DESIGN, INNOVATION & BUSINESS

 Photo: Emotiv's prototype via Fast Company.

This Mind-Reading headset gives you the power of the force. That how Fast Company describes Emotiv's new-and-improved neuroheadset that promises users to bridge the electro-communicational gap between one’s brain and computer, and also allows users to track their brain activity in real-time and even monitor their mental health. Boom. Read full article in Fast Company here and support the Emotiv's Kickstarter, already über successful, campaign here.

Photo via INC.

Some people believe that the one thing that make entrepreneurs successful it's their ability to innovate. However, as states INC Magazine, being innovative definitely helps but it is not the deciding factor as "many startups are refinements of existing business models or improvements on how everyday products and services are delivered". Find out what is that 'little something' they are talking about reading the article here.

Photo via The New Yorker.


The Problem With Multitasking. "At 10 P.M. on September 22, 1912, Franz Kafka, then a twenty-nine-year-old lawyer, sat down at his typewriter in Prague and began to write. He wrote and wrote, and eight hours later he had finished “Das Urteil” (“The Judgment”)."  Jack Keruack and Steve Wozniak have shared stories similar to that of Kafka, and although their achievements are very well known they are not atypical of what can be achieved by talented people in states of supreme concentration. So, Tim Wu of The New Yorker, ask this question: Would their feats be harder today, the multitasking era, or easier? Read full article here.

So, this is what Tim Lindsay, CEO of D&AD said about unpaid internships in the creative industries:
"Unpaid placements are an abhorrent abuse of a desperation [by graduates] to get into the industry . . . Agencies that do that are beyond the pale." True, true. We couldn't agree more,  nevertheless unpaid internships still more popular than the mythical paid ones. Luckily Lindsay is not only stating his opinion he is also partnering with WPP and starting the New Blood Academy programme that will include a number of paid apprenticeships your young creatives. Some of the agencies included on the program are Ogilvy, JWT, CHI & Partners, Y&R, and Grey. Read more in Creative Review.

CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT

Photo: Salinger in Brooklyn, in 1952. Photograph by Antony Di Gesu/San Diego Historical Society/Hulton Archive/Getty. Via The New Yorker.

The past 5 of September was released in America Shane Salerno's documentary Salinger. According to IMDB: an unprecedented look inside the private world of J.D. Salinger, the reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye. You can read a lot of opinios on the Internet but there is this very complete piece by Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker that simply tries to answer: Who was J.D. Salinger? and in doing it so, might point out some inaccuracies of Salerno's film. 'There are certain artists, and some art, that become so popular that everyone peers into them, finding whatever they will, however they will'. Salinger was one of them. Read the article here.

 Photo via The New Yorker.

No one joins Facebook to be sad and lonely. But research into the alienating nature of the Internet—and Facebook in particular, and a new study from the University of Michigan psychologist Ethan Kross argues that that might be exactly how it makes us feel.  Do you want to know why? Read this article in The New Yorker.

Photo: DIY Bearding with pets cats and dogs via Dazed Magazine.

I selfie, therefore I am, it's an interesting article in Dazed Magazine about the selfie,  the on-the-go medium of self-celebration and envy, and a form of self-portrait accessible to everyman and everywoman – as long has he or she has a smartphone, and also, an A-Z guide. Have a look here.

OUR WEEKLY PROCRASTINATION

Photos: The Procrastinator (some) Times. On the second one you can see one of my favorite illustrations called "Perv".

We visited Jean Jullien's exhibition La Plage, on Beach London the opening day and we found fresh fish (nice touch!), fresh ginger beer, and a really nice series of limited-edition prints that in a humorous way portrait that one thing that must of us are not going to experience in the next 8 months: beach life. More info about La Plage here.


Also, this past Wednesday we head down to the Southbank Centre to see Limbo and we absolutely loved it. The performers were absolutely awesome and personally, I really enjoyed the music. Nice old-days feeling show that you should definitely see, even it you can only buy the 'cheap' tickets. The venue is small enough to be able to have a good view of everything from pretty much everywhere, just be a bit earlier to chose your sits.  For specific details have a look at our To Do List. We have no photos because cameras were not allowed.

 Photo: Tate Liverpool & The Procrastinator (some) Times.

Finally, in our Weekly Procrastination we visited the Tate Liverpool that is presenting over a hundred works from their collection in a very interesting way. The DLA Piper Series: Constellations explores connections between major works including Barbara Kruger, Marina Abramovic, Jonas Mekas, Man Ray, Picasso, Christo and Francis Alys, across art history, arranging them in nine ‘constellations’. This exhibition on two floors of the gallery, "offer a fresh way of viewing and understanding artworks through correspondences rather than chronological narrative". If you happen to be in Liverpool I think is worth a visit. More info here.

TO DO (OR NOT TO DO) LIST

Image: London Stories via Battersea Arts Centre

London 1-on-1-on-1. Over 8 million people live in London. People to whom we share a great number of everyday activities, from queuing (a personal favorite) to being oddly close, pretending not to be oddly close, in the Tube's rush hour. The Battersea Arts Centre, invite us to explore a warren of candle-lit rooms and encounter real-life stories told by the people who lived them. Each story, from the moving to the bizarre or comical, will be told to an audience of just two. You will share every experience 1-on-1-on-1 with the storyteller and an audience member you may never have met before. Book tickets, watch the trailer and read a little bit more about this peculiar London Stories here.

Photo: Clean Bandits via Tate website.

BP Saturdays: Loud Tate. The next Saturday 21st you can get down to Tate Britain for a free action-packed day of art, music and fashion, exploring the idea of contrast between the past and present, inspired by the new chronological display at Tate Britain. There will be workships, tutorials, and live performance from Clean Bandit, Amplify Dot and Hackney Colliery Band. More info in the Tate Britain website.

 Photo via Limbo website.

If you fancy to "witness heart-stopping illusions, mind-bending manoeuvres, breathtaking dance moves and thrilling live music from a coterie of highly skilled international performers. A festive celebration of otherworldly proportions, welcome to the greatest party ever between heaven and hell." LIMBO, the new production from the creative producers of 2012 hit show Cantina, will be in London Wonderground until the 29th of September. This was part of our Weekly Procrastination this week and we were fascinated. There's some serious stuff going on in Limbo. And the music is just perfect! Don't miss out. Info and tickets here.

Photo: Endless Stair via LDF website.

Finally, London Design Festival started this 14th of September and it's massive this year. From exhibitions, creative installations to collaborations and dinner parties. The photo above is Endless Stair, a visually and architecturally astonishing installation and one of the highlights of this September’s Festival, go and have a look from 13 September – 10 October 2013 on the lawn in front of the Tate Modern. Design is everywhere, but specially here.

SUNDAY (SOME) TIMES

More monos by Germán here.

Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 8th of September Edition

EDITORIAL

This week in the world was a very tense one, that's why, aside from Teju Cole's interview on The Washington Post we decided to keep the highlighted news somewhat lighter. We don't discourage you to read heavy, tense, polemic, very real news, on the contrary, please keep yourselves informed. But this is just not the place for that.

So, in the news section, we are featuring an interesting article about LSD and a Hayao Miyasaki profile. On our Design, Business and Innovation section you can read about 3D Printing, art and a tweeting piano. In our Culture and Entertainment section you'll have a little bit of fashion and a bit of Russia, with love. And in our weekly procrastination, among other things, we follow our own advice and visited the Mass Observation exhibition in the Photographer's gallery and loved it, you can read a bit about it.

Finally, (I almost forgot!) we are starting a BRAND NEW SECTION! I am screaming, yes. We have now a Science section that will cover the very popular subjects of space, medicine, neuroscience, and in this particular edition: beer.

Hope you enjoy this week's edition, and don't forget to check the amazing In Dog We Trust and Sunday Sometimes sections. Dogs and cartoons, who doesn't love them?


NEWS

Image: Teju Cole's Twitter account Screenshot.

Max Fischer of The Washington Post, interviews The New Yorker's writer Teju Cole, about his Twitter manifesto/parody/action (?) 9 Questions about Britain that you were too embarrassed to ask. Have a look at all the tweets and the interview here.

Photo: The Beatles, of course, via The Independent.

Roll up for the Magical Mystery Tour as a team of Norwegian scientists has concluded that LSD may actually be good for you after conducting an exhaustive study on tens of thousands of Americans. Dr Timothy Leary, who was branded the “most dangerous man in America” by President Nixon, was right after all. Read full article in The Independent.

Image: My neighbor Totoro movie frame via BookImageCollective Blog.

"I know I've said I would retire many times in the past. Many of you must think, 'Once again.' But this time I am quite serious," said the Japanese master of whimsical animation, Hayao Miyazaki, who has retired before... but this time, sadly, he says he means it. He will definitely be missed. Read full story in Associated Press.

SCIENCE

Photo: LADEE via NASA.

NASA is turning science fiction into fact. As a new moon orbiter gets set to launch, Pete Worden, director of NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, says forget the 20th – this is the real space century. The orbiter is called: Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is set to launch in Virginia on 6 September, and is a $250-million mission to probe the moon's exosphere and learn how it would be affected by increased human activity. Read Worden's interview in The New Scientist.

The 20 big questions in science. From the nature of the universe (that's if there is only one) to the purpose of dreams, there are lots of things we still don't know – but we might do soon. The Big Questions in Science: The Quest to Solve the Great Unknowns published by Andre Deutsch and fueatured by The Guardian, seeks some answers, "time travellers already walk among us", is one of them. Read full article in The Guardian.

Photo via Cancer-Forums.net

New weapons are emerging in the war on cancer, and as The Economist points out, this are not only good news for patients but also for drug companies that recently faced falling sales as their existent medicines went off-patent. Oncology is attractive for various reasons; one is that cancer drugs can fetch exorbitant prices, particularly in America. Several drug companies are hoping to secure the next blockbuster. Read the article Lucrative Lifesavers in The Economist.

Photo: The Procrastinator (some) Times
 
Huzzah! A Beer Tha Prevents Dehydration Now Exists. Australian researchers at Queensland’s Griffith Health Institute added electrolytes to commercial beer, reducing beer drinkers’ risk of dehydration... but also the fortified drink could reduce drunken symptoms, that for some is the whole point of drinking a beer in the first place. Read full article in Fast Company.

DESIGN, INNOVATION & BUSINESS

Illustration via The Economist.

EVER since 3D printing became a mainstream topic of conversation couple of years ago, comment has veered towards two extremes, argues The Economist. "Fans, often in America, insist it will have a dramatic impact, undermining the economics of mass production and repatriating jobs to the West . . . Critics denounce it as overblown hype". And this article From dental braces to astronauts' seats will show you some signs that 3D printing is transforming manufacturing, but not in the ways you might expect. Read it here.

Photo: John Maeda via Wired.

This week artist, graphic designer, computer scientist, and educator, John Maeda asked If Design's No Longer the Killer Differentiator, What Is? Signs seem to point to art. People, he argues, are now looking for a way to reconnect with their values, "to ground how they can, will, and should live in the world". I know that I'm going to sound like one of those know-it-all assholes, but honestly I think that signs have always pointed to art, not just now, historically. Always. Nevertheless Maeda's reflections are valid and you can read them in Wired.

 Photo: Screenshot of the Tweeting Piano video.

A tweeting piano at London College of Communication invite us to drop our mobiles and tweet a musical message using its keys. The Tweet is sent along with a sound file of how the Tweet ‘sounds’ when it is played. From the outside is just an old piano, but using the pentatonic scale, the creator team, formed by post-grad students of MA Interactive Media, allocated the letters of the alphabet and some common characters to the keys. You can follow the @TweetingPiano or visit the website.

 Photo: The Procrastinator (some) Times.

Finally, Josh Epperson opens his article The Power of Meaningless in Medium saying: "This is not another piece about following your passions. This is not a commentary about making a career from what you love. This is not an essay on being more productive. This is about taking things less seriously, and enjoying life as best you can." He argues in favor of doing meaningless activities that let your mind wonder around... you how we call this in here? Yes, that's right: procrastination (the good kind). Read Epperson reflections and nice examples in Medium.

CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT

 

 'From Petersburg With Love' by Colta Photographer - Alexei Tikhonov & Producer - Olga Shilyaeva (http://www.colta.ru/docs/5839)


In response to Russia's horrific anti-gay laws, Dazed Magazine, has been publishing a series of articles, this is the latest one. Find out about Russia's first LGBT school, The Moscow Experimental School for Gender Studies, which opened on August 2 ready to fight back Putin's anti-homosexual propaganda introducing tabu subjects as queer art, pornography, sex work, feminism to the contemporary Russian society.  Read full article here.

 Photo: Screenshot of 'Defined Lines' video.

A feminist parody of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” created by a bunch of University of Auckland law students was briefly removed from YouTube earlier this week. Olivia Lubbock, one of the creators of the "Defined Lines" speaking of the YouTube ban, said: “It’s been flagged by users as inappropriate because of sexual content and stuff like that, but the fact it’s been taken down is a massive double standard". Read full article in The Independent.

  

Photo: Hedi Slimane via Dazed Digital

A less controversial video is Hedi Slimane's first film for Saint Laurent ballerina line. "Trick or Treat" the soundtrack of the film is composed and performed by LA-based Clementine Creevy from Cherry Glazeer.  The model Lida Fox is captured dancing in classic black and white but in a open new york style loft  wearing leather and flannel. Fresh air is being blown by Slimane into the Saint Laurent brand and the concept of a ballerina while, as Dazed point out 'Cali grunge becomes timeless'. Have a look at the video here.

"The fact that people doesn’t read poetry, does not mean they don’t need it." It means a lot to discover the poetic/subversive work of a Mexican writer through Lost at E Minor, a Sydney, Newcastle, Austin (TX) based blog. It means that his words, his walls and his idea had travel and keeps traveling around the world. If you speak Spanish you will enjoy this Ted x Ibero presentation of Armando Alanis and his Acción Poética. Have a look here.