As President, CEO and Principal, Mickey leads a highly skilled, interdisciplinary team that creates innovative ways to integrate information and technology into satisfying user experiences. Mickey graduated with honors from the University of Illinois in Chicago, School of Art and Architecture with a BFA in industrial design and extended studies in communication design and mathematics.
Mickey likes to think of himself as the chief mad scientist around here.
In 2005, Mickeyaa spearheaded the launch of MAYA’s Pervasive Computing practice, which focuses on ways to design information objects so that all sorts of data can flow easily among vastly distributed devices, many hidden in the environment. MAYA’s work in pervasive computing has been featured in the Harvard Business Review and the Wall Street Journal.
Mick is a frequent speaker on the need to include the human element in the design of products and services. He was the keynote speaker at ECEF 2007, and an invited speaker at both the 2007 Smart Services Forum presented by Harbor Research and at the 2006 World Healthcare Innovation and Technology Congress in Washington, D.C. He also spoke at the 2005 M2M (Machine to Machine) Conferences in Amsterdam and Dallas, and at the 2004 M2M Conference in Brussels. At the Public Library Association’s 10th National Conference in Seattle, WA, February 2004, he joined the Carnegie Main Library of Pittsburgh’s redesign director and its circulation services manager to present “Architecting a Pleasurable User-Centered Library Experience.”
Before coming to MAYA, Mick was co-founder and senior vice president of creative vision and strategy at élan communications, an integrated communications consultancy for clients that included Bristol Myers Squibb, MasterCard, Samsung, Nortel Networks, TiVO, and Janssen Pharmaceutica. At élan, he built the creative team that managed the concept, design, and production of the Samsung Electronics pavilion at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The wireless telecommunications rendezvous became a destination for more than a million visitors and was listed as one of the top ten destinations during the games.
For Janssen, Mick’s creative team designed a virtual world where practitioners could experience the symptoms of schizophrenia and become educated on the impact of the disease. This virtual world was featured on “20/20” with Barbara Walters.
Mick’s design awards include the 2005 Consumer Electronics Innovation Award, two Addy Awards for advertising and video production, the AIGA Communications Show Judge’s Choice Award, SuperComm 2000 Best of Show in Design, and the Exhibitor Award for Best Conceptual Design. His articles and work have been published in Innovations, Graphis, and Space magazines.
Speaking Engagements
- Economist Summit - Innovation: Fresh Thinking for the Idea Economy
- Event Date: March 2010
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Mickey McManus will participate in this exciting inaugural event for senior-level executives on March 24 at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. He will speak on a panel called “The Hybrid Problem Solver,” which will focus on design thinking and beyond. In addition, Mickey will design and lead incubator/problem-solving sessions where teams develop new solutions to current problems.
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- World Healthcare Innovation and Technology Congress
- Event Date: November 2009
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On November 9 , Mickey McManus will present “Complexity and Functionality vs. Usability and Usefulness: Are We Seeing a Hobson’s Choice in Healthcare?” at WHIT’s Consumer Connectivity Summit. His co-presenter will be Jay Srini, Chief Innovation Officer, Information Services Division of UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center).
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- Designmatters Lecture: University of Illinois Urbana-Champagne
- Event Date: October 2009
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Designmatters is dedicated to exploring the intersection between design, technology and business, with the view that achieving synergy between those three components is essential for success in designing products, services and experiences and for the creation of successful business developments.
Mickey McManus will talk about how MAYA Design tames the complexity of powerful technology to make people feel super human.
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- RSA Conference 2009
- Event Date: April 2009
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Mickey McManus presented “Team-based Innovation” at the RSA Innovation Sandbox at RSA Conference 2009 in San Francisco. The Sandbox is a half-day event focused on the future of innovation security.
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- Keynote, Economist CIO Forum
- Event Date: March 2009
- Tepper School of Business
- Event Date: February 2009
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On February 5, Mickey McManus gave a presentation at the Business and Technology Club at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. Mick’s talk focused on “Applying Design Thinking to Business Challenges,” especially when complexity is growing at exponential rates, and business leaders at major companies are grappling with the challenge of innovation in products, services, and processes in a world headed towards a trillion connected devices.
- Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Annual Meeting
- Event Date: January 2009
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Mick presented how to “Transform Your Show by Understanding the Human Dimension.” Informed by MAYA’s firsthand research with the “invisible” exhibitor and the “invisible” attendee, he revealed what truly matters to each, and how it could affect the future of a trade show.
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- Expo! Expo! IAEE Annual Meeting & Exhibition
- Event Date: December 2008
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Mick participated in a panel discussion entitled “Exhibitors and Attendees in Their Natural Habitat: Tools and Metrics for Analyzing Showsite Behavior to Improve Your Show.”
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- Healthcare Design '08 - Keynote
- Event Date: November 2008
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HEALTHCARE DESIGN 08 is the premier conference devoted to how the design of responsibly built environments directly impacts the safety, operation, clinical outcomes, and financial success of healthcare facilities now and into the future. Mick discussed the power of true Human-Centered Design as practiced in a deeply collaborative environment.
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- Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh
- Event Date: November 2008
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Mick spoke to business school students about how the key principles of design thinking can be applied to business challenges, and how MAYA is using them not only to create more satisfying user experiences but also to drive change in traditional, product-centered organizations.
- The Invisible Exhibitor
- Event Date: June 2008
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MAYA CEO Mickey McManus released two new research papers about Human-Centered Design within the Exhibition Industry at ECEF 2008. This research was co-sponsored by The ExpoGroup.
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- cityLIVE! The Essence of Leadership
- Event Date: April 2008
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There are many kinds of leaders from all walks of life, but how does one define the qualities they all share? What inspires, what drives, what challenges someone, anyone, to become a leader?
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- CDC Health Marketing 2007
- Event Date: August 2007
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At this Centers for Disease Control conference, MAYA CEO Mickey McManus presented a white paper about team strategies for facilitating innovation sessions.
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- Exhibition and Convention Executives Forum (ECEF)
- Event Date: May 2007
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MAYA CEO Mickey McManus gave the keynote presentation about market risks and opportunities that have arisen from a convergence of disruptive technology and the need for user centered design
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- Telematics Europe 2006
- Event Date: September 2006
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In Berlin, Germany, Mick McManus joins Hakan Kostepen of Panasonic Automotive Systems America in a panel discussion on the topic of “creating consumer value for back-seat entertainment.”
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- Connections Conference
- Event Date: May 2006
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Mick McManus spoke about MAYA’s Pervasive Computing Practice at this conference about the integration of digital technology in everyday life.
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- United States IPv6 Summit at the 2006 CES
- Event Date: January 2006
- Mickey McManus participated on a panel discussion by talking about the new generation of home-networked digital devices in the context of pervasive computing and usability.
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- M2M Expo
- Event Date: November 2005
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Mickey McManus was an invited presenter for two sessions at the M2M Europe Expo in Amsterdam.
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- M2M Expo
- Event Date: March 2005
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Mickey McManus joined Russ Sabo, a client partner from Eaton, in Dallas, Texas to present our project as an example of human-centered design and rapid product realization in the context of machine-to-machine communication.
- M2M Europe 2004: Brussels, Belgium
- Event Date: October 2004
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Mick McManus spoke to an international audience about aiming for human-oriented experience design when designing products at the forward edge of machine-to-machine (M2M) flows of information.
- Download PPT (4MB)
- Carnegie Mellon University Visualization Colloquium: Pittsburgh, PA
- Event Date: April 2002
- Carnegie Mellon University Masters of E-commerce Colloquium: Pittsburgh, PA
- Event Date: January 2002
Writings
- Friday Links - 2-27-10
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Vice guide to a strange land, Ninendo plays with dimensions, Tom Waits sings a song, digesting the web, charting the Beatles, cat food, mothership, and a glass harp virtuoso.
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- Friday Links - 02-19-10
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Your man, massive attack, Pittsburgh winter sports, howtoons, the lady, and the reaper.
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- To iPad or not to iPad.
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First thoughts about Apple’s new iPad in the context of the future.
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- Friday Links - 01-30-10
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Our hero, how to report the news, soap box derby delight, a very personal annual report, the political power of visualizations, Lost is found, tape measure masters, and exit through the gift shop.
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- Friday Links - 01-15-10
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Rhiza Earth tours, TEDx, mini left overs, CES highlights, the lost supper, voiceband, and of course, Sneans (err, Jeakers?).
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- Festivus Links - 12-23-09
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Festivus, chrome, doppelgangers for sale, photo-collage sculptures, holiday-based computing, your brain on checkers, the Copenhagen wheel, and a taste of a London that never was.
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- Friday Links - 12-11-09
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Work is a game, zettabytes, art is a lie, living stories, the CO2 cube, LEGOS, Scott Kim, bioprinters, and an engine with a difference.
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- Friday Links - 11-20-09
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Free, makers, networked car driving Elmos, a few bright spots in the healthcare morass, trillions, idle human initiatives, autocaptioning, Tim Burton, and a magic wand.
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- Friday Links - 11-06-09
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A million miles, succeed once in a while, 99 red balloons, I miss Carl, how Facebook makes money, making healthcare better, beautiful newspapers could happen, and a simple idea for storytelling.
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- Friday Links - 10-30-09
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Chronic City, Petman, flowcharting the Beatles, failing to learn, the perils of having feet of clay, the quality of light.
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- Friday Links - 10-16-09
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A ship of gold, juliet naked, the meaning of night, caveman sci-fi, the theory of fun, Manhattan before all those pesky westerners, an amazing new (old) camera, a game for snoopers, and the botany of desire.
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- Friday Links - 10-02-09
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A few book reviews to clear off my shelf, a classic segment (from this week’s news) of the daily show, tools for the mind, memristors, the power of time off, and a different way to draw borders on a map.
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- Friday Links - 09-27-09
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Yes is more, random stats, tag, a little known band, a politician who can actually draw all the states from memory, a few nice moments, and a drill powered bike.
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- Friday Links - 09-04-09
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The angel’s game, the book of space, remixing youtube, T-Pain or not T-Pain, projectopong, spike gets his interview, I always knew something was going on at IKEA, USB eye warmers, and a house made of legos. Who could ask for anything more?
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- Friday Links - 08-28-09
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Staring at goats, tracking the amazing and positive growth of health and prosperity in the world (really, Jeesh, lighten up!), tasting light, a human interface, grilling brats on your phone, the design of EMR systems (or lack thereof), a sustainable city of umbrellas, blinky things, and spots before our eyes.
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- Friday Links - 08-14-09
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Short list this week, Bobby, Dean, George, Kanye, and Aldous.
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- Friday Links - 08-08-09
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TEDGlobal, Manahatta, BIG,trompe l’oeil… but with light instead, Mr. Fox, touchable holographics, Zeitoun, iPhone robots, and how people really spend their time.
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- Friday Links - 06/27/09
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Great documentary, patented shoes, living by the numbers, cooking with greenscreen, Low-poly fashion, the architecture of data farming, napping, and the Roots.
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- Friday Links - 06/12/09
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How to win a cosmic war, the CIO 100, pop-psych persuasion, the appeal of aged news, teaching kids to argue, doctors focusing on patients, a little black hole, Banksy is back, Zaha takes on Burnham, and a taste of Tomato.
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- Friday Links - 6-06-09
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Babies, learning design through reality TV, a new kind of controller, gestures, a better place, mapping the Internet by hand, the wisdom of the crowds in your head, asking nature, fun with liquid metals, google squared, a powerful story about human-centered design, and of course budgets are sexxy.
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- Friday Links - 05/29/09
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Rebranding USA, improve everywhere, an easy solution, avant gardeners, Guilloche patterns, and the swiss army camper of my dreams.
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- Friday Links - 05/22/09
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Alpha, Data.gov, Imogene, brands that will disappear, the selected works of T.S. Spivet, working with your hands, push-button house, ancient artifact graffiti, calling cards and playing cards.
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- Friday Links - 05/01/09
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Flutracker, information-centricity, a notebook, physics is the new black, the singularity, bendy things, and of course a slow motion piano crash.
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- Friday Links - 04/24/09
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The wrong cloud, deathcasting for dollars, is America still innovative, Luigi Colani’s fever dreams, hairhats, gorrilla specs, and the rise of silly motoring.
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- Friday Links - 03/27/09
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Junior MAYAn Action League, where the wild things are, this little light of mine, balloonimals (or fun with the microphone on your iPhone), smoking hot electric cars, skateboard friendly housing, hot dog octopi, and of course robots that spit fire.
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- Friday Links - 03/20/09
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A book about Dickens (ok sorta about Dickens), Dave Eggers co-writes a film, plants are good, I love motorcycles (though no I won’t drive one), holograms are bad, improv is everywhere, LEDs take the iPhone back in time, and a bit of fun with projectors.
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- Friday Links - 03/13/09
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Mr. Stewart mixes it up, where did the money go, 6th sense, wind power, and a wrist computer for people with very big arms, and very keen eyesight.
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- Friday Links - 03/06/09
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Who watches, how we decide, building a world, garbage bag monsters, robots and playbourers unite, and love will tear/keep us together/apart.
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- Friday Links - 02/20/09
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Light week in linkland… What happens when you take out keyframes, tinkering is good, abandoned luxuries, and the second lives of things.
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- Friday Links - 02/13/09
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Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Information Architecture but were afraid to ask, a kid approved storymaker, jetpacks available now (sorta), who watches the watchmen, and really nothing at all to worry about.
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- What is Information Architecture?
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Two short films and a bit of a rant about Information Architecture.
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- Friday Links - 2/06/09
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Slow week in link land. How the world will end, UAVs for all, buttons ATMs Legos robots, a fire on the mountain, and dying towns.
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- Friday Links - 12/30/09
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Steeler baby, focused sound, chiabama, zooming is the new black, Rem Koolhaas comes to New York, and a nice clip about this generation.
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- Friday Links - 01/23/09
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A new day, some nice pictures of the inauguration, beating plowshares into swords, understanding comics, the new lunar rover, and how the day sounds.
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- Friday Links - 01/16/09
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How to make soda water, mind games, Burger King figures out a way to help you cull your “friends,” some strange maps, a little something musical, and a way to hack your brain without drugs.
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- Friday Links - 01/02/09
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Very light week in linkland. Core77’s best of the best, custom scooters, Zbig takes someone to school, digging into the wayback machine, self-balancing table, an art show in Miami, and a bit of Feynman.
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- Friday Links - 12/26/08
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The Invention of Hugo Cabret, the Harlem Children’s Zone, tunable glasses, scouting for cool locations, handmade fonts, music list for 2008, and something that clearly needs to be demodulated before appreciating it.
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- Friday Links - 12/20/08
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Books for the holidays, the Onion’s version of the Geobrowser, Caractacus Potts, the fabled “Z” dimension, a year full of ideas, the sweet smell of a Whopper, Brian Eno makes an iPhone app to help you sleep, and of course the Evil Dead musical.
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- Friday Links - 12/12/08
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The true cost of the twelve days of Christmas, 5 things that will change our lives, the problem with “Just in Time,” a true prince, radical knitting, brain pictures, and a flying nun chair… all while my ukulele gently weeps.
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- Friday Links - 12/05/08
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Two book reviews, a musical instrument made out of the pictures you draw as you draw them, Elvis’ new spectacles, a little sugar, a mystery man, and some beautiful hype.
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- Friday Links - 11/28/08
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Tutoring kids, white castles of joy, Bruce Lee, active video objects, diagrammatical excess, Lessig on Rose, and a story of rags to riches in Bollywood.
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- Friday Links - 11/21/08
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Why super capacitors are better than batteries for some things (if you can afford them), a dancing moustache, Jeff Han’s conspiracy, James T is a teenage rebel, the Coen brothers tell stories, Proust was a Neuroscientist, and that is not Milwaukee.
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- Friday Links - 11/14/08
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Minority reports, the muppets, your new girlfriend, new money, a book that shows you how to do everything, muybridge lives, Rod Serling we hardly new ye, and a collection of blackboard diagrams from mathematicians to musicians.
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- Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh
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Mick spoke to business school students about how the key principles of design thinking can be applied to business challenges, and how MAYA is using them not only to create more satisfying user experiences but also to drive change in traditional, product-centered organizations.
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- Friday Links - 10/24/08
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A short film on the electoral process, x-rays from scotch tape, the secret behind helping kids excel in life, how much time it takes to be really good at something, and 10 bucks worth of sharpies.
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- Friday Links - 10/17/08 (ish)
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Post-it cheat sheets, the remix economy, zapping zoom, boolean hyper-realism, bomb sniffing laundrymat, and a new way to sketch in 3-d.
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- Friday Links - 10/10/08
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A visit to one of my favorite streets (don’t be afraid of all the words, they like you), shared paper, the financial crisis as told to a 14 year old, an amazing home library, and yes, finally, a vending machine for men (err women).
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- Friday Links - 10/03/08
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Heavy week, light collection of links. Warren Buffett with some timely comments on the economy, architecture as special effect, a museum dashboard, a nice take away, and a quantum of solace.
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- Friday Links - 9/25/08
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Fun with magnets, stunning photographs of books, curious experiments in pay for performance, cat 5 compliant wedding rings, and an inside look at the future? of magazines (and every other surface the geeks can get their hands on).
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- Friday Links - 9/12/08
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Being a bird, alive, silly, human, and potentially ground beef. Plus don’t miss a new form of text entry and tips for collecting humans.
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- Friday Links - 9/05/08
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English language is a mess, trusting what we see, what it feels like to make code, pointillist telepresence, an operating system about nothing, and as we may (or may not have enough time to) think.
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- Friday Links - 8/29/08
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Light leftly longingly lately lamentable links lie in wait…
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- Friday Links - 8/22/08
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The National Attention Deficit, Summer Songs, a visit to the Uncanny Valley, Muons for Mayans, and the Last Supper.
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- Friday Links - 8/15/08
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Watch a wonderful animation that brings John Lennon’s words to life, wonder at a new computing method that makes bad videos better (and reminds us why we can’t trust what we see anymore at all), and listen to the Irrepressibles haunting sounds… and of course the usual detritus of a week on the web.
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- Friday Links - 8/08/08
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The opening ceremony, Britain from above, David Bryne is in a valley of robots, Michel has a comic book, tracking the last hope, and EamesPunk finally has a manifesto.
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- Friday Links - 8/1/2008
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A light week in linkland apparently the tubes are slowing down for the summer heat. Visit the Toaster Museum, learn about Dr. Horrible , and stare in wonder at the Super Collider…
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- Pervasive Computing - A Primer: Part 1
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What’s in a name?
Ubiquitous computing, ubicomp, context aware computing, whatever you call it the basic idea is the same. Somehow we have to use the physical world to help “Tame” the complexity that is rapidly overwhelming us all.
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- Friday Links - 7/26/2008
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A few links from our overseas trip, jetpacks?, Feist, and a snippet of Ms. Portman as an Octopus.
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- When you can't talk to customers: using storyboards and narratives to elicit empathy for users
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Heather McQuaid, Aradhana Goel, Mickey McManus
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- Designing for a Pervasive Information Environment: The Importance of Information Architecture
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Heather McQuaid, Aradhana Goel, Mickey McManus
- More Information | Download PDF (404KB)
- The Future of Signs: Interactive Information, Inexpensively!
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Mike Higgins, Mickey McManus, Marc Peterson, Aradhana Goel
- More Information | Download PDF (128KB)
Patents
- US7551186
- Inventors:
McManus; Michael L (Oakdale, PA); Piraneque; Javier E. (Cranberry Township, PA);
- Issued: 23 June 2009
Abstract: A handheld electronic device, such as a fob, includes a wireless communication port and a display alternatively displaying a first or right-handed display orientation and a second or left-handed display orientation.
- US07486183
- Inventors:
Joseph Ballay (Atlanta, GA); Mickey McManus (Oakdale, PA); Luebke, Charles J. (Sussex, WI); Sabo, Russ C. (Sewickley, PA); Sabram, William C. (Lynn, MA); Ballay, Joseph M. (Atlanta, GA);
- Issued: 3 February 2009
Abstract: A home wellness system includes a base station having a wireless communication port, a telephone communication port and a memory with a plurality of digital images.
- US07440767
- Inventors:
Joseph Ballay; Joseph Milan (Pittsburgh, PA), Mickey McManus; Michael Lawrence (Oakdale, PA)
- Issued: 21 October 2008
Abstract: A home wellness system includes a server having a wireless transceiver, a plurality of sensors each of which has a wireless transceiver adapted to communicate sensor information to the server wireless transceiver, and a portable display and configuration fob, the portable fob includes a rotary thumbwheel encoder, a display and a wireless transceiver communicating with the server wireless transceiver, the thumbwheel encoder and the display cooperate to provide a first rotary menu for displaying the sensor information of the sensors and a second rotary menu for configuring the sensors.
- US07205892
- Inventors:
Mickey McManus, Charles Luebke
- Issued: 17 April 2007
Abstract: A home system includes a server having a first wireless communication port and a user interface.