Fast Co.Labs

Fast Company is always pushing the envelope. They are truly a multimedia company for the 21st century. Their endeavors have proven time and time again the strength of the coupling of man and his machine.

Now we are lucky enough to witness their next chapter: Fast Co.Labs. The Co.Labs are a place for those who live and work on computers to congregate to bounce ideas off of each other. In a sense it is like an incubator, but it is so much more than that. Watch the video below to see what we’re talking about.

Dark Sky Weather App

Today’s blog post is a sort of feel good story. Two men, who had no programming knowledge, come up with one of the most user-friendly, valuable apps available for the iPhone. What makes it even better is that they used free and readily available information (government precipitation information) to power their app.

Dark Sky is an app that shows you the weather in your exact location in the present and for the next hour. Ever been upset with the weather man’s “prediction?” Well with Dark Sky, instead of trying to decipher your area’s forecast from a vague-speaking weatherman, you can just check your phone!

Check out the video from Fast Company for more on Dark Sky:

Did we mention that Dark Sky is also only $3.99? Yeah..pretty cheap!

Starcraft II is 21st Century Chess

In another installment of the PLAYMAKERS series by Fast Company, we are introduced to the PC game Starcraft II. Starcraft II is a strategy game that can only be described as chess for the 21st century. While chess has been played the same way for hundreds of years, Starcraft II takes strategy gaming to a whole new level.

In the game of chess, players take turns moving their pieces, while in Starcraft II all of the action takes place simultaneously, allowing players to make a multitude of split-second decisions that can have lasting effects on their gaming experience. Overall Starcraft II has become a teaching tool, and the development of the game has become an exercise in education. Check out the video below to see how

PLAYMAKERS Teaches Physics

In the next installment of Fast Company’s PLAYMAKERS series, game developers are using existing game platforms to teach students physics.

Developers are using the game Portal 2 to teach students physics, which is an extremely unique approach, especially since physics is notoriously difficult to learn. Portal 2 is a very simple game, which when used by the students has shown to actually improve their comprehension of physics.

Check out the video to see more:

Historia: Game-Based Teaching

Yesterday we blogged about video games becoming prevalent as an actual teaching tool in the classroom. While video games are truly revolutionizing the way children learn, so is game-based teaching.

The video above from the great people at Fast Company, who are always pushing the envelope in terms of multimedia and communication. It is also interesting to note that Historia is being used in middle schools, which are often labeled as being difficult for students socially, as it is quite the “awkward” age.

Come back tomorrow for another installment of PLAYMAKERS from Fast Company.

Fighting = Breakthroughs

In a perfect business world we would come up with the solutions to all of our problems, and everyone would agree. The problem, however, is that we work in a place that is far from perfect (which is probably a good thing anyway), so it’s no surprise that it can sometimes be difficult to take your ideas and see them come to fruition within a group.

Don’t worry though, you’re not the only one facing this dilemma. What you’ll probably be surprised to hear, though, is that if you want your ideas to work you should actually argue with your coworkers. Sounds kind of crazy huh? Check out the video from Fast Company and you’ll see what we’re talking about:

 

Creative Meritocracy

As you know, Fast Company is the world’s foremost and most progressive business media brand. Not only do they have clout across multiple industries and mediums, but they also have extremely relevant information that just simply makes sense. Not only is their content great, but their mediums of communications with their audience is the reason they are so highly regarded.

All of this actually leads us into today’s video from Fast Company (obviously) which deals with the concept of Creative Meritocracy. What is Creative Meritocracy? Well it’s basically just merit-based promotion and incentive systems that have the chance to revolutionize the workplace if implemented correctly.

Watch the video and you’ll see what we mean.

The $40 Tablet

Fast Company is one of the most progressive and forward-thinking firms in today’s marketplace, so when they give their stamp of approval to something you know that it is a truly revolutionary product.

Today we bring you a video from Fast Company which features a $40 tablet computer that hopes to literally revolutionize the education sector in India, the second most populous country on Earth (which is also home to over 300 million illiterate adults).

The fact that the folks at DataWind are seeking to create such a cost-effective solution to pricey tablet computers is a net positive, but the fact that they’re doing it for the sake of education is absolutely amazing.

The Water Wheel

Solutions, solutions, solutions! Take a second and think about it. They’re what make the world go around. By this time you should know that we have a passion for innovation..and yes, solutions.

Another organization that shares similar passions is Fast Company. They are always seeking to find the answers to some of our most trying problems, an the search for clean drinking water is no exception. There are over 1 billion people without access to clean drinking water, and while most companies would simply see an opportunity to exploit this for financial gain, Fast.Co would rather deliver clean water first, and worry about making money second.

Check out the video below from Fast.Co’s Unreasonables web series to learn more about their ideas, and the innovative Water Wheel.

Quite frankly, the Water Wheel is absolutely genius. While it may not provide clean water to all of the over 1 billion people who need it, the Water Wheel is a stepping stone in the direction of problem solving. It truly is a solution!

Making of Herman Miller Chairs

The good people over at Fast Company Co.DESIGN created this great video showcasing the awesome process that is the making of Herman Miller chairs.

Generally, Herman Miller is known for their iconic chairs like the Eames, and the Aeron. Frankly, it’s pretty cool to see the production process of such amazing and noteworthy products.

OK, now stop reading this and watch the video already!