The Sedulous Ape

May is Monkey Boss Month

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Durand) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:01:00 +0000

I hope your May was as sweet and lush as ours was in Nashville, my family's home for the last 18 months.

My wife and our two little girls just moved from the countryside, 30 miles south of the city, to a leafy neighborhood where we are rediscovering the joys of sidewalks, porches and waving to neighbors we barely know.

(Dog names are so much easier to remember!)

Below are the eclectic articles and information graphics that caught my eye over the last month, beginning with the best advice ever, brought to us by the Heath brothers, Chip and Dan. Thanks to everyone who continues to make stuff and make stuff happen in spite of all the gloom and doom pulsing through the airwaves.

Myself, I cope by eliminating television from my life and helping my daughter color with markers, which, to her, is a full-time job!

Wishing you warm regards and long walks,

Peter Durand
Alphachimp Studio Inc.

***************************************************

Your Boss Is a Monkey

"Managing up" using the tricks of exotic-animal training
By: Dan Heath and Chip Heath

This Fast Company article was inspired by a woman who studied animal trainers who could teach whales not to spit, dolphins to jump through hoops, and monkeys to ride skateboards. She asked herself: "What if I used those techniques on my husband?!" The Heath brothers, authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die apply this approach to another irritable mammal: your boss. http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2008/04/your-boss-is-monkey.html

MUTO: An Ambiguous Animation Painted on Public Walls
Imagine creating a 7 minute short animated film using hand drawn black-and-white line drawings. At 12 frames per second, you would have to create 5040 individual drawings. Now image creating the same number of sequential images but with spray paint on public buildings.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2008/05/muto-ambiguous-animation-painted-on.html

Meeting on the Right Side of the Brain
We've been preaching it for years. I guess it it now news: Creative work environments improve creative thinking! Congrats to Leslie Marquard on leading the piece. Thanks for bringing "right-brained thinking" to a "left-brained" world.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2008/05/meeting-on-right-side-of-brain.html

Australia 2020
Graphic facilitator Gavin Blake writes us of his exciting collaboration with other facilitators and scribes at a national summit in Australia's capital, Canberra. Attendees included Hugh Jackman,
http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2008/05/australia-2020.html

Design and the Elastic Mind clipped from www.coolhunting.com.
To document MoMA's wonderful, monumental exhibit spanning design, science and technology, "Design and the Elastic Mind," we enlisted the help of the show's esteemed curator, Paola Antonelli.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2008/04/design-and-elastic-mind.html

Elephant Scribe
This video speaks of the power of visual language to communicate across cultures... and species! In it, an elephant paints a self-portrait (no joke).
http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2008/04/elephant-scribe.html

Once Again, Moustache Madness sweeps Germany
clipped from www.reuters.com. German beard and moustache championship draws more than 100 men from various countries to compete for most extravagant look. Organized by the Eastern Bavarian Beard and Moustache Club, the event drew ...
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2008/04/once-again-moustache-madness-sweeps.html

From Idea Sandbox: The Prioritizer
I have wasted so many man hours (or monkeyman hours!) researching GTD and Zen Habits and Flylady techniques. In the end. All I need to know is what to do next, based on what is most important. Paul Williams' simple on-line tool helps ...
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2008/04/from-idea-sandbox-prioritizer.html

The Point: Web 2.0 tool for creating your own change
The Point brings together problems, people, and the pressure of collective action. The site allows users to create campaigns and encourage other people to join anonymously. Once the number of members reaches a certain critical mass action is triggered on a mass scale.
http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2008/04/the-point-web-2.html

Fiefdoms & Freakonomics
Hosted by Carlos Gasca Yanez on the Social Edge, this on-line discussion addresses what is the oldest, most intractable problem facing any group of people trying to do anything: fragmentation. You see it in religion, politics, and art.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2008/04/fiefdoms-freakonomics.html

Better Mental Health, Down on the Farm
Since moving to a little farmhouse in middle Tennessee, my mental health has improved tremendously. I find it difficult to feel anxious or depressed when outside or working with animals (be they bovine, equine or human!).
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2008/04/better-mental-health-down-on-farm.html

Quieting the Demons and Giving Art a Voice
clipped from www.nytimes.com
Two new books highlight the writing of authors with mental illness. In "Madness: A Bipolar Life", Marya Hornbacher brings to the discussion more than the usual pairing of disturbed brain and talented mind. "Poets on Prozac: Mental Illness, Treatment, and the Creative Process" is a collection of essays solicited from published poets with psychiatric illness.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/health/29book.html?_r=1&nl=8hlth&emc=hltha1&oref=slogin

Food for Oil
While the Developed World frets over the current crises [plural for crisis] which have sucked the value out of most of America's larger financial assets, the rest of the developing world is again struggling to afford the basics, namely, ...
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2008/04/food-for-oil.html

Storytelling and Social Change clipped from www.socialedge.org.
Recent years have seen a number of effective projects using storytelling and marketing techniques to turn the needle on important social issues.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2008/04/storytelling-and-social-change.html

Consensus on Colors clipped from www.kk.org
Extremely useful when shopping for ties, or arguing with your spouse about what color to paint the kitchen. The folks at Dolores Blog "showed thousands of random colors to people on Mechanical Turk and asked what ...
http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2008/04/consensus-on-co.html

Governing Sovereign Wealth Flows
A wonderful New York Times graphic showing the global flows of sovereign wealth. A sovereign wealth fund is a huge heap of money that is controlled by a nation -- say Singapore or Saudi Arabia -- rather than by a private transnational company--known as private equity funds--and their investments have been prime movers in global finance for decades.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2008/04/governing-sovereign-wealth-flows.html

Nihilistic Neighborliness
The folks at Worldchanging.com are seriously challenging me, and our communities, by pushing against the greenest of our most well-intentioned green-consumerism, by declaring: "But there is a danger in thinking that all we have to do is design better substitutes for the products we already consume, and then convince people to buy them."
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2008/04/nihilistic-neighborliness.html

April is the Cruelest Mash-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Durand) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 04:07:00 +0000

I hope your have not suffered too many fools this April.

Here are some interesting, entertaining and insightful posts ranging from the silly to the suicidal to sketching at South-by-Southwest in Austin.

Warm regards,

Peter Durand

***************************************************

The Melancholia of Social Networking
Even with the quantifiable explosion of social networking opportunities and the perceived multitude of channels to connect, the feeling of isolation and disconnectedness continues to pervade our modern culture. ...

Multitouch Mash-Up clipped from thoughts-illustrated.blogspot.com
The next best thing to telekinesis. WiiMote multitouch from CynergyLabs builds on Johnny Chung Lee's Wiimote example, CynergyLab in San Diego has created a multitouch prototype using a ...

Der Unclutteredeskplatz clipped from unclutterer.com
This week’s Workspace of the Week is Blupics’ two person office:. Now that you’ve been blown away by the first image, check out this one featuring all of the cords, drives, and peripherals attached ...

Google Calendar Sync clipped from googleblog.blogspot.com
I've suffered major headaches trying to sync all my calendars. I used the Microsoft Outlook calendar on my desktop computer at home, but since I wanted to be able to access my schedule from anywhere ...

FastCompany: Infographic: Numerology: SXSW
Over the last 20 years, the South by Southwest Festival has grown from a small Texas gathering of songsters into a star-launching mega-event with music, film, and tech components.

The Common Language for an Efficient Nonprofit Marketplace
clipped from www.socialedge.org
The movement for an efficient online capital marketplace is gaining attention, momentum and players. Recently, a variety of organizations including Great Nonprofits, Social Markets, Give Well, ...

Heaven on HEMA
Have fun shopping at this crazy on-line store from the Netherlands. If only strolling the aisles of Target were so exciting! (Warning: watch out for the magnifying glass!) Thanks to Nellie Durand!

SXSW Interactive 2008 Sketchnotes clipped from www.rohdesign.com
Rohdesign is the site of designer Mike Rohde, who writes about design, sketching, writing, mobile computing, technology, travel, cycling, books, music and more. Thanks to Lee Potts of Visual Being.

On Your Feet: Can Executives Learn to Ignore the Script?
Gary Hirsch in the Portland, Ore., office of On Your Feet, which he helped found. His consulting firm (a self-proclaimed "miniscule multi-national") helps employees loosen up and make “cool mistakes.”

Stamen Design: Information Visualization is a Medium
cipped from Worldchanging.com
A jet-lagged Regine Debatty writes from etech08 in San Diego. She describes her excitement listening to Eric Rodenbeck, founder and creative director of Stamen Design, talk on Information Visualization is a Medium.

Podcast: Christopher Fuller @ VizThink clipped from www.boxesandarrows.com
In late January Jeff Parks is President of I.A. Consultants had the pleasure of attending the VizThink conference in San Francisco, and sat down with a panel of visual experts, including our friend and graphic facilitator, Chris Fuller.

"Back of the Napkin" Gets Inside Your Brain
So, yeah. Um. I hate to admit it, but this book is going to change the way I work. In "Back of the Napkin", Dan Roam taught me a tremendous amount about how to appropriately integrate traditional process maps and diagrams into my own work as a graphic facilitator working with clients who are trying to understand and manage complexity. ...

Bay of Capitalist Pigs clipped from www.theatlantic.com
How Havana might change after Castro by Graeme Wood
US business interests have been eagerly awaiting Castro’s departure—one way or another—for years. This information graphic sketches out a possibile future full of Big Box Stores and convention centers.

Poppin' and Lockin' and Rappin'
An old MTV clip from '85 starring a very young Alfonso Ribeiro, sent to me by High School buddy, and master breakdancer, Jarrell McAlister. I want to get a hold of this simply for the complex information graphics demonstrating how to properly execute a "reverse centipede".

Connect the Dots

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Durand) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 01:22:00 +0000

As I cobble together this sporadic collection of visual and vaguely primate-related newsletter tidbits, I don't know which is more nerve-racking:

The up-for-grabs political tornado spinning about the news channels, or...
The tornados that just touched down in our new home town of Nashville, Tennessee.

Whatever happens, keep your head down and do what my wife does on nights like these:

Remember to wear your favorite pajamas and keep a daiper bag packed.

Peter Durand

Alphachimp Studio Inc.

Monkey Management for Project Teams Pry off those primates!
In this podcast, professional project manager Mike Graupner describes the techniques he uses to address the Monkeys in his life--random requests, urgent tasks, unplanned events, other people's problems, etc. Graupner advocates that these metaphorical monkeys should either be shot or left alone. We, on the other hand, advocate non-violence towards fellow primates :)

Ready to Ware From FastCompany: Clothes That Look Hip and Track Your Vital Signs, Too.
Industrial inventor, De Rossi, who has worked on robotic skin and motion-capture tech for Darpa and the US National Institutes of Health, began exploring the idea of fabric as a data-collection medium 12 years ago. Most of his designs employ thin, pliable strands of conductive steel spun with cotton or polyester fibers into yarn. The Wealthy suit has nine electrodes and conductive leads woven in, yet the fabric looks and feels completely normal.

Good Education Scary statistics delivered succinctly

Part of the transparency section of Good Magazine, this clever video commissioned by ED in '08 highlights details behind America's ranking in public education.

Many Eyes Visualization Options Available in Many Eyes
Finding the right way view your data is as much an art as a science. The visualizations provided on Many Eyes range from the ordinary to the experimental. IBM researchers Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg are the creators of Many Eyes, a new kind of social website dedicated to data visualization and analysis. Members upload batches of data - about politics, weather, or anything else - then chart, interpret, discuss, and even re-visualize one another's data.

This podcast from IT Conversations traces the history of this data visualization project.

Geni Animated Geneology Web Apps

This web 2.0 app drastically improves the (usually) tedious process of tracing family history, by combining the elegance of Flickr and the tools of social networking. You can kick off the family tree and invite your relatives to fill in the blanks!

Quick Primer on Graphs and Networks The power and flexibility of a network

Whether a simple group of casual neighbors or a complex next generation communication network, the quality and strength of a network depends not just on the number of connections, but on the quality of the nodes, and more important, the type of nodes. is a fantastic intro to the concept of graphs and networks. It helps in understanding the a social graph, the basis of Facebook, and how it differs from a social network.

MindMap WebApp From LifeHack's 11 Top New Web Apps of 2007

Flash-based mindmap creator bubbl.us allows you to quickly and easily make effective, attractive mindmaps that can be exported as images or as HTML outlines, or shared with others who can add new items or draw new connections between existing ones. Sometimes clunky if your connection is slow or if the mindmaps get too large. But a fantastic Flash-enabled tool!

Gimme Shelter

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Durand) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 19:33:00 +0000

Newsletter, vol. 1, issue 7
Friday, April 13, 2007

In this issue of our sporadic newsletter, there is very little news.

But there is plenty of monkey business: designers battling with cheese, simians who play video games, genetic pollution and duct tape wallets.

The most intriguing post comes from Sara Rich of Worldchanging.com on installation artist/activist Michael Rakowitz. His new peice "paraSITE" serves as a case study in problem solving (shelter for the homeless); product design (portable inflatable dwellings); and systems thinking (waste energy from HVAC units recycled as life-giving heat and humidity for the homeless).

To subscribe: http://www.mailchimp.com/subscribe.phtml?id=88a240d0c4

Underground Comix Come of Age

From AIGA by Steven Heller: Miraculously, most of the great underground comix artists of the late ’60s are still alive and kicking. Kim Deitch is one such exemplar of the art of underground “funnies,” an author and illustrator who transcended his beginnings in the age of sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll to become a mature comics storyteller. Currently, his collection Shadowland (Fantagraphics) is earning critical acclaim, and anticipation is high for Alias the Cat (Pantheon Books), due out in April. We caught up with Deitch to discuss the longevity of comics, the dubious term “graphic novel” and his constant growth as an artist.

LVHRD

from Studio 360: A creative community called LVHRD, pronounced "live hard," hosts Iron Chef-like contests for creative professionals. Lu Olkowski attended a special LVHRD challenge: two teams of landscape architects going head to head, designing in cheese.

Orangutans Play Video Games

From Forbes.com via Associated Press:
Four-year-old Bernas isn't the computer wizard his mom is, but he's learning. Just the other day he used his lips and feet to play a game on the touch-screen monitor as his mom, Madu, swung from vines and climbed trees. The two Sumatran orangutans at Zoo Atlanta are playing computer games while researchers study the cognitive skills of the orange and brown primates.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/04/
orangutans-play-video-games.html

paraSITE: Inflatable Shelters for Urban Bedoins

From Worldchanging blogger, Sara Rich:
Michael Rakowitz traveled to Jordan in the mid-90s on a study program where he focused in part on the nomadic tradition of the Bedouins, and the architecture of their tents. When he returned to Boston, where he was a student at MIT, the presence of the homeless population in the city triggered a quandary for him regarding the contrast of a nomadic lifestyle by tradition versus by necessity. The nomadic patterns of the urban homeless, particularly in the cold months, were dictated by the location of heating vents releasing exhaust from HVAC systems inside houses and buildings. Many of these systems had been designed like boxes, such that a person could sleep on top of the vent and stay warm; but viewing this as a problem, the city had begun installing vertical vents which slanted downward off the building, making it impossible to rest on them.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/04/
parasite-inflatable-shelters-for-urban.html

ECO-LA Driveby Art Gallery

Article Photofrom Worldchanging LA local blogger, Eliza Thomas:
ECO-LA’s driveby art gallery brings me so much joy. Officially opening on Earth Day, the exhibit, “Off the Wall 3,” will feature original paintings on reclaimed vinyl billboards. These 14’ by 48’ works of art will display both inside ECO-LA’s Gallery, and outside on the buildings exterior.
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/006432.html

Brand New

This is a Speak Up spin-off displaying opinions, and focusing solely, on corporate and brand identity work. It is a division of UnderConsideration. The blog compares older brand identities and their recently updated versions. The deconstructions of the logos is sharp, educated and catty. Kind of like a carload of really smart designers, home for the holidays, driving around their hometown riffing on all the strip mall signage.

http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/04/brand-new.html

Damn Cool Pics

Lots more fun photos like this. It's like the old "I'm crushing your head" skit from Kids in the Hall. 'Cept different.

http://damncoolpics.blogspot.com/2007/02/photo-illusions.html

Fake Model Photography

from Receding Hairline: With a very little effort, you can take existing photographs of everyday scenes and make it look like they're actually of miniature models.It doesn't take much to fool the mind of the viewer, but there are a few basic rules you can follow to help convince your audience that they're looking at a railway set rather than the real world; see the section on picking the right photo at the bottom of this page. You'll need a copy of Photoshop CS or later to follow this tutorial.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/03/
fake-model-photography_29.html

Sean Star Wars

This fun, young, modern folk artist received his M.F.A. in 1999 from Louisiana State University and has taught printmaking at several universities including University of Southern Mississippi, Tulane University and has conducted a relief print workshop at Frogman's Print Workshop in Vermillion, SD. Star Wars has been included in many group exhibitions as well as solo exhibitions and his work is in permanent collections including Amity Art Foundation, Philadelphia Print Center, and New Orleans Museum of Art. He currently lives in Laurel,
Mississippi.
http://seanstarwars.com/

Social Software Montage

LOGO2.0 part I, originally uploaded by Stabilo Boss.
Like a coral reef filled with brilliantly colored tropical fish, this montage shows a mere snapshot of the number of social web apps in the Web 2.0 aquarium.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/03/
social-software-montage.html

Design = Business Catalyst or Financial Drain?

Stretching back in time before the era of the printing press or the pyramids, there has been a war raging within the human race--a war between accountants and designers. This Fast Company article describes the struggle to put a price on good design.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/03/
design-business-catalyst-or-financial.html

Changing the World is Not Enough

The Skoll Foundation, started by Jeff Skoll of Ebay, is focused on changing the game for social change and entrepreneurism. In fact, the label "social entrepreneur" is the nom de guerre in the current war on poverty, disease, conflict and intolerance, with the long-time foot soldiers finally gaining popular acclaim.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/02/changing-world-is-not-enough.html

Intervention: Genetic Pollution, Smart Breeding and the Risks of Unregulated Transgenesis

The future may be riskier than we like to think. In her new book, Denise Caruso lays out in chilling detail exactly why even (perhaps especially) those of us who are strong supporters of science and innovation ought to be extremely concerned about the unintended consequences of contemporary biotechnological industrial research.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/02/
intervention-genetic-pollution-smart.html

Duct Tape Wallet Kit

It doesn't get anymore DIY than a duct tape wallet. But simple as they may seem, there's a right way and a wrong way. MyDuctbills Duct Tape Wallet Kits comes with step-by-step instructions written by the pros behind dbclay, the Portland-based company that makes quality duct and (more recently) gaffers tape wallets.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2007/02/duct-tape-wallet-kit.html

It Takes a Busload of Faith to Get By

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Durand) — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 23:51:00 +0000

Being the holiday season, the December newsletter contains links to stories on both faith and foolishness. Within them, many questions are raised...

How do you design a spacecraft to explore the rings of Saturn? How would it be possible to get every child in the world a laptop? How did an architect build a house that redefined water?

How do you take a job as the president of Afghanistan? What happens to the flock when a preacher stops believing in hell? If I send this gift basket, will clients love me and give me their business?

May this holiday season be a time to reflect upon what is important to you, to your family and to the world. May the New Year bring you the strength and courage to make your visions come true!

It takes courage to follow your own path. To quote Lou Reed: "It takes a busload of faith to get by."

To subscribe: http://www.mailchimp.com/subscribe.phtml?id=88a240d0c4

SHOUT OUTS

Jonathan F-P, South Africa
Tony 7Digit
J. Kelly
Christine of VisualSpeak
Betty at Alidade

ALPHACHIMP NEWS
Sita Magnusan wins some special prize for long-distant scribe jobs. Last spring, she scribed for Hamid Karzai in Kabul. This Fall, she traveled to Dehli from her home in Massachusetts to provide graphic facilitation to emerging tech companies.

MissingLink, our specially designed software for managing and archiving facilitated sessions, is now commercially available. We have been working on a series of on-line tutorials to explain how to take advantage of all the fabulous features we've crammed into this browser-based software: image uploading, keyword tags, password protection, calendar creation, breakout team management and videocasting.

THE CENTER FOR GRAPHIC FACILITATION
http://www.graphicfacilitation.com/

Delta 7 on BBC Two
On December 5, we conducted a survey our community of graphic recorders and facilitators how they explain the value of their service. Julian Burton of Delta 7 in London was fortunate enough to have the national news service explain the value for him. In this video segment broadcast on BBC 2, Julian's work is profiled and the reporter also interviews one of his clients, BAE Systems Regional Aircraft.
http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2006/12/delta_7_on_bbc_.html

The Business Side of Creativity
For excellent advice on the business of the business of creativity, there is no better place to turn than... CreativeBusiness.com! Cameron Foote is founder and editor and has forty years of industry experience including stints at small and large agencies, as creative director for a Fortune 500 firm, and running his own business.
http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2006/12/the_business_si.html

Flock: The Blogger's Browser
There have been a whole gaggle of new browsers nipping at Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Apple's Safari. Barely a year after Mozilla's Firefox began creeping into the mainstream, some of its developer broke off on a new browser project, Flock. This is the blogger's browser; it make the rapid integration of blog posts with photo integration extremely easy.
http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2006/11/flock_the_blogg.html

Premium Whiteboards and Tackboards
PolyVision's Premium whiteboards and tackboards are designed for today's office and work environments. All whiteboard writing surfaces feature PolyVision's new e3 environmental ceramicsteel™ surface, the first and only ecologically intelligent whiteboard surface to be Cradle to Cradle™ Silver certified.
http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2006/11/premium_whitebo.html

Buzan's iMindMap
Mindmapping software ain't the newest squid on the dock. Packages such as MindJet, Mind Manager and Inspiration have been around for years. New players like MindApp and OminGraffle (for Mac) are crowding the playing field. But here is a package from the Grandaddy of MindMapLand: Tony Buzan.
http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2006/11/buzans_imindmap.html

Be an Authentic Communicator
Most of us dread speaking in public because we think we have to be someone we're not. When we operate from our authentic selves we discover connections to our audience and ourselves, and we express ourselves effortlessly. When you can agree to each of the following 10 questions, then public speaking will become one of your greatest joys.
http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2006/12/above_neuland_w.html

Graphic Designer Cage Match
What a great idea! This is part poetry-slam, part Survivor, part designer cat-fight. Cut & Paste, held at Crobar in Chicago, eight digital designers went head-to-head to see who could come up with the most intriguing concepts under a tight deadline and in front of a rowdy audience. Representatives from Coudal, Threadless, No Pattern, Red Car and Leo Burnett served as judge and jury.
http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2006/12/graphic_designe.html

COOL TOOLS

True Films 2.0
This is the second version of Kevin Kelly's review of the best documentaries and "factuals" available. This time he reviews 150 of the best true films and list two dozen others which he deems only "good." For each film Kevin presents 4 or 5 screen shots, and captions, snagged from the film to give you some idea of their texture.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2006/12/kevin-kellys-true-films-20.html

No Gift Baskets, Please.
Last year, the NYC office of Z Plus Partners in DUMBO (located down under the Brooklyn Bridge) was inundated with holiday gift baskets. While they definitely enjoyed the treats, it got them thinking-- there is a lot of cost associated with sending these items -- money that could be more meaningfully spent. So they came up with a website for the holiday season that offers up some gift alternatives.
http://www.NoBasketsPlease.com

One Laptop Per Child
After the coming holiday season, the US will have ostensibly reached the point of one iPod per child. It may be time to focus on the goal of One Laptop per Child. The founder of OLPC is Nicholas Negroponte, a civil architect and computer scientist best known as the founder and Chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2006/11/one-laptop-per-child.html

MONKEY BUSINESS

Poodle... Sphinx... Milkshake, Yo!
The mid-term election is over. We're still in Iraq, the sun still shines and my daughter still loves Polly Pockets. So! Back to business. Monkey business, that is. Leah Silverman send us this link that makes as much sense as anything else going on in the media. From Zap2It...
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2006/11/poodle-sphinx-milkshake-yo.html

Sterling Spime and the Golden Rooster
In his 2002 book, Tomorrow Now, Bruce Sterling dedicates a rollicking chapter to the evolution of modern narco-terrorism that morphs as the connected economy meets the societal dissolution of former empires. Here is a dispatch from closer to home in the US. Of course, we still kick it Old School, Capone-style, along the Mexican-American border. But, come on! Killing cock-crowing crooners?
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2006/11/sterling-spime-and-golden-rooster.html

Epic 2014
In the year 2014, The New York Times has gone offline, the Fourth Estate's fortunes have waned. What happened to the news? Watch this for a glimpse of the devolution of the mediascape into the Google grid, in which everyone creates and consumes.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2006/11/epic-2014.html

Saturn's Shadow
Carolyn Porco was 13 years old when she experienced her first ‘cosmic connection’. She was on a rooftop in the Bronx, of all the unlikely places, peering through a friend’s telescope when she caught her first glimpse of Saturn.

Today, Carolyn heads up Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for OPerationS (CICLOPS) part of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. The humbling and mysterious photos that her team is collecting of Saturn and his moons are redefining what we know about the universe.
http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2006/11/saturns-shadow.html

PODCASTS

NPR's Great Gadgets
NPR's daily All Things Considered program has a small segment where gadget experts rave about their own favorites. Called "Great Gadgets" it lets various gadget aficionados rave about their favorite things. You can listen to those segments online.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6583778

Studio 360's American Icons: Fallingwater
In the year 2000, the American Institute of Architects asked its members to look back on the last 100 years and select the best American building of the 20th Century. They didn't pick a skyscraper, but chose an extraordinary house in the woods about 70 miles outside of Pittsburgh. The house is called Fallingwater and it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright said he wanted his client — department store owner Edgar Kaufman— to be as close to nature as possible.
http://www.studio360.org/americanicons/episodes/2006/08/25

On the Media: God No!
No longer content to silently disavow religion, the so-called New Atheists are on the offensive. Borrowing tactics from the faithful, nonbelievers have taken to proselytizing in books and in the media. And yes, they’re even in foxholes. Sam Harris is one of the most vocal spokesmen for the so-called New Atheists, along with Oxford scientist Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion. They wield logic like a bludgeon – so much so that even Comedy Central's South Park, a series that has savaged Scientology, Christian fundamentalism and the Mormons, got out the knifes.
http://onthemedia.org/transcripts/2006/12/15/01

This American Life: Heretics
Carlton Pearson's church, Higher Dimensions, was once one of the biggest in the city, drawing crowds of 5,000 people every Sunday. But several years ago, scandal engulfed the Reverend. He didn't have an affair. He didn't embezzle lots of money. His sin was something that to a lot of people is far worse ... he stopped believing in hell.
http://www.thislife.org/pages/descriptions/05/304.html

Graphic Icon Milton Glaser
Throughout his 50-year career, the graphic designer Milton Glaser has broken ground with his ads, album covers, and magazine design work, but he's probably best-known for creating the iconic "I LOVE NY" logo. Glaser believes that design is about more than looking good—it should also do good. He talks with Kurt about his career and his new book The Design of Dissent: Socially and Politically Driven Graphics, which he co-authored with Mirko Ilic.
http://studio360.org/stream/ram.py?file=studio/studio121506e.mp3

The Evolution of Monkeys, Men & Videogames

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Durand) — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 01:23:00 +0000

For many of us, this month is a month of gratitude.

For me, it is a month of massive change and quiet thanks to all the amazing people in my life. As is often the case, evolution (that gradual adapt ion required for survival) is thrust upon us by the external environment, requiring us to call forth change of the internal kind.

A cryptic preamble, I know, for what is usually such a goofy "newsletter" amounting to a collection of nonsense and happenstance.

Here's looking forward to the surprises and challenges of navigating the evolutionary path!

THIS ISSUE:

-- Alphachimp News
-- The Center for Graphic Facilitation
-- Cool Tools
-- Monkey Business
-- Podcasts of Note
-- Shout Outs
-- Upcoming Events

So,... the big evolutionary news: After 10 years of running Alphachimp Studio Inc. from the center, I'll be managing from the fringes.

On Jan. 1, I'll be joining the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. They have invited me to act as Lead Facilitator for the Vanderbilt Center for Better Health, a large innovation center designed for collaborative events aimed at re-inventing the American medical system.

Alphachimp Studio Inc. will continue to provide quality graphic facilitation services through our growing network of creative associates. In recent weeks, we have added several new members: Keith Bendis (New York), Jim Nuttle (Washington DC), Stephanie Crowley (Dallas), Dan Bigonese (Ottawa, Canada), David Williams (Colorado) and Scott Fray (North Carolina). With more in the works!

As of the drafting of this letter, Alphachimp Associate Sita Magnuson (Boston) is busy supporting an event in India! I can't imagine another person more equipped for this assignment. After all, the woman has scribed for Afghan president Harmid Karzai in Kabul.

Drawing Fire: The Independent Lens of Paul Conrad

After 50 years of drawing and publishing a half-dozen political cartoons a week, 52 weeks a year, through 11 presidential administrations, well, that will get you some enemies. Paul Conrad should know. This staff cartoonist for the LA Times was honored to be put on Nixon's famed hate list. He has received death threats and political heat, but in the end, it was a corporate change in the newspaper business that shut him--and many other staff cartoonists--down, but not out.

http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2006/11/drawing_fire_th.html

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Handwritten Inspiration

At the IFVP Conference, there was quite a bit of exploration of handwriting and manual typography. There was a bit of a divide between those who (rightfully) reverently adhere to the time-honored discipline of typography, and those of us who's ideals of lettering came from R. Crumb, Bugs Bunny, Schoolhouse Rock, Calvin and Hobbes, and The Electric Company. Heller and Ilic's book, Handwritten: Expressive Lettering in the Digital Age, does a great job bridging the gap.

http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2006/11/handwritten_ins.html

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Folk Art Letter Forms

As graphic facilitators and illustrators, the history of lettering is a vast museum there for us to pillage. The front door is unlocked and the rewards are infinite! Here are a couple of examples of letter-looters and the whimsical results of their creative process: Ray Fenwick, Yee-Haw Industries and Paula Scher.

http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2006/10/folk_art_letter.html

Evolution from Scribe to Strategy Partners

ABOVE: Graphic facilitation by David Williams, Trapdoor Media

At IFVP 2006, presented a list of free (and almost free) tools for managing the business of the business of being a graphic facilitator. Click link below for a list of the services and products reviewed...

http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2006/10/ifvp_2006_evolu.html

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

ZeusDraw

Need a vector-based drawing tool, but don't want to shell out the big bucks for the Adobe Creative Suite? Too tired of pestering your designer buddy for a bootlegged copy of Illustrator? Try ZeusDraw, a new drawing program from Chromatic Bytes with a fluid, graceful interface. It has a different, more intuitive approach to paths (Bezier curves) and great brushes.

http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2006/11/zeusdraw.html

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cleaning Digital Photos of Drawings

One of the big hits from the IFVP 2006 Conference was the Tech Session. There was quite a buzz about the Photoshop demonstration on "cleaning" photos of graphic recording artwork. Click below for a step by step guide on how.

http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2006/11/cleaning_digita.html

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Calligraphy Pens

At the IFVP conference, Jan Adkins' workshop on letterforms introduced us to a fantastic set of calligraphy pens: Copic Markers. They are refillable and affordable. Perfectly made for the human hand to hold super steady and produce large-scale letterforms.

http://copicmarker.com/

Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History

This moving documentary on the plight of American chimps aired on the PBS program Nature. In 1959, the United States Air Force captured dozens of baby chimpanzees in Africa, transporting them to Alamogordo, New Mexico, where they and their offspring were to endure a grueling life as the ultimate human stand-ins. From experiments in space travel and high-velocity crash tests, to pharmaceutical testing and hepatitis and AIDS research, to roles on the silver and small screens, these original Air Force chimpanzees and others that followed gave their lives to benefit humankind - and now a few extraordinary people are working to give those lives back.

http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2006/11/chimpanzees-unnatural-history_05.html

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Rearranging the Human Family Tree

New research published in the August, 2006 journal Current Anthropology by Neanderthal and early modern human expert, Erik Trinkaus, Ph.D., professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, suggests that rather than the standard straight line from chimps to early humans to us with Neanderthals off on a side graph, it's equally valid, perhaps more valid based on the fossil record, that the line should extend from the common ancestor to the Neanderthals, and Modern Humans should be the branch off that.

http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/7586.html?at

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Monkey Management

Being a primate isn't easy. Especially since, as one myself, I find other primates so unpredictable and silly. Not to mention, sneaky and overly scatological.

Brad Farris of Anchor Advisors in the Chicagoland area, sent us a link to serve as a helpful guide for those primates who have to manage the time and energy of their fellow simians: The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey.

http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2006/10/monkey-management.html

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Monkey on the Move

Some experiments should never see the light of day! From YouTube. Where else? From Jarrell McAlister: Robot Vacuum + Animatronic Chimp = Sheer Terror

http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2006/10/monkey-on-move.html

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Thirteenth Tipping Point

The core article of this issue of Mother Jones Magazine asks the same question that peaceniks and dyed-in-the-wool Goldwater Republicans alike shout into the stratosphere: "What is is going to take for us to survive?"

Dolphins, cockroaches, and vampire bats understand that cooperation is the key to survival.

Why don't we?

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/20http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif06/11/13th_tipping_point.html

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Spore

You have to check out the Spore website, if, for no other reason, to see the fantastically fun Flash animation that tells the alternate version of evolution.

At Pop!Tech, I witnessed Intelligent Design in the flesh. As WNYC's On the Media puts it on their November 3rd show:

Will Wright, creator of “The Sims,” has a brand new game on the way. In “Spore,” gamers begin as a single-cell organism, and evolve, over time, by earning and spending DNA points.

http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2006/11/spore_05.html

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Do I Creep You Out?

The boys from JibJab are back with a new paperdoll animation. Departing from their right-on-target political musical satire genre, this collaboration with Weird Al Yankovic lampoons American Idol, Starbucks and the American tradition of stalker love.

http://www.alphachimp.com/clients/2006/11/weird-al-and-jibjabs-love-child-creeps.html

The Boomer Cartooner Feiffer

In honor of the many professional cartoonists in our community—Drew Dernavitch, Matt Diffe, Keith Bendis—and people like me who fantasize about be published by the like of The New Yorker, we bring you this: An interview with the cartoonist of his generation, Jules Feiffer.

Inspired by his hero of the political comic, Walt Kelly author of Pogo, Feiffer had the drive, but not the penmanship. He developed a loose style, mostly "out of ignorance" according to the artist. But that loose style and open white space has captured a specific atmosphere of malaise mixed with merriment that makes his work so unique.

This interview gives insight to his decision to give up lambasting the political and cultural landscape in America.

Show: http://studio360.org/stream/ram.py?file=studio/studio110306e.mp3
Read: http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2006/11/the_boomer_cart.html

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Shahzia Sikander

In an era when many artists have embraced abstract conceptual work, Sikander, who was born in Pakistan, embraces good old-fashioned painting. Her main point of inspiration is classical miniature painting – all the rage in the courts of Central Asia some seven hundred years ago. Sikander’s taken this ancient craft to a new, deeply personal level. This piece was part of a show on this year's MacAurthur Genius Grant Winners on Studio 360.

Sikander: http://studio360.org/stream/ram.py?file=studio/studio092906c.mp3
Show: http://studio360.org/episodes/2006/09/29
Website: http://studio360.org/
Subscribe: http://feeds.wnyc.org/studio360/podcast

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Body Worlds

It's often been said that the human body is a work of art. But what about preserving real human corpses, arranging them in various poses, and creating a museum exhibit around them? Living on Earth's Dennis Foley visited the controversial exhibit "Body Worlds" at the Boston Museum of Science and brings us an audio portrait. BODY WORLDS 2, the most highly attended touring exhibition in the world, takes this tradition one step further by presenting more than 200 authentic human specimens--including individual organs--that have been preserved by a process called Plastination, invented by the leading anatomist of our time, Dr. Gunther von Hagens.

From the October 27 American Public Radio program, Living on Earth.

Segment: http://stream.loe.org/audio/061027/061027bodyworld.mp3
Show: http://www.loe.org/shows/shows.htm?programID=06-P13-00043
Website: http://www.loe.org/

-- Joe of Sterling Insights in San Diego
-- David C. in the UK
-- Jeri of Workwrite
-- Adrian of WDP
-- Nicki of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh
-- Peter of American Sail Training Association
-- Marta of Innovation Design Interactive Empathy Technology
-- Nellie of The McGinn Group
-- Sandy T.
-- Blatero
-- Paula in San Fran
-- Avril in Canada
-- Laura Ann of Talisman Associates, Inc.
-- Tammy, Elizabeth, Kelly and Tom of VCBH
-- Milton of Tailormade Man, Inc.
-- David "Django Rheinhard" Williams of Trapdoor Media

Er.. these are actually past events, but they were cool!

BIF-2
Providence, Rhode Island
Oct. 4-5, 2006

This conference features the personal stories of innovators from across the country who are redefining the rules of innovation and transforming how value is delivered in every arena.

At the conference, I presented the caveman's story of "innovation".

In a career limiting move (CLM) I did a shoddy impersonation of Richard Saul Wurman, host of the conference and revered graphics guru.

Nevertheless, the new browser-based software MissingLink was announced to the world...

http://alphachimp.missinglink.biz/business-innovation-factory/bif-2

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Pop!Tech
Camden, Maine
Oct. 19-22, 2006

One opera house, 3 days, 500 participants, hundreds of "dangerous" ideas... this was Pop!Tech X.

As official Pop!Tech artist, I built out a mobile paint studio, perched up in the loge box above the opera house stage. I managed to crank out 36 paintings totaling 43,200 square inches of art to give form to the ideas propagated by the superstar speakers.

The amazing roster included musician Brian Eno, futurist Kevin Kelly, science fiction writer Bruce Sterling, military strategist Tom Barnett, historian Juan Enriquez, culinary scientist Homaro Cantu and the long tailed Chris Anderson.

The original works (all 30" x 40" acrylic paintings on archival poster board) are up for auction to raise money for the Pop!Tech Scholarship Fund. This will enable more students, women and minorities from other parts of the country and the world to attend this amazing event held each year in Camden, Maine.

HP was one of the corporate sponsors and a team of writers and designers were on-site to compile a 300+ full-color book incorporating photos, artwork, scribbles, post-its, wiki posts, blog posts and random submissions. The book is currently printing and will reach each of the 500+ participants at their homes within 3 days of the event's conclusion!

I used our new web-based tool for capturing events, MissingLink, to publish the results in almost real time.

http://alphachimp.missinglink.biz/poptech/poptech-2006-dangerous-ideas

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

IFVP 2006 Conference
Lake Tahoe, California
Oct. 27-29, 2006

This was my first International Forum of Visual Practitioners' conference. I highly recommend it for anyone in the larger graphic facilitation community. Very laid back and friendly. There are workshops for beginners and peer-to-peer learning for old timers. Next year will be in stellar Santa Fe, New Mexico.

To see all posts from the conference, visit:
http://graphicfacilitation.blogs.com/pages/2006/10/index.html

Also visit http://www.ifvp.org

What's going on in your practice that you'd like to celebrate? Got a cool product or idea? Doing something revolutionary in the field of visual learning? Putting on a workshop in the future? Run across any cool websites?

We'd be honored to brag about any of your accomplishments or promote any of your upcoming workshops or public appearances.

Drop us a line!

Peter Durand, Creative Director
peter@alphachimp.com | toll free: 1-866-99CHIMP