Monthly Archives: February 2015

An Ode to the Design Legend Behind the Soy Sauce Bottle and Bullet Train

Posted: February 10, 2015 at 11:40 am

Odds are good that you're familiar with the work of Kenji Ekuan, even if you don't know his name. Ekuan, who died in Japan yesterday at the age of 85, was the force behind some of the most iconic industrial design of the 20th centuryand he said he was inspired to do it after the atomic bomb annihilated his home in Hiroshima.

If you've ever poured soy sauce from the tear drop Kikkoman bottle or pined over a 1960s Yamaha motorcycle, you know Ekuan's designs. The red-capped bottle, which Ekuan designed in 1961, was the epitome of sleek, futuristic world of 1960s Japana country that was just beginning to emerge out of the brutal post-War era and into an economic and cultural boom time. Ekuan also designed the Komachi bullet train, which hit the rails as one of the first high-speed bullet train in the world.

He was the voice behind some of the most compelling technologies of the 20th centuryJapan's answer to Raymond Loewywhose work articulated the speed and futurism of the modern age but never ignored the humans using it.

Images: The Yamaha YA-1, via Yamaha Community.fr; Komachi bullet train by ykanazawa1999/CC.

Ekuan said that the human-centered aspect of his work had its roots in the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. He was just a teenager when the bomb hit the city, killing his sister and father. In an interview from 2010, he describes how the horror and desolation of that time inspired him to become a designer:

When I decided to be a designer, I was in Hiroshima. The time was right after the war. After the atomic bomb everything became nothing. So there I am standing in the burned city, looking down at my house, but nothing. I was so shaken. And I decided to connect the material things, because for a long time, human beings have connected with material things. I thought to myself, we need something to bring back the material things to human life. To do something good for people, and good for myself. So I decided to be a designer.

So he studied to become an industrial designer, linking up with a group of like-minded fellow students and forming a company through which he would work for decades. That line of reasoningthat objects should be sources of comfort, of pleasure and joyran through his entire career, which ranged from motorcycles to sewing machines to trains to, yes, soy sauce bottles.

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An Ode to the Design Legend Behind the Soy Sauce Bottle and Bullet Train

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Jim Carroll – Futurist, Trends, and Innovation Expert – Video

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Jim Carroll - Futurist, Trends, and Innovation Expert
Jim Carroll is widely acknowledged as one of the world #39;s leading global futurists on trends and innovation. Possessing a massive global blue-chip client list...

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Jim Carroll - Futurist, Trends, and Innovation Expert - Video

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Futurist Scooter Unveiled at CES 2015 – GetConnected TV – Video

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Futurist Scooter Unveiled at CES 2015 - GetConnected TV
Electric scooters aren #39;t limited to Wal-Mart and senior #39;s homes anymore, thanks to a new device calling itself "Magic in Motion". The Inu is the world #39;s first smart, folding, electric scooter,...

By: GetConnected TV Show

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Futurist Scooter Unveiled at CES 2015 - GetConnected TV - Video

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Intel futurist conducts research at local college – Video

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Intel futurist conducts research at local college
Brian David Johnson #39;s job working for Intel is to predict what future generations will want and need. He #39;s in the midst of writing a book and is focusing his...

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Global Futurist Jack Uldrich to Address Future Trends in Finances and Farming

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San Antonio, TX (PRWEB) February 10, 2015

Following a series of nine keynote events across the U.S. in January, global futurist and best-selling author Jack Uldrich has been selected to deliver the opening keynote address on future trends in agriculture and finances in San Antonio, TX on February 12th. Uldrich delivered his most recent talk, Banking Beyond 2020, to the WBA (Wisconsin Banking Association) last week.

Uldrich will deliver his keynote, "The Big AHA: How to Future-Proof Yourself Against Tomorrow's Twelve Transformational Trends, Today." Among the twelve trends Uldrich is discussing is the Internet of Things.

The Internet of Things and agriculture may not seem interrelated at first glance, but futurist Jack Uldrich says, agricultural banking interactions will continue to evolve as customers physical and virtual worlds become intertwined. Social networks and mobile platforms will transform customers banking experiences and expectations. Many other advances connected with the Internet of Things such as peer to peer lending will create an environment where a premium is placed on unconventional thinking and risk-taking. And the future of farming will be transformed."

Drawing on highlights from his upcoming book, Business as Unusual, Uldrich will also share insights on Big Data, precision agriculture, prescriptive planting, 3D manufacturing, wearable technology, robotics, genomics, nanotechnology, peer-to-peer lending, collaborative consumption and the Big AHA (his acronym for Awareness, Humility and Action) with Farm Credit System audience members.

A highly acclaimed futurist and trend expert, Uldrich has spoken all over the world to a variety of industries and organizations. He has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and National Public Radio and is a guest commentator on the Discovery Channel's "FutureScape."

Uldrich who is also recognized as a leading expert in the field of change management and unlearning, has addressed dozens of agricultural corporations and associations, including AgBank, FS Systems, Novozymes, Land O' Lakes, the PMA, Wells Fargo, CoBank, Ag Spectrum, MosaicAg, Case IH, The Christian Farmers Federation, The Iowa Institute for Cooperatives, The Agricultural Adaptation Council of Ontario, AgGateway, the California Ag Summit, along with several other clients in a variety of industries, like the AMA, Fiatech, United Healthcare, Cisco, IBM, and Verizon Wireless.

Parties interested in learning more about Jack Uldrich, his books, his daily blog or his speaking availability are encouraged to visit his website. Media wishing to know more about the event or interviewing Jack can contact Amy Tomczyk at (651) 343.0660.

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Global Futurist Jack Uldrich to Address Future Trends in Finances and Farming

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Galaxies in Collision – Video

Posted: February 8, 2015 at 11:49 pm


Galaxies in Collision
A show of galaxies (Hubble Telescope), plus 6 symphonies by Paul Hall on the sound track and with labels credits at the end. 4 and one-half hours of stars music (+ labels credits at end)...

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Galaxies in Collision - Video

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Gregory Porter – Feeling Good (NATO Remix) – Video

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Gregory Porter - Feeling Good (NATO Remix)
Pro:Motion: Here is our first upload from Irish producer NATO Our Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCESI-r_FDH01sC6p5cZqpFg Our Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/pro-motion-1) ...

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NATO Secretary General – Press Point, Defence Ministers Meetings, 05 FEB 2015 – Part 1/2 – Video

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NATO Secretary General - Press Point, Defence Ministers Meetings, 05 FEB 2015 - Part 1/2
Opening remarks by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during the press conference held at the meetings of NATO Defence Ministers, 05 February 2015.

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NATO Secretary General - Press Point, Defence Ministers Meetings, 05 FEB 2015 - Part 1/2 - Video

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NATO East Europe Boost: Britain to lead rapid reaction force to counter Russian agression – Video

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NATO East Europe Boost: Britain to lead rapid reaction force to counter Russian agression
NATO defence ministers met on Thursday and agreed to more than double the size of NATO #39;s existing rapid reaction force in Eastern Europe - to 30000 soldiers...

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NATO East Europe Boost: Britain to lead rapid reaction force to counter Russian agression - Video

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Poroshenko requests military assistance from NATO countries – Video

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Poroshenko requests military assistance from NATO countries
Petro Poroshenko requests military assistance from Nato countries. He said it in the interview to the German newspaper die Welt. According to Poroshenko, N...

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