A Technique For Producing Ideas

Good Books: James Young's "A Technique for Producing Ideas" is an interesting book. It was written in the 1940s by an advertiser. It was all about generating ideas for advertising + I think with some modification (s) the concept should work wonders in other businesses. To really make it work you have got to be a specialist + lucky.

What Are They Teaching Art Students These Days?

Gail Gregg writes about new forms of learning art with technology + the encroachment of market forces into academia + developing conceptual skills + intellectual experimentation + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1293

Wind Energy On Demand

Energy: Jean Thilmany writes about a utility-sponsored project and an ambitious company's aim to store wind energy underground for sale + other viewpoints @ http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/oct/tech/jt_wind.html

Useful links:
Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities
Iowa Stored Energy Park
General Compression

Ammonite

Chet Raymo writes about ammonite, a unique jewel box that tells evolutionary stories about drifting continents, asteroid collisions, mountains thrust upwards, wasting erosion and more + a species of fossil ammonite, Hildoceras, named for the holy scholar -- abbess of Whitby + other viewpoints @ http://www.sciencemusings.com/2007/10/wise-saints-and-drifting-continents.html

Diamond Grading

International Diamond Laboratories writes:
The biggest issue with diamond grading as we know it today is inconsistency. A diamond that is awarded an E color grade might receive a D tomorrow and an F the day after. Our research has shown that inconsistency easily reaches up to 25% on average. It’s merely a simple fact related to the imperfections of the human eye as a measuring instrument. Experienced graders will acknowledge that these differences exist. A machine can overcome this subjectivity. IDL commits to offering a level of consistency the diamond market has not yet seen. Diamond grading is to be brought from an art to a science. IDL will offer the much needed consistency through technology. (http://www.diamondlab.org)


Useful link:
Hughes, R.W. (1987) Diamond grading: Does it work? Gemological Digest, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 1–3

In my view diamond grading will always be controversial. A friend of mine who is in the business tells me that diamond grading is a faith-based concept. We have got used to it for so long it's going to be with us forever. So now comes the International Diamond Laboratories' statement (s) that their version is more scientific, fool-proof, sort of a god-like statement. Only time will tell. In the end it's the consumers who will have to raise their standard (s) by gaining appropriate skills to distinguish (which I doubt) diamond grades and believe it. When experts /technology go wrong (they usually do), consumers are always the losers.

Magic Of Music

I love classical music + the experience + the different musical tastes + the art form + the reinvention of classical music. Knight Foundation's research, among the largest discipline-specific studies of arts consumers report is an interesting study. The full report is available @ www.knightfdn.org

Useful link:
- Classical Music Consumer Segmentation Study

Colombian Emerald

Here is an educational clip from Ron Ringsrud about a 1400 carat (+) Colombian emerald crystal + six carat emerald @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQAn_n75Dzc

I liked this one.

Naked Truths

Sarah Valdez writes about a new generation of women trying to reflect their own sensibilities + contradictory concepts, identities and desires + humor and self-stereotyping + other viewpoints @ http://artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=1276