The everyday life

As promised (though a day delayed) here is my idea for a creative project involving architecture, storywriting, photography, music creation and oter creative genres.

My project idea
One of my biggest gripes about Australia is the lack of a Disneyland. I am a huge fan of Disneyland and the architecture there. Visiting Disneyland Paris as a kid in ‘94 was actually what made me wanna be an architect.

So my idea is basically to plan and layout an Australian Disneyland proposal taking inspiration from the different Disney parks around the world. This will require me to use architecture, drawing/painting, storywriting, model building etc.

In order to share this I would document my process by filming, and photographing what I do and write out my thoughts, process etc.

All of this will hopefully end up producing a coherent project that is both an insight into architecture, storytelling and documentary making.

I would love for people to get onboard for this project, either through online participation/criticism or actual collaboration on dime of te subjects (eg architecture) that I am not very knowledgable about.

To get in touch with me either post a comment or write me at et (dot) jensen (at) gmail (dot) com

Inspired by my relatively uninspired workplace I have started to feel a growing need for being creative.

But exactly what I haven’t quite figured out. There are so many things that I’d always liked to try: architecture (my life long dream), photography (something I always thought I was decent at but I’m starting to have my doubts), music creation (mainly electronica/clicks’n'cuts, which I have no experience with), writing (journalistic, novel writing and poetry), drawing/painting, and video creation (inspired by my late friend Rodger, who documented his experience living, studying and working in Japan).

I kept wondering if there was a way to being these things together and create something that would improve my skills and be something with just a hint of artistic value. Ten today it hit me. As I still have an interest in architecture I could document my journey to learn more about the subject and possibly create somethingng worthwhile along the way.

An idea is forming in my head how I could use the different artistically genres in documenting this journey and share it in the hopes of getting critical feedback on my project as well as the process.

I will put together a plan and then present it here on my blog for initial feedback on Sunday February 28.

I hope that some of you (if anyone’s still reading this) will want to join in and comment on and possibly participate in this project.

Best regards,
Esben

As an Apple fanboy I was really looking forward to yesterdays announcement of the iPad!

After the dust have settled a bit I have some thoughts about this whole thing.

First off is whether or not it lived up to the anticipation. The short answer would be no! But then that’s no surprise. After all the iPhone was poorly received to start off with as well, and that hadn’t had anywhere near as long a rumored existence as the mythical Apple tablet! I’m of course not the only one who had this thought, and I feel like everyone should have known from the get-go that no matter how magical the iPad is it would in no way be able to live up to about 17 years of expectations, hopes and dreams. However I don’t believe that the iPad was fully introduced at the event.

So what do I mean is that supposed to mean, when I say I don’t believe that it was fully introduced at the event. Well it’s a two part answer. One is the way that Steve Jobs introduced the device and the other is the fact that it runs iPhone OS 3.2.

In essence Steve Jobs didn’t seem like he believed what he was saying about the tablet. If you watch the introduction it seems like he thinks it’s a great looking device, but that it just isn’t really doing it for him. His presentation wasn’t as smooth as it usually is either. The transitions seemed a bit abrupt and his enthusiasm didn’t seem very profound, unlike other introductions, where he honestly looks like he believes that he is holding the worlds greatest device in his hands, even if it is just a small spec bump!

So why is that? Well that’s the second thing. The device is being launched with iPhone OS 3.2, even though iPhone OS 4.0 ought to right around the corner. I bet that this means that a lot of the functionality that the device will gain – and possibly the functionality that will make it seem magical – won’t be available before the next major update to the OS.

And so why would Jobs, who is known to be a perfectionist, introduce a half-baked device. It is likely it was introduced early, so developers will start creating content that are more targeted towards the iPad. This way it will already have great apps available when it goes on sale. Secondly it assures that it won’t accidentally be uncovered in an FCC filling. But most importantly it won’t spoil the surprise of what the next iPhone will have as its new feature set.

With 60 days before the device goes on sale, Apple will be a lot closer to unveiling the next iteration of the iPhone OS. My prediction is that it will not only make the iPhone even more compelling than it already is, but it will also introduce features and capabilities that make the iPad seem much more lust-worthy.

This brings me to my last thoughts of the iPad so far – the apps! For a long time the internet and especially tech sites have been pondering what could possibly be the killer functionality that would make it stand out from the otherwise relatively unsuccessful taplet PCs. Obviously it will be a compelling ebook reader, but not enough to warrant it as a third device type. And sure it will be great for watching movies on the plane or on the couch, where the web and email capabilities will also be of great use… but just not enough that it warrants a separate device. It’s not like anyone is gonna ditch their notebook or smartphone just for this. And who will want to use this while commuting. It’s just not full fledged enough to replace a laptop and not compact enough that you’re gonna bring it everywhere like an iPhone or iPod touch. So what else could it possibly be! Right now I don’t know, but I bet Apple has a good idea, which we will see before long. And if they don’t I’m convinced at least a few app developers will come up with usage scenarios that would make it more compelling.

So rumor has it, that Apple will hold a media event on Jan. 27th to reveal the long rumored Apple tablet/New Newton/iSlate/whatever!!! along with a revision of the iPhone SDK.

TUAW has a fun angle. What if it was just a prank. Steve gets on stage and reveals something completely different

In regards to the next revision to the iPhone OS I know that it’s about half a year into the future, but I’ve noticed how this year there’s a lot less speculation about what the upgrade will include. Is it because the iPhone now includes most normal phone functionalities, or has everyone forget everything but the tablet.
I know I’m quite curious what they will think of next for the iPhone. Especially since I’ve about worn down my 3G after dropping it a few times and using it constantly (which means I almost have no battery life left on it but can’t be bothered paying to replace it). So will it be as “boring” as the last update (a processor upgrade, memory bump and compass) or will they actually do something new?

On a site note it’s worth noting that Microsoft and HP have made a slate PC, which is due out sometime later this year!

Heck! right now I’d be happy just to have a Kindle for all of my reading pleasure!

On tuesday I went with my girlfriend to a concert with Icelandic singer Emiliana Torrini. We were entirely in front, which was cool… haven’t been that at a concert for a long time!

Music was really good, and to my surprise she played a nice combination of new and old songs. It was at a relatively small venue in Newtown which made it even cooler

The other day I went to watch the new Sherlock Holmes movie by Guy Rithchie.

As a fan of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories I was somewhat intrigued but also skeptic of Guy Rithcie’s interpretation of Sherlock Holmes in the form of Robert Downing Jr.

As a movie it was cool, like most other Guy Ritchie movies. However as a Sherlock Holmes story it was so-so. It definitely had the elements of a Holmes story, with seemingly supernatural happenings having a very real explanation. The character however is a bit to jolly, whimsical and cool compared to Conan Doyle’s original. Robert Downey Jr. lacks the refinement and air of aristocracy that Holmes is supposed to have, as well as the self indulgence and smugness with his superior intellect.

That said it was a very enjoyable movie.

John Gruber has an interesting take on the merits of an Apple tablet. He basically asks the question of why you would want to buy an Apple tablet if you already own an iPhone/iPod Touch and a MacBook.
His take is that it will effectively replace the MacBook as a sort of convergence device that adds more functionality than the iPhone but leaves out the hard computing aspects such as photoshopping etc. You would instead have an iPhone, an Apple tablet and an iMac. Interesting take in my opinion!

Contrary to his usual advance info he says he knows nothing about the Apple tablet and knows no one who has even seen it. That certainly puts into perspective the otherwise large amount of people who claim to have seen and played with the Apple tablet.

For anyone following Apple rumors this is definitely an interesting article.

Via Daring Fireball

I recently installed AutoStitch on my iPhone. The app let’s you create panoramas and works pretty well (besides the occasional ghosting effects). It’s had some unintended side effects though. By taking the vast amounts of photos needed for the panoramas I have ended up with some random and sometimes really interesting shots.

HP has got an amazing new ad using tilt-shift.

(Update)
HP seems to have to pulled the ad. Really a shame, since it was an entire ad shot with tilt shift. Really cool stuff. You might be able to find it elsewhere.
HP “Create Amazing” – Director’s Cut by Keith Loutit

The last week or so something strange has happened.

For a long time any week would have at least one or two new rumors about an upcoming Apple product. However this past week there haven’t really been any Apple rumors… at all! It’s only been opinions on how other tech stories might have an influence on Apples future business.

So why has there been no rumors? Did Apple suddenly stop making new products? Unlikely! My guess (though highly unlikely) is that the new Apple tablet is finally done and that we are just waiting for the release. This could have given Steve time to hunt down the leakers who’s been having a field day the last couple of years!