HOUSEBOATSTUDIO NEWSLETTER
September 2009

In this issue:

• Plywood Puzzles
• Spotlight: GAL Print Design
• Photography Flashback
• Secrets of the Internet
• Friday Links
  

Design competition:

Plywood Puzzle

Atlanta, GA - Much of the Furniture design at HOUSEBOATSTUDIO is based on the joinery between parts, and how different materials fit together in their own particular way. When we came across a competition for designing a functional object made from one sheet of plywood—using no glue or screws, we jumped at the opportunity. In fact, we were so excited we entered three times.

The competition, sponsored by the Forest Stewardship Council, is to help raise awareness for sustainable wood materials. The FSC is an organization that certifies lumber and wood products based on responsible harvesting and production practices. If given the option, buy FSC certified wood – you’ll be doing the world a favor.

• See all three HBS entries (2mb PDF)

Graphic Design Spotlight:

Print Design for Good Causes

Tallahassee, FL - HOUSEBOATSTUDIO likes to clown around, sure, but we're not all beards and aliens you know. We recently teamed up with the Florida Guardian ad Litem Foundation to help produce multiple print pieces, including their 2009 Annual Report and 2009 Volunteer Awards Booklet.

The Guardian ad Litem Program provides a voice for thousands of abused and neglected children in Florida. We are proud to help an organization such as this in any way we can. Plus, with all this crazy talk about the Internet, its nice to do some old fashion print work.

Photography Flashback Devonshire, England - Recently we began a project to collect, identify, scan and archive historical Johnson family photographs. The photo on the left is of Ben and Nate's great great grandfather, Thomas "Chops" Stocker, circa 1840. We are told he was a smart man, but he probably didn't see this coming.

Special Feature:

Secrets of the Internet

Berkeley, CA - You may have heard about the Internet, but do you really know how to harness the power of this global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide? Well, we do.

As experts in our field, we are constantly being asked about the secrets of the Internet and World Wide Webs. So, here today is a special collection of fun and useful facts that will answer everything you ever needed to know.

• The Internet was created in the 1960's by Al Gore, of course. The World Wide Web is a network of networks that exists on the Internet, created in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee.
  
  
• Ealry possible names for the Word Wide Web included Information Mesh, Mine of Information, and The Information Mine (TIM).
  
  
• The most expensive domain name ever sold is sex dot com at around $12 million in 2006.
  
  
• Google's index of web pages is the largest in the world, comprising of billions of web pages. Google searches this immense collection of web pages often in less than half a second.
  
  
• Google receives daily search requests from all over the world, including Antarctica. Google is omnipresent, knows everything and can hear what you are thinking right now.
  
  
• You can see the Internet, here.
  
  
• Make a mark on the Information Superhighway: HBS web design services.

Special Guest: Bill Gates Friday Links Brain power and history collide in this week's links. TRON (1982) - A young Dude (Jeff Bridges) gets sucked into a computer game. TRON2 (2010) - The Dude is still in the computer game, man. World's Smartest Man - No, not Jeff Bridges this time. World's Fastest Computer - Yeah, for now. Robot Conducts Detroit Symphony - Grandpapapa Thomas Stocker would be flabbergasted.

Interested in contributing to next month's links? Have a comment or compliment?
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