Monthly Archives: May 2009

IMAGINiT Technologies Supports Autodesk Assistance Program for Displaced Workers

RAND Worldwide, a global leader in providing technology solutions to organizations with engineering design and information technology requirements, announced that its IMAGINiT Technologies division will participate in the Autodesk Assistance Program for displaced workers, providing education, support and tools to its clients [...]

Intellectual Property: Canada joins China, Russia in US list of top IP scofflaws

The usual suspects have shown up once again on the US Trade Representative’s annual Special 301 report on nations that need to step up their game when it comes to enforcing intellectual property rights. But this year, the USTR elevated Canada to the same level as China and Russia, which has some critics incredulous towards the US’ motives [...]

Watch Jacek Utko’s “Can design save the newspaper?” talk at TED

Jacek Utko is an extraordinary Polish newspaper designer whose redesigns for papers in Eastern Europe not only win awards, but increase circulation by up to 100%. Can good design save the newspaper? It just might [...]

Internet in China: Baidu eyes 3G wireless Internet technology

China’s most popular Internet search engine Baidu thinks highly of the prospect of 3G wireless Internet access technology and is now in talk with China’s mobile network operators for cooperation, the company’s CEO Robin Li said recently at the Boao Forum for Asia in the southern island province of Hainan [...]

New Autodesk Tools Help Simplify Energy-Efficient Building Design and Renovation

Autodesk announced the availability of Autodesk Ecotect Analysis 2010 software, a whole-building performance analysis tool, and the Autodesk Guide to Sustainable Design, a new free online resource for designers that illustrates sustainable design principles, decisions and technologies for every phase of the building project lifecycle. This new product and online resource provide architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) firms with tools that help simplify and enable sustainable design decisions [...]

Listen to Eric Reiss’ “ROI: Speaking the Language of Business” talk at IA Summit 2009

What is the business value of Information Architecture? Eric Reiss, co-founder of FatDUX, a user-experience design company headquartered in Copenhagen, reviews our current approaches, including limited use of the language of business bean-counter acronyms, and explains why these arguments are usually not compelling for business executives [...]

China, Socialism & Consumer Behavior: More rich by 2015

The global economic recession is forcing the rich in China to scale down their spending on luxury goods, but it cannot hold back the rapid growth of wealthy households, according to a report released recently by global management consultancy McKinsey & Company. China is expected to be the world’s fourth largest country with wealthy households by 2015, after the US, Japan and the UK. The nation is expected to have more than 4 million wealthy households by then, the report said [...]

Autodesk Announces New Design Software Solutions for Education Market

Autodesk announced recently that it will offer five new industry-oriented software suites to help students learn core design and engineering skills. The suites contain extensive 2D and 3D Autodesk software used by professionals worldwide. The new bundled packages encourage a multidisciplinary educational approach, enabling faculty to teach key concepts to prepare students for rewarding architecture, engineering and design careers. These suites, to be offered globally, will be available in English as well as more than 10 other languages.

Watch Charlie Kreitzberg’s “Surviving a Design Review” talk at IxDA | Interaction ‘09 conference

You’ve worked hard on a design and finally got it nailed. You’ve thought deeply about the user experience and designed for usability and great information presentation. The visual design is compelling. Enjoy it while you can because you’ve been asked to hold a design review. Your creative and well thought-out design is about to be transformed into a into a patchwork quilt as stakeholders argue for changes based on their off-the-cuff reactions and personal agendas [...]

Watch Emily Levine’s “A trickster’s theory of everything” talk at TED

Philosopher-comedian Emily Levine talks (hilariously) about science, math, society and the way everything connects. She’s a brilliant trickster, poking holes in our fixed ideas and bringing hidden truths to light. Settle in and let her ping your brain [...]