THE WEB IS... A SUBWAY?

The guys at Information Architects Japan have re-imagined the web as a subway map of Tokyo, which is both insane and interesting. But after all, where can you get some obscure Japanese references like this:

1. Google has moved from Shibuya, a humming place for young people, to Shinjuku, a suspicious, messy, Yakuza-controlled, but still a pretty cool place to hang out (Golden Gaya).
2. Youtube has conquered Shibuya.
3. Microsoft has moved to Ikebukuro, if you know what I mean.
4. Yahoo is in Ueno, a nice place but nothing going on there.
5. Wikipedia now is in Shimbashi, the place for the square and hard-headed Salaryman, like the Wikipedia watchdogs.
6. The Chinese line runs parallel to the “share line” which starts with the main pirates…
7. Paper info designer Tufte is right below the Federated Media, right before joining with the interactive information design circle in a 90 degree angle.
8. “You” are in the Emperor’s palace, in the center of the network.

Technorati Tags: subway, web, web2.0, map

BREAKING NEWS: MONEY != HAPPINESS

That's a not-equal sign, for those of you not crazy enough to be a web guy doing JavaScript.

This article from Penelope Trunk collates some interesting research answering an even more interesting question: How much money do you need to be happy? Turns out it's somewhere around $40,000 per year:

To someone who just spent four years in college living off nine-thousand-dollar loan stipends, an increase to forty thousand means a lot – moving from poverty to middle class. But it’s a one-time rush. After you hit the forty-thousand-dollar-range money never gives you that surge in happiness again.

But what is it that can most affect your happiness? It's not money, if you're looking at all the factors. Turns out it's really about relationships...kinda...

And by social relations, most researchers mean sex – with one, consistent partner. So consider giving your career aspirations a little less weight than you give your aspirations for sex. For those of you who like a tangible goal, David Blanchflower, professor of economics at Dartmouth College says, “Going from sex once a month to sex once a week creates a big jump in happiness. And then the diminishing returns begin to set in.” He adds, to the joy of all who are underemployed, “It’s true that money impacts which person you marry, but money doesn’t impact the amount of sex you have.”

Maybe all this research simply justifies the twentysomething tendency to hold a series of entry-level jobs and put off having children. Says Karo: “All we really want is to get paid and get laid.”

Those researchers - always saying something frighteningly true and blunt, all at the same time.

Technorati Tags: research, money, sex, relationships, happiness, success

IT'S ALIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!: Part 2 - the Student Zone

When a Web Designer goes under a rock for a few weeks and you don't hear from him, there's usually only one reason. And when he emerges, yes, a new site is born.

I give you... the Texas Instruments Student Zone!

education.ti.com/studentzone

This project was a real new experience for me, because I was the Project Manger this go-round. I worked with 3 vendors, 2 graphic designers, 1 HTML Developer, and I think there was something about a partridge in a pear tree there somewhere. Near the end, I was doing all of those roles myself, plus Flash developer, Copywriter and Sanity Checker!

So go take a look at my new site, and expect more from me on here later!

A VIDEO JOURNEY

So it all started out when this guy (Kanye West) met up with these guys (Daft Punk), and they decided to make a video:



So then I remembered how much I love Daft Punk, and I went off to look for the original song that Kanye sampled, called "Harder Better Faster Stronger".

And I found this girl.



...and these hands...



...and these guys... doing the song A CAPPELLA???



...but this is MUCH better a cappella....



...and this guy has NOTHING to do with Daft Punk, but this is some awesome laser-ness coolness. Yep, that's a word.

THE SWAN: More than a duck

I know the bloggin' has been fairly scarce, but it shall return soon! The Swan cannot be silenced!



Image courtesy of the EXCELLENT Extra Life.