“What if we could communicate with disaster affected communities in real-time just days after a major disaster like the quake in Haiti? That is exactly what happened thanks to a partnership between the Emergency Information Service (EIS), InSTEDD, Ushahidi, Haitian Telcos and the US State Department. Just 4 days after the earthquake, Haitians could text their location and urgent needs to “4636” for free.” Found on Haiti Unwired.

drewgilbert:

theoriginaljoefisher:

Kaboom.

“A week before the torch arrived in the Olympic city, Vancouver’s skies were already illuminated, ready to greet the world with a warm welcome. Light artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and his team had installed 10 searchlights on both sides of English Bay for an interactive work he calls “Vectorial Elevation.”

The lights in this large-scale installation are visible within a 10-mile radius — each light shines at 10,000 watts — and anyone with access to the Internet can try his or her hand at changing the projected patterns.” Found on Art Beat via @PBS.

“…Unplug Design, always think about better days of entire human race. Our design is not an element but an agent which makes things worthy. While making not only results of material production, but also spritual meanings, we are eager to participate in the changing process of our life.” Submitted by Six16.

Note from the Machine: Check out the Dream Ball project.

“Design education typically begins at the college level, but if we wait until then to teach design thinking we are missing critical points in the growth of young minds, whose ability to think creatively is boundless. Teaching high school students to think like designers would help shape the way they look at the world around them and positively affect their future endeavors.

Inspired by these notions, a team of designers from the Austin studio of frog design got together and started an initiative called “TeachDesign.” The objective of this initiative is to expose high school students to design methodologies through immersive, real-world projects that have a lasting positive impact on the participating students, school, and community.” Found on GOOD.

“Kickstarter is a new way to fund creative ideas and ambitious endeavors…. Kickstarter is powered by a unique all-or-nothing funding method where projects must be fully-funded or no money changes hands.”