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The garlic solution

Welcome to Idealog Weekly, the free email newsletter for New Zealand commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and anyone rich with ideas.

The garlic solution

Even before the Segway’s launch, back when it was still operating under its code name Project Ginger, a group of Christchurch inventors was busy working out how to build something better. Working under the moniker Project Garlic, they aimed to build the simplest possible device to get around a city.

Their invention is called the Yike Bike, and it’s to the Segway what a mini is to a Ford Transit. It’s an electric-powered two-wheeler that looks a bit like a smaller, smarter penny farthing; indeed, Project Garlic’s Grant Ryan calls it the first of a new kind of bike, the mini-farthing. The Yike Bike will travel at 20 kilometres an hour and fold into a shoulder bag. It’s not something for a commute on Auckland motorways but it would be just the gadget for scooting around, say, Amsterdam. Take a closer look in the current issue of Idealog or on our website.

I can see clearly now

British inventor Josh Silver, a former physics professor at Oxford University, has invented a pair of water-lensed spectacles which allows people to create glasses to match their own prescription. Inside each plastic lens are two clear fluid-filled sacs, the amount of which can be increased or decreased using a small syringe attached to each arm of the frame. Silver's aim is to help the hundreds of millions in developing countries who suffer from poor vision. So far 30,000 pairs have been distributed: his ultimate goal is to reach 100 million pairs.

 

Run like the wind

It must be hard-selling the UK version of Weet-Bix without an endless supply of second-tier All Blacks to pimp your product. Still, you can do a lot with a big heart and a talking horse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrtQhkibZ8M

All the right moves

AUT doctoral student Matthew Kritz is a strength coach and North Island director of strength and conditioning at the New Zealand Academy of Sport. He speaks to Idealog about the movement competency screening tool he's devised, which helps athletes put together the best training programmes to suit their needs.

In full FX

AnimfxNZ 2009 is officially underway, putting New Zealand at the centre stage of the FX world. Today's lineup of guest speakers includes Sander Schwartz, Jeff Okun and Joseph Olin. Keep up with the latest coverage from Jason Smith and Peter Griffin online or follow Aimee Whitcroft on the our Twitter feed.

 

Free tonight?

Maybe there's no such thing as a free lunch, but you can certainly see Damien Binder for free this evening. His third album While The Wind’s At Your Back is out now, and he's performing at Sale St tonight at 8pm in association with Idealog. See you there.

It's a wrap

Don't miss the Design Assembly's end-of-year wrap party on November 18 - it's the perfect excuse to wind down and catch up with friends and colleagues, what more do you need? Plus, VJ Matt Robinson kicks off the evening with a half hour set of music and visuals before a discussion on the ins and outs of VJing, including the technical side of things. (And if you've got any specific questions you'd like to him to answer, drop him a line at durtymac@gmail.com. Laurent Antonczak will be talking mobile phone graphics, and the Social Club Poll interactive exhibition should keep you sufficiently entertained throughout. From 6pm-8pm. Ponsonby Social Club, 152 Ponsonby Road. RSVP online here.

Onyafeet

If you think you've got what it takes to be crowned the next webby wonder of the world, no doubt you've already got your entry in for the inaugural Onya Awards. If not, well, entries close on Monday, so get onyafeet and enter here. The awards ceremony should be a cracker; it's scheduled for the last evening of Webstock 2010 in February. Speaking of Webstock, how does five full jam-packed days of workshops and conferences on digital technologies sound? Pencil it in now or register by December 4 for the earlybird discount (that's a whole $200 off!)

Job of the week: Digital Account Director (Digital Account Director)

Wellington

* Digital / Design Agency

* Varied Work - Great Client List

* Full time or Part Time option

Our client is seeking a highly skilled Digital Account Director to join their small agency located in Wellington.

You will be digitally savvy and have excellent client servicing skills along with an aptitude for New Business.

This role will work very closely with the Digital Director and Creative Director, working across a variety of brands; therefore you will need to have proven experience in the digital space and have a passion for growing the client list in this area.

As this role will be leading interactive projects, you will be proficient in budgeting, timelines, creative briefs and of course working very closely with the team.

You will have prior experience working on small through to complex and lengthy projects alongside the fast turn around projects and enjoy both equally.

If you feel you have the right credentials for this role, please apply to Louise Lawton at Portfolio Recruitment - louise@portfoliorecruit.co.nz.

Winning words

If you have a winning way with words, you could hear your song lyrics on the radio or score yourself a mentor in the form of a top Kiwi writer thanks to a creative writing contest sponsored by AUT with Idealog and bFM. Sound good? You could also win one of two Sony Vaio laptops and be featured in an upcoming issue of Idealog. All you have to do is submit your masterpiece—it can be either a song or a short story. Entries are open till January 31, so get those creative juices flowing.

Quote of the week

“Levitt and Dubner are brilliant at locating statistics that seem to defy common sense and then weaving an astonishing story around them. Apparently, the most educated people in a hospital are the worst at washing their hands.”

– Su Yin Khoo reviews SuperFreakonomics in Idealog #24

Also in Idealog Weekly …

2010-08-27 13:26:59: 128 pages of pure gold

2010-08-20 11:51:54: Total Semi-Permanent

2010-08-13 13:18:18: Life through a lens

2010-08-06 13:54:12: Pie in the sky

2010-07-29 12:38:14: Great ideas come in twos (or more)

2010-07-23 14:16:23: The bounce factor

2010-07-16 14:59:03: What doesn't kill us makes us stronger

2010-07-09 13:46:23: The future is now

2010-07-02 14:45:16: Sneaking around

2010-06-25 13:52:07: Making their mark

2010-06-18 14:18:59: From C-student to CEO

2010-06-11 12:59:50: Walking the talk

2010-06-04 12:06:56: Stars of the small screen

2010-05-28 13:27:44: A job well done

2010-05-21 11:38:39: Story of my life

2010-05-14 13:34:52: Where are the asteroids?

2010-05-07 15:03:09: Get your fancypants on

2010-04-30 14:44:05: Ready, aim, fire

2010-04-23 15:11:14: Lean machine

2010-04-16 13:38:34: It's better when it's free

2010-04-09 11:11:34: Good fortune

2010-04-01 13:47:45: Forward thinking

2010-03-26 14:58:28: Back to basics

2010-03-19 12:43:58: End of the road

2010-03-12 14:29:30: Under the sea

2010-03-05 14:32:56: Race to the bottom

2010-02-26 14:43:20: Small but mighty

2010-02-19 14:43:04: A taste of what's to come

2010-02-12 16:27:05: The case for saving science

2010-02-05 11:20:54: Betting on the bell curve

2010-01-29 11:43:43: Urban facelift

2010-01-22 12:46:42: Back to business

2009-12-18 12:32:14: An Idealog year

2009-12-11 11:32:17: Cultivating creativity

2009-12-04 12:41:50: Beating the data maze

2009-11-27 13:20:20: Into the wild

2009-11-20 12:09:59: Clever Kiwi

2009-11-13 15:24:34: Behind the scenes

2009-11-06 16:14:16: The garlic solution

2009-10-30 17:36:54: Man of the moment

2009-10-23 18:20:02: By the numbers

2009-10-16 16:18:27: Pavlova principles

2009-10-09 18:53:36: The secret of the songbook

2009-10-02 14:52:56: Free and easy

2009-09-25 14:58:12: What the world wants

2009-09-18 14:58:12: A slice of the pie

2009-09-11 16:16:54: Walking man

2009-09-06 22:39:01: A calmer kind of business

2009-08-28 16:14:07: We have issues

2009-08-21 14:15:49: Mincing about in waistcoats

2009-08-14 15:16:48: Wired on pop culture

2009-08-07 14:33:11: Trust is not a commodity

2009-07-31 14:05:29: Fuzzy logic

2009-07-24 12:44:11: Game of life

2009-07-17 15:07:41: Grape expectations

2009-07-10 15:55:03: Blade runners

2009-07-03 16:10:16: Free: another word for nothing left to lose

2009-06-26 17:29:25: Poorly pleased

2009-06-19 13:07:47: The giver

2009-06-12 15:09:07: Buggy on down

2009-06-05 13:15:14: Brand Cambo

2009-05-29 14:46:37: When the going gets tough, go proactive

2009-05-22 14:49:27: Bayerische Wasserstoffmotorenwerke

2009-05-15 13:37:38: Rugger blogger

2009-05-08 16:19:47: Get on our cloud

2009-05-01 14:23:55: Easy Tiger

2009-04-24 10:45:23: Tiki tacky

2009-04-17 15:41:21: The not-so-great indoors

2009-04-03 15:41:21: A site for sore eyes

2009-03-27 12:01:53: Dual control

2009-03-20 12:41:29: Worth their Alt

2009-03-13 11:40:07: Biofuels or bio-fools?

2009-03-06 13:06:03: It's electrifying

2009-02-27 12:05:00: Experience-rich and theory-poor

2009-02-20 08:34:12: It's a hundred-and-fourteen-pager

2009-02-13 10:17:02: Own your mistakes

2009-02-05 11:08:46: Rules—made to be broken

2009-01-30 12:13:46: Money: that's what I want

2008-12-05 12:15:14: Framed by the thousands

2008-11-28 11:53:12: Spank-branding novelty next week

2008-11-21 10:07:48: In the Loop

2008-11-14 12:30:00: Your good health

2008-11-07 15:29:37: Misfits of science

2008-10-31 00:00:00: No absence of colour

2008-10-24 12:55:16: Plain-speaking Peri

2008-10-17 15:17:07: Rebels with a cause

2008-10-10 14:53:35: Seoulipsism

2008-10-03 13:18:51: Fall seven times and stand up eight

2008-09-26 13:20:53: Don't label us

2008-09-19 14:37:12: Bloody Graham

2008-09-19 14:17:45: Dream proposition

2008-09-05 15:21:48: Taxi!!!

2008-08-29 11:24:08: Up-Skilling on Idealog TV

2008-08-22 13:16:57: 144 pages of pure pleasure, plus politics

2008-08-15 11:42:43: Wash down that Lovemark with a Steinie

2008-08-08 12:00:07: Strange journey

2008-08-01 15:17:10: SMElly and happy

2008-07-25 13:24:35: What a dive

2008-07-18 12:19:42: Softly and woolly does it

2008-07-11 11:59:13: The saviour from Timaru

2008-07-04 14:50:24: Last laugh

2008-06-27 10:56:38: King Kev

2008-06-20 12:20:14: Slow ART

2008-06-13 11:56:13: Killing two birds with methane

2008-06-06 11:41:39: A combine harvester

2008-05-30 11:55:00: Gold paint

2008-05-23 12:01:40: Rock, out

2008-05-16 10:44:03: Goodwill hunting

2008-05-09 11:53:04: No wine jokes please

2008-05-02 11:51:55: Who's bad?

2008-04-24 13:23:02: Succession success

2008-04-18 13:41:43: Out now or thereabouts

2008-04-11 12:52:49: Paint by numbers

2008-04-04 14:24:53: Reincarnated good

2008-03-28 15:26:16: Making it

2008-03-20 17:03:39: Knock three times

2008-03-14 12:31:52: The customer is always tight

2008-03-07 11:56:55: Beautiful words

2008-02-28 12:55:22: Goodnight, I'm off to work

2008-02-22 12:15:19: The art issue

2008-02-15 11:31:15: Straight to the top

2008-02-08 16:05:53: H for hot

2007-12-13 14:52:13: Nothing in common? Perfect

2007-12-06 12:50:32: Who needs a beer?

2007-11-30 12:37:37: Dirty secret goes public

2007-11-23 13:28:24: Don't speak

2007-11-16 17:01:13: Worthy work (and free beer)

2007-11-02 20:07:12: East meets best

2007-10-25 12:47:59: Raid the fridge

2007-10-19 09:18:05: Looking good

2007-10-13 10:20:34: Can't miss it

2007-10-05 12:55:52: Fresh meat delivery

2007-09-28 11:49:23: If the walls had eyes

2007-09-21 04:13:23: Phoenix rising

2007-09-15 04:32:01: Can we fix it? Yes we can

2007-09-06 19:00:00: Feats of social engineering

2007-08-31 09:01:09: Doesn't bite

2007-08-24 13:21:33: Telling us where to go

2007-08-16 23:00:00: Tomorrow time

2007-08-10 12:15:51: Going West

2007-08-03 12:35:31: How to ... be your business

2007-07-27 14:11:06: Freaky food

2007-07-20 15:05:00: Meet the neighbours

2007-07-12 12:16:19: Free Hollie

2007-07-06 09:03:58: Green queen

2007-06-29 08:59:24: The truth about youth

2007-06-21 16:03:33: Walk this way

2007-06-14 17:58:53: Times ten

2007-06-07 15:13:55: The ape woman needs a label

2007-06-01 08:51:45: Impossible is something

2007-05-25 14:53:52: Yeah, we're still here

2007-05-11 14:43:35: Trophy time

2007-05-03 15:49:14: Friends with the band

2007-04-23 23:00:00: Why worry?

2007-04-19 16:08:21: Done by the big jobs

2007-04-12 22:34:29: A rockin' good read

2007-04-05 13:54:05: No fear

2007-03-29 21:54:07: Out to pasture

2007-03-22 15:38:14: Hip-hop and The Human Touch

2007-03-15 14:27:49: Crazy Frog and Billy T

2007-03-10 01:00:00: The Benadryl edition

2007-03-01 14:30:53: We can be Xero

2007-02-22 17:17:14: Back on board

2006-12-15 12:34:29: Free beer

2006-12-08 11:09:40: December 8, 2006

2006-12-01 10:13:51: December 1, 2006

2006-11-24 13:38:37: November 24, 2006

2006-11-16 12:08:37: November 16, 2006

2006-11-09 12:13:04: November 9, 2006

2006-11-03 13:27:12: November 3, 2006

2006-10-26 13:39:26: October 26, 2006

2006-10-19 16:11:46: October 19, 2006

2006-10-12 17:31:36: October 12, 2006

2006-10-06 10:16:05: October 6, 2006

2006-09-28 16:19:29: September 28, 2006

2006-09-21 15:42:31: September 21, 2006

2006-09-14 13:56:38: September 14, 2006

2006-09-07 00:00:00: September 7, 2006

2006-08-31 00:00:00: August 31, 2006

2006-08-24 00:00:00: August 24, 2006

2006-08-17 00:00:00: August 17, 2006

2006-08-11 00:00:00: August 11, 2006

2006-08-03 00:00:00: August 3, 2006

2006-07-27 00:00:00: July 27, 2006

2006-07-21 00:00:00: July 21, 2006

2006-07-13 00:00:00: July 13, 2006

2006-07-06 00:00:00: July 6, 2006

2006-06-29 00:00:00: June 29, 2006

2006-06-22 00:00:00: June 22, 2006

2006-06-15 00:00:00: June 15, 2006

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