Secure Your Wireless Connection

Free public wireless Internet access and home wireless networks are becoming as common as the cell phone. However, they do pose a security risk. A recent story in the news reports how the credit card numbers of over 47 million customers of the TJ Maxx retail chain were stolen largely through hacking into their computer system by means of wireless access.

There are basic security procedures that laptop users of free wireless services (and paid services) along with home wireless users should implement to deter all but the most sophisticated thieves. CNET.com has an excellent slideshow presentation showing how to secure homes based wireless systems and laptops used on public systems. Read it and use it!

Clothing Sales Surge Online

Perhaps one of the most challenging areas of online sales is clothing. However, an article in todays' New York Times, shows that this e-commerce sales of clothing is showing a healthy upward trend. In 2006, revenue from skirts, suits and shoes reached $18.3 billion, surpassing that from PCs, printers and word-processing programs, which totaled $17.2 billion, according to a report to be released today by a major trade group.

The surging popularity of clothing on the Web defies predictions that fashion — which is hard enough to buy in stores, with the aid of sales clerks and fitting rooms — would be difficult, if not impossible, to translate onto the Internet. Read more here.

Designing For Those In Need

“The majority of the world’s designers focus all their efforts on developing products and services exclusively for the richest 10% of the world’s customers. Nothing less than a revolution in design is needed to reach the other 90%.”
—Dr. Paul Polak, International Development Enterprises

That quote speaks truth. Web design, like other design disciplines, targets the affluent, those who can afford the products and services we promote. The Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York City has a current exhibition that highlights design with a more benevolent purpose. "Design For the Other 90%" demonstrates how design can be a dynamic force in saving and transforming the lives of poor and disadvantaged people, at home and around the world. Designers, engineers, students and professors, architects, and social entrepreneurs from all over the globe are devising cost-effective ways to increase access to food and water, energy, education, healthcare, revenue-generating activities, and affordable transportation for those who most need them. And an increasing number of initiatives are providing solutions for underserved populations in developed countries such as the United States.

A fascinating exhibit, it shows practical applications of design that benefit the poor. One of my personal favorites is the pot-in-pot cooler design. With the Pot-in-Pot, tomatoes last for twenty-one days, rather than two or three days without this technology. This allows poor farmers to generate more income from their produce in areas where refrigeration is scarce.

Even if you cannot visit the exhibition, the website provides an excellent online virtual tour in itself. Worth your time!

Streamlined Design: A Musuem Exhibit

One of the major automobile design innovations of the twentieth century was streamlining. Curves of Steel, an exhibition at the Phoenix Art Museum (Phoenix, AZ), explores the impact and influence of streamlining on American and European automobile design in the 20th century. It features 22 of some of the rarest and most stunning cars ever to be presented in one show – many are the only existing examples of their kind. They demonstrate the influence of aerodynamic testing and how it changed the look of the automobile from a rectangular “horse-less” carriage into the sleek modern automobile that embodies speed and efficiency. They exemplify the beautiful, sweeping lines, elegant details and perfect proportions where science and style intersect. I had a chance to see this excellent installation. If you are in Phoenix, this inspiring exhibit is worth a visit. It is a source of inspiration for anyone in a graphic, industrial or web design disciplines! The exhibit runs from April 1 - June 3, 2007. Click here for more info.

Bad Taste Goes High Tech

Every once in a while you see a product that makes you ask the eternal question: "Why?" Well, this computer mouse and calculator combination, on sale just in time for Mothers Day, is the spawn of bad design and technology. Rhinestones have never had such a peculiar application. Be sure to buy the matching stapler as well!