Author Josh

Jan 30, 2010
Blog

What’s in a Name?

This week brought the introduction of Apple’s latest device to the world – the iPad. A touch tablet running a modified version of the iPhone OS, which appears like a big brother to its tiny iPod siblings. But you know this already, as the media has speculated and traded rumors for years about the mythical device. What we didn’t know is its name. The four letter device has taken criticism because of its decidedly uncool handle . At face value, the word pad can be as boring as a real pad of paper or conjure visions of a particular feminine product. But this is Apple at work, and one thing we can all agree on is nothing is done lightly in Cupertino. I think there is a valuable lesson to learn here. [Continue...]

Jan 20, 2010
Music

Synthmagicness

Check this clip of Teenage Engineering’s upcoming synth project – The OP1. A peek at the onscreen display reveals a jet black OLED screen with high contrast graphics. It gives off a ‘neon ceiling decor from an 80′s nightclub’ vibe; and the GUI is pure get-the-hell-out genius. For anyone who’s fumbled with analog tape recorders will appreciate the nostalgic nod to ye old reel-to-reel. Far removed from Native Instrument’s pixel heavy softsynths, TE seems to have taken their design cues from a Texas instrument calculator (and can you blame them) and early Frog Design Mac prototypes. Maybe this is the first sign that we’re getting over emulation and going back to real? Either way, I gotta get a paper route again, ‘real’ is spendy.

Dec 13, 2009
Blog, Film

Hollywood stay away!

Let the Japanese do it right.

Dec 7, 2009
Identity, The Hawaii Independent

The Hawaii Independent

The Hawaii Independent is a news gathering website with a focus on hyper local information gathering. With competition from major media outlets and established local new services, the Hawaii Independent requested a logo that matched their forward thinking mission as well as allowing flexibility across the digital landscape. ASWS designed a typographic abbreviation of the letter H and I as three equal columns with an inset circle to represent a lowercase ‘i’. The reinterpretation of the letter combination HI, more commonly seen as the state abbreviation, was a major design challenge to overcome. [Continue...]

Nov 23, 2009
Blog

Starfish Prime

Not the sunset

On July 9th,1962 the United States Government and the Atomic Energy Commission conducted a series of high-altitude missile tests over the Pacific called Starfish Prime. 250 miles into space and 19 miles southwest of Johnston Island, one of five missiles was detonated creating a nuclear explosion visible from Honolulu, nearly 900 miles away. The blast created an electromagentic pulse (EMP) that effected street lights, TVs and radios on Oahu and Kauai.

While some of the energetic beta particles followed the Earth’s magnetic field and illuminated the sky, other high-energy electrons became trapped and formed radiation belts around the earth. There was much uncertainty and debate about the composition, magnitude and potential adverse effects from this trapped radiation after the detonation.

April of the previous year, Russians sent Yuri Gagarin into orbit as the first man in space and the Americans followed two months later with Alan Shepard. Since then, we’ve been sending humans into space rather frequently. Also, it’s conceivable that a detonated nuclear warhead only needs to be within a 700 mile radius of Hawaii to kill electricity throughout the State. Villains take note.

Nov 23, 2009
Blog, Video

New levels of Doodle

When you have some free time, most people will watch TV or clean the sock drawer. Others build highly sophisticated video game mods of Deloreans that travel time.

Nov 16, 2009
Blog, Photography

We are Flora

asws_blog_airport

What is the iconic representation of ‘Lei Stand’ you ask? How about flowers. What about ‘Airport Transportation Shuttle’? How about flowers. (Found at the Honolulu International Airport)

Nov 10, 2009
Tech