Click through for a thorough, inspired look at Patella injuries throughout the NBA and other sports, courtesy of all-world commenter Norsktroll.  

Want to know what Greg Oden is facing and how other athletes have dealt with similar injuries over the last 30 odd years?  This is the post for you.

-- Ben Golliver | (benjamin.golliver@gmail.com) | Twitter

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Happy shopping day. 

Here is a little rant about badly designed products: I have an electric light in my office (on the ceiling) that is the worst design ever. And it wasn't some cheap crap, it was very expensive.

The little halogen bulb inside is almost impossible to get out, and I have broken the old one at least 2 times to even get it out. Then stepped on the broken glass splinters of course. When you try to mount it back on while standing on a step or a ladder, there literally comes a moment when you expect the little instructions flyer to say "and now, please grow a third hand". Because in that moment you are holding a screwdriver for a tiny screw (only workable with an electric one to have any chance), a glass on the outside that is only attached to the base via that tiny screw and will crash down and shatter into a million pieces at any moment, and holding up the lamp. Ridiculous.

I’m sure the designer has only constructed that lamp on his PC or at best sitting at a desk. Never tried it above his head or even just on a wall. I would want that guy to not only have to pay back the money for this job, but also get his degree deferred retroactively until he has improved his creation. My simple yet slightly inelegant solution: Clear scotch tape to attach the glass to the lamp. Only needed until the screw is in, but I just left it there.

I also love turnstiles at airports that you can't get through with luggage. The one place where you can expect almost everyone to have luggage. E.g. at Charles de Gaulle. Amazing. It pays off to camp there for a while and see how other people are trying to get over that obstacle. I have seen couples hand it over quite elegantly, and business men shot-putting their bags over before they went after it. Or the the old "I'm through and can't get back". 

Overall more and more companies care about good design and test it with consumers. But it's still easy to find more than enough bad design with an increase in products and pressure on costs. I'm sure you possess or know things that are horribly designed. If you are unlucky you have bought one today - or will do so - on your shopping spree. Working quite extensively with product innovations in the past, I always like to hear those stories. Or do you have things that you love because they are so simple to use that a child or a stressed out adult could do it, without reading the manual?

For creating, getting and delivering well designed products and services, I e.g. can recommend these books and sources (I have no financial incentive from any of those materials):

• "The Art of Innovation", by Tom Kelley (founder of IDEO)
• Also "The Ten Faces of Innovation" by the same author and "Thoughtless Acts?", a great photo book by Jane Fulton Suri, another IDEO employee and expert for observing real humans (mis-)use products and their environment
• Cards to flip through to stimulate your ideas. E.g. the IDEO "Method Cards"; the "Creative Whack Pack" and the "Innovative Whack Pack" by Roger von Oech.
• "Designing Interactions", by Bill Moggridge (for design of interfaces, electronic devices, etc.)
• "Why Are You Creative", by Hermann Vaske
• "Making Innovation Work, by Davila, Epste in, Shelton (managing an innovation process)
• "The Killer Innovation Podcast", by Phil McKinney (HP, "killer innovation questions")
• Most stuff Target sells
• Most stuff Apple sells
• A paper notebook or other repository to collect all your good ideas (I love Moleskines, but anything works)
• Your own eyes and hands and experiences

And now for something completely different amid all the worrying about what might be going wrong with the Blazers (if anything at all): Who has the best hairstyle in the NBA? Vote below, and then comment on your favorite styles. Yes, I see myself that white guys are over-represented, but they just have some of the more interesting hairdos. Please keep it funny and friendly.

Inspired by an old poll on "Pounding the Rock". Photos from their ESPN player profiles.