Nov 29 | The Node's #NodeFest is the premier #MotionDesign conference and party that connects the best designers, animators, and digital professionals from Australia and New Zealand. We're thrilled to host innovative 3D-Artist, Vincent Schwenk. He creates fluid sculptures and concentrates on the physical irregularities of abstract objects, mostly playing with futuristic, candy-colored constructions while exploring their artificiality.Maxon is proud to be the platinum partner at Node Fest 2024 and will have an artist presentation on the main stage.

LIVE NOW on #CreateWithMaxon Let's explore #Redshift! Learn about different light sources, including Dome Lights, HDRIs, and Area Lights. Discover how to combine various lights to add interesting lighting to the scene. DOWNLOAD FREE PROJECT FILES HERE! https://maxonvfx.com/files_c4d_fundamentals In this episode youll begin exploring Redshift, learn about different...

Ask Dumb Questions, Embrace Mistakes and Other Lessons on Innovation | Dave Raggio | TED

How Jaguars logo lost its roarPublished inThe Medium BlogSent as aNewsletter3 min read1 hour ago-- [this is where we hold space]Issue #215: Dorothys silver slippers and your win binJaguar just got rid of the jaguar. I saw the rebrand and was reminded of Facebooks 2019 logo (before it became Meta) both feel cold and robotic, as if these companies are trying to become Eye of Sauron-style Tech Giants instead of what they actually are. Heres Jaguars before and after:When you see a rebrand this drastic, its (sometimes) a cry for help. Jaguar is an 89-year-old brand whose sales have dropped 80% since 2017. Its too uncool to compete with Bentley, too retro to rival Tesla. After years of declining relevance, Jaguar is suspending new car sales for a year before it reincarnates as an electric-only car manufacturer. Its a brave strategy: Instead of incrementally improving their product, theyre going all-in on a vision they believe will save them long-term.Thats why theres no car in the ad.Marketing vet Madelaine Lucy Hanson thinks the rebrand will alienate Jaguars core customer base: conservative men. Brand designer Aakansha Raj feels underwhelmed; now Jaguar looks the same as everyone else. And its true so many brands have sanded down their edges over the last decade. Why is everything bland?via Flux BrandingOne reason: Simpler shapes play better across todays screens especially on an internet where low-resolution images travel widely.Still, if you want to stand out, maybe add some detail? In the words of design leader Himanshu Bharadwaj, the decision to ditch the iconic leaping cat feels like swapping a timeless tuxedo for a tech startup hoodie. It whispers relevance but risks losing the roar of rebellion. Harris Sockel Plus: How Wicked became a $1 billion franchiseWicked began as a 1995 prequel to L. Frank Baums now-famous childrens book. Its essentially a cautionary tale about labeling anything evil, and it was Gregory Maguires first novel for adults (hed written 10 childrens books already). He was 41. None of his childrens books had caught on, and he was desperate. So he started Wicked, naming the protagonist, Elphaba, after L. Frank Baums initials. I thought that I had to throw everything that I cared about into this book, he remembers, because I would never write another one.It didnt sell well at first. But it was a sleeper hit, finding more readers each year until it was adapted into a $1 billion-grossing Broadway musical (the second-highest-earning show after The Lion King). The movie has already made more money than any other non-sequel film opening in 2024. Its themes female friendship, good vs. evil, political propaganda are evergreen yet timely. Also, everyone feels like an outsider.One Easter egg: Dorothy makes a brief appearance in the film, and her slippers are silver! Turns out ruby slippers are copyrighted by MGM (which is now owned by Amazon) until 2035. Your daily dose of practical wisdom: the win binCreate a folder on your desktop called wins. Did someone just compliment you on Slack, Teams, email, or text? Take a screenshot and drop it into your own personal win bingreat for inspiration or writing self-evaluations. (Melissa DePuydt)

Explore how a team of Columbian women represented their country with artwork at the Burning Man festival for the first timeand why Unreal Engine and Twinmotion were key in designing the fungi-themed installation.

Hone your existing Unreal Engine skills and learn new ones in this months batch of free online learning content, covering 3D scanning with the experts at Quixel, animation, procedural content generation, and much more.

Smithsonian's picks for the best books about food of 2024 include McAtlas, A Call to Farms, Slow Noodles and more. Illustration by Emily LankiewiczOne of the easiest and most fun ways to learn about a place is through its food. And when you arent able to actually travel to a destination, the next best thing is to read about its cuisine, and perhaps to cook it yourself.Good food books make cultural dishes and history jump off the page, and our favorites of this year manage to do just that. These ten titles are bursting with tasty food, from rugelach to pho, as well as amusing and captivating storytelling on everything from the history of refrigeration to Julia Childs kitchen, transporting readers from Cambodia to Bethlehem to McDonalds franchise locations around the globe.McAtlas: A Global Guide to the Golden Arches by Gary HeWhen James Beard Award-winning photographer Gary He found himself eating an iftar meal at a McDonalds in Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2018, an idea was born. He spent the next several years traveling to 50 countries on six continents to visit architecturally distinctive McDonalds locationsfrom a ski-thru lodge-style restaurant in Lindvallen, Sweden, and one inside an old DC-3 airplane in Taupo, New Zealandand sample special menu items. According to He, localized menu items, like the McBaguette in France and shawarma-style Chicken McArabia in Saudia Arabia, account for about 30 percent of McDonalds systemwide sales. McAtlas, which is not endorsed by McDonalds (the fast-food chain had no involvement or input), is a volume filled with hundreds of non-stylized photos showcasing these unique outposts and offerings of the Golden Arches. Perhaps this isnt news to you, but Hong Kong locations serve macaroni soup, a pasta topped with ham in a bowl of beef or chicken broth traditionally found at local cafes known as cha chaan teng. McAtlas: A Global Guide to the Golden Arches From James Beard Award-winning photographer and writer Gary He, McAtlas is a visual social anthropology of the largest and most popular restaurant in the world.Julia Childs Kitchen: The Design, Tools, Stories and Legacy of an Iconic Space by Paula JohnsonThis volume by Paula Johnson, project director and co-curator of the exhibition Food: Transforming the American Table at the Smithsonians National Museum of American History, examines the kitchen of one of the 20th centurys most famous and beloved chefs. A respectful homage to Julia Childs legacy through interviews with those who knew her, a compelling narrative and beautiful photography, the book scrutinizes Childs recipe test labonce in her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and now fully intact at the museum. The workspace includes her favorite tools and gadgets, appliances, artwork and dcor, books, and more. A foreword by French chef and television personality Jacques Ppin is a cherry on top. Julia Child's Kitchen: The Design, Tools, Stories, and Legacy of an Iconic Space Julia Child's Kitchen is a gorgeous dive into the beloved cookbook author and television stars favorite place in the worldher home kitchenand how this space has influenced the ways we cook today.A Call to Farms: Reconnecting to Nature, Food and Community in a Modern World by Jennifer GraysonInvestigative journalist Jennifer Grayson embedded herself in a training program for new farmers in central Oregon during the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic. Her purpose was to explore how the newest generation of farmers are working to create a more sustainable and regenerative agriculture when things are only getting more expensive, soil is more degraded, and food systems are more industrial. In A Call to Farms, readers meet numerous farmers and food activists across the United Statesa couple farming a one-acre plot in Oregon, a woman teaching other Black women how to grow crops for their communities in South Carolina, the director of a permaculture school in North Carolina and more. Together, Graysons portraits paint a picture of the future of American farming. A Call to Farms: Reconnecting to Nature, Food, and Community in a Modern World Hope for the future lies with a new generation of regenerative farmers.Our South: Black Food Through My Lens by Ashleigh ShantiBorn in St. Marys, Georgia, and raised in Virginia Beach, Ashleigh Shanti followed her culinary career dreams to North Carolina. She won a James Beard Rising Star Chef Award for her time at Benne on Eagle in Asheville, North Carolina, and competed on season 19 of Top Chef before opening her own restaurant in Asheville, called Good Hot Fish, earlier this year. Shantis aim with this cookbook is to expound on the complexities of Black food, stating plainly that its not a Southern cookbook, Appalachian cookbook or soul food cookbook. Instead, it is cooking through her lens, which encompasses all of those and more, making it difficult to put it into a simple box. Our South has sections devoted to Backcountry, Lowcountry, Midlands, Lowlands and Homeland, with recipes like stewed rabbit with preserved carrot pure, blackened flounder chowder with turkey tails, buckwheat noodle bowls, and her moms sausage and rice stuffed eggplant with tomato-peanut gravy. Our South: Black Food Through My Lens Raised in Appalachia, native daughter Ashleigh Shanti, a queer Black woman and acclaimed chef, knows Southern Black cooking means more than weve come to believe. While hot buttered cast-iron-pan cornbread and crunchy, juicy, lard-fried chicken have their roles to play, they are far from the entire story.The League of Kitchens Cookbook: Brilliant Tips, Secret Methods & Favorite Family Recipes From Around the World by Lisa Kyung GrossThe League of Kitchens is a cooking school in New York City. But instead of stuffy instructors from intimidating backgrounds, the teachers there are women who immigrated from around the world and landed in New York, who want to share their native cuisine. Founded in 2014 by Lisa Kyung Gross, the daughter of a Korean immigrant and a Jewish New Yorker, the League of Kitchens offers connection and cultural engagement through cooking. The League of Kitchens Cookbook mixes profiles of some of its instructors with a hefty helping of their cherished family recipes. From murgir mangsho (Bangladeshi chicken and potato curry), to huevos con tocino y habanero (Mexican eggs with bacon and habanero chiles), to dadar jagung (Indonesian corn fritters with shrimp), to sharlotka s yablokami (Russian apple charlotte cake), its a real smorgasbord of different cuisines. The League of Kitchens Cookbook: Brilliant Tips, Secret Methods & Favorite Family Recipes from Around the World Delicious, simple, family recipes from around the world from the instructors of League of Kitchensthe innovative and widely acclaimed cooking school in New York City.Bethlehem: A Celebration of Palestinian Food by Fadi KattanFadi Kattan is a Franco-Palestinian chef and hotelier who was born and raised in Bethlehem. Today, he co-owns the six-room boutique hotel Kassa in Bethlehem and the restaurant Akub in London, which serves modern Palestinian food. His debut cookbook, Bethlehem: A Celebration of Palestinian Food,kaek al-quds and eggs, the sesame-covered bread seen all over Jerusalem and here filled with baked eggs and zaatar spice. Bethlehem: A Celebration of Palestinian Food Bethlehem is a celebration of Palestinian food and culture from one of the areas most dynamic chefs and a portrait of one of the most storied cities in the world.Dac Biet: An Extra-Special Vietnamese Cookbook by Nini Nguyen with Sarah ZornLearn to cook three variations of pho with all the trimmings, a Viet Cajun seafood boil and an addictive ginger scallion sauce youll want on just about anything, all in this cookbook by two-time Top Chef contestant Nini Nguyen. Dac biet means special in Vietnamese, and Nguyen, born and raised in New Orleans by Vietnamese immigrants, uses the title to highlight her special twists on classic Vietnamese and Cajun dishes in the 100 recipes inside the book. Her distinctive point of view shines in culinary inventions like coconut crispy rice crepes and a banh mi-po boy mash-up. Dac Biet: An Extra-Special Vietnamese Cookbook A collection of contemporary, extra-special Vietnamese recipes, from beloved classics like Hanoi-Style Vermicelli with Grilled Pork and three variations of ph, to dishes with a New Orleans twist, like Southeast Asian Jambalaya and Sticky Fried Shrimp Bnh Mfrom Top Chef contestant and acclaimed chef Nini NguyenFrostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet and Ourselves by Nicola TwilleyWhile its probably hard for most of us to imagine life without a refrigerator and freezer, there was a time not too long ago when these luxuries didnt exist. In Frostbite, journalist and podcast host Nicola Twilley dives into the history of refrigeration and takes readers on a tour of the so-called cold chain, the network of refrigerated trucks, rail cars, shipping containers and warehouses that fruits and vegetables typically travel before hitting a grocery stores produce section. This illuminating title details the immense impact this innovation has on everything from our health to global economics to the environment, revealing that its not all positive. Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves An engaging and far-reaching exploration of refrigeration, tracing its evolution from scientific mystery to globe-spanning infrastructure, and an essential investigation into how it has remade our entire relationship with foodfor better and for worseSlow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss and Family Recipes by Chantha NguonWhen Chantha Nguon was 9 years old, her life was upended by Pol Pots genocide and civil war in Cambodia in the 1970s. She was able to move to Saigon in neighboring Vietnam, but lost much of her family, and eventually fled to Thailand, where she survived by cooking in a brothel, selling street food and taking on other jobs. In this heartbreaking memoir, she recounts her incredible struggle and perseverance, telling tales of her homeland before it was torn apart and recreating around 20 recipes of her youthgreen papaya pickles, Khmer curries, handmade banh canh noodles and moreas a means of staying connected to her past. Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes A haunting and beautiful memoir from a Cambodian refugee who lost her country and her family during Pol Pot's genocide in the 1970s but who finds hope by reclaiming the recipes she tasted in her mother's kitchenMy Life in Recipes: Food, Family and Memories by Joan NathanBest-selling cookbook author and Jewish food authority Joan Nathan published her latest book earlier this year, using more of a memoir format to share her personal history with her ancestral cuisine. Nathan, now 81 years old, traces her familys history from their arrival in the United States from Germany to her own childhood in New York and Rhode Island through her years living in Paris, New York, Israel and Washington, D.C., sharing more than 100 recipes and food histories along the way. Recipes include salmon baked with preserved lemon and zaatar; Moroccan chicken with almonds, chestnuts, cinnamon and couscous; and her mothers family recipe for brisket, which first appeared in her 1994 book Jewish Cooking in America. My Life in Recipes: Food, Family, and Memories A new cookbook from the best-selling and award-winning author that uses recipes to look back at her life and family historyand at her personal journey discovering Jewish cuisine from around the worldGet the latest Travel & Culture stories in your inbox.A Note to our Readers Smithsonian magazine participates in affiliate link advertising programs. If you purchase an item through these links, we receive a commission.

Crews Remove Miles of Abandoned, Lead-Coated Telephone Cables From the Bottom of Lake TahoeThe cables have been resting on the lakebed for decades, raising fears from environmentalists and residents about possible lead contamination Lake Tahoe's Emerald Bay is one of the sites where telephone cables were recently removed from. Ken Lund via Flickr under CC BY-SA 2.0Miles of defunct, lead-covered telephone cables have long sat abandoned beneath the cerulean waters of Lake Tahoe. Now, after years of legal back-and-forth, the cables have been removed.Scuba divers discovered the cables on the lakes sandy, silty bottom in 2012. The cables consist of copper wires surrounded by a layer of lead sheathing. They were laid in Lake Tahoe decades agopossibly as early as the 1920swhile telephone service was expanding across the United States. As technology advanced, telecom companies installed newer cables, but they left the old ones in place.Over time, the Lake Tahoe cables suffered damage from boat anchors and debris. Health and environmental activists and residents grew concerned that the torn cables were leaching lead into the lake, which is a popular swimming destination and provides drinking water for some nearby households.The cables origins are a little murky, but they are believed to have been originally installed by Bell Systems, which was later acquired by AT&T, as the San Francisco Chronicles Gregory Thomas reported in August. In 2021, the nonprofit California Sportfishing Protection Alliance filed a civil lawsuit against AT&T over the cables.A 2023 Wall Street Journal investigation subsequently found abandoned, lead-covered telecommunications cables across the nation. The publication hired an environmental consulting firm to take soil and water samples from areas near the cables. Testing near the cables in Lake Tahoe showed lead levels that, in one sample, were 2,533 times higher than those recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to the Wall Street Journal.AT&T disputed the claims that the cables had contaminated Lake Tahoe, and it commissioned its own lead tests that concluded the cables were safe and pose no threat to public health nor the environment, per its website. But the telecommunications company agreed to remove the cables anyway. Crews worked daily 12-hour shifts for more than two weeks to remove the cables. League to Save Lake TahoeThis fall, AT&T hired J.F. Brennan Co., a marine services contractor, to remove the cables. Crews worked daily 12-hour shifts for more than two weeks to extract the old infrastructure from the lakebed. They finished the work on November 17, reports SFGates Julie Brown Davis.Scuba divers and a remotely operated underwater vehicle worked in the water, while other crew members were stationed aboard a large barge and a smaller boat, per SFGate. The on-deck teams used a winch to hoist the heavy cables onto the barge, where they cut them into smaller pieces.Crews then ferried the cable pieces to Tahoe Keys Marina, loaded them onto trucks and drove them to a recycling facility.In total, teams removed nearly eight miles of cable from the southwestern part of the lake: One section was located in Emerald Bay, while the other stretched between Rubicon Point and Baldwin Beach. According to the California Sportfishing Protection Alliances calculations, the effort was slated to remove roughly 107,000 pounds of lead from the lake.Researchers have not come to a consensus on whether the cables damaged the lake, reports USA Todays Greta Cross. In an abundance of caution and without real access to the full range of all the scientific studies, our priority was to remove the cables as quickly and as safely as possible, always with that environmental protection at the forefront, Laura Patten, natural resource director for the nonprofit League to Save Lake Tahoe, tells the publication.Lead is a naturally occurring heavy metal. But when ingested, it can accumulate in the body and lead to health issues. Children ages 6 and younger are especially vulnerable to lead exposure, which can lead to issues like slow growth, hearing problems, anemia, behavior and learning problems, lower IQ and hyperactivity, according to the EPA. In some cases, lead ingestion can cause seizures, coma or death. The EPA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found that no amount of lead is safe for kids.Pregnant women and some other adults can also suffer from health issues linked to lead, such as high blood pressure, decreased kidney function, reproductive problems, miscarriage and more.Lead is also fatally toxic to animals, including endangered California condors and bald eagles.Historically, lead was used in drinking water pipes, ammunition, gasoline and paint. But over the last six decades, those uses have been restricted or banned.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: California, Environment, Health, Law, Pollution, Technology, Telephone, Water

Machiavelli's The Princewas written in 1513 and printed in 1532. Sotheby'sFor many years, historians knew of only ten first-edition copies of Niccol Machiavellis The Princethe controversial 16th-century political treatiseall held by institutions.However, they recently learned of an 11th copy owned by a private collector, which is now heading to the auction block. Sothebys will sell the book at an upcomingBooks & Manuscripts auction in London, where it could fetch as much as $375,000.The book was printed in 1532, five years after the authors death. The dominant text inside is actually MachiavellisFlorentine Histories, a lengthy chronicle of Florence commissioned byPope Leo X. But experts are more interested in the books inclusion of The Prince, Machiavellis most famous work, which he wrote around 1513. Machiavellis Florentine Histories, published posthumously, wasa chronicle of Florence history commissioned by Pope Leo X. Sotheby'sWe were not aware of any other copies in private hands, and this is the first copy that we are aware of to have come to auction, certainly in recent decades, Gabriel Heaton, Sothebys books and manuscripts specialist, tellsCNNs Amarachi Orie. He adds that this particular first-edition copy of The Prince, which features an early 17th-century Italian binding, is very interesting.Per a statement from Sothebys, The Prince is one of the most notorious and influential books of all time. In the early 16th century, its author was a civic official in theFlorentine Republic. But in 1512, the infamous Medici family regained power over Florence. Machiavelli wasimprisoned and tortured on suspicion of conspiracy against the Medicis, and while exiled to his fathers property south of Florence, he wrote The Princewhich some consider thefirst modern treatise on political science.The Prince is essentially a handbook for statesmen that offers guidance on how political rulers can stay in power, as NPRs Sylvia Poggioli wrote on the treatises 500th anniversary in 2013. One of the works most famous lines is: My view is that it is desirable to be both loved and feared; but it is difficult to achieve both and, if one of them has to be lacking, it is much safer to be feared than loved.Machiavelli dedicated The Prince toLorenzo di Piero de Medici, who ruled Florence between 1513 and 1519. The text circulated as a manuscript while Machiavelli was alive, and historians know that at least seven copies were made before its official publication in 1532, per Sothebys. In 1559, the Catholic church banned The Prince; it wouldnt be published again in Italy until 1630. This particular book includes bothMachiavellis Florentine HistoriesandThe Prince. Sotheby'sSince The Princes publication, Machiavellis name has become synonymous with political deceit, cynicism and the ruthless use of power, as NPR wrote, though some scholars have argued that the philosopher doesnt deserve this reputation. Today, the term Machiavellian is frequently used to describe deceitful actions taken in an attempt to gain power.We have one of the great works of political theory of all time, one of the most famous books of the 16th century, and its a very first edition, Heaton tells CNN. Sothebys is delighted to offer the incredibly rare book, he adds.This copy is also lightly annotated. An anonymous reader bracketed a section of text in chapter 18, which includes some of The Princes most strikingly modern pronouncements about the necessity for a savvy politician to manipulate the gulf between appearances and reality to his own ends, per the statement.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Designing the Perfect Home Office for Archviz Artists Are you an Archviz artist looking to optimize your home workspace? Our latest article explores how to create the ultimate home office tailored to your design needs, from maximizing screen real estate to choosing the right lighting and tech setups. Learn:- How to organize your workspace for maximum productivity - The best monitors and gear for Archviz artists - Tips on maintaining a comfortable and inspiring environment Weve also included insights on using AI tools to enhance your workspace and creative output. Check it out to design an office that supports your creativity and workflow! https://link.cgarchitect.com/homeoffice #Archviz #HomeOfficeDesign #InteriorDesign #DesignWorkspace #CGArtist #ProductivityTips #CreativeSpace #HomeOfficeInspo #ArchitecturalVisualization #WorkFromHome