DCE's Profile

The tapering structure of the Hancock building would lend itself to such a remodeling, but I don't think the Sears Tower can swing it. The massive, blocky nature of the architecture simply doesn't work with a shiny facade.

That said, I rather like the idea of breathing new life into established buildings. While the Aon tower (I remember the marble, Standard Oil days too) has a timeless quality, the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill architecture of the 70's is starting to feel a bit dated. Especially when it's standing beside the Trump tower and (potentially) the Chicago spire.

I've just installed a bank of Elfa shelves (7' high by 30'' across with six individual shelves) and have been extremely happy with the results.

They are rated for 125 lbs per bracket (which, for me, comes to 250 lbs per shelf) and 100 lbs per linear foot.

I'm not certain if the latter measurement is for the top track or for the vertical runners. Assuming the latter, they should - assuming I've anchored the top track properly - handle all the books I've loaded them with.

If my math is wrong, I'm in for a big mess and will undoubtedly lose my deposit. So far, everything is holding up beautifully.

The upshot: If the Ikea shelves are structured in more or less the same way and use similar materials, you'll probably be OK. But you should definitely get the actual numbers before you commit.

Services like MagHound and Zinio offer similar functionality.

I like the overall concept, but there's something flat about reading a magazine online. What'd be great is if subscribing to the physical mag gave you access to a digital version that allowed for web clipping, etc.

Also: none of these online magazine readers offer much worth reading (to me). If Harper's, The New Yorker and National Geographic were to get on board, that'd be something!

Reiterating the first commenter: If you're unsatisfied with the work, ask them to redo it. Don't pay for something that you're not happy with.

Throwing a pillow over something you've spent a fair amount of money on isn't really a solution.

This doesn't bode well at all. While there are opportunities for artistic expression, I suspect the machines will be used primarily for advertising.

Now your cappuccino can sport advertising on the cup, sleeve and the foam!

I'll pass.

As has already been mentioned, it's part of an intercom. I had one in my old apartment in Chicago. The hook held a microphone that allowed you to speak to a visitor through a single speaker in the lobby.

The visitor, however, would talk to you through a horn connected directly to your apartment via pipes (I'm not kidding!). So you'd listen through the round opening and speak through the microphone. There were two systems in place - an electrical "many to one" system and a purely acoustic "one to one" system.

If you look around your friend's lobby, you should find a series of talking horns (they're probably just inexplicably openings now) near the doorbells or mailboxes. If one of you speaks into the other end, I bet it will still work!

After a bit of digging, I found a photo online (this one also features a doorbell): http://bit.ly/intercom

There needs to be another option - one for complete ambivalence. I don't think this is ugly, but I'm not into it either. Something like M-E-H perhaps?

My eyes are burning from the little pictures . . . I shudder to think what might happen if I actually set foot in the place.

I seriously considered the Firestone amplifier. It's incredibly well designed, and looks like it'd be great on my desk at work. Unfortunately, its price point was not at all in keeping with my budget.

After researching a few options, I figured that the best bang for my buck was one of John Seaber's fantastic Altoids Tin amplifiers. It sounds great with my Sennheiser headphones and has generated much interest amongst my coworkers. The DIY aesthetic of the thing is quite cool.

And it's only $65 or so, compared to the $500 Firestone.

I rely on Apple's built in dictionary. While in graduate school, I'd often log into the online version of the OED.

But there's something beautiful about a physical dictionary. I've a copy of the compact OED and sometimes pore through it (with a magnifier) just for fun. Unfortunately, the convenience of digital dictionaries has turned it into a novelty.