26 April 2008

A Eco-nomical Solution

One of the great things about Singapore is that there are all sorts of yummy fruit drinks available everywhere you go -- Lime Juice is a staple. I was walking around last Sunday and dropped into a random cafe to put up a drink for "take-away" and instead of the full plastic cup, they had this ingenious solution.



The plastic bag weighs a fraction of what the cup does and of course generates way less landfill space and trash handling. And, the hanging strap actually make it more convenient to carry around to boot! Just be careful not to poke too hard with the straw...

There's a similar hanging strap they use there (I didn't get a picture of it) that they use for hot beverages like coffee, so you don't have to hold the hot cup (nor do you have to double-cup it). Why haven't these things spread, I wonder...

21 April 2008

Awesome (and also, a pretty effective ad)

On Apr 21, 2008, at 3:12 PM, Andrew G wrote:

> This 1-minute Discovery Channel ad beautifully merges technology with sheer joy:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5BxymuiAxQ&feature=dir

09 April 2008

Springtime in Tokyo / 東京の春


Sakura along the Meguro river near my apartment.

アパートに近い目黒川の桜です。

07 April 2008

A Classic Reference Work Online: Composing Pictures


In the Cinematography & Composition for Computer Graphics lecture that I've given here and there, I always mention the great reference book by Donald L. Graham, "Composing Pictures," with a touch of sadness: it's out of print, and its price on eBay puts it out of the reach of students! However, someone appears to have taken pity on the students of the world and made a version of the book on scribd. This was the first time I'd been to scribd, it looks pretty nice so hopefully they'll stay in business!