Press freedom index

Reporters Without Borders just released its 2009 Press Freedom Index, a ranking of countries based on how shamelessly they screw with the Fourth Estate.

Obama has had a positive effect: America leapt up 20 places to number 20. Italy, Spain, and France are all in the 40s and each slipped a few places. Israel sank 47 places and, for the first time, lost its lead among Middle Eastern countries thanks to its crack down on the media last winter. Iran is now down in North Korea territory. And the Scandinavian countries lead the pack.

I could think of a reason why Italy lost position.

1-20	150-175

(via good.is and rsf.org)

iDon’t: Motorola Droid .. and the answer to it.

Verizon Wireless’s commercial for the Motorola Droid which is said to be released November 6th, 2009:

 

.. and the answer to it:

50 years of exploration

Wow, this info graphic made look – this is stunning! Captured on the graphic are nearly 200 both failed and successful missions in our planetary system.

[view it in original size]

(via stevey.com, orignal source: national geographic)

Wallpaper* cuts with Victorinox

If I think of a Swiss Army Knife a remember my time at the army (an obligation in Switzerland).. not good this is. But hey, it is at the same time a solid Swiss product and can be very practical if you think of MacGyver. Further, Wallpaper* now shows in a cooperation with the designers James Joyce and Jamie Cullen, that a Swiss Army Knife can even look quite fancy. Run to the Victorinox store at Bond Street in London and buy one (£70)!

Online advertising ‘overtakes TV’ (UK)

Online advertising spending in the UK has overtaken television expenditure for the first time, a report has said. Online spending grew 4.6% to £1.752bn in the first half of 2009, while TV spending shrank 16.1% to £1.639bn. […]

Quite impressive to see that companies spent more on online advertisement than on the TV channel. Justin Pearse from NMA pointed out that this overtake is mainly due to the stormy times companies currently face. However, in the end what really matters is the effectiveness of every spent pound.

(via bbc news)

Rethink cities

Currently, more than half the world’s population lives in cities. And the complex collection of systems that make up a city’s infrastructure have evolved, creating new and efficient ways to sustain and support a significant concentration of people. But inside all cities are problem areas that can be optimized and made smarter—improving the function of the metropolis and the lives of its citizens.

Read more >

if I was a robot

More great comics of Alex Noriega here.. and here.

problems finding your ringtone?

The following flow chart might help you finding your personal ringtone – it is important!

(via wired.com)

santa or bin laden

(via thisisindexed.com)

stop motion at its best

The following video is a senior work of Bang-yao Liu at the Savannah College of Art and Design. It reminded me of my works at studies meaning the increasing pressure by coming closer to the deadline. However, for this video 3 month of work and more than 6.000 post-it notes were required.

deadline: the making of

did you know?

Nice video/compilation of facts and figures of today’s development of our society driven by new technologies. Whether it is good or bad can be determined by what you make out of it.

Last.fm: Michael Jackson, Tracks played per hour after announcement of his death

 

(via last.fm photostream)

how to get the girl (based on successful attempts)

 

(via thedoghousediaries)

twitter your album review

Twitter all over the place right now. Everyone has his twitter feed and idem do artists. Consequently, today’s musicians have a myspace page, a facebook group/profile, a blog, a last.fm profile, a flickr photostream and a twitter feed. .. and probably an official web page.

Moby just released his 9th studio album (“wait for me”) and let fans write reviews via twitter. Twitter users just post your review starting with @thelittleidiot and ending with #waitforme. Further, the most creative review wins an original ‘Wait for Me’ artork by Moby!

(via moby/journal)

hooray! – how to be happy in business.

(via swissmiss)

London’s shop fronts

Emily Webber from londonshopfronts.com rows up pictures from the fronts of London’s numerous corner shops. Love’em!

empire state cloud

Today I found this wonderful picture taken by moby. It looks indeed like it was taken in the 40’s/50’s. Read the context to it on his blog.

I share, therefore I am.

G20 in pictures

The G20 summit last weekend in London is finally over but well documented on flickr. A lot of impressive pictures were taken. Find them here.

lovely package

I noticed that more and more blogs about packaging pop into the web. Most of them talk about nice designs and graphics, some about the functional aspects and rather fewer about the ecological thoughts when designing packaging. Since I love nice and clever designs and often buy goods just because of the design, I love to browse through these blogs and discover what other packaging is out there. -  lovelypackage.com is one of them.