Favela painting (Haas&Hahn;)

(SmartPlanet) 

NEW YORK-To enter the new exhibition presented by the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt museum, titled "Design with the Other 90%: Cities," it's necessary to go through an unusually strict security screening. It's nearly identical to that of an American airport; visitors must place personal bags, electronics, and coats on conveyor belts and have them X-rayed before they're allowed in.

That's because the show, which addresses how urban slums can serve as innovation hotbeds, is located in an unusual setting for a Cooper-Hewitt exhibition: the United Nations. It's there because the museum is undergoing a renovation. But the airport-like security and the bustling venue all add to the experience of "Design with the Other 90%: Cities." It's an inspiring and thought-provoking exhibition, opening to the public free of charge on October 15. It will remain on view through January 9, 2012.

I’ve been thinking more about how I review a design – both my own and someone else’s. So over the past couple days I’ve been writing down every question I’ve been asking when I look at a design-in-progress. Some of these I say out loud, some just go through my head, some are in person, others are posted to Basecamp or Campfire.

People interact with their favorite brands on Facebook far more than on any other social network, according to a recent study of online consumer behavior.

The study, conducted by Constant Contact and research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey, analyzed the behavior of 1,491 consumers ages 18 and older throughout the United States and revealed a number of details about how people interact with brands on the world’s largest social network.

The U.S. Postal Service appears to be the latest casualty in digital technology's slow but steady replacement of working humans. Unless an external source of funding comes in, the post office will have to scale back its operations drastically, or simply shut down altogether. That's 600,000 people who would be out of work, and another 480,000 pensioners facing an adjustment in terms.