A couple impressive matrons to consider:

Rachel Maddow’s interview with Imbibe Magazine:

Imbibe: Where’s your favorite place to grab a drink, and what do you order?

RM: I like making drinks even more than I like drinking them—so my favorite thing is to make drinks at home.?But in NYC, Pegu Club lures me like a siren song.? And my local, Daddy-O, has a great, great cocktail menu and great bartenders.?At either, I’m likely to take a bartender’s suggestion, but barring that, my first recourse is usually a rye Old Fashioned, no fruit.

(full article)

Christina Hendrick’s interview with Esquire Magazine:

ESQ: Do you drink while you cook? Watching Mad Men always makes me want to drink.

CH: I love cocktails. My specialty drink is a gimlet with a little egg white in it so it gets frothy. I really like rose water — sometimes I’ll add it to champagne. I was at a bar recently and the manager came up to me and said, “We have a drink named after you!” The Joan Holloway. There was Campari in it. People are throwing these Mad Men — themed parties because, I think, it’s an excuse to get dressed up and drink and smoke.

(full article)

2nd Ave. Subway: Estimated for completion between 2017-3090.

While We Wait: A little transit infrastructure retrofit. Not such a terrible idea. Take notice Orlandos of the country.

A revised/enhanced edition of the common proposal for nationwide HSR (high-speed rail) from America 2050. Once again, a beautiful map with a viable concept, but I tend to think that the majority of Americans are misinformed in regards to why and how rail will help address our looming infrastructure and economic problems. However, the latest issue of Newsweek published a great (“A Need for Speed”) on the common HSR proposal featuring work from the America2050 project.

The American 2050 group has also crafted a number of fantastic maps helping visualize the current state and growth of “megaregions” across the U.S. These maps are of great benifit and should be incorporated into primary eduation curriculum across the nation to prepare the next generation for critical thinking about smart growth.

Rather then using the current state-by-state planning heuristic, Freemark proposes a nationalized, government owned rail system coined as “NatTrack.” This system, funded in theory by grants and bonds, would establish rail standards nationwide and balance freight and commuter train priority. Amtrack, currently profitless and federally subsidized, would own trains and lease operation rights on a given track.

Freemark, using analysis of ridership and distance, has visually mapped out what such a system should/could look like down the road.  All things considered, the proposal helps the movement. To read more, check out Freemark’s blog.

It almost seems that each grid design matches the common personality of each city.  Compare Paris and NY.

Unfortunately, the human factor has a bad reputation among many of it’s peers.  Engineering doesn’t like all the attention its getting.  After all, Engineering has been doing this design job just fine for decades.  Capital Investment sees the humans factor as another trend burning through R&D’s budget.  And the last thing that Marketing needs is supplemental sales training — a rough working environment for the human factor to say the least.  Despite resistance, human factor considerations contribute successfully in many cases.  We all enjoy the benefits of such human-centered design from ergonomic chairs to internet interfaces.  The human factor is a real player in the modern design process.  Some would even say the human factor has defined it’s own role and the limited influence it should have in design.  Is the human factor at capacity in regards to concept and product design?

Our understanding of how the human factor contributes to the design process continues to evolve.  The work we do as Human Factor specialists is structured around the common methods of observation and statistical analysis.  Our work relies in large part on the numbers.  Is our primary concern the human and the their ability to interact with efficiency, reliability, and safety?  Yes, but should this be the limit of our contributions to the design process?  Surely not!

We are not only designers, but we are students of human nature; and this includes the environmental elements that influence human behavior.  It may seem paradoxical, but the human factor is not strictly human centered.  There are causal factors that shape and sometimes govern the interface between product and human.  We should dig deeper and recognize the subtle elements that are rarely (if ever) considered in the design process.  To do this, to stretch the conventional methods of the human factor, we must begin to ask different kinds of questions.

How should a bedside clock radio smell?  How should paint on the wall sound?  Recognizing the inherent paradox, do such questions have merit in human factors considerations, much less the design process as a whole?  Does a persons cultural background, geographical location or moral boundaries govern their expectations and interaction with products?  We would imagine the answer is yes, but should these considerations be within the scope of our research and analysis?  And what about Sparky — also a valued member of the family.  Does his opinion matter?  Do the interactions and reactions between product and pet influence the human interface?  Should we evaluate human emotional states in the design process?  How do we go about considering these issues?  How can we craft methods of measuring such influences if they do exist?  Can we conclude that these influences are significant to design and the consumer?  These are challenging questions; often without concrete approaches to measurement and analysis, yet we cannot ignore these parameters.

These further dimensions are the greatest inspiration for smart and successful design.  The ability to recognize the subtle factors of the human-product interface is enhanced by deeper considerations. This profoundly enhances the design process by focusing on the specific user and the associated environment, not just the ambiguous human prototype and so-called universal interface.  This user-focused approach grants us the opportunity to conceptualize and design products with detailed consideration for not only the obvious elements of human behavior, but the greater interaction between human, product and the specific user environment.  This expanded scope must also coalesce with the entire product life cycle, from concept, through engineering, to marketing and sales.  The nature of the design process will influence a human’s relationship with a product.  From the raw materials through manufacturing to product strategy and marketing.  Due to the transparency of the modern marketplace, the design process has a great influence over consumers, the products they obtain, and the way they use them.  A fully integrated process will not only prevent avoidable product mishaps but shape the way products are conceptualized, produced, and used in the future.

In modern industry the human factor plays a quiet but important role in the design process.  It is the protector of the consumer and often one of few (if any) concerned with the intricate elements of the human interface and product environment.  The future of human factor considerations is not certain, but be confident that the importance of the human factor throughout the design process will continue to grow.  After all, in the end, the product, along with it’s design, belongs to the consumer.

Life Progression

“The economy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the
environment.  All economic activity is dependent on
the environment and its underlying resource base.
When the environment is finally forced to file for
bankruptcy under Chapter 11 because its resource
base has been polluted, degraded, dissipated
irretrievably compromised, then the economy will
bankrupt with it.”

Tim Wirth
U.S. Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs

The Water

The Whiskey

“A special program about the housing crisis produced in a special collaboration with NPR News. We explain it all to you. What does the housing crisis have to do with the turmoil on Wall Street? Why did banks make half-million dollar loans to people without jobs or income? And why is everyone talking so much about the 1930s? It all comes back to the Giant Pool of Money.” (WBEZ: This American Life)