Sorry for the really bad pun, but I just had to do it!

February was quite the month; lots of fun new technology! I tried out an application launched at the beginning of the month called Enthusem. It combines data-driven publishing (or variable data printing, if you like) with the ability to link files for download by the recipient. Not a pURL (personal URL) or gURL (general URL) in sight, just an attachment code. Check it out here>> Greeting cards are more than just "all occasion" cards; when used by sales or biz dev people before prospecting calls, they can "warm up" the prospect. Sent after the sales call, Enthusem cards can deliver a link to an online document that can be downloaded, such as a PDF of a sales piece.

For some reason, a number of tidbits related to the USPS caught my eye this month; just call February "Postal Month!" From serving as a delivery mode for returning products to the manufacturer for reuse or recycling to a "mailable" GPS for tracking letters to a "round trip" envelope. I spent a number of years working for the USPS and it's fun to see new and interesting applications around a very old delivery system. Cool stuff.

I also discovered some interesting references to 3-dimensional imaging - one with paper and one with holograms. Take a look at the photos of the amazing paper sculptures highlighted below.

It turned out that February was also profitable! I completed a survey for VMware - the makers of the "virtual machine" application I use to run both Microsoft XP and Mac OS on my MacBook Pro - and won a nice shiny iPod Touch! Thank you, VMware!

Please visit my site and join the conversation as I continue to observe trends, identify new technology, and comment on developments in the graphic communications industry - printed and digital, mailed and e-mailed. There are new links to articles, websites, and blogs that you may find interesting.

Following are a few excerpts from my blog postings during February; enjoy! If you like, you can connect via a RSS feed to get the posts as they happen.

BTW, last month I asked, "can Spring be far behind?" The crocus, early iris, and snowdrops are blooming... :-D

All the best,

 

As early as 1993, Paul Hawken, in The Ecology of Commerce, described a process where at "end of life" products could be returned to their manufacturers, dismantled, and the parts reused for new products.

The US Postal Service seems to be one of the easiest ways to manage the return - via postage-paid Business Reply Envelopes and Labels.  You may have returned inkjet cartridges to HP using the little envelopes tucked into the package or with Staples' Inkdrop service. Now you can send a cell phone to a disposal center in the same way. For more, click here>>

I have to admit - I love paper - I love printing! But I also love these amazing paper sculptures. Peter Callesen has taken a 2-dimensional image and given it the feel of substance that is inherent in a 3-dimensional object. This particular piece is really fascinating.

By combining the "negative" space left when an image is removed from a sheet of paper with a 3-dimensional object created from the paper that was removed, he creates some beautiful artwork. He makes some pretty strong social statements too. To read more, go here>>

Remember a movie long, long ago and far, far away? Star Wars - the first... The little hologram of Princess Leia looked like something so far in the future! Was that movie really 30 years ago?

Large-scale, rewritable holograms are no longer the future, they are now. The next generation of holograms - the kind you can walk around and all but touch - are in development now.  Read on>>