Working and living in West London, going to central London is always a nice outing for me.
After the buzz on Twitter last year I realised, unfortunately I missed out on Regent Tweet 2010. When London Girl Geek Dinners announced the tickets for 2011, I made sure to sign up promptly. With that I attended Regent Tweet London 2011.

What is it all about?

If you use Twitter, love your gadgets and fashion, like networking and meeting new people – this event is for you! It is a full day itinerary, exploring Regent Street’s fashion and lifestyle retailers, cafes, bars and restaurants while loads of tweets are going around of experiences and photos. I also made use of tweeting for directions for a shop and received prompt replys!

The event started at 10:00 at Basecamp, SWAROVSKI CRYSTALLIZED™. Here everyone registered, grabbed a quick coffee and received a goody bags! An important part of the goody bag is the cards to participating stores, which mostly leads the way of the day. Each card redeems a gift, lunch, cocktail, glass of champagne or entry to a competition for a nice prize! Most stores are limited to their gifts (tweeters with a strategy benefits from this…).

Participating Stores:

• Anthropologie
• Apple Store (presentation given by Olivia Solon)
• Austin Reed
• Bose (Bose’s Video Wave left me with goosebumps…)
• Brooks Brothers
• Calvin Klein
• Courthouse Doubletree by Hilton (lounging on the roof terrace for late afternoon jabber and cocktails)
• Ferrari
• Godiva
• Hawes And Curtis
• Jack Wolfskin
• Kirk Originals
• La bottega del Caffé
• National Geographic London Store
• Oliver Sweeney
• Penhaligon’s
• Piccolino
• REN at Liberty
• T.M.Lewin
• The Organic Pharmacy
• Tibits (highly recommended vegetarian restaurant)

At the end of the day, 17:30, everyone met up again at Basecamp. It was a ceremony of champagne and handing out prizes. Eurostar was also giving out a few trips to Europe.

As a huge fan of Penhaligons (which I happen to wear that day), I realised early in the morning, that I missed out on a strategy. They were giving out perfume to the first 20 shoppers… still gutted… Otherwise, including the weather, it was a really pleasant day. I hope I can go next year again. But before that I need to visit SWAROVSKI CRYSTALLIZED™ again. There are a few items that I cannot get out of my mind…

I had the opportunity to design the Legal Services Research Centre’s conference brochure that was held this summer 2010 in Cambridge. They supplied all the text and images from Cambridge to choose from, to include in the conference brochure.

Through the design process I focused on two key words; Cambridge and summer. I did a close study of the supplied images of Cambridge and compared all the colours between them. Through that, I was able to create a classic summer colour palette. The individual colours work together and with all the images used in the conference brochure.

The sections of the conference brochure are indicated with colour-coded tabs for easy and quick reference to the specific section of the brochure.

The metal wire bind was an obvious choice. The advantages of wire binding is the ability to open the brochure completely flat and even fold the brochure back upon itself. Especially at a conference, ‘lay flat’ characteristics are essential and makes the conference brochure easy to use and read. The inside cover has a custom made pocket for a USB Memory Card with the conferences’ papers.

More than often in the last few weeks I came across images of interesting remedies of back in the day. I thought to share a few below. These psychoactive medicines and other products were widely available during the late-19th century through the mid-20th century. I guess in those times, if it is legal and can do the job, why not!

A bottle of Bayer’s ‘Heroin’

The German drug company Bayer named its new over the counter drug “Heroin” in 1895. It was most importantly developed as a morphine substitute for cough suppressants, that did not have morphine’s addictive side-effects.

Vin Mariani (Coca Wine)

As the name goes, Coca Wine was an alcoholic beverage that is wine and cocaine combined. Mariani wine (1875) was the most famous Coca Wine of its time. Apparently Pope Leo XIII used to carry one bottle with him all the time and he awarded Angelo Mariani (the producer) with a Vatican gold medal.

Metcalf’s Coca Wine

Metcalf’s Coca Wine was another cocaine-containing wine available on the market. All claimed medicinal effects, although they were undoubtedly consumed for their sociable value as well.

Maltine with Coca Wine

This coca wine was made by the Maltine Manufacturing Company (New York). The dosage indicated on the back of the bottle reads: “A wine glass full with, or immediately after, meals. Children in proportion.” The malt extract was taken for its health-promoting effects and alcohol, as considered by many, for its medicinal effects.

Cocaine Tablets

Cocaine-containing throat lozenges, “indispensable for singers, teachers, and public speakers“. This box of lozenges is from a Belgium pharmacy (c. 1900). Local pharmacies often bought their drugs in bulk and packaged them for consumers under their own labels. Sure thing for maximum performance!

Cocaine Toothache Drops

The design of the packaging, from around 1885, indicates that it was not just popular with adults, but kids was the target market too. They required no prescription and was indeed “For sale by all druggists”.

A paper weight

This paperweight is an advertisement for C.F. Boehringer & Soehne (Mannheim, Germany); largest makers in the world of quinine and cocaine. This chemical manufacturer was proud of its leading position in the world’s cocaine market.

Opium for Asthma

The National Vaporizer Vapor-OL (opium) Treatment no. 6 was a cure for asthma. The liquid went into a small metal dish on a kerosene lamp that is heated. It was basically a way of smoking opium.

Stickney and Poor’s Pure Paregoric

Stickney & Poor Spice Company’s main trade was mustard. But they also had other items on their list, for example Paregoric syrup. It consist of camphorated 46% alcohol with 1.8 grains opium (117 mg) per fluid ounce (equivalent to around 11.7 mg morphine). Doses for infants, children and adults are given on the back of the bottle. Perfect recipe to knock anyone out that has trouble sleeping!

Interesting how we moved from all of that to Herbal Remedies…

A friend of mine, that lives and works in Kazakhstan for the last few years, came to visit the UK. Catching up, we somehow start looking at Kazakhstan money notes. I was intrigued by the graphics on the notes and a few drinks later I had one of each in my hand for a closer study.

A bit of history

After Kazakhstan became independent, they chose to still rely on the Russian ruble. Kazakhstan was not really in the position to introduce their own currency, but also did not like the decisions by the Russian financial authorities. In summer 1992, Russia made the ruble a fully convertible currency. After the ruble became tradable on the international market, it lost a lot of value immediately (falling from 130 to over 450 rubles to the U.S. dollar). This caused a movement of huge amounts of old rubles to post-Soviet countries, particularly Kazakhstan, where the ruble was still the only legal currency. This lead to Kazakhstan’s money to quadrupled in just a few months. In November 1993, Kazakhstan introduced the tenge (Kazakh: теңге, teñge), their own new national currency at a rate of 1 tenge = 500 rubles.

Below is the first version of the tenge:

Latest banknotes

In 2006 the National Bank of Kazakhstan issued a new exotic series of banknotes (200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10 000 tenge) with the same values as the previous ones.

The design on the obverse (front) has a portrait layout with the denomination written in Kazakh. The obverse all have the same design. The only difference are the size, colours, values (…obviously) and shapes and patterns in the background.

The most striking element is the handprint. In the hand is the signature of president Nazarbayev with fragments of the national anthem. Also, clearly noticeable at the first glimpse, is the Astana Bayterek monument/observation tower. Astana is the capital of Kazakhstan and the monument symbolises this status. It is also meant to embody a folktale about a mythical tree of life with a ‘gold egg’ that was laid by the magic bird of happiness, Samruk. Close to the top of the note is the blue and yellow national flag of Kazakhstan. More towards the middle is the Coat of Arms.

The reverse of the notes are all different with the value written in Russian. One striking element they do all have in common is the outline of Kazakhstan’s border. Inside the outline map each note has a different geographical ‘view’ and on the outside a unique architectural structure. The name of issuing in Kazakh, the logo of the issuing bank and inscription in Russian stating that counterfeiting banknotes is against the law can also be seen on the back of all of the notes.

200 Tenge (size 126х64 mm)

Outside the outline map is the Transport and Communication Ministry and a winged snow leopard on the bridge over River Ishim. Inside of the outline map is Ministry of Defence and steppes in the background.

500 Tenge (size 130х67 mm)

Outside the outline map is the Ministry of Finance and Akimat (City Hall) of Astana. The inside of the outline map are filled with gulls over the sea in background.

1000 Tenge (size 134х70 mm)

Outside the outline map is the President Culture Center. The inside of the outline map are with mountains in background.

2000 Tenge (size 139х73 mm)

Outside the outline map is the Abai Opera House. The inside of the outline map are with a mountain and lake in background.

5000 Tenge (size 144х76 mm)

Outside the outline map is the Independence Monument. The look of the monument is of great interest to me. It is in the middle of Almaty’s (the capital of Kazakhstan) main square. It is a six-meter figure of the Golden Man* and a winged snow leopard and features the most important periods of Kazakhstan’s history. On the note next to it is the Kazakhstan Hotel. The inside of the outline map are with mountains in background.

10000 Tenge (size 149х79 mm)

Outside the outline map is the Residence Akorda, the official residence of the President. The inside of the outline map are with canyons in background.

Central Bank of Kazakhstan misspells ‘bank’ on money

The first lot of the 2,000 and 5,000 tenge notes, issued in 2006 and printed, had the word ‘bank’ spelled incorrectly. This mistake was not just a spelling problem, but also a political issue. During Soviet times, Kazakhs were encouraged to speak Russian, which is written in Cyrillic script. Since independence in 1991, the country’s own Kazakh language came to use. The Kazakh word for ‘bank’ is “банкі”. On the new note, the word was written with an alternate Cyrillic form of the letter K – “банқі” – which has a slightly different pronunciation.

During the writing of this post, digging into the tenge, I also looked at actual photographs of the architectural structures on the money. Also looking at the different types of mountains on the 1000, 2000, 5000 and the canyons on the 10000 tenge. Kazakhstan has great travel opportunities for an interesting picturesque experience. Something I need to consider at some point for another blog post!

* The Golden Man is an ancient Sacae warrior’s golden costume discovered in the Issyk burial mound near Almaty in 1970; it is now on display in the Central State Museum in Almaty. The snow leopard, according to ancient Kazakh philosophy, guards the Universe. Together, they symbolize the freedom, peace, stability, grand spirit and spiritual unity inherent in the Kazakh people and Kazakh traditions since ancient times. The base of the tower has a group of allegoric sculptures – Mother Heaven and Mother Earth, and two children riding colts, who symbolize the future of Kazakhstan.

I could have been one of the first people UK to receive HTML5 for Web Designers. I am a big fan of A List Apart and was keen to pre-order the first book of A Book Apart. I must admit, the first glimpse of the size of the book took me by surprise. But the first part of Dan Cederholm’s (author of Handcrafted CSS and Bulletproof Web Design) quote on the back of the book made sense and the second part put me at ease and curiosity at the same time.

Crack open this book after you fasten your seatbelt in Boston. Before you land in Chicago, you’ll stop worrying and finally, fully understand HTML5. As usual, Mr. Keith takes a complex topic and eloquently describes it for the rest of us.

It is a ‘light’ informative read (with comparisons throughout the book that has a funny twist to it), thus after a few weeks I thought to read it again. Even though reviews of this book have been popping up all over the interwebs, I want to have a mention of my own.

The beginning of the book, chapter 1, starts with ‘right from the beginning’. Some things you might know and some things I did not know and how HTML5 is moving things forward for a semantic web and web applications.

Chapter 2 explains about the basic structure of HTML5. Not necessarily the ‘birth of HTML5’, but the support for existing elements, elements that is obsolete, redefining some elements and the development there forth. This chapter also includes design principles such as “Do not reinvent the wheel” and “Pave the cowpaths”.  And once again with excellent comparisons, HTML to everyday things (from a movie, Greek mythology to train spotters) that made me smile.

Chapter 3 introduces the new exciting media elements. A thorough uncomplicated explanation of the <canvas> element with the available attributes. The limitations it has for now (lack of accessibility), but how it currently can be used in web design. The <audio> element also rolls out with a list of attributes and their values — if they have — in simple terms and the nifty things you can do with it.

Chapter 4 is dedicated to web forms. HTML5’s new and expanded form elements and how new additions replace the use of JavaScript (well, until all browsers support it). There are a lot of cow paths being paved…

Chapter 5 is all about semantics! It consists of a thorough list of new elements and their use in the HTML5 mark-up – paving more cow paths in the structure. It also consists of a handy update to the content models and their new names. It includes examples of how to use the new structure elements and how it influences the outline of a document.

Chapter 6 end the book off with how we can use HTML5 today.

In all seriousness of HTML5, the light hearted, quirky writing style made it a joy to read. The stylish, modern design and layout of the book by Jason Santa Maria complements the editorial.