Thendara Green home

A writer and his web-blahg

Samanth Subramanian, from Chennai, maintains a blog about writing, art, music and cricket. He’s engaging and interesting. What more could one want?

Last reviewed 15 September 2007

Depict complex ideas simply

Jessica Hagy’s site, Indexed, uses fabulous, simple, hand-drawn diagrams. Must see! Jessica says:

think a little more relationally without resorting to doing actual math.

Don’t miss Jessica’s old site.

Last reviewed 6 January 2010

Kinetic sculpture

Theo Jansen makes kinetic sculptures: entirely mechanical devices named ‘Strandbeests’ (Beach Creatures) that move with remarkable complexity. He refers to them as ‘animals’ and believes that, in a few years, they will be able to survive on the beach on their own.

For a presentation by Theo Jansen, see The art of creating creatures at the Ted Talks site. One commenter there suggested:

The man is clearly mad, but in a
brilliant, inspiring way.

Last reviewed 8 February 2008

MicroISV on a Shoestring

Here’s an interesting idea: create a product, spend $US60 to set up a business, market the product and see what happens. The MicroISV on a Shoestring blog tracks the progress of the business, discusses issues relating to product development and the competition, and reports financial results monthly.

Last reviewed 15 September 2007

Things that make us smart

Don Norman, the industrial design guru, says that Forbes magazine asked him to sit on an advisory board when they were preparing a series of articles on The 20 Most Important Tools Ever. You might be surprised that Norman suggested that the most important tool was not a manufactured object. He chose writing.

Last reviewed 19 October 2007

tompeters!

Tom Peters’ blog, tompeters! is a bit evangelical for my taste. I sip in small doses. But his ideas can get you out of a rut.

Last reviewed 17 September 2007

What does Microsoft need to do to innovate?

From the Research Channel comes Dealing with Darwin: How Great Companies Innovate at Every Phase of their Evolution, a video of a presentation by Geoffrey A. Moore at Microsoft Research. Hear Moore tell Microsoft what Microsoft needs to do to innovate.

Even if you don’t stick out the full 55 minutes and 33 seconds, give at least some of this a go. Requires Internet Explorer.

Last reviewed 15 September 2007