Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Flying bird.

From the title you can be forgiven for thinking that I am stating the obvious, but this bird is very special...




The above video is of a mechanical bird that flies simply by flapping its wings. Which contrary to the simplicity of that sentence is something that is very difficult to achieve.

Aerodynamic principal and the lift generated by an airofoil is a topic that we have understood since the mid 1920's.

What makes this "bird" so unique is that it has no power source other than its own wing beats and can land and take off on its own.

Watch the video above to see for yourself how natural the bird looks in flight and how the head and tail move when it turns.

Friday, March 18, 2011

New Zealand Design's New HQ


Essenze have now moved into their stylish new premises at 223 Parnell Road and they very kindly invited us along to join them for a beverage or two at their grand opening on Wednesday.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Browsers - your portal to the internet.


A few days ago Microsoft released their new and upgraded browser IE9.

Microsoft and a number of the more tame IT news outlets are making great claims about its speed, operation and ease of use. However if you look a little deeper, scratch the surface and run some serious test (called benchmarks in the IT industry) you will see that IE is the slowest browser available to you, and in my opinion the worst.

I recently switched ISP and suffered a brief internet outage at my place. When I went to use my PC during this time I realized how much you do on a PC that involves online activity and the internet.

Top of the morning to ya!


Happy St Paddy's day everyone! This morning I got out all my green gear.

We even have our Irish lighting on!




Wednesday, March 16, 2011

really good local stuff.....




Over the summer a dear friend of mine introduced me to something amazing - Pic's Really Good Peanut Butter.  New Zealand made in Sunny Nelson with nuts from Brisbane.  There is no sugar, emulsifiers, antioxidants or miscellaneous oils, just peanuts.  Genius! (and terribly tasty)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Angry Birdsky


The best mash-up so far this year.

Friday, March 11, 2011


What a nice Friday afternoon surprise.... 


We've just received a sample of the new Color Burst from Philips Color Kinetics via courier direct from PCK HQ in Boston.  New developments from Philips Color Kinetics generally cause some commotion in the Modus office, and this was especially true this afternoon as several of us have been waiting to get our hands on this little spotlight!!!  

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

glowing on the catwalk


With a design aesthetic described by some as cyber-goth Paris based UK designer Garath Pugh creates avant-garde clothing using materials as diverse as mink, synthetic hair and electrically charged plastic. His latest collection at Paris Fashion Week 2011 on March 2nd included models wearing LED mouthpieces that gave a certain otherworldly air to their appearance... see the image above from the Guardian.


An interesting use of lighting technology - allthough possibly not a look everyone could pull off.  Check out some more images here

Monday, March 7, 2011

Banned iPad 2 commercial

Hands up who wants the new iPad... Yeah I figure everyone else wants one too.

the below is apparently a banned TV spot for the new iPad. I can't figure out if its really an Apple promo or something done by some random guys. But it is fairly funny and worth a look.




Friday, March 4, 2011

The screens we will all have tomorrow

Everyone has an LCD, heck you probably have 3 or 4 in your house. Your TV, laptop or PC monitor or all. The above is Fujitsu's take on what you will all have tomorrow...

Fujitsu's showing off a working prototype of a 22-inch computer display that receives both images and power wirelessly, the truly wireless monitor. Yes, that includes the power cable as well! "The screen gets power using a magnetic induction transmitter, which you would have built into your desk. The video itself would be transmitted from a wireless USB connection from up to 32 feet away." The prototype is currently on display at the Fujitsu booth in the Dealers only section at CeBIT 2011. Pricing details are expected at launch...