Data-hungry companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon could reduce their energy consumption with 40% by rerouting data to locations where electricity prices are lowest on a particular day. A smart routing algorithm could take advantage of daily and hourly fluctuations in electricity costs across the country (US) perhaps even the world. Further it could weigh up the physical distance needed to route information (it is more expensive to move data over greater distances) against the likely cost savings from reduced energy use. Energy prices fluctuate daily (changes in supply, consumer demand, fuel price hikes), even among geographically close locations. It is the outcome of research done by PhD student Asfandyar Qureshi and colleagues at MIT.
Google recently built a datacenter in Belgium that relies entirely on ambient cooling — on days when the weather gets too warm, the center’s servers are simply shut down. The energy-aware Internet-routing scheme is an extension of this idea says Bruce Maggs, vice president of research at Akamai. Data distribution alone will not be able to do the trick; servers need to use substantially less power when idle than when fully running. Further he remarks: “The paper is not about saving energy but about saving cost, although there are some ways to do both. You have to hope that those are aligned.”
Via: technologyreview.com | Related: Search Engine | Energy Consumption shown on Power Plant | Datafountain | Power Aware Cord
Students of the Next Nature Theme at TU/e Industrial design in Eindhoven decided to jungle-up their working environment a bit with the corporate animal wallpaper.
Hand painted (!) by Jurrian Tjeenk Willink, Glenn Jacobs, Kevin Pfeil and Josien Rijswijk. Original pattern design by Karl Grandin, of whom the corporate animal sweater is still available.
See also: Corporate animal pattern laptop engraving, Five strategies of biomimicmarketing, A wood of logos, Nextnature@Volume magazine, Designing for Next Nature @ TU Eindhoven.
Male - BMW, Armani, Durex - is looking for a Female - Dolce & Gabana, New York Times, Victoria’s Secret.
Branddating.nl is a (serious) dating site that relies on the identification people have with brands. It replaces characteristics like “sporty”, “spontaneous” and “funny” with brands like “Apple©”, “Starbucks©” and “Camel©”. We were surprised how well it works and how much more easy it was to describe yourself with brands than it was to do it with words. Although the site offers a lot of Dutch brands, we guess you get the point.
Start dating: Branddating.nl. See also: iReligion, Wood of Logo’s, Media sunrise, We are all born in a world.
What are these people doing? Of course! They are tattooing a pig with the pattern of the luxury bag brand Louis Vuitton. For those who want something more special than the mundane poached tiger pelt to decorate your home.
The tattooed pigs are a project by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye, who says his pigs are treated humanely and they are given sedatives before being tattooed. You can buy the tattooed pigs live or purchase their tattooed skins.
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Graphic designer Roel Boonen takes the Apple cult to the extreme with this iReligion triptych. His piece is illustrative on how central corporations and digital technology have become in our everyday lives. Will technological corporations replace religion and the holy church in the long run? Read the rest of this entry »
“In the environment this company will survive for another 500 years.” From the advertising campaign of WWF Brasil.
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Nature used to be an unpredictable place of mystery. Fascinated with nature’s untamed wildness, artists created animal and floral patterns as a celebration of this phenomenon of the physical world. Today this wilderness has disappeared and nature has lost its unique position.
As we are surrounded by logos, we are systematically invited, encouraged and directed in what we do. Brands want to be personal and engage in a relationship with you. They want to become a central part of your life. But there is no dialogue, only targeted one-way communication. The symbols are constantly in your field of vision but they are still not part of the public domain. Ownership is of the corporations and the destiny of the logos is in their hands.
In the Animal Sweater pattern, designed by the Swedish artist Karl Grandin, the animal shaped logos are set free. Emphasizing the beauty of the stylized animals and their collective kinship, rather than each mark’s individual commercial value, the pattern suggests a new way to experience the commercial imagery.
Finally a limited edition of the Animal Sweaters are available for purchase!
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We are unsure whether it is just an accidental evolutionary recombination, or that the hamburger sneaker was bound to happen – somehow, it feels natural. Our peculiar object of the week was created by Olle Hemmendorff. Of course there is also a vegetarian version.
Filippo Minelli envisions Google total world domination in his very own stickery manner.
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