The Conjuring Arts Research Center, A Real Life Hogwarts

Nestled in a hidden location in midtown Manhattan, the Counjuring Arts Research Center is ground zero for illusionists and historians alike. The Center provides a range of services, publishes scholarly journals, and teaches hospital-bound kids magic through its Hocus Pocus program. It is perhaps best known as home to one of the largest known collections of historic books, letters, and other media, which the center makes available online. Bill Kalush, the center's founder and director, explains how he built the collection piece-by-piece and shows us some of its highlights. See more of our videos at coolhunting.com/video

Nestled in a hidden location in midtown Manhattan, the Counjuring Arts Research Center is ground zero for illusionists and historians alike. The Center provides a range of services, publishes scholarly journals, and teaches hospital-bound kids magic through its Hocus Pocus program. It is perhaps best known as home to one of the largest known collections of historic books, letters, and other media, which the center makes available online.

Bill Kalush, the center's founder and director, explains how he built the collection piece-by-piece and shows us some of its highlights.

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

The Week's Links (9.18.11)

All the links posted to Facebook and Twitter (@) this week:

  • Registration Open for Futures of Entertainment 5 owl.li/6xEyT
  • What if the Secret to Success Is Failure? - NYTimes.com owl.li/6xBms
  • The Willpower Circuit owl.li/6qQQT The marshmallow experiment 40 years later.
  • 30 gifts to 30 strangers in Sydney, a must-see end-of-week treat owl.li/1eIYtS
  • The Perils of a Wandering Mind owl.li/6lPFi Is daydreaming bad for you?
  • Google Aims Dart To Kill JavaScript owl.li/6vRz4
  • Osaka Station City Dynamic Water Sculpture owl.li/1eIRZL
  • Peter Lovatt: ‘Dancing can change the way you think’ owl.li/6hbTG
  • How the Boston Globe Pulled Off HTML5 Responsive Design owl.li/6vRt5
  • Season 7 of @debbiemillman’s Design Matters starts today with Michael Arad, designer of the 9/11 Memorial. owl.li/6wqng
  • How Does the Brain Work? owl.li/6vGTt
  • “Why’s this so good?” No. 11: Tom Junod on Mister Rogers and graceowl.li/6tCId
  • “Why’s this so good?” No. 10: Ralph Wiley tackles Jim Brown owl.li/6tCGJ
  • Mapnificent - Dynamic Public Transport Travel Time Maps owl.li/6hbxDAvailable for major cities. Very cool.
  • The Devil’s Drink by Luke Fentress owl.li/6vqji Is coffee the work of the devil? 2.25 billion cups are consumed per day.
  • 50 Most Influential Designers in America | Fast Company owl.li/6vQ0K
  • Registration Open for Futures of Entertainment 5 owl.li/6vPLj
  • New Consortium Finances Arts Projects to Aid Recovery - NYTimes.comowl.li/6vH2K
  • Dear great teachers, ThanksForTeaching.Us owl.li/6vDlD
  • Amazon.com: @Author, connecting writers and readers via Kindelowl.li/6lQ3o
  • Chefs aim to save the world owl.li/6vGbR
  • Where’s Adobe Taking Us? — What does the future hold for Graphic Designers? owl.li/6qP12
  • There is no software for leadership.
  • Getting Started on the Google+ API owl.li/6vCQP
  • Guardian launches national Book Swap with 15,000-volume giveaway. Books left in public places around the UK. owl.li/6vBPq
  • First Lady Michelle Obama honors National Design Awards Winnersowl.li/1eHXFE
  • Reliable Cross-Browser Testing, Part 1: Internet Explorer owl.li/6lPyF
  • How to Focus Mind Map owl.li/1eHQWY
  • Leaflet - a modern, lightweight JavaScript library for interactive maps by CloudMade owl.li/6gUo2
  • Seminal Productivity Ideas owl.li/68Prf
  • YouTube adds a built-in video editor owl.li/6uQks
  • Facebook Introduces the Subscribe Button owl.li/6uMCc Yet another feature to be more like Google+
  • Lego: Words Puzzle owl.li/6lPvl Has Lego ever done a bad ad?
  • Exhibition: Absolut Vis10ns owl.li/6tCYC Larger than life bottles by various artists.
  • Where in the World? A Google Earth Puzzle owl.li/6rlua How did I miss this before, amazing images.
  • From Cows to Cartons owl.li/6lCIN Packaging milk.
  • 40 Trippy “Tilt-Shift” Photos & 1 Video That Toy With Your Eyeballsowl.li/6kKnN
  • Comedians@Google Eddie Izzard: Sometimes you have to kill your creative babies owl.li/1eGLZb
  • Makin’ Ads: 2011 Radio Mercury Finalists Announced owl.li/6tBE4 Listen to some good radio spots.
  • 7 Artists Who Create Magical, Miniature Worlds owl.li/6kK1L
  • Creativity Top 5: September 13, 2011 - via creativity-online.com The Dior spot at #3 is spectacular, with gorgeous … owl.li/1eG4Ba
  • Twitter Unlocks its Valuable Web Analytics Data with Free Dashboardowl.li/6tz2o
  • “What you tolerate becomes your job.” —Aaron Hillegass /via @hotdogsladies
  • OMG, ETC owl.li/6qMEj Are words really getting in the way so much we need acronyms?
  • Game of Thrones 2011 Emmy Winner for Main Title Design. Art of the Title has an interview with designers. owl.li/6tkMw
  • Happy Words Trump Negativity in the English Language owl.li/6qLpg
  • Gamer Heal Thyself With Jane McGonigal’s SuperBetter owl.li/6qKGU
  • Cliff Richard wins fight to have music copyright extended in the UKowl.li/6t9eR
  • The anticipation of giving: Rare video of Frank Oz eulogizing Jim Hensonow.ly/1eFKH1
  • Nine Things Successful People Do Differently - Heidi Grant Halvorsonowl.li/6kKku
  • Jeff Bezos On Innovation: Stubborn On Vision; Flexible On Detailsowl.li/6lGSY Insight into Bezos’ thinking.
  • Don’t Write What You Know owl.li/6ld3a Is documenting it better than making it up?
  • Linda Rottenberg: If no one is calling you “crazy,” you’re probably not thinking big enough. ow.ly/1eEN6e
  • Skype in the classroom is a free community to help teachers everywhere use Skype to help their students learn. owl.li/6ifmz
  • Life is essentially decisions and coffee. /via @hotdogsladies
  • The “Dance Your Ph.D.” Contest is due 10/10/11 owl.li/6riMh
  • The Consequences of Writing Without Reading owl.li/6qOYs
  • Andy Carvin: the man who tweets revolutions owl.li/6lH4w
  • 25 Quotables from the 99% Conference owl.li/62yvU

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

30 gifts to 30 strangers in Sydney, a must-see end-of-week treat

Music: “To Build a Home” by Cinematic Orchestra Hello! My name is Lucas and I'm Brazilian. Since I arrived in Australia a lot of beautiful things happened in my life, so on the day I turned 30 I decided to celebrate in a special way, being grateful to the people of Sydney. :) Thank you so much to all my friends who helped make this happen, without you it would not have been possible. And thank you to everyone who lives in Australia, making this country such a wonderful place. A big hug, Lucas. Website: http://www.lucasjatoba.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/iamlucasjatoba If you liked the video, watch the making of! http://vimeo.com/28850787 On the making of you will see funny things that happened while I was giving away the presents: a woman that gave me some bread, a little kid stealing one of the presents from a woman and escaping, a group of friends giving me something, people playing with their gifts, an Aussie girl learning Brazilian Portuguese and more. And here you’ll find some pictures we took on the day: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucasjatoba/sets/72157627636169590/ The gifts: a Wallabies rugby ball, 30 minute massage voucher, a painting, a skateboard, a scarf, “the doggy bank”, chocolates, bottle of champagne, a teddy bear, a mini tree to hang pictures, a Japanese porcelain tea jar, mini garden tools for kids, scented oil infuser for the home, iTunes music voucher, mini boxer shorts for a new born baby, origami book, “happyland village vet” (toy for a kid), scented soaps and candles, illustrated photo album, a big soft penguin, aromatic moisturizers and shampoos, books, dvds, other toys for kids and more! Idea, direction and editing: Lucas Jatoba Cameras: Melanie Hogan, Marcelo Maluf and Lucas Jatoba.

Brazilian Lucas Jatoba moved to Sydney and on his 30th birthday decided to celebrated the warmth and hospitality of all the people in his new hometown by giving away 30 gifts to 30 strangers. This will make you smile.

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

Osaka Station City Dynamic Water Sculpture

大阪駅の「水時計」が凄いぞ」 http://gorimon.com/blog/log/eid1414.html [間近から] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zew4pkUBkGI

A cool way to end the week. I want a small version of this for my desk.

(via Think Geek)

 

 

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

First Lady Michelle Obama honors National Design Awards Winners

via whitehouse.gov

First Lady Michelle Obama honors the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards Winners and speaks to young adults about opportunities in design.

The 2011 National Design Awards recipients are:

Lifetime Achievement: Matthew Carter
Design Mind: Steven Heller
Corporate and Institutional Achievement: Knoll
Architecture Design: Architecture Research Office
Communication Design: Rick Valicenti
Fashion Design: J. Mendel
Interaction Design: Ben Fry
Interior Design: Shelton, Mindel & Associates
Landscape Architecture: Gustafson Guthrie Nichol
Product Design: Continuum

 

 

 

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.