DZGN/design

I’m lovin’ it. (:

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:30:35 +1200

I’m lovin’ it. (:

"People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it..."

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 21:53:34 +1300

“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying ‘no’ to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying ‘no’ to 1000 things.”

- Steve Jobs at WWDC 1997

I love my new iPad.

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 21:43:46 +1300

I love my new iPad.

This Is My Home. What an awesome man! I’d love to meet...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:56:28 +1300

This Is My Home. What an awesome man! I’d love to meet him.

Sleep hacking

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:28:34 +1300

I got up this morning, ran up the stairs (walking up is slow :P) and proceeded to sort out my breakfast of toast and a big man-size smoothie. I usually have this before the gym because it’s not too heavy but full of the right amount of energy. Well it got closer to gym time but I still felt horribly sleepy. Feeling tired and lethargic is up there as one of my most hated states of being. So I called off going to the gym, and instead did a little research on better muscle building techniques for my gym workouts. In the process, I came across some interesting info on sleep. Yeah, you’re probably like… yawn… everyone gets told they need around 8 hours sleep a night, but the explanations the article provided were valid.

This year, more than any other, I need to form much better routines and habits for approaching work and general wellbeing. Sleep, I feel, can make or break a lot of this – since a lazy sleepy brain, well, sucks. I noticed around Christmas and New Years that I was going to sleep around the same time but also waking up at 6.30am – often bang on that time. I’ll get to why this is interesting soon (if you haven’t fallen asleep).

People go through a couple different phases when they sleep. To quote the article which will do a better job of explaining it:

The first of these stages is called deep sleep, slow wave sleep or non-REM sleep. During this level the entire body relaxes, cerebral cortex activity is minimized and heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate and energy usage declines by about 30% (Martini, 2001: 496).

The second level of sleep is known as rapid eye movement or REM sleep. This level is where dreaming occurs as well as changes in a person’s blood pressure and breathing. Studies conducted with an electroencephalograph (EEG) have shown that activities within the brain are similar to those that occur while awake. Although this is the case people in the REM stage of sleep are less receptive to external

These two levels of sleep alternate throughout the night. Deep sleep fills the initial hour and a half of sleep followed by REM sleep for much shorter periods (starting at 5 minutes) and alternates throughout the night.Over an eight hour night around 2 hours is spent in the REM sleep (Martini, 2001).

Those sleep cycles last about 90 minutes at a time and happen throughout sleep. What I found cool about my 11pm to 6.30am sleep was that it was a perfect 7 hour 30 minute sleep, or 5 cycles of 90 minutes almost down to the minute.

So in an effort to increase productivity, mood and gym results blah blah, I’m going to try and get back to that. I’ve used the iOS app ‘Sleep Cycle’ quite a bit to track my sleeping cycles. You can see a couple of the cycles below.

8 Hours in Brooklyn

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 17:44:28 +1300

8 Hours in Brooklyn

Photo

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:00:52 +1300

Video

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:35:33 +1300

Very helpful talk, especially since I’m establishing my...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:24:34 +1300

Very helpful talk, especially since I’m establishing my own business with a few others.

iMessage for Mac OS X

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:05:13 +1300

Now please.

rhysowensamueltaylor: Elegant video of people* flying over New...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:25:59 +1300

rhysowensamueltaylor:

Elegant video of people* flying over New York.

*remote control planes

Video

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:11:59 +1300

"Do something good while being on planet earth"

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:10:15 +1300

“Do something good while being on planet earth”

- Eike Koenig

Eternally frustrated by chargers.

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:02:44 +1300

Eternally frustrated by chargers.

This is my repurposed can of peaches. Just looking at it makes...

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 17:01:16 +1300

This is my repurposed can of peaches. Just looking at it makes me want to draw something

This is my desk.

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:58:06 +1300

This is my desk.

I love this

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 01:29:18 +1300

I love this

I found this in the Marlborough Sounds when I was a kid. The...

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 11:36:03 +1300

I found this in the Marlborough Sounds when I was a kid. The shape intrigued me so I took it to Canterbury Museum and had a report done on it. Turns out it was a piece of a Maori tool, chipped away during production (Taken with instagram)

Google has unified the look of Reader with the rest of their...

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:59:00 +1300

Google has unified the look of Reader with the rest of their product line such as Gmail, Docs, and Google+. The lightness is good, but my biggest issue is the visual distinction between expanded stories. That said, it’s good to see a refresh.

Nokia Lumia 800. The designer’s story. (by nokia)

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:05:55 +1300

Nokia Lumia 800. The designer’s story. (by nokia)