I went to a good talk late last year where the person organizing this lecture series shared a list he keeps that highlights the building blocks of product development. I jotted them down and they’re transcribed below. If you’re aware of these points in your own projects and working to resolve them, you’re likely on your way to a rewarding effort.

Vision
Urgency
Honesty & respect
Competitive
Collaborative/communicative
Obsessive
Driven to leadership
Total commitment
Ownership
Constructive conflict
Drive for closure
Admist mistakes and move on
Pursuit of truth

Photograph by Amy Sly

Julius Shulman, architectural photographer.

Via Rachel Kester.

Interesting new video from Japanese band SOUR. Directed by Masashi Kawamura, Hal Kirkland, Magico Nakamura, and Masayoshi Nakamura.

Via Jon Taplin.

“Volvo 940” goes from ho-hum

to red hot,

just like that.

via The Font Feed

Bicycling. It can take you around an oval track or down the road to a distant sunset. Not only can it be good for you, but it’s good for our ecology as well. But bicycling, whatever the motivation, is only as good as the machine under you. Because whether you’re racing or touring, your bike becomes an extension of yourself, matched to your needs and purposes. It should be durable, and a joy to own. And with proper care, it should last for years. So whether you’re a notice or expert, consider Panasonic. This year, we’re offering a wider range of bicycles (with a choice of precision components) then ever before. All with a brand name you can trust. Panasonic. Just slightly ahead of our time.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized by Jonathan Jarvis.

I pity the people who need to use Abbey Road for, you know, a municipal byway.

(via coudal)

See the big picture at PopSci. Via Ryan Culbertson.

Cookies by Maria Silva. Photo by Eric Silva.

Via Subtraction.

Cheri Messerli and David Rager’s home on The Selby.

Krysten Ritter’s home on The Selby.

Via Signal vs. Noise

The Panasonic RP-HTX7 headphones, released in 2006:

The Boosted Stiloso headphones, released in 2008:

The similarity is stunning, right down to the two small screws attaching the similarly perforated headband. It’s not apparent in these images, but both headphones have unusual cloth-insulated wire connecting the headband to the cans. These photos are roughly to scale—the headphones appear to be the exact same size.

This sort of thing is common with inexpensive items imitating products costing orders of magnitude more. Oddly, the original Panasonic RP-HTX7 headphones are actually cheaper than the Boosted Stiloso headphones.

I noticed the Stilosos in my local Urban Outfitters. I own the Panasonics (in white) and they sound great. At nearly half the price, I highly recommend them over the Stilosos.

Add a “Zoom Window” Keyboard Shortcut on Mac OS X

1. Open “System Preferences”
2. Click “Keyboard & Mouse”
3. Select the “Keyboard Shortcuts” tab
4. Click the “+” button to add a new shortcut
5. Choose “All Applications” in the Application dropdown, type “Zoom” in the menu title field, and set your desired keyboard shortcut (I chose cmd-shift-M).
6. Click “Add”.

Voilà. There does seem to be an outstanding issue in which this does not work properly in Firefox 3, but it works like a charm in every other app I’ve tried.