I finally bit the bullet and purchased a factory reconditioned Vitamix 5200. I decided to go with this option to save some cash and if I decide that I need the dry-blade container for milling grains it’s still cheaper to buy it separately than to have purchased the more expensive packages.
There is not a lot of pomp when un-boxing one of these babies. We are as far from an Apple product as you can get as far as flare and elegance. But you know I really liked opening the lid of the box, pulling off a piece of styrofoam and getting down to business. Sometimes it’s nice not to have to deal with a chinese puzzle box of flaps and folds before getting to enjoy the product.
Condition wise the unit looks and works perfectly. The only sign of wear is on the rubber corners that you can see beneath the clear base. Otherwise no scratches or dings.
So earlier today, seeing that the machine had been delivered, I decided to make lunch at home with it. Stopping at the grocery on the way, I walked in, setup the machine and prepared my first smoothie all that and still making it back to work in under an hour.
Lets get down to brass tacks. It’s operation is straight up destruction. This machine does one thing and it does that one thing very well. Whatever food stuffs you might have laying around that you want pulverized, liquified or churned into a silky cream, this is the machine that will do it. It spools up instantly and if you are not careful with the settings you can turn your fine chop into soup in less than 10 seconds.
The Go Green smoothie tasted great for lunch and held me over till dinner (though barely). For dinner we made Tortilla soup by leaving the blender on high for 5 mins. The Vitamix actually cooks the soup! Comes out hot and ready to eat. After that we dumped a bag of frozen peaches in there with a little vanilla extract and using the tamper pushed the frozen chunks down into the blades for 1 min. Presto. Perfectly smooth and creamy sorbet.
So far I do not regret the purchase at all and am already planning on some ways to make using it even easier. By pre-packing measured ingredients in the fridge I can just come home and dump them in, hit the on button, and have a nutritious, healthy and quick lunch without any hassle. If you thought I sounded like an infomercial before just wait till this next bit. Cleaning the Vitamix is super easy. You put a drop of soap and fill it half way with warm water. Turn the blender on high for about a minute and you are done. Just rinse out the container and it’s spotless.
*Update* We won Hunch’s award for “Best Data Integration”!
I joined the Tech Crunch Hackathon with fellow Designer Kate Proulx as part of the Design Trust. We were there to act as a service bureau for the groups of developers who might not have the time or skills to focus on the artwork, UI / UX and logos for their ideas. After hearing several pitches for “Rapture Apps” and something that would help telemarketers call more people we decided to seek out a group we wanted to work with rather than having them come to us.
It didn’t take long to find the boys at Mashery. We were immediately taken in by Neil Mansillas idea to create a “Google Killer”. Let me clarify that statement a little bit. When you want to find out more about a new email contact or friend what do you do? Google them, of course. But we all know that this can be hit or miss and provide a lot of irrelevant information. Our goal was to create a simple web interface that would not only give you a basic biography but would also provide you with what this person likes. I don’t just mean what they ‘like’ on facebook. We give you, with one click of a button, specific subjects and products that this person is very likely interested in a variety of areas such as Movies, Fashion, Books, Health and Beauty.
The first part of this is easy. By scrapping data from several APIs such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn we could give you a pretty basic portrait of who this person is. The real magic came from harnessing Hunch’s powerful API and recommendation engine.
Just with a Twitter name or email address you could pull down not just basic facts about a person but a comprehensive picture of who this person is. To pull a quote from High Fidelty: “…what really matters is what you like, not what you are like… Books, records, films — these things matter.“
I recently had the opportunity to talk with Kate Hartman, an artist, teacher and member of the Interactive Telecommunications Program at Tisch School of the Arts. Kate works in a variety of mediums from simple analog wearable projects that explore how we communicate with ourselves to Arduino powered devices that let our plants Twitter their needs. What most draws me to Kate’s work is the way it combines practicality with playfulness and whimsy. Botanicalls, for instance, is a boon to those of us who regularly murder the most robust houseplants due to lack of attention. Kate’s device enables our usually stoic and inanimate green friends to reach out to us when they need help (I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!). Her Muttering Hat project instantly reminded me of a garment that might be worn by a little Hoo from Hooville. But it also serves as a wearable illustration; a garment that gives us an opportunity to get some distance from thoughts that may be immediately overwhelming and even assist us in sharing those thoughts with others.
Kate Hartman creates new tools for expression through innovative and playful applications of technology. Her individual and collaborative projects span the fields of telephony, electronics, fashion, and art. She holds a B.A. from Bard College in Film and Electronic Media and a Masters from New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program.
A few weeks ago I made the purchase of a 1971 Honda CB350 motorcycle. I have been riding a Genuine Stella scooter for about a year now and decided it was time for an upgrade. I have always loved the look of bikes from the 50′s 60′s and 70′s and decided that the CB350 was going to be my target. I came to this decision based on a few factors. First being price. These bikes are easily found for between $1000 and $2000. Secondly I wanted to be able to work on the bike and not have to spend all my time tracking down parts. The CB350 is one of the best selling motorcycles of all time and has a huge tuner community behind it. There are certain parts are not always easy to find but for most everyday problems you can find the part and someone who knows what to do with it.
When I bought the bike it was having some problems with the engine racing, I thought it would be a good first problem to solve. When I got it home I immediately consulted my Clymer Manual and removed the air filters and carburetors. I spotted the first problem immediately. There is a rubber diaphragm assembly usually called the Slide Diaphragm or the Vacuum Piston that had torn. This is responsible for lifting and lowering a needle that controls the flow of gas in the carburetor, it was torn on both cabs and needed to be replaced. Aside from the that the left carb was completely gunked up and the jets on both carbs were not set to the factory specs. So I immediately began scouring the internet for parts and advice and got most of it taken care of except for two snags. The rubber diaphragms are extremely delicate and upon installing the two replacements I managed to puncture both. An expensive mistake. Secondly the carb rebuild kits I ordered came with two slow jets that did not fit into my carburetor. The company I bought them from has no idea why.
Right now I am stuck waiting for replacement diaphragms, once they come I’ll be able to see if I solved the engine racing problem. Until then my living room smells like gasoline and coffee table is covered in tiny brass parts. Kind of nice actually…
Last week I got a chance to talk with two cofounders of NYC Resistor, Eric Skiff and Bre Pettis. NYC Resistor, located in Downtown Brooklyn, is a hacker space that is home to 30 artists, designers and technologists who bring a mixed bag of skills and interests to this eclectic space. The vision according to their wiki is to “Build a group of hackers who work on projects together to increase awesomeness.” Aside from serving as their studio, the group also opens the space up to the public for Craft nights that happen every Thursday. Various technology classes are also offered and are taught by members and visiting specialists.
The DIY revolution is taking on a new shape as rapid prototyping technology becomes more accessible to the general population. This service has been available since the late 1980′s but is notoriously expensive and generally only used by companies and professionals. Today there are groups of individuals who are looking to lower the $20,000 entry fee and producing an open source 3D printer for approximately $500. There are several types of different machines capable of taking a design from hard disk to object. I hope to illustrate a few of these technologies and show how they are being made to serve the individual rather than the corporation.
First I’d like to touch on the Laser Cutter. These are machines starting around $8,000 for basic models that are capable of cutting some light thin sheet materials. The more expensive models can cut a larger variety of materials and thicknesses but can also begin costing $20,000 and up. There is a lot you can do with one of these machines but you need to remember that it only cut’s sheet materials so making a 3D object requires some kind of construction technique or layering. (more…)
“Print is dead” is becoming more of a business strategy than a turn of phrase these days. It seems that whenever there is a hiccup, or in this case an epileptic fit, in the economy the publishing industry usually takes a fair bit of damage. It’s a very precarious business and new technology is not only shaking the tightrope, it’s also cutting away the safety net. Of course there are a lot of good reasons that people will continue buying books over their electronic counterparts. The most common one that I hear is that “I just like having the book.”, and I agree. There is something about owning the physical object that nourishes you a bit more than those bland bits and bytes. I love the smell, the design, the weight. However, I am also running out of room in my apartment for people and I find myself buying less books because of it.Enter e-ink. The main points that make e-ink so fantastic is that its actually ink. An e-ink screen is actually made up of little capsules that can represent black or white. By using positive and negative charges to activate the ink you can represent any black and white image. Color e-ink is available also but has it’s draw backs which I will address in a moment.The physical ink property allow these screens to have a fantastic contrast ratio while consuming very little power. The battery on the Kindle is said to last weeks. The draw back of color screens is that they consume more power and I believe that at this point in their development take up more space so that the devices lose their slim profiles.Personally I don’t see myself owning a kindle. I already lug around a bag full of gadgets for recording, reading and communicating. Usually I carry a small book on me or simply use the free Stanza app in my iPhone to read material from Project Gutenberg. Something like the Touch Book that I wrote about previously seems like a device that I could really get behind. This goes double now that Amazon has released the Kindle application for other devices. Still though, if I am shelling out the cash, I really want the paper.
What can I say, I am in love. When I was going to buy a netbook 2 months ago this is the idea that kept me from making a purchase. I have been dreaming of this gadget since I got my iPhone. Touch screen + Tablet Size + Long Battery Life = Perfect Device. This device from the company Always Inovating boasts 10 – 15 hours of battery life with an 8.9″ screen and the device is always on. The longer battery life can be attributed to the fact that there is a battery in the keyboard section and in the screen section. Huh?
I guess I didn’t mention that the screen detaches from the keyboard completely. It even has magnets on the back so that it can be affixed to the refrigerator. Just keep it away from those external hard drives and iPods. The device can supposedly run just about any mobile OS incuding Googles Android.
I would rather drop the change on this device than a Kindle and with a $299 price tag I think I just might. The release date for the Touch is scheduled for May or June of 2009. I am hoping to see a lot more of these devices coming out in the near future. It is a new form factor for an industry that previously was focused on the 3 inch screen size of mobile products and the larger 12 – 17 inch screen size of netbooks and laptops. I think the key players now, especially after the iPhone and G1 are going to be low power to give longer battery life and a bit more screen realestate for your fingers to dance over. Fingers crossed.
When I think of American craft I think of quilts, strange wooden dolls to hide whisky in and a good sturdy broom. I do not, however, think of knives, at least not until now. The name Cut Brooklyn has been tossed around a lot lately and I was surprised to find out that it is the studio of Joel Buiekowirz who produces hand made kitchen knives.
So from my understanding of the current articles written about Joel, he gets a piece of steal and cuts the knife shape. He then sends out the knife for it’s heat treatment.
The heat treatment is the part that really determines the finished quality of the knife’s steal. When you are working with steel there is a balance that needs to be struck between how hard it is and how brittle it is. For knives this is very important because the blade edge is so delicate. You need it to be hard so that it can retain it’s edge but not be so hard that it cracks away. So what Joel does by hand is shape and sharpen the knife as well as apply and form the handle.I am wrestling with whether to put in an order for one. On any given day my Wusthoff performs admirably and a Global 7-Inch Santoku seems like a logical addition to my cutlery set. Is the added price of Mr. Buiekowirz knives worth it? The easiest thing to site, though the most difficult thing to justify monetarily, is the “buying local” hand made appeal of this object. Having that unique item that was made within a few miles of your apartment makes want to order one of these pretty little pieces. The balance is always an important factor as well though I have not had a chance to hold one in person so it’s hard to say. Right now the few hundred dollars I would save on a Global is making me feel like that is the better buy. If you have a few hundred extra to spend and you use your knife constantly then the Cut blade may be the way to go. I hear he offers life-time service for free on all of his blades as well.
I finally made it out to IgniteNYC, I had missed the previous two and was excited to get a taste of this popular NYC tech event. I have to say though that it was a bit of a let down and I was not the only one. After starting extremely late the evening opened with a game show called “Know your Meme: The Game Show! Pwn, Win, or Fail!”. There was a lot of inside jokes flying around that still got a few chuckles despite losing a most of the crowd. I had my own interpreter there to clue me on on the bashing of one of the contestants, Rex Sorgatz, by the opposing team made up of Michelle DeForest (Next New Networks), Bre Pettis (NYC Resistor), Caroline McCarthy (CNET), Irene Polnyi (Internetfamo.us), and Tim Shey (Next New Networks).Team Sorgatz(Bre Pettis, Caroline McCarthy etc.) ended up winning, or should have, it was all very confusing. With a convincing team performance of Souja Boy and Bre Pettis giving the crowd a mouthful as he reenacted Christian Bales rant they quickly established themselves as Experts in “All Things Internets”.
I did not end up staying for the talks because they were running very late but I did enjoy what I saw and I am looking forward to the next one.Here are some photos from the event that I took and some more from Brian Van Nieuwenhoven.
I finally bit the bullet and purchased a factory reconditioned Vitamix 5200. I decided to go with this option to save some cash and if I decide that I need the dry-blade container for milling grains it’s still cheaper to buy it separately than to have purchased the more expensive packages.
The physical ink property allow these screens to have a fantastic contrast ratio while consuming very little power. The battery on the Kindle is said to last weeks. The draw back of color screens is that they consume more power and I believe that at this point in their development take up more space so that the devices lose their slim profiles.Personally I don’t see myself owning a kindle. I already lug around a bag full of gadgets for recording, reading and communicating. Usually I carry a small book on me or simply use the free 
seems like a logical addition to my cutlery set. Is the added price of Mr. Buiekowirz knives worth it? The easiest thing to site, though the most difficult thing to justify monetarily, is the “buying local” hand made appeal of this object. Having that unique item that was made within a few miles of your apartment makes want to order one of these pretty little pieces. The balance is always an important factor as well though I have not had a chance to hold one in person so it’s hard to say. Right now the few hundred dollars I would save on a Global is making me feel like that is the better buy. If you have a few hundred extra to spend and you use your knife constantly then the Cut blade may be the way to go. I hear he offers life-time service for free on all of his blades as well.
