Categories
Design Innovation Readings Software

Autodesk software behind ‘Best Visual Effects’ Academy Award Nominees

The five movies nominated for the “Best Visual Effects” Oscar havea something fairly obvious in common: They all relied on special software to create the effects. Check out the various 3D tools from Autodesk that were used for each film […]

Categories
China Economics Trend Watching

Architecture & Urban Planning in China: BBC highlights the rise of the Asian megacities

Three decades of sustained economic growth, concentrated along the booming coast, has lured millions from the impoverished Chinese countryside. This great migration – unprecedented in human history – has put 46 Chinese cities over the one million mark since 1992, out of a national total of 102 […]

Categories
China Economics Trend Watching

Architecture & Urban Planning in China: Average building lasts only 20 years

More than half of China’s existing residential structures will be demolished and rebuilt in the coming 20 years, according to a senior researcher from the Chinese Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, a claim that has sparked fresh questions about the short lifespan of Chinese buildings […]

Categories
China Design Economics Readings Trend Watching

Shanghai World Expo: SPAIN PAVILION

The Spain Pavilion, designed by architect Benedetta Tagliabue, cleverly mixes the concept of sustainability —represented by the 8,524 wicker panels, a traditional material and a handcraft technique used both in China and in Spain […]

Categories
China Design Economics Readings Trend Watching

Shanghai World Expo: JAPAN PAVILION

The Japan Pavilion is a semi-circular structure, covered by a purple membrane material. Several antennae and caves make the pavilion a “breathing organism,” which will express the harmony between the human heart and technology. The pavilion has been dubbed “Purple Silkworm Island” by Chinese people […]

Categories
China Design Economics Readings Trend Watching

Shanghai World Expo: ITALY PAVILION

The pavilion comprises 20 functional modules of different shapes representing Italy’s 20 regions, and is the largest foreign state pavilion in the Shanghai World Expo […]

Categories
Information Technology Trend Watching

US State Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton “Remarks on Internet Freedom” at the Newseum

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered remarks on Internet Freedom on January 21, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. at the Newseum, in Washington, D.C.; Secretary Clinton’s policy address laid-out the Administration’s strategy for protecting freedom in the networked age of the 21st Century […]

Categories
China Economics Trend Watching

China, Technology and the Environment: Electricity bills to jump for Chinese industries

China announced a 5.7 percent increase in electricity prices for businesses and industries and said it will adjust residential tariffs early next year through a new pricing mechanism to promote energy savings […]

Categories
China Economics Information Technology Trend Watching

Information Technology in China: software industry maintained rapid growth in 2008

In spite of the impact of the international financial crisis, China’s software industry has maintained a growth rate of over 20 percent since the second half of 2008, making it one of the fastest growing industries […]

Categories
China Consumer Behavior Trend Watching

China, Socialism & Consumer Behavior: aiming for 10 million units in vehicle production, sales in 2009

China aims for 10 million units in both vehicle production and sales this year, according to an online government document concerning detailed automobile support package. China’s automobile industry is to yield an average 10 percent growth for its production and sales in the next three years, said the document, released on recently […]