Glass, Sergey Brin, and Diane von Furstenberg

As Rupert Murdoch tweeted when he first saw the Google Glasses on the catwalk, “Genius! Sergey Brin showing revolutionary new glasses at DVF, can take photos, receive texts, give directions, and more.”

I want a pair, primarily for the audio visual function.  The ability to go to the zoo with my daughters and not having to carry a video camera or locate my phone quickly, works for me.

I do wonder that every day social wearing of Glass might be a bit unnerving.  If you have ever tried to have a conversation with someone over lunch while they text another person, you get the idea.  What will the social etiquette be for Glass?

Kudos to Google, and the ever gorgeous Diane von Furstenberg for the innovative pairing of tech and fashion introducing Glass to a creative crowd, otherwise in the dark about the potential of Glass.  Google CEO Sergey Brin and Diane von Furstenberg held hands walking the runway at the end of the show, symbolically marking the collaboration between fashion and tech.

GoGlass

Ivanka Trump Grants A Wish

Teen jewelry designer Linda Cifuentes was recently granted a wish to spend a day with Trump at her SoHo jewelry boutique, through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Cifuentes is 16-year-old and was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma earlier this year. Her mother brought her beads to make jewelry with from her hospital bed. A passion was born.

“She’s really, really very good,” Trump says.

Trump gifted the teen with a piece from her fine jewelry collection.

Trump also gave Cifuentes three emeralds, used to create a piece auctioned at a Make-A-Wish event. Funds raised will help grant four children’s wishes. - August 12th 2012

Park Avenue coop Triple Mint

Check out this penthouse in a prewar Park Avenue coop with wraparound terraces showcasing iconic views of Manhattan in every direction.  Donnell is in love with the look.  Total renovation just finished, featuring a classic prewar layout, top-of-the-line finishes and technology. A dramatic marble gallery leads to a large living room with fireplace, a dining room with bar/butler's pantry, a fully equipped media room, full bath & office/guestroom.

Large solarium style gourmet eat-in kitchen with staffroom/bath and laundry rooms.

Family room leads to a master suite with luxurious bath, fireplace, and private terrace.

Bedroom wing includes 5 bedroom, 3 of them large bedrooms with terraces and two baths.

Access the large entertaining/dining terrace from every room.

Creston system for automated climate control, humidification, shades, lighting and audio visual equipment, three private elevator landings, custom Euro-windows/doors and skylights, wide plank white oak floors, Venetian plaster walls, large closets and 10 foot ceilings.

To inquire contact Juliette Janssens.  (212) 606-7670

TEDx Auckland

Announced today was the October 6th event in Auckland, TEDx. TED is an annual event where some of the world’s leading thinkers and doers are invited to share what they are most passionate about. “TED” stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design — three broad subject areas that are, collectively, shaping our future. And in fact, the event is broader still, showcasing ideas that matter in any discipline. Attendees have called it “the ultimate brain spa” and “a four-day journey into the future.” The diverse audience — CEOs, scientists, creatives, philanthropists — is almost as extraordinary as the speakers, who have included Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Frank Gehry, Paul Simon, Sir Richard Branson, Jamie Oliver, Philippe Starck, Sir Ken Robinson and Bono. TED was first held in Monterey, California, in 1984. In 2001, Chris Anderson’s Sapling Foundation acquired TED from its founder, Richard Saul Wurman. In recent years, TED has expanded to include an international conference, TEDGlobal; media initiatives, including TED Talks and TED.com; and the TED Prize.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.

TEDx was first hosted in Auckland in 2009 and subsequently in 2010. Previous speakers include Sir Ray Avery, pharmaceutical scientist, inventor and social entrepreneur; Wendy McGuinness, CEO McGuinness Institute; Scott Gilmour, Director at Winscribe Inc and Nextspace Ltd; and Jonathan Milne, founder of The Learning Connexion.

At the moment, the line up of speakers is still being compiled for the October event in Auckland. The speakers will most likely be New Zealanders, some currently from NZ and others in exciting roles elsewhere in the world. At the moments, tickets are still not on sale, but the date has been released. Saturday, 6 October 2012 at the ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre from 10am – 5:30pm.

Baby Monitor Doesn’t Get More Posh

When our girls were born, we used movement monitors and sound monitors. We live in a building with our offices on the main floor, and living areas on second floor. We were unable to find a nanny that would not interrupt our work through the day (example- asking Donnell to sort and box too small clothes), after the first dismissed herself saying it was just too hard.  Donnell for a time moved her office upstairs. Using monitors helped us both get the most out of the twins sleep time, which was our work time, with less worry.

Recently Withings came out with another tool we would have certainly found pretty cool during the fantastic WOW wow early years.

The Smart Baby Monitor from Withings is truly a game changing device for new moms and dads as it enables you to be in the same room with you child without disturbing their schedule, any time you want to check in and make sure all is well.  Smart Baby Monitor is sleek in design and compact in size, packed with the latest technological features that will put any nervous parent at ease, offers additional peace of mind by offering parents a new way to stay informed about their child’s wellbeing and environment while in another room, from work, when traveling, or having a night out.

The Smart Baby Monitor is equipped with a two way microphone that allows parents to hear their child at all times and also interact and sooth their child even when they are not physically in the room. If the WithBaby application is closed, parents can still monitor and hear the child at all times while it runs in the background. Another feature allows parents to control the music (lullabies) that plays in the room through the monitor and can change songs right from the living room, the office or from anywhere in the world. Alarms may also be set to alert parents of baby sleep disruption.

Its design looks very "apple" the Smart Baby Monitor is now available from Withings.com for $299.  Looking like a cross between a music box and an iMac mini, the Smart Baby Monitor video capabilities include:

• A built in loudspeaker to play lullabies (you control the volume)
• Controllable LED colour changing light acts as a soothing night light
• Detects movement and noise
• Sensors to monitor the temperature and humidity in the room
• Can send you four different types of alerts
• 3 megapixel high definition video sensor (2048 x 1536 pixels)
• Intuitive camera angle adjustment and zoom x 4 via virtual PTZ
• Wide angle shot (90° horizontally, 120° diagonally)
• LED infrared night vision up to 5 metres with automatic activation system
• H264 encoding: resolution 512*384, adaptive bandwidth
• Rechargeable with an included USB cable

The Monitor comes with a free iOS application, WithBaby available from the App Store: with its touch screen interface and it can be used to monitor your baby wirelessly with your iPhone, iPad or iPad Touch via Wi-Fi, Ethernet or Bluetooth.  Three accounts can access the Smart Baby Monitor simultaneously, so both parents and a nanny can all be watching baby, if need be.  The WithBaby app includes:

• Watch over baby in exceptional conditions on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch
• High-resolution video, motion free and intuitive Pan Tilt Zoom, night vision
• Crystal clear sound
• Ability to talk to baby, play lullabies or turn on the multicolor night light
• Monitor noises, motion, temperature and humidity in baby’s room
• Capacity to set alarms to designated parameters of noise level, motion, temperature and humidity
• Enjoy an unlimited range: watch over baby at home, on the road or from work
• Alert logs to monitor and improve baby’s room conditions
• Simple and intuitive connectivity: Wi-Fi hotspot in your home or via Ethernet cable (with your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch connected to the internet using WiFi or 3G connection) or Bluetooth when not connected to the Internet.
• App Languages available: EN, FR, DE, ES & IT

Check out this Video . . .

Architect Peter Pennoyer's Top Ten Picks from Veranda

One addiction my wife Donnell brought with her from America to New Zealand was her love of Veranda Magazine. Many of it's pages live in her design tear files for our offices. We have been looking through the April edition at architectural details favored by Architect Peter Pennoyer. Stair Railings Peter Pennoyer loves custom stair railings with metalwork by Les Métalliers Champenois in bronze. Metalwork of any kind is not an option we are likely to go with as we tend to favor a seaside look.

Plaster Ornaments Peter Pennoyer says plaster ornaments add an element that is special and unique. We agree. Our property has just a touch of this in the origional spaces and we have gone to extremes to retain that, having it professionally removed, stored, and re-applied during our initial stages of renovation.

Mantels We changed ours from a plain brown deco period of tile to something slightly more traditional.

Lay Lights Too late for us to consider this it might have been wonderful to use up in the vaulted family area ceiling.

Painted Wood Paneling Peter Pennoyer says decorative painting can achieve wonderful effects and trick the eye. We've seen this first hand at one of my clients Grosse Point homes. That the wood is a decorative paint finish is absolutely indiscernible. Peter Pennoyer points out that many of the wood species admired in antique furniture are no longer available or come from a source that is not eco-friendly. This is a better way to achieve the same effect.

Paneled Dining Rooms Inspired by the intricate details of French boiserie. We love this idea and are looking for ways to consider this in our family dining space.

Hand Hammered Door Knob Pennoyer prefers hardware from Nanz with its hand hammered ridges. We went with a brushed metal ourselves.

Upper Cabinets When kitchens have very tall ceilings, says Pennoyer, upper cabinets maximize the use of storage space. We like this idea.

Butler's Window I was very keen on this myself, but Donnell nixed the idea as the downstairs kitchen is a shared space used by our staff and clients and the door leading to it comes right off the entry. Fin idea still, especially, as Pennoyer notes, for parties where caterers and people are running in and out of the kitchen.

Old Print Shop Pennoyer also mentions a New York shop called Old Print Shop as a great source for art reference books that are hard to find, and their print gallery with antiquarian maps, 18th, 19th, and 20th century prints. Must add this to the list of places to see the next time I'm in New York.

Article here with great Images Peter Pennoyer's website

5th annual James Dyson Award

This summer, regional judges across the world are deciding which student inventions will make it on to the shortlist of the James Dyson Award. Each of the 18 participating countries will name a national winner. The shortlist then goes before a panel of Dyson engineers, and finally James Dyson will announce the 2010 winner in October. Entries have included a buoy that uses ultrasonic technology to warn wildlife away from oil spills, a human powered car battery charger and a bumpless speed bump.

Over 500 ideas from 18 other countries are competing to claim the £20,000 prize.

The award, run by the James Dyson Foundation, aims to celebrate young designers and inspire the next generation of design engineers. Current perceptions of engineering in Britain are reflected in the numbers who study it. There are only 24,000 engineering graduates a year and 58,000 engineering vacancies.

The James Dyson Award works with universities across the globe and will be open for entries from the 2nd February to 1st July 2010. Half of the prize money is invested directly in the winner’s university or college faculty and £10,000 goes directly to the winning students to help them make their design a reality.

James Dyson says: “We need to do more to support and celebrate the engineers of the future. Making things is not about grime and grease, but solving real life problems.”

Out of more than 400 entries, last year’s winner was Automist, an attachment for a kitchen tap that can detect fires and put them out by using mains water to create a fine mist. The project was developed by British students Yusuf Muhammad and Paul Thomas from the Royal College of Art in London.

Yusuf Muhammad comments: “Winning the James Dyson Award has enabled us to transform our idea from a prototype into a viable product – which we’re now close to being able to sell. The Award gave us two advantages – cash and recognition. The prize money has been crucial to keeping our small business going, but the interest we’ve received through coverage has been priceless. We’ve had emails from all around the world, both from big companies and from individuals who want to know when they can get hold of the Automist to install in their kitchen. We’ve just put it through another round of testing at the Building Research Establishment - specialists were impressed by the way our invention tackled fire effectively in such a different way. One of the best things is having the recognition of James Dyson, probably the best known inventor in the country.”

James Dyson will announce the global winner on 5th October 2010.

Laurence Graff Aquires One Of The World's Rarest Diamonds

One of the world's rarest diamonds - a 24.78 carat pink has been sold by Sotheby's in Geneva for a world record US$46 million. The gem had been expected to achieve an impressive US$1 million per carat but exceeded even that and became the most expensive diamond ever sold at auction. Bidding for the stone was intense before it finally sold to London based jeweller Laurence Graff who described it as the most fabulous diamond that he had seen in his career. He has named it The Graff Pink. The pink diamond is among less than two per cent of the world's diamonds categorised as ‘potentially flawless’ because it needs re-polishing.

The previous highest price paid for a diamond at auction was US$24.3 million for The Wittelsbach blue diamond in 2008. It too was bought by Laurence Graff.

David Bennett, Chairman, Europe and the Middle East, Sotheby's International Jewellery Department, states: "During my 35-year career at Sotheby's I have had the opportunity to examine many magnificent and rare gemstones and, put simply, this stone is one of the most desirable diamonds I have ever seen. What makes it so immensely rare is the combination of its exceptional colour and purity with the classic emerald-cut - a style of cutting normally associated with white diamonds and one that is so highly sought-after when found in rare colours such as pink and blue. The stone's character is further enhanced by the gently rounded corners which impart a unique softness and charm to this truly outstanding gemstone."

'It is a world record price for a jewel at auction,' said David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby's jewellery department in Europe and the Middle East, as he brought down the hammer to applause in the packed sales room. 'It's like pink champagne.'

The stone's rare, perfect pink colour is thought to have been caused by it absorbing light in an unusual way when it was formed deep inside the earth over millions of years.

The stone came to the market from a private collection and has not appeared on the open market since it was purchased some 60 years ago from Mr Harry Winston.

Interior Designer Emily Summers - We Think Her Style Would Work Well in New Zealand

  Check out Emily Summers work in the October issue of Town & Country on a hose designed by architect Robert Johnson Perry Designed. Architect Jason Smith was consulted on architectural updates.

What we have noticed about Emily Summers style is how easily her choices would fit into many of our clients homes in New Zealand.

Check out the use of family photography to adorn the walls in the family areas of the home.