Little Printer: A Newsfeed of Your Internet Life

Remember how all the offices of important businessmen in old, black and white movies had that strange, ticking, glass-domed device that sat on a pedestal and churned out a constant steam of narrow paper strips? All the important information from around the world--war, Wall Street, politics--seemed to come through that little contraption. 

Well what do you know? Looks like the 21st century just welcomed something similar of its own--though vastly updated to work with your phone or computer via the Cloud. The Little Printer prints out "news, puzzles and gossip" from your friends or whatever you subscribe it to, creating a timely, mini-newspaper of only what you want to read. You can get "deliveries" as often as you like, printing your very own, personalized morning and evening newspaper.

It works like this: you set up your Little Printer to subscribe to a few friends on Twitter, the Wall Street Journal or your favorite food blog, whatever you want really. Hit print when you wake up and review your 10" - 12" strip of news over your morning coffee.

Necessary? Maybe not. Damn nifty though? Yes, yes we think it is.

The printer runs on thermal paper, meaning it doesn't use any ink. If you print once a day, a single roll will last about two and a half months. It collects ephemeral web content into one space and makes it tangible. No clicking around from site to site, sorting through the usual Internet junk to get to what you want. This puts it all in your hands. Of course, not everything is worth a print out, but that's why you decide what you want to read and what you don't. Think of it as your way to filter all the unnecessary status updates and pointless Tweets, like the one about the amazing blueberry muffin your semi-acquaintance just ate.

"Printing really makes a statement, so Little Printer makes beautiful and concise deliveries: it prints out only what matters. That’s why publications have to be designed – Little Printer doesn’t print out entire activity feeds, and you can make an informed choice about the publications you receive."

Fall into the "I want one no matter what you say" camp? Well, Little Printer is still going through a bit more testing, but it should be available in June 2012. Preorder yours or join the mailing list to receive updates (and then print this here blog out every day!)

-- Perrin Drumm

Your Daily Insight as told by Kary Mullis

Art is subject to arbitrary fashion. 

Wired's "Idea Shop": Now Open For Business

Wired Mag--which has always thought of itself first and foremost as an "idea shop"--just announced the latest addition to their online hub of technology and creativity: Wired Opinion, "a new section offering...argument and provocation from some of the world’s most innovative thinkers and doers." They've been prepping over the past few months by inviting "Wire-minded" people like Philippe Starck, James Dyson, Catherina Fake and Neal Stephenson to offer commentary, debate and conversation. 

To offer you a quick example:

Starck wrote about "Creativity, Money and Sex," and the ideal environment to foster creativity. "For me," he said," it helps to live a sort of modern monk's life. I go early to bed and wake up a little earlier than others because the peak - the hormonal peak of creativity - is around seven o'clock in the morning." He adds that this can't be an intoxicated seven am wake up call, one addled by drugs or poisoned by "industrial food." So what's his breakfast of champions? "You have to go to the gym and have a lot of sex." We suppose that's what he meant by modern monk.

You might disagree with Starck (though we're willing to test his theory), and you might also disagree with Stephenson's Inspiration Theory and Hieroglyph Theory, but that's how great conversations start. Which you know is something we'll forever get behind.

So idea generators, get generating: Digest the theories and opinions of those at Wired and then share your own. Head here now.

-- Perrin Drumm

Your Daily Insight as told by Barbara Kruger

I think people have to set up little battles. They have to demonize people whom they disagree with or feel threatened by. But it's the ideological framing of the debate that scares me. 

New Staff Welcome: Get To Know New Member Associate Lisa Cifuentes

Whenever we meet a new 3rd Ward staffer, we like to welcome them by "grilling" them with some "hard-hitting" questions. They invariably shoot back amazing answers that make us even more glad to have them as part of the crew.

New Member Associate Lisa Cifuentes is no exception. Below she'll tell you where you should eat in Williamsburg, what social media website she can't get enough of and much more.

So tell us about what you do here at 3rd Ward.

I sit at the front desk. I greet members when they walk in and assist them if they need anything. I also give tours of the space and help new members register.

And where are you from?

Originally from here, but we moved back and forth between New York and Miami a lot. Both cities feel like home to me.

What were you up to before coming to 3W?

Well, my background is in public relations and production. So after I left the PR agency, I was producing a few music videos and short films. I still love doing that on the side when opportunities come up.

You'll definitely fit in around here then. Anything you've seen at 3W so far that's been particularly inspiring?

The fact that we offer such a diverse variety of classes is pretty amazing. I'm especially inspired when I see members with day jobs in completely unrelated fields coming in here on nights and weekends picking up a new craft or hobby. It's really cool to see them excited about what they're learning and creating.

Any 3W events that you're especially looking forward to?

Yes! I haven't been to the Drink N' Draw yet and I hear it's always a blast. Every Wednesday from 8pm to 10:30pm. 

You may be new, but you know your stuff. OK, as you know, we're all food junkies around here. So give us your recommends on where we (and everyone in New York) should be eating.

Well, I'm guilty of frequenting the same spots regularly. Among my faves are Caracas, Juliette, Beco and Mesa Coyoacan. All in Williamsburg.

What's your favorite gadget or tool?

Not sure if you'd classify it as a tool, but I'm a total Pinterest junkie.

Psychological horror movies or romantic comedies?

There's not enough choices with this question!

What else?

Can I say indie dramedies?

Sure, we'll take that. What's the best event that you've seen so far this year?

I went to the screening of a film my friend was in recently at BAM. It was a film by Joshua Bee Alafia called Let's Stay Together. It was super low budget, but really well done and surprisingly funny. There was a Q&A afterwards too, which was cool.

What's your favorite drink?

Depends on where I am. If it's a place known for cocktails, I can't resist a good Manhattan. Otherwise I'll stick with Jameson and soda or beer.

What are your hobbies/interests outside of 3W?

I write a blog with my sisters called Dreaming of Palm Trees. We're also working on this little project, a film my sister wrote and will be directing. We'd love to shoot it hopefully this summer.

Anything else you'd like to share?

If we haven't met yet, come say hi if you see me at the front!

-- John Ruscher

Mu Pan Presents : Way of the Dog // Photos are Up!

Thanks to all who came out for Way of the Dog, the latest body of work from 3rd Ward Solo Show Winner Mu Pan. See below for some selects from the night and visit the 3rd Ward Facebook page to see the entire album.

Thanks to Liz Clayman for the amazing photos!

The Ancient New Age of Designer Sam Chirnside

We'll just go ahead and say that Melbourne-based designer Sam Chirnside has rapidly vaulted mighty high on our (imaginary) list of "emerging designers we need to pay more attention to."  Chirnside's work with gradients alone, combined with a penchant for grainy texture gives his New Age-esque material an almost hand-made feel. His imagery strikes an uncanny balance between the ancient past and the way, way future; cuneiform-like markings often sit aside some type of futuristic code. Bottomline: We're in.

According to Chirnside, he "focuses on pushing an experimental style with inspirations coming from Sacred Geometry, Ancient Civilizations and forward thinking music." Professionally, he's applied that imagery to jobs for clients like Volcom, Super8, Handsome Clothing Co. and Ministry of Sound, Australia. Moonlighting at Drop Studio, a branding/identity design company, Chirnside's open to commission-based work (though if you're like us, you can just lurk around his site, reeling in all of the gorgeous, hand-drawn letter porn.)

Inspired by Chirnside's aesthetic? Take your gawking one step further, check out 3rd Ward's Typeface Design class. Meanwhile, here's a few more to help get your design minds in gear:

-- Perrin Drumm

Your Daily Insight as told by Francis Ford Coppola

I don't think there's any artist of any value who doesn't doubt what they're doing. 

Small Business Owners & Non-Profits: Cause.it May Be The App You've Been Waiting For

Cause.it from Kurtis Beavers on Vimeo.

Normally, we aim to point you away from your smartphones, but this one (we must admit) is quite brilliant:

Essentially, Cause.it is an app designed to make it easier and financially beneficial for small businesses to help local charities and nonprofits. There are benefits for volunteers and the nonprofits themselves as well, but Cause.it began with the civic-minded small business owner in mind; those who wants to extend their reach beyond the occasional service, product or monetary donation.

To give you a simple example, it works like this: The owner of a cafe offers incentives like free coffee or discounts on meals that can be redeemed using a point a system. To get points you volunteer your time. For example, planting a tree with one nonprofit gets your 50 points, 7 of which can be redeemed at a local cafe for half off any coffee drink. 

Though Cause.it is still in its initial phases, the more it catches on, the wider the network of volunteers it has the capacity to create; and that's something we can align with. Currently, there are some obvious bugs to work out (the first bug we came across: waiting for over an hour for it download. Maybe too many users?) Either way, once the kinks are smoothed out, we're excited to start navigating the system. Promote a local food drive and get a discount at a small boutique? Why yes, we'll take it.

If you're a small business owner or run a nonprofit, register through Cause.it and begin reaping the benefits of some good old fashioned civic duty!

-- Perrin Drumm

3rd Ward Photo Instructor Jackie Snow on Nonstop Learning

I recently bought my first DSLR, and I knew I was never going to really get to know it just by reading the manual (which I didn't want to do anyway). I took photography classes in college, but that was back when people still shot with film and my darkroom skills weren't going to help me figure out all my camera's bells and whistles on my new T2i, especially if I was in a bind trying to get a shot. So I signed up for 3rd Ward's Learn Your Digital Camera class, taught by photography Jackie Snow. Not only is she a wiz at the all the technical stuff I was struggling to understand, she's a talented photography with an incredible eye for color. 

Jackie started out as a reporter at her college newspaper. "I hated the photos that went with my articles," she said. "I thought I could do a better job. So I picked a story last minute that was too far away for a photographer to get to easily and brought a camera and took my own photos. I've taken a few classes but I'm mostly self-taught. Preparing for my 3rd Ward class actually made me cement some photo knowledge I had taken for granted."

For the last two years she's been documenting Eagle Street Rooftop Farm, a project she references as one of her most gratifying. "I get to be outside, stealing cherry tomatoes and taking lovely photos. [The photos] are also getting picked up by a variety of publications so its pretty exciting to see a project I've worked on for two years in print."

Currently, Jackie's studying CUNY's Graduate School of Journalism. She aims to be a more "well rounded journalist. It would be nice to make it through that program alive," she said. "It does not always feel like a certainty." She also sees some exotic travel in her future. "I want to get published in The New York Times, and if it happened to be photos of Fiji for the travel section, I wouldn't mind."

Meanwhile, here's a couple more of Snow's shots, but get yourself over to her site for the full shebang.

-- Perrin Drumm