MetaFilter posts tagged with industry

Silicon Sweatshops

Joe Beese — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:10:45 -0800

Silicon Sweatshops is a five-part investigation of the supply chains that produce many of the world’s most popular technology products, from Apple iPhones, to Nokia cell phones, Dell keyboards and more. The series examines the scope of the problem, including its effects on workers from the Philippines, Taiwan and China. It also looks at a novel factory program that may be a blueprint for solving this perennial industry problem.

Living in Hell

WPW — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:22:13 -0800

Infernal Landscapes. The work of Lu Guang, who has been given this year's $30,000 W Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography. It's inescapably reminiscent of the work of Edward Burtynsky.

The future of the news business

reenum — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:48:00 -0800

The newspaper industry is facing challenges, and what might be done to ramify the situation Newspapers have been an institution for over a hundred years, but are now under threat of being undermined by the Internet and other sources. This article gives a decent background of the current crisis faced by the industry and how the industry might respond to the threats the printed paper faces.

The Car Salesman

robbyrobs — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 10:29:35 -0800

Interesting and somewhat nostalgic look at the car industry with a particular focus on the car salesmen. The history of the car salesman is shorter than the history of the car, but perhaps by no more than a few weeks. (The invention of the car was only slightly more significant than the invention of the market for cars.) In fact, we have a fairly good idea of who that first car salesman was: John North Willys

The Social History of the MP3.

chunking express — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:03:46 -0800

The Social History of the MP3.

Standing out in the crowd.

chunking express — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:07:03 -0800

Standing out in the crowd. Kirrily Robert's keynote from OSCON. She discusses diversity in opensource communities and projects. Her follow up post links to some 'interesting' discussions.

Where the bombs were built

of strange foe — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:54:39 -0800

Photos of nuclear-explosives production facilities built during the Manhattan Project, by photographer Martin Miller. He also took photos of nuclear missile sites built during the cold war.

An Inconvenient Hoof

Toekneesan — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:29:45 -0800

Opening this Friday in L.A, New York, and San Francisco, Food, Inc. is a documentary about the modern food industry that features Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Joe Salatin of Polyface Farm, and Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Yogurt. Here's the trailer. And here's a New York Times article about the film. Also available, a participant's guide book. Currently scheduled for wider release on June 19th.

vintage cutaway illustrations

madamjujujive — Sun, 03 May 2009 17:55:29 -0800

Frank Soltesz was a master of fascinating cutaway illustrations depicting "modern businesses" in the '40s and '50s - from hotels and hospitals to breweries, grocery stores, and more. (via Telstar Logistics Blog) See also: Frank Soltesz - Storyteller and a biographical site by his son, which includes examples of his other styles of illustration, too.

The Subversion of the EPA

homunculus — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:00:32 -0800

Smoke and Mirrors: The Subversion of the EPA. "This four-part series details how the Bush administration weakened the EPA. It installed a pliant agency chief, Stephen L. Johnson. Under him, the EPA created pro-industry regulations later thrown out by the courts. It promoted a flawed voluntary program to fight climate change. It bypassed air pollution recommendations from its own scientists to satisfy the White House." [Via Reality Base]

From 0 to 60 to World Domination

rollbiz — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:34:05 -0800

"Engineers Rule" and "The Toyota Way": How Toyota and Honda have bested the Big Three.

How do I Injury Me? Let Me Count the Ways.

sp160n — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 07:31:01 -0800

A cornucopia of 'pictorial representations' of safety messages for industry. All images freely available in EPS and and DXF format. My personal favorite is this rather unfortunate situation.

15 Mistakes Designers Make

divabat — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:23:26 -0800

15 awful mistakes made by designers in the music and apparel industries - such as not charging enough, ignoring typography, and unprofessional behaviour.

Get your damn fruits and vegetables off my lawn.

Toekneesan — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:21:22 -0800

I’ve discovered that typically, a farmer who grows the forbidden fruits and vegetables on corn acreage not only has to give up his subsidy for the year on that acreage, he is also penalized the market value of the illicit crop, and runs the risk that those acres will be permanently ineligible for any subsidies in the future. (The penalties apply only to fruits and vegetables — if the farmer decides to grow another commodity crop, or even nothing at all, there’s no problem.) If you can't stop demand, curtail production. One farmer's view on the power of commodity crops. See also: Joel Salatin & Polyface Farm. Everything I want to do is Illeagal (Amazon) Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (Amazon ) Barbra Kingslover's Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: A Year in Food (Amazon)

Doodles, Drafts and Designs

mediareport — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:08:46 -0800

Doodles, Drafts and Designs: Industrial Drawings from the Smithsonian. Including crayon tests, the original telescoping shopping cart and more. [via the horse's neck]

Lee press-on car

XMLicious — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 05:16:25 -0800

The Tata Nano (pic) is a car that costs less new than the amount I've spent on gas during single car trips, recently announced to the auto market in India. The Chery QQ ^, successful , wide ly ex por ted, and recognized as the Hostage Taker's Vehicle of Choice by China Car Times, is the runner-up for the world's cheapest car but is still approximately twice as expensive. Yes indeed, the price of gas is not going to come back down. So much for my coast-to-coast road trips. Forbes magazine's The World's Cheapest Cars (javascript slideshow)

More abandoned places, because they're creepy and beautiful

dersins — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 09:07:13 -0800

Illicit Ohio has a wide range of photos and essays of abandoned places in Ohio, from the Cincinnati subway system (yes, there really is was one, and it's been discussed here before), to various and sundry prisons, government installations, hotels, hosiptals, houses and more. And don't miss the old vs. new galleries, either.

Down The Mine

homunculus — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 13:50:29 -0800

Down The Mine. An essay on coal mining as seen by George Orwell in 1937. [Via The Huffington Post.]

Diesel-Driven Bee Slums and Impotent Turkeys

homunculus — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 12:15:20 -0800

The Case for Resilience. How Efficiency Maximizes Catastrophe.

"I would love to see it banished off the face of the Earth."

mek — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 10:16:52 -0800

Bisphenol A: this extremely common chemical leaches out of food packaging and plastics, and was long considered safe. But a number of recent studies link it to developmental problems and cancer in lab animals in doses far lower than the current regulatory limit. Canada and the United States both review the scientific data available in the coming months, but critics already worry the process will be corrupted by industry. Industry, of course, insists that BPA is safe.

You need a Thneed

homunculus — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:18:34 -0800

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. [25 min Google Video.]

Geo Info Postcards

divabat — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 19:28:01 -0800

How's the weather? Is it polluted? Do you have plenty of rainforests? Send someone a Geography Information Postcard and tell them about where you live by filling out infographics. (via)

Beyond Sustainability

MetaMonkey — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 06:31:00 -0800

Designing the Next Industrial Revolution [google video], an inspiring talk by William McDonough on design and ecology, beyond sustainability. Starts a little slow, but builds a powerful vision of a possible future. [transcript, v i a, see also]

Bolivia Nationalizes Natural Gas

redsparkler — Wed, 03 May 2006 09:56:00 -0800

My mother is very worried. ExxonMobil moved in and helped Bolivia develop, she says. Now they have food and medicine, thanks to the kindly hand of Big Business. But now Bolivia's kicking them out. After Exxon spent 3 billion dollars helping them! What will happen to the next poor country that needs Exxon's help?

This subpart applies to all research involving children as

amberglow — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 06:49:37 -0800

Who needs bunnies when you have kids to test on? "Protections for Subjects in Human Research," a newly proposed EPA rule allows for: for government and industry scientists to treat children as human guinea pigs in chemical experiments in the following situations: 1. Children who "cannot be reasonably consulted," such as those that are mentally handicapped or orphaned newborns may be tested on. With permission from the institution or guardian in charge of the individual, the child may be exposed to chemicals for the sake of research. 2. Parental consent forms are not necessary for testing on children who have been neglected or abused. 3. Chemical studies on any children outside of the U.S. are acceptable. And don't miss the Q&A section below. Sec. 26.408 of the EPA document is where you'll find the provisions and waivers mentioned (it refers to other sections absent from the document, weirdly).