Stop Tweeting Boring Shit!

If only the government would issue these kinds of public campaigns…

DIY Bio – Living in the age of designingnature.

Last week we joined a DIY Bio presentation by Pieter van Boheemen at ABN AMRO’s Dialogues House. A very interesting presentation about Do It Yourself Biology, Bio Hacking and of course, the future.

But what is DIY Bio?
Biotechnology used to be something confined to exclusive laboratories at universities and big companies.  Thanks to technology, the internet and a new generation of Bio Hackers this high tech discipline is now available at home. Groups of Bio Hackers from over the world are revolutionizing  biotechnology in their DIY bio laboratories.

For instance, via online DNA design tools you can develop synthetical organisms, by combining codes of DNA. Your experiment will be send to your home and you can do with it what you want! Just think of the possibilities: producing the right bacteria for your body, your own personal medicine or a personal poison…

What are the boundaries of this development?
That’s the debate that the big institutions are struggling with now. Some want to fight this by using patents. Bio Hackers themselves aim for total transparency in order to give innovation a boost.  It’s the same as the big copyright war in the music industry, you can’t fight against it, especially when it’s all happening at home.

Some examples:

• A couple of Bio Hackers in California designed Glowing plants by combining the DNA of a plant with the DNA of a firefly. You can watch this fascinating project at Kickstarter. In Europe it’s not legal to use this synthetic biological product.
• It’s possible to check how healthy you are by doing a simple test via 23andme. By sending your saliva the company explores your DNA for just $99. Only thing you have to think about is ‘What about privacy?’. This company archives everyone’s very personal DNA and also can find out which who you’re related to.

What do you think about DIY bio? Interesting or a scary thought? 

Beardvertising!

We had to laugh very, very loud and long when this message popped up in our Twitter feeds.

Great idea by Kentucky-based advertising agency Cornett-IMS, which enables bearded men to earn money by placing miniature billboards in their hairy bushes. Want to place a beard ad? More info here.

Damn!

TV-series with a techno-paranoia feel

Why oh why didn’t anyone tell us before about the tv mini-series Black Mirror? It’s soooo interesting for anyone fascinated about the possible near futures of media and technology. It’s created by Charlie Brooker, the (in)famous English media critic and he has already won an Emmy award for it. 

What’s it about? As Charlie puts it: “the episodes are all about the way we live now – and the way we might be living in 10 minutes’ time if we’re clumsy.” Channel 4 describes it as: “a twisted parable for the Twitterage.” 

It’s hard to explain the various disturbing story lines, so just watch it and let us know what you think. Enjoy!

The car as connected device!

On May 14^th MARE’s researcher Anouk visited Online Tuesday, a monthly event in Amsterdam about online marketing. This edition was about the automotive sector. Internet + cars = endless possibilities!

There were three interesting speakers: Huib Stad (Stad bv), Johan van den Neste (Allsecur) and Niek van Leeuwen (Uber), who told some inspiring things:

• Most important: the car of the future is driverless! The first driverless car by Google is already test-driving in America as we speak. It will change the way we look at driving and cars immensely, and will make driving a lot safer (as most accidents are caused by drivers). Just think about what this will mean for the way we use cars; they can become our mobile office or driving coffee corner. Former taxi/bus drivers will become stewards or hosts instead!

• And have you considered the fact that connected cars are an important source of data and all these data can be used to increase or monitor safety? Interesting possibilities for insurance companies. Allsecur already developed an innovative system ‘E-call’ (emergency call), in order to reduce traffic fatalities; in case of an accident this system automatically contacts emergency hotlines. In the UK these kinds of systems are far more accepted and rolled-out; for example UK parents already use a system that sends them a text message when their kid is driving to fast or ignores a red stop sign.

• Last but not least, connected cars have resulted in services like Uber. In a nutshell Uber is an app that connects users of this app (looking for a ride) to private drivers of luxurious/ high-class cars. Amsterdam is the first city in the Netherlands where the #uberlove is spreading rapidly. Uber is already expanding to the more mainstream taxi market, but one can only imagine a future where a service like Uber is combined with a driverless car by Google…

Intrigued and want to hear more about the car as connected device and for example the potential of electric cars to be the new/ smart energy source for our houses? You can watch the three speakers and their presentations here.

The Green Soled Shoe

Whoopsie!  An Instagram photo of this pair of kale sneakers has leaked. These shoes are said to be made out of kale (yum!) and 100% compostable and organic. The sneakers are an about-to-be-released collaboration between the famous shoe label Christian Louboutin and biological supermarket Whole Foods Market.

We totally like the concept of a vegetable sneaker! What do you think?

Collect Moments, Not Things

You only live once..

Curated Wine

Are you an absolute wine lover?  Than you really need to check out wincast.com!

Winecast is an online platform and shop with the best wines from over the world. Sometimes it’s really difficult to choose the best wine for yourself, there’s just too much to choose! Winecast can help you with that. By doing a taste test the Winecast curators will select 6 wines that fits best by your personal taste. For €59,90 you’ll get your personal wines at home every month.

We’re all struggling with the information overload, so it’s sometimes really nice to have someone who can filter the relevant information and products for you. There are a lot of different curator platforms who can do that for you:     

- Curated.nl, subscribe to your favorite curator and receive cool items every 4 months
- 22track.com, the best music for every taste 
- Saatchionline.com, online art exhibitions by different curators
- Letote.com, every month a personal outfit selected by stylists

Copyright vs. Copyleft

‘Sometimes imitation is more than just the sincerest form of flattery, it can be a way to innovate as well.’ – Clive Thomson in WIRED

In his article ‘Imitation Can Be the Sincerest Form of Innovation’ Thomson talks about the Chinese copy culture. And how most people in the western world see copying as creative laziness or a willful disregard of intellectual property rights. But the reason that Chinese people copy all different kind of things is because it’s one of their traditions, in which copying is valued as a learning tool and as artistically satisfying in its own right.

In the western world we see copying as lame, but isn’t a little bit of copyleft thinking just something that can make us even more creative? In the article they talk about Sina Weibo, a Chinese service that started as a Twitter clone but has added some new tools that made it much better to use than its original.

There are some other examples that can show us there’s nothing wrong with some copying and copyleft thinking.

- watch this interesting documentary RiP: A Remix Manifesto about copyright issues in the information age and how mash ups can make people creative.

- read Original Copies: Architectural Mimicry in Contemporary China from Bianca Bosker to learn everything about the Chinese copying culture

Also read our other blog posts about copyright issues and copyleft thinking: 3D printed mash-ups, Fail, Connect and Think Copyleft, Brand Bandits