RSA Animate

I have seen other animations by Andrew Park of Cognitive Media but this series from the RSA illustrates very effectively how the understanding of quite complex topics can be aided and enhanced with his brilliant cartoons.  There are plenty of other illustrators on YouTube but, in my view, nothing else comes close to the quality, style and humour that Andrew offers.  The animations also condense concepts into abridged versions of the full lecture or presentation.  This RSA series covers topics that affect all our personal and work lives – guaranteed to get you thinking!

Wordle

The web site describes it as a “toy” but I think that Wordle is actually a useful (and free) business tool. It provides a quick and easy way of creating focus or finding the core message from a single document or from several concatenated together. Simply go to the Wordle web site and paste in your text from one or several documents.

Moments later, Wordle shows the word cloud it has created. Sometimes, the results are a real surprise, even for the author of the text!

3D-Printing – the Next Industrial Revolution

Mathias Bengtsson's Cell chair, commissioned for the V&A

I have been familiar with the principle of Rapid Prototyping (RP) for several years but only recently realised just how far this technology has progressed.

I was listening to a couple of recent podcasts of Peter Day’s excellent World of Business. These are entitled “New Dimensions for Manufacturing” and discuss the current state of 3D-printing (also known as Additive Manufacturing) technology. It has been described by some as the “next industrial revolution” and, it seems to me, this may be an understatement.

In case you are not familiar with the concept, there are now machines that can convert a CAD (computer-aided design) file into a 3D reality. In the same way that an inkjet printer lays tiny droplets of ink onto a sheet of paper, these machines build up layer upon (very thin) layer of epoxy to create an object from the base up. Epoxy resin is the most common material but developments in building manufacture are now using the same methodology to create building components from concrete and a printer developed at Exeter University apparently creates products out of chocolate!

Only a few years ago, RP products were brittle and fragile, and only available in a murky grey colour. By contrast, multi-coloured 3D-printed products are already in stressful everyday use in Formula One motor racing, orthopaedic surgery and aerospace. Other applications will follow rapidly as costs come down.

There are other significant advantages to the process. It is possible to create a single item which would have to be made in several components by traditional methods (so assembly is eliminated). It is also possible to manufacture products that would quite simply be impossible any other way so designers can be freed to let their imagination run wild. Perhaps most significantly, it reintroduces the viability of replacing smaller elements and extending the life of vehicles, domestic appliances and other household objects. For example, the hose casing on your vacuum cleaner breaks and, instead, of throwing it all away and buying a new vacuum cleaner, you pop down to your nearest hardware supermarket (or corner shop 3D-printer?) where they download the CAD file (like an iTunes purchase) and 3D-print it for you whilst you wait. There are no stock-holding costs for the component, it was not made and shipped half way round the world, there is no waste in the manufacturing process and you extend the life of your vacuum cleaner. There are, therefore, very significant environmental benefits and this technology also has the potential to bring manufacturing back to the UK and reintroduce the specialist corner shop.

Perhaps it is only a few years before you are able to purchase a specialist computer mouse from us and find it is delivered in the form of one electronics module and a password-link to a computer download. That download will enable you to enter certain dimensions to configure the CAD file and then your local 3D-printer shop will create the body of the mouse to fit your hand exactly.

By then, you may even be able to 3D-print it at your desk!

In the meantime, Belgian 3D-printing specialist, Materialise, is already selling designer jewellery and household products manufactured in this way under the .mgx brand and Victoria & Albert museum features 3D-printed products at its London Design Festival 2011.  More here.

Vinopolis

Although it’s in my Discoveries section, this is more of a rediscovery.

My recent visit to Vinopolis was my third and it seems to get better every time.

I understand there’s been a change of management since my last visit and I like what they’ve done.  I love wine but I’m no expert.  This opportunity to learn more without being patronised and also get to make my own discoveries is a great way to spend a few hours.

Before or after, you’re also across the road from the fabulous Borough Market and some excellent places to eat. We ate at Roast this time and I can recommend it highly (booking essential).

QR Codes

I love these devices, which are appearing in advertisements and on product literature.  Invented in Japan in 1994, they have only started to appear in the UK comparatively recently.  On investigation, QR (Quick Response) codes can be used for a whole variety of clever tasks.  As well as pointing to web pages, they can be used to store telephone numbers, SMS messages, event data, text, Google Maps locations, even the contents of a complete business card.

There are several free QR reader apps in iTunes and readers can be downloaded for most smartphones.  Equally, there are several QR Code creator sites (many of them free) but we pay a small subscription at my favourite: QR Stuff.

Whatify

My colleagues and I pride ourselves on our innovation and, recently, I have also been giving a lot of thought to collaboration and behaviour change.  It was therefore really quite “spooky” to be emailed this link out of the blue last week!  As you can imagine, I am quite excited about a new magazine with the strap line innovation | collaboration | change.  The online version is free and there are some interesting articles, a healthy disrespect for the status quo and some invigorating lateral thinking.  Despite the overuse of the phrase, I don’t encounter enough “Thinking outside the Box”  so this magazine is a breath of fresh air.

Healthier Eating – a Fun Approach

I have been enthusing recently about a new service I’ve discovered from graze.com.  For £3.49 a pop, they will post you a box of tasty, healthy snacks.  I have set myself up for twice-weekly deliveries and am impressed with the service and the back-up.  Each delivery contains nutritional information and is followed up with an email inviting me to rate the contents.  There are four different packs per delivery and the rating I give to each one (Love it – like it – try it – bin it) influences how often, how soon or if ever I will get it again.  My wife thinks I’m nuts (quite literally) because I could go to the supermarket and get the same for less but I just love the whole concept and think it’s a lot of service for the money.  There’s one down side: these are not easy to eat neatly so the floor around my office desk often looks like the area under our garden bird table by the end of the day (there have been dark mutterings from our cleaners!).

Graze are keen to grow the business so they’ll send you a free sample box and donate £1 to charity if you click here to use my recommendation code: 1WK9HN1.

Finally, thanks to Joolz Lewis, the Corporate Hippy, who recommended Graze in a recent presentation I attended.