Design:
- Jon Christian on the machismo-soaked design and branding of 'prepper' subscription boxes, allegedly built for a variety of survival situations, but boiling down to more or less a parade of knives peppered with the odd Geiger counter gizmo or first aid supplies.
- An argument that Everlane, Patagonia, and similar brands are symbolic of a social trend towards greater collaboration and group adhesion in pursuit of larger goals, rather than mere conformism.
Building Things:
- IKEA is working to begin production of plastic goods made from vegetable oil derived polymers.
- A fascinating look at the current state of prefabricated housing, and how various labor and market forces are coming together to make the economics appealing enough to incite the formation of new companies pursuing the modular approach to housing, with commensurate amounts of venture capital fueling their operations.
Shaping Cities:
- Golfing as a past-time is undergoing a precipitous decline, shedding millions of regular practitioners over the last decade or so. One impact of that decline is an increase in available, desirable land near small towns and suburbs, and developers are taking note, buying up discounted tracts of land carved up from larger golf courses.
Communication:
Bias and Brains:
- After GitHub's acquisition by Microsoft, there has been some renewed discussion on the good or bad of using an individual's GitHub profile as a portfolio or résumé proxy. Detractors point out that making the kind of significant contributions to open source software projects that would catch the eye of a recruiter require time and energy that struggling people can scarcely afford, while proponents claim that the GitHub portfolio tactic is more meritocratic than relying on internships and prestigious gigs that can easily come from simply being born into the right network.