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Apple profiles iWork@work for small businesses
While iWork isn't exactly at the top of everyone's wishlist of Apple software, it still offers a fairly strong set of Apple-esque tools for creating gorgeous presentations and documents. Since the company already has a fairly thorough iWork product page aimed at the general audience, it seems only natural (if a bit long-time coming) that Apple focus on the business customer with a new set of iWork@work Profiles. Through case studies that delve into the daily duties of a photographer, a historian and an architect, Apple highlights how iWork (and iLife, of course) helps them all get the job done. Naturally, these profiles are filled with quite a bit of Apple fluff, but I think it's interesting to read some of the finer details and features that iWork offers people who are actually running businesses with it. Yes there are plenty of complaints against iWork - it's missing a spreadsheet, it doesn't do this, it messes with that - but these profiles are a nice read if you're willing to set all that stuff aside for a moment and investigate what Apple's productivity suite has to offer.
MIT's handheld FAR-NDT device sees cracks in structures
We've already seen radars come in handy when dodging impending attacks and avoiding accidents, but researchers at MIT are utilizing the technology to make sure our roadways and structures aren't pushed beyond their limits. A newfangled handheld device uses FAR-NDT (far-field airborne radar nondestructive testing) in order to "see through the fiberglass-polymer wrapping often used to strengthen aging concrete columns to detect damage behind the wrapping not visible to the naked eye." Furthermore, the technique can be executed from about 30 feet away and "requires no dismantling or obstruction of the infrastructure" in order to provide instant feedback. Unsurprisingly, creators are suggesting that it will be best used on bridges and piers which are typically difficult to carefully inspect, and while there's no word on when this stuff will hit DOT offices nationwide, current prototypes are panning out quite well.[Via Physorg]
Designer dreams big with uber-green Twirling Tower
While the architectural playground that is Dubai isn't running low on innovative buildings, David Fisher is hoping to add yet another skyscraper to the mix with his self-sufficient and energy generating Twirling Tower. The 68-story "combination hotel, apartment, and office" would sport floors that each rotate 360-degrees in the span of about 90 minutes, creating a "constantly changing architectural form." His claims begin to elicit suspicion, however, when a promotional video (seen after the break) for the building claims that it can snag enough wind to not only power the building itself, but to energize ten other similar buildings just like it. Of course, we aren't taking that too seriously considering that he actually mentions that supplying electricity to the floors would be "similar to how a moving train captures power by staying in constant contact with a power source, like an overheard wire or third rail." Nevertheless, Mr. Fisher sure seems determined to get this thing up in the sky, but as with most big dreams in Dubai, moving beyond the drawing board is where things get tough. [Via Inhabitat]
More dirt on Intel's Penryn / Nehalem architecture
While you've been off dreaming of long-range WiFi, Intel's not forgotten about its Penryn / Nehalem architectures, and thanks to an uber-boring slideshow presentation, we now know more than ever about the forthcoming duo. As expected, there isn't much new on the oft detailed Penryn front, but the fresher Nehalem most certainly piqued our interest; while built on the same 45-nanometer technology as its predecessor, Nehalem is being hailed as "the most dramatic architecture shift since the introduction of the front-side bus in the Pentium Pro in 1996." Attempting to back up such bold claims came news that HyperThreading would be native to Nehalem, and it would "share data at the L1 and potentially, the L3 cache levels," allow eight-core CPUs to clock down to two / four, and boast scalability options to satisfy a wider market. Most intriguing, however, was the "optional high performance integrated graphics" that could reportedly be included on the same processor die, which could certainly prove interesting if crammed into, say, a UMPC. So if you're still not satisfied with the highlights, and don't get enough mundane PowerPoint action from your corporate employment, be sure to hit the read link when your friends aren't looking.
Intel sez Penryn's done, lookout for 45nm Wolfdale / Yorkfield
If you're desperate for some positive Intel news after hearing those less-than-inspiring margin forecasts earlier today, the chipmaker is once again keeping itself on track in regard to pumping out its forthcoming 45-nanometer processors. While we were briefed on the dual-core Wolfdale and quad-core Yorkfield just a few weeks back, Intel is now claiming that its Penryn-based chips are "complete" and will play nice with Windows Vista, Mac OS X, and Linux operating systems when they hit the shelves. Both chips are (still) slated to hit production during the second half of this year, with manufacturing to hit full stride during 2008. Penryn is supposed to "extend the Core 2 architecture" by playing host to the next set of Intel's Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE), and will also lend a hand in the future development of Montevina, and just in case you're the (way) forward-looking type, you can expect Penryn's successor -- dubbed Nehalem -- to roll out in late '08.
Modding about Fallingwater; Frank Lloyd Wright house in HL2
If talking about music is like dancing about architecture, then what is writing about architecture like? Anyone with an affinity for the art and science of designing great buildings knows there is no better way to experience them than to walk through them; to experience the sense of scale intimately; see how light affects the space; see how the location affects the light, and so on. Unfortunately, that dictum still holds true, but for how long?One architecture student slash level modder chose Frank Lloyd Wright's tree-nestled modern masterpiece Fallingwater (aka the Kaufmann House) to recreate using Half-Life 2's Source engine. Anyone who's visited western Pennsylvania and taken the time to stop by Fallingwater knows the value of experiencing it first-hand.The video walkthrough (embedded after the break) does give some sense of scale, but lacks the same polish that all video games exhibit on closer inspection. Though you miss the craftsmanship in the details, you do get an unparalleled appreciation for the way Wright tucked his house into the woods. Using "noclip" mode, the video's tour guide takes us up above the house and the waterfall providing a point-of-view entirely absent from the real experience. [Via Boing Boing]
Architects asleep at the wheel at Miami Beach store
Granted, I've never really been a fan of the architecture in Miami, but this has gone too far. Instead of the sleek minimalist aluminum monolith we have all come to know and love from our Apple Stores, the Lincoln Road store breaks the mold with its bold facade featuring a metal Apple centered in a square of corrugated metal. Yes, corrugated metal, such as one would find in a shanty town. Now, I understand if the community wanted a more low key design, but why didn't Apple go with something tasteful like its SoHo store? Maybe it's just me. Maybe I have some high-and-mighty castle-on-a-hill vision of how all Apple Stores should be. But even so, the design doesn't reflect any of the design sense we have come to expect from Apple, and that is certainly a disappointment. Photo and story via ifoAppleStore
