo and Video (cc by)

In a thread about the wonderful "writes upside down" spacepen, member eriko explains why pencils in space can be quite deadly and unsafe:

Realize that a piece of graphite between two conductors with enough current behind them becomes a light bulb. Briefly. This isn't good in sea level atmosphere, in a pure oxygen atmosphere, this is deadly. Gemini used mechanical pencils, which got rid of the wood, but left the graphite, and graphite+oxygen+spark=fire. Bad.

screen grab from opendyslexic.org

We've added an embedded font option for OpenDyslexic, an open sources font intended to help increase readability for dyslexic users. Read the MetaTalk thread for more information on how to change your settings.

Original Cinelli Laser pursuit with Keith Haring custom wheels.

Sucks to be me - Haight Street - SF 2011

This weekend kicks off the 2013 Amgen Tour of California and to get everyone in spirits for the event, I’m having a photo show at the Rapha Cycle Club SF. The show is being hung tomorrow (Saturday, May 11th) and will be up all week. Then, come Sunday, May 19th, we’re throwing an all-day “opening party” event.

So if you’re in SF next weekend, come down Sunday and say hi.

I’ll be covering the 2013 ATOC again this year, but a little differently, so stay tuned!