Core77’s editors spend time combing through the news so you don’t have to. Here’s a weekly roundup of our favorite stories from the World Wide Web.
Say It with Bubbles
After reading about this Phnom Penh–based company that makes customizable clouds from soap and helium, I’m seriously considering an investment in a Khmer Cloud Making Machine. Because, as their website says, “who does not love bubbles?”
—Rebecca Veit, columnist, Designing Women
We’re Solving All the Wrong Problems
A solid op-ed by Allison Arieff forewarning the potential dangers of a perfectly automated world where designers design for the most minute of problems, also posing the very fair question that “when everything is characterized as 'world-changing’, is anything?”
—Allison Fonder, community manager
How to Make a Hologram With Your Phone and A CD Case
Old and new materials combine to bring you this DIY hologram illusion. I have yet to try this, but I’m hoping it can make my Game of Thrones hologram battle dreams come true.
Meet the Only Library in the World That Operates in Two Countries at Once
Books are known for their ability to transport readers to other, mysterious and imaginary lands. In the case of the Haskell Library, which straddles the U.S. state of Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec, books are responsible for transporting readers between the two countries—despite ever-increasing border control tensions.
—Molly Millette, editorial intern
Lighting the Way to the Future
The advent of LED’s signals the first consumer product of the 21st century to challenge planned obsolescence. This story examines the rise of the lighting cartel, the current business of lighting and how public policy might shape the way we design consumer products in the near future.
—LinYee Yuan, managing editor
http://www.core77.com/posts/54723/Designing-for-Problems-That-Dont-Exist-Plus-Lighting-That-Challenges-Built-to-Break-Manufacturing-Traditions