Hanging Light

Considering the price tag (€ 4.750), fortunately barely affordable.

source: www.petites-productions.com

 

In the future

Buttersafe is one of my favourite online comic sites. Check out their New Year’s post here… and especially the comment from comic-strip artist Alex Culang.

appetizer:

 

Happy New Year!!!

Electrabel used 300,000 tealight candles and stop-motion photography to create this spectacular video to celebrate New Year’s Eve 2009. The video looks like fireworks produced from tiny flames on the floor.

 

NYC to Install Super-Efficient LED Streetlamps

NYC will soon be installing a new breed of super-efficient LED street lamps. The new units will be tested this coming year in a select area, and if successful, one day all of New York’s 300,000 lights will be replaced with new LED versions.

The new LED lamps will use considerably less energy and will reduce the city’s power usage by 25-30 percent if all the streetlamps are switched out. As a result maintenance and energy costs will be considerably reduced, and the expected ROI on each lamp is 2-3 years.

On top of these great cost savings, the lamps will be more useful because of multiple light lenses within each lamp. Instead of shining directly below the lamp, each lamp will have at least 2 light sources pointed in different directions to illuminate the street, the sidewalk, and perhaps even the curb, a building, or a stairway.

New York’s current street lamps are not just for lighting however – they also serve as fixtures for traffic signals, signs, control boxes and other various city utility necessities. When these old lamps were originally installed, these extra things were never planned into the design and were always a pain to install. The new LED lamps and poles will accommodate all this extra stuff with carefully-considered spaces and connection points.

via: inhabitat.com

 

Guerrilla Light Installations

On December 12, 26 street lights on Calle del Pez in Madrid, Spain were given a domesticated touch at the hands of LuzInterruptus for the Luz Interruptus (Red) Project. This guerrilla lighting installation involved fitting the streetlights with square lampshades.

The total financial outlay for the seven-hour Luz Interruptus (Red) Project was 180 euros, and the lampshades took three hours to install.

via: Trendhunter

source: luzinterruptus

 

Inflatable Light Designs

Studio Puff-Buff Design, which officially started in 2003 in Warsaw, established their own lighting brand. Their growing collection comprises various shapes that are inflated with the air.

Lullaby Chandelier

Queen’s Chandelier

Big Pink

 

iMenorah – 8 Nights of Hanukkah in your Pocket

Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, started this Sunday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a special candelabrum, the Menorah or Hanukiah, one light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. For folks who want to take these holidays into the 21st century, a handy iMenorah might help to fit the observance of Hannukah into their busy lives.

sources:

http://techblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/12/celebrate-hunukkah-er-chanukah.html

http://www.nextbook.org/cultural/feature.html?id=2195&source=email

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanukka

 

Spotlight – Jennifer Hudson

 

Venus, Jupiter, Moon Smile on Earth

Photograph by Bullit Marquez/AP

The heavens smiled down on Earth on December 1 in a rare celestial trifecta of Venus, Jupiter, and the moon (shown here over Manila in the Philippines). People in Asia saw a smiley face while sky-watchers in the United States saw a frown, though we’re sure it was nothing personal. This photo was one of the Top Ten National Geographic most viewed 2008.

source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/12/photogalleries/top-ten-photos/photo2.html

 

LED and Time

source: http://picasaweb.google.com/magnusmouse/LEDAndTime#