Jamie's Ministry of Food.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/jamies-ministry-of-food/

Following Jamie Oliver's effort to change the eating habits of British schoolkids, he moved on to trying to transform the way the whole nation ate and saw food. It was a big goal, but Oliver had sufficient motivation, the thought of improving the overall knowledge of food in the country. He set out to release a set of recipes that could be easily cooked by anyone, including children and the elderley, which would then be passed on, until the skills was spread throughout and everyone could have at least a basic knowledge of food and cooking. Well, that was the plan anyway. What makes this example interesting is how it incorporates short and long term change. By the disappearance of passing on a skill to the next generation combined with the rise of convenience and pre-prepared foods. Contrasting to the Jamie's goal to rapidly spread food knowledge throughout the country through the passing on on recipes. There's no doubt that its ambitious, but with enough motivation it is possible. Things come in cycles and with the internet, television and other forms of modern communication it is easier to try and transform things on a large scale. Theres no guarantee, but its gathering momentum, just think of the snowball... or maybe a meatball...

old facebook, new facebook.

CHANGE FACEBOOOK BACK!!!

I Hate The New Facebook.

The New Facebook is SHIT!

GET THE OLD FACEBOOK BACK NOW !!

GIVE US BACK OUR OLD NEWS FEED

These are just a few of the groups that have been created in the first day after a "FACElift" to the Facebook homepage. While the changes are quite minor, many users of the popular social networking site (you have to use that phrase if you are talking about facebook in an analytical way) are clearly disapproving of the new design. It does however, show how even small seemingly insignificant changes can affect people in varying degrees. Why do people make such a big deal, and not welcome the changes? Because its new, and new can bring discomfort. It takes a while to adjust, it is not welcomed straight away, and it may take some time to recognise that the changes are for the better. This wave of joining groups that are disapproving of any alterations Facebook make has happened before, the last time Facebook radically changed its homepage, its look. People were pleading for it to be changed back, now in the first day of the changes, people are asking for it to be changed back to the Layout which caused such initial commotion. Interesting.

Median house price hits $480,000

http://www.theage.com.au/business/median-house-price-hits-480000-20091023-hdfz.html

Value is constantly changing, it manages to rise and fall and give an indication of a society's situation. Different aspects of Value change more frequently than others, with real estate being near the top of the list. "Property Boom", "Slumps" show how the realty market goes through periods of extreme highs, steady growth and of course, rapid drops. Houses are for most people the most "valuable (money wise)" thing that people own, which has remained constant for generations. The article explains that one of the reasons for the rise is the increased demand and insufficient supply, which causes prices to rise of other commodities such as oil. It is logical, when things are no longer abundant, their value increases. This is why the rarer something is or becomes usually has a higher money value than something that is readily available. When it comes down to it, people want rarity, they want to be in an exclusive group. They aren't sure how long it will last, but they want to be a part of it. So value is always changing, as it what is valuable, but not the desire to have something that you don't have, that, unlike many other things, remains constant.

when threatened, announce new products...

Windows Vista, Microsoft's recent "advanced" operating system was released, and its fair to say that it was an utter failure. It had many issues and problems ranging from compatability to security and the infamous constant crashes and general unreliability of the system. Surprisingly, Microsoft did not deny that their product was failing on many aspects and in response released a new operating system Windows 7 (Points for creativity!). It took less than 2 years of Vista problems to spark this response my Microsoft, who were clearly sick of the negative reactions towards Vista, which they had high hopes and ambitions for. While it hasn't been out there long in the world of consumer electronics, so far the response has been positive. Maybe because it is being compared to the less than solid Vista (maybe this was all part of Microsoft's plan- Making an average product look impressive by releasing it after a real shocker to acheive a "good by comparison" sort of effect. Or it may be unfair to make this assumption, it may well be a stable and reliable system. One thing that is certain is that Microsoft has a large consumer fan base,who are very loyal to the company, whatever they do. Many companies have always seen Windows as the only option in the operation of their businesses, because they have the professional image. Because of this, they hold a large market share, so other companies are always striving to create things that stand out, that have the potential to lessn Microsoft's power and dominance in the market.

Which is where Apple comes in, another consumer electronics company which has always been a minority in the market. Even though the quality and innovation has seldom failed to outshine their competitiors, some people even go as far to say that Apple are 5 years ahead of other companies. Despite their consistant ability to design, manufacture and distribute incredible technology, they are still fighting a constant market share battle with Microsoft. Their share is building, ever so gradually, as people start to move over to Mac, in hope of an easier experience and more advanced technology and features. So when a Microsoft released a new operating system, Apple had to strike back, distract people from the initial hype that the announcement had created. The old saying fight fire with fire, can be adapted here to this subject- fight change with change. It has the ability to distract people, change their opinions rapidly and cause a sort of hyper confused state which consistantly leads to $1000's of dollars being transferred accross for the latest, the cutting edge. People want to keep up, change is seen as neccessary, those with 1990 Macintosh Classics in an era of touch screens and wireless connectivity would be simply laughed upon. Seen as old fashioned and unwelcoming of change, which comes in the form of updating technology. So, to distract any hype and confusion that may have arisen from the Windows 7 release... Apple released new products to direct those feelings and mindstates to their side, its genius. The same tool has been used in arguments and debating for years, in a way outdoing the previous "punch". The products are undoubtedly very impressive and will spark a mad rush to continue the pattern, get the latest, keep up with it, all in a confused hype that change creates.

Different cars, same fuels...

In 1885, the first car that ran on petrol was released. At the time it was revolutionary, an impressive display of engineering and mechanical advancement. A sign of what was to come in the future. At the time petrol was abundant, and it hadn't been discovered yet the effects the car's operation had on the environment. The design was based purely on function. Now, over 120 years later, there has been amazing progression in the design, efficiency and functionality, however, one thing hasn't changed, the fuel they run on. Mainly because of the power and control that the petrol providers hold, which even managed to singlehandedly stamp out an electric car surge in the 90s. This demonstrates how certain things can progress at such a rapid rate, while others will stay the same, even if it is really obvious that it is necessary to change- in the case of the petrol fuelled cars.

Here is a comparison between the first petrol car and a recent model of the Holden Commodore. See the clear differences (the more complicated and efficient design, improved aerodynamics, obvious colour progression) but keep in mind that both the cars, despite the huge time gap between them, still use the same fuel- petrol.

Ice Addict development.

This picture is very powerful, it shows the gradual, yet relatively rapid degenerative effects of a a drug addiction. In this case, it is crystal methamphetamine, which has quite obvious and extreme physical effects on the user as shown in this series of photos. It also demonstrates how aging is a process which accelerates and progresses at different rates for different people.

The main thing I took from this picture is how one initial change in behaviour and habits could create and dominate this woman's life for the next 10 years. Until, the initial change continued to grow and develop to a lethal level, causing her death. I am making an educated guess here, that this woman's lifestyle probably adapted and changed to her new habit. It also most likely affected her personal and family life to an irreparable level.

The image is confronting, but its quite a common occurrence. You sometimes even see similar cases on the street, which can be worrying because the drug causes the user to be unpredictable, violent and irrational.

Give Visa debit some credit, for their thought provoking ad that provides good material for analysis.

After seeing this ad last week, I thought it was interesting how they discussed change. Through a series of statements and accompanying images, they make it obvious to people how life would be very different if there was no development or as they put it "Evolution". It makes several comparisons between today's level of technology and the past. Through asking the viewer to imagine life without what we now consider normal, forces them to think about the life they would live if these conveniences had not been developed. The viewer is always being asked "how would you do this?" and "how would you do that?" The immediate thought is that nothing would be possible without todays technology. The ad implies that "keeping in touch with friends" is a new concept, only made possible by the development of technology. It talks with the tone as to make the person watching forget about the common previous form of communication of "writing letters". However, the ideas expressed in the advertisement are clever, as they hype up the idea, causing people watching into a mindset of dependence on modern digital technology. They are essentially using gradual change as a tool for people to question how they previously did things, which paired with comparisons, make it easy for people to see where they have been and how the development has made doing various tasks simple.

The ad can be seen below...