All About That Brass ~ Bitch in Business!-)

Columbia MBA students parody Trainor's big Bass hit...

Creative Routines ~ Visualizing Daily Rituals...

Thanks to HuffPo's Kevin Short for spotting the Creative Routines infographic by MIT alum RJ Andrews at Info We Trust -- building on Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey -- offering...

"...enlightening visualizations of how history's most creative and influential figures structured their days. Unfortunately, there is no common prescription for the perfect schedule, and each person had a very different set of rituals. Based on the charts, we learn that some of history's icons had more eccentric habits than others."

Ward's First Year ~ From Premie to 1yo Homeboy!

As wonderful illustration of Dr Koven's thesis In Practice, we have the lovely mini-documentary of Ward's First Year spotted by MissC... Says proud filmmaker-father, Benjamin Scot Miller...

"I want to thank all the doctors, nurses, and staff all over the world that make it their life's mission to help babies get better! It's because of you that my son ever stood a chance to make it home!"

Extra goodness and photos at HuffPo.

Malala ~ TIME on Pakistani Girl Freedom-Fighter

My own 2012 TIME Person of the Year would have been the übercourageous Malala Yousafzai. Together with HuffPost's Joanne Bamberger, I'm quite disappointed US President Obama was picked as the populist favorite instead of...

"...the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot and almost killed for defying the Taliban in her outspoken advocacy for girls' education. [...] Not only did she show almost unheard of courage in the face of almost-certain physical violence against her by speaking out about educating girls in Pakistan, she has raised awareness about the issue of violence against girls and women all over the world -- an epidemic that few seem focused on."

I can scarcely think of a more important issue planet-wide than supporting women and girls-rights, most especially to equal and complete education. The many faith-freak religious wingnuts who fight against and prevent this must be expunged from power.

Emancipation Proclamation ~ US Freedom @ 150

Exactly 150 years ago today -- January 1st 1863 -- President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation declaring slaves in Confederate (rebel) territory free. It was by no means the end of all slavery and certainly not of discrimination, but nevertheless this was an epic turn of events!  It would take decades more overcoming Jim Crow laws, striving for access, and fighting for civil rights to achieve a real measure of equality, but this event was a transformational cusp. Writes Janell Ross in HuffPost...

"Lincoln was not the lone force behind emancipation but rather an essential part of a coalition of outspoken abolitionists that included free blacks and whites, said Lonnie G. Bunch III, director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture and one of the curators of the Smithsonian’s 150th Emancipation Proclamation anniversary exhibit.  [...] "When you understand that freedom was a process, not a moment, then you can allow yourself to wonder what work is left for us in the next 100 years."

There's more work to be done, but at least we can see the artifacts of emancipation at the Smithsonian!

STEM to STEAM ~ RISD's Maeda on a Betternym

STEM is a true craponym -- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths are surely important and yet the resultant moniker is totally uninspiring and even demoralizing. In no small measure this is because it misses what inspires and motivates and uplifts us -- namely the Arts! RISD President John Maeda's been among the champions for rectifying this oversight and his STEAM betternym is a pretty good improvement. In homage to our recently felled giant, Maeda writes in the Huffington Post, Jobs Added Art to STEM to Create STEAM...

"Were it not for Jobs' influence, I may not have come to believe -- as I do so fervently today -- that you need the "A" for Art to turn STEM to STEAM. Jobs fueled my career as a technologist, artist, designer, and now as a leader of the art and design school by which all others are measured in the world. All of my artistic work -- like the five works that went into MoMA's permanent collection -- was written on a Mac. [...] Jobs foresaw that innovation now extends beyond smaller, faster and cheaper technology -- that technology didn't have to be a rational thing. The MP3 player wasn't a new thing when the iPod came out, nor was the iPhone the first smart phone. But they were the ones that made you give a damn. In his own words, the reason why the Macintosh was so successful was that it was created by artists, musicians, poets and zoologists. Jobs saw that artists and designers could make the technology emotional, desirable, human. [...] On a grander scale, I thank Jobs and Apple for proving that art and design are poised to transform our economy in the 21st century, like science and technology did in the last century. It is this realization that will keep America competitive; the next Apple will be born if America invests in turning "STEM to STEAM" in its research and education."

I think even STEAM could be improved. How about DREAMS skills maybe? Design, Reasoning, Engineering, Arts, Maths, and Science?

Kingdom Tower ~ Supertall Saudi Skyscraper

HuffPo's Paul Needham interviews architect of Kingdom Tower super-skyscraper in Adrian Smith Talks Designing World's Tallest Building...

"The tower, which will cost $1.2 billion and take 63 months to build, will include a Four Seasons hotel, apartments and condominiums, office space and the world's highest observatory. It will be at least 568 feet taller than the Burj Khalifa. [...] There's something very special about being the world's tallest building. Everyone wants to be able to do one. I think in this situation there is a development going around the tower -- a $29 billion development -- and this tower acts as a catalyst for that development. Putting such a tall tower in first actually increases the land value around the tower, so even if you don't make a lot of money on the tower itself you'll make money on the land. [...] What struck us is that Saudi Arabia is trying to open itself up to more business and more opportunity. So we thought about the fact that this is a new vision for Saudi Arabia, and the idea of newness struck us. We thought about how the palm tree, when it's just starting out as a plant, it will grow to a point and then the prongs will separate. The building is not a replication of that but the idea influenced us. [...] The idea started out as a helipad, and we came up with the projected, cantilevered dish. And then we started talking to pilots and they said, 'Well, up at that height it's going to be pretty difficult to land.' But the owner and we liked it so much that we thought we'd keep it as a sky terrace. It'll have a little garden; don't forget, six months of the year here it's a beautiful climate. The winter here, temperature wise, is a lot like living in California."

Saving Valentina ~ Great Whale + Human Tale!

HuffPost's Laura Hibbard spots this great whale of a tale!

Shaping Your Future ~ MIT Media Lab in HuffPost

HuffPost's Alex Wagner writes about the MIT Media Lab: Meet the People Shaping Your Future including spotlight on our new Director Joi Ito and the core ethos of the place...

"...a hotbed of radical innovation and futuristic vision. The lab's body of 150 masters and doctoral students works across disciplines -- from engineering to music -- to develop cutting-edge products ranging from robotic chandeliers to foldable cars."

"In May, MIT named entrepreneur, innovator and investor Joichi Ito as the new director of the Media Lab. Ito is scheduled to begin his tenure in September -- a job he described as being similar to going swimming with sharks. [...] also values connectivity and is highly -- almost inhumanely -- connected." [...] Ito has a formidable Rolodex, which will presumably be put into use when he takes the helm of the Media Lab. Ito cautioned that, "Whatever I pull in here will only get traction insofar as the students and faculty want to do it. I can’t order people to do stuff." [...] I can provide value by connecting them to someone on the outside." In many ways, the Media Lab is a real-world iteration of Ito's wildly divergent interests."