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Design Information Technology Innovation Software Trend Watching

Information Visualization: Gapminder.org

Gapminder is a non-profit venture promoting sustainable global development and achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals by increased use and understanding of statistics and other information about social, economic and environmental development at local, national and global levels. The initial activity was to continue development of the Trendalyzer software. This software unveils the beauty of statistical time series by converting boring numbers into enjoyable, animated and interactive graphics…

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Design Information Technology Software

Alan Kay’s “A powerful idea about teaching ideas” talk at TED

With all the intensity and brilliance for which he is known, Alan Kay envisions better techniques for teaching kids by using computers to illustrate experience in ways -– mathematically and scientifically — that only computers can […]

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Design Information Technology Software

Autodesk helps government agencies better utilize Geospatial information

Autodesk leading technologists talk to Directions Magazine about how government agencies can better utilize geospatial information. Geoff Zeiss, director of technology, David Kingsbury, Sr. Industry Manager for State and Local Government, and Pete Southwood, Geospatial Technical Evangelist conduct a round table discussion of Autodesk’s Feature Data Object, or FDO, an open source solution that is embedded in many of the company’s industry solutions […]

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Design Inspiration

David Carson’s “Design, discovery and humor” talk at TED

Great design is a never-ending journey of discovery — for which it helps to pack a healthy sense of humor. Sociologist and surfer-turned-designer David Carson walks through a gorgeous (and often quite funny) slide deck of his work and found images […]

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Design Innovation

Milton Glaser’s “How great design makes ideas new” talk at TED

The legendary graphic designer Milton Glaser dives deep into a new painting inspired by Piero della Francesca. From here, he muses on what makes a convincing poster, by breaking down an idea and making it new […]

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Design Inspiration

Scott McCloud’s “Understanding comics” talk at TED

In this unmissable look at the magic of comics, Scott McCloud bends the presentation format into a cartoon-like experience, where colorful diversions whiz through childhood fascinations and imagined futures that our eyes can hear and touch […]

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Design Innovation Readings Software

Oscar Winner for Best Visual Effects “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” Shaped with Autodesk Technology

For the 14th consecutive year, every film nominated for the Best Visual Effects Academy Award was shaped with Autodesk, Inc. digital filmmaking tools. Autodesk congratulates Matte World Digital for its Oscar-winning visual effects work on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. ‘This year’s Academy Award nominees continued to push digital imagery to new heights — from intricate and complex computer-generated characters to pyrotechnical marvels to invisible effects so realistic they deceive the eye,’ said Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment […]

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Design Innovation Software

David Merrill’s “Siftables” talk at TED

Imagine overturning a container of nuts and bolts, then looking through the resulting pile for a particular item. Or spreading photographs out on a tabletop and then beginning to sort them into piles. During these activities we interact with large numbers of small objects at the same time, and they utilize all of our fingers and both hands together. MIT grad student David Merrill demos Siftables — cookie-sized, computerized tiles you can stack and shuffle in your hands…

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China Information Technology Software

China’s software export hit $14.2 bln in 2008

China’s software export soared 39 percent last year to 14.2 billion U.S. dollars from 2007, despite the international financial crisis, announced the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The export included 1.59 billion dollars from outsourcing services, up 54.3 percent year on year. MIIT said the software industry maintained a rapid growth last year, with the business revenue increasing by 29.8 percent to 757.3 billion yuan (110.8 billion U.S. dollars). The growth rate was 8.3 percentage points higher than a year earlier

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Design Innovation Software

“Built For Conversation: The Interaction Design of Social Media”, Will Evans’ talk at NYC IxDA Face-to-Face meeting

Social Media Networks, because they are built on the collective participation of individuals, can only be effectively guided by means of a researched and learned examination of social psychology. In this presentation, Will Evans discuss design patterns in social media site architecture and their impact on human behavior, and why interaction designers engaged in building social networking ecosystems must leverage sociology, social network analysis, and behavioral economics to ensure their social media site is Built for Conversation.