The new Worldchanging tome contains over 600 pages of innovations and emerging solutions for building a sustainable planet in the 21st century. It has been written by a collective of leading eco-writers including a chapter from Jill of the great Inhabitat blog. Each chapter offers readers new answers to questions like "Why does buying locally produced food make sense?" and "What steps can I take to influence my workplace toward sustainability?" Read More...

Sweet Skinz are reflective bike tires that feature full color graphics which reflect at night. It's a great idea, I hope they make a bunch of money and save lives.

The site says, “SweetskinZ launched in 1999 with the goal of revolutionizing the bicycle tire. With that in mind, SweetskinZ founder and inventor Yann Mellet developed the world’s first tire featuring a variety of full-color graphics and patterns that are also reflective at night. This combination makes SweetskinZ tires not only the best looking tire on the market, but also enhances the safety of the rider” Read More...

shown here is his working concept of a kitchen control console called The Z island.

The Z Island is the first project to use a new interactive technology developed for DuPont Corian that allows interactive touch sensitive areas and information display on the surface of the Corian material. It features a touch pad and a large display area from where many functions of the kitchen can be controlled via menus. Read More...

Grapples are apples that have been soaked in grape juice extract. Pronounced, "Grape-L", they're a patented process owned by Grapple Fruits, LLC of Wenatchee, WA.

They specifically use Washington Extra Fancy Fuji Apples, because they absorb the grape flavor best. They simply soak the apples in concentrated grape flavor and pure water. All ingredients are USDA and FDA approved and the process has been licensed by the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

The apple takes on no additional sugars or calories, and are not genetically altered in any way.

It's largely designed as a way to get kids to eat more apples, because apples just don't taste good enough I suppose. Grapples have been around for a couple of years now, but are only now making their way into grocery stores across the country.
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Designed by Adam Benton, this futuristic iMac concept features a transparent 30-inch display and a wireless keyboard with light-sensitive illuminated keys. Click the pic for a little more at Renderosity. Read More...

This high-tech cutting board — created by Jess Griffin and Jim Termeer — makes cooking easier by including an “integrated scale embedded within an clearly defined surface area” that shows the weight of your ingredients. Unfortunately, there’s no word yet on if this concept will go into production. Read More...

Reginald Pike's Yael Staav and Ogilvy's Tim Piper created this ad that exploits the process of exploitation to show how the model (shown top) becomes the end product (shown bottom). The ad loses a little of it's shine since it was produced by the same advertising machine it is taking a hard look at... the message seems to be, "it's all fake, you know it, and you buy it anyway!"
click either pic to see the video Read More...

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Jordan Matter's great gallery of regular New York Women topless in public. (click the pic)

from his statement: "A woman's right to appear topless in public was legalized in New York in 1992. Since New York is the only state with such a law, forty-nine out of fifty states deem it illegal for a woman to remove her shirt in public. However, men are free to take off their shirts with impunity. Challenging this inequity between the sexes is the purpose of my work. There has been a recent shift in America towards a socially conservative philosophy, so right after Janet Jackson's breast was exposed at the Super Bowl, I started asking women to appear topless in New York City. I wanted to document what the Federal Communications Commission called "great outrage among the American people" over a bare breast. But soon I realized there was very little outrage. Of the thousands of people who saw the women topless, most reacted with enthusiasm, humor, and encouragement." Read More...

“Furoshiki” – a square piece of wrapping cloth traditionally used in Japan for carrying things – have been re-thought and re-designed. 30 artists and celebrities have challenged this traditional format of a square cloth to be applied for modern use in the current “FUROSHIKI” exhibition at Creation Gallery G8 in Ginza, Tokyo. click the pic for more from Ping Magazine. Read More...

Robert Seidel directed this low-budget video which was done within just 2½ weeks for the planned DVD of Zero 7’s “The Garden”. The video visualizes crushed objects representing a diffuse future of wishes and desires which shape over time. Visible artifacts and the rough synchronisation add subtle emotions to the uncertain process… Side note: Another video for the song was commissioned and got directed by Duckeye, as this one was too uncommercial... click the pic to go see the original video Read More...

$1300 at Spacify. click the pic. Read More...

This exquisite chapel in the Ozark woods is small (24 feet by 60 feet by 48 feet high) and walled with glass. It rises from fieldstone floors and two low fieldstone walls; otherwise it is built almost entirely of standard-size lumber worked with the attention to detail of a master cabinetmaker. Repeating diamond shapes loft upward to its overhanging peaked roof. It has been compared to Lloyd Wright's Wayfarers Chapel Read More...

Found Magazine has been around for a number of years and chronicles the dumpster dive finds of a small crew of people. The print magazine tends to primarily just be photos of the finds and a little bit of commentary, not too snarky... mostly observational. I like that this is real time archeology and captures weird sometimes dark corners of what's going on via people's trash or things that have been lost. Click the pic to go to "find of the day sequence" Read More...

Jan Reisen, who along with her partner Peter Kooiker runs the Web site aginghipsters.com, said she plans to join AARP at some point to take advantage of financial benefits like discounts on insurance, rental cars and hotels. But as for recommending albums, “If I want to know about cool music, I’ll ask my 22-year-old.” Covering issues on the Boomer Generation including original Boomer content, bulletin boards, user comments, Sixties and Seventies music, Baby Boomer culture, health and coverage of issues for "Aging Hipsters." Read More...

It comes in 4 versions and follows the trend of increasing "air time" for people who jump out of airplanes or off very high places. fun! Read More...

The idea is to arrange the pieces into your own magnetic ‘roller coaster’ and watch as the marbles roll, drop, plop and spin down the fridge door until they land in a collection tray. Which, believe us, is infinitely more entertaining than arranging fridge poetry or dressing a magnetized version of Michelangelo’s David in a pink tutu and cowboy hat.

Best of all,Frigits Deluxe can be arranged however you like, so you can have fun designing increasingly treacherous routes for your intrepid marbles. Read More...

Discovery DNA Explorer Kit allows kids to discover that you are not the real parents. kidding... It sounds made up, but this is the real deal, the kit allows kids to study and map DNA in a variety of experiments. Pretty cool. Click the pic to see more at Amazon.com
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CeeLite is the flat, flexible lightbulb that can be tailored into complex shapes and sizes. CeeLite panels are offered in a variety of standard sizes in portrait and landscape formats. currently an expensive technology for consumers, but widespread commercial applications are driving the price down. click either pic for more info.

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I personally have always enjoyed christmas, but for those of you who don't... here are some funny anarchist anti-christmas cards... ironically, they are a product that you buy to give to people for the christmas holiday.
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Ange, designed by Danielle Wilde, is a bodily mounted series of “ribs” with electronic sensors that enable a user to play different sounds, including breathy notes, a gong, rushing water, drums and an oboe. The notes respond differently to pressures. The idea is to use the body as an interface and allow the user to metaphorically touch and “play” the body of the wearer.

The design is inspired by an 18th century engraving, Ange Anatomic by Jacques Fabien Gautier d’Agoty. Read More...

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Cecilia Design in collaboration with Pompom Arkitekter have taken the boring clothes hanger and revived it.

The ‘Hang On’ is exquisitely beautiful as it is simple, dynamic as it is lustrous and carries all the functionality your wardrobe requires.

Cecilia Lundgren of Cecilia Design recently graduated with a BA in Design from the University of Kalmar having previously studied Illustration and Graphic Design at Forsbergs Skola in Stockholm. Read More...

Want to experience Web 2.0 ?

You propably already do without really noticing. You don’t have to know that a site is Web 2.0, you only have to experience it.

Popular Web 2.0 sites are Gmail and Yahoo, but want to experience more… then point your browser to Go2Web20, there you can find an exhaustive list of Web 2.0 sites.
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Recognised in Australia and abroad as an accomplished and inspired design firm, Stutchbury and Pape has built works ranging from residential to institutional and public buildings.

Environmental features of the Cardboard House

• Uses 85% recycled materials
• All materials are 100% recycleable
• Recycling the house saves 12 cubic metres of landfill, 39 trees and 30 000 litres of water
• Extremely low cost, transportable, and flexible, this is a genuine
housing option that could be used in a variety of temporary applications
• Autonomous servicing: uses only 12-volt batteries or small photovoltaic cells for power generation
• Composting system produces nutrient-rich water for gardening Read More...

wow. Read More...

I've seen his work all over the place... finally looked him up on the web... great stuff! click the pic for more. Read More...

Why bother with commercial blimp travel when you can fly your own personal blimp? On October 27th, the Airship Alberto made its maiden voyage. The personal blimp, which uses hot air, has been in development by Skyacht Aircraft since early 2002. The company’s goal is to build a silent, steerable and affordable air vehicle.

The Personal Blimp website shows the evolution of the project, and describes the aircraft, “The Personal Blimp uses hot air (rather than Helium) for lift and virtually silent electric motors for propulsion. To put it another way: the Personal Blimp is a hot air balloon that can be maneuvered about in nearly perfect quiet. Passengers in a Personal Blimp have a serene experience of flight unavailable in any other type of aircraft. (Note: Initial flight tests are using a conventional gas-powered motor. Electric motors will be added once these initial tests are complete. Similarly, the initial flight tests are being made with conventional—i.e. loud—hot air balloon burners. Quiet burners will be added later.) Read More...

it may not always be so

it may not always be so; and i say
that if your lips, which i have loved, should touch
another's, and your dear strong fingers clutch
his heart, as mine in time not far away;
if on another's face your sweet hair lay
in such a silence as i know, or such
great writhing words as, uttering overmuch,
stand helplessly before the spirit at bay;

if this should be, i say if this should be --
you of my heart, send me a little word;
that i may go unto him, and take his hands,
saying, Accept all happiness from me.
Then shall i turn my face, and hear one bird
sing terribly afar in the lost lands.

ee cummings Read More...

from the design labs at Electrolux. The KaionWAVE. The machine uses ultraviolet-C light to penetrate the clothing, killing all bacteria and viruses and free radical oxygen is pumped in as an oxidizing agent to break down all the dirt and funk.

However, it is only able to clean nano-coated fabrics, a durable and stain resistant fabric that some hypothesize will be used to make clothing in the near future. So until the fashion industry begins to incorporate this future fabric, it's not much better than a fancy paper weight. Nonetheless, it's still a good idea. Read More...

I like a good random art project.
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Peter Van Dijck - An Information Architect, created this great resource for anyone interested in IA Design. An amazing collection of IA links and info without any spam or junk Read More...

Peter Callesen takes an A4 sheet of paper and creates little sculptures using just the positive (the paper that has been cut out) and the negative (the space left behind) these are great. click the pic for more Read More...

I am sure she wouldn't remember, but I spent a lovely evening making Christmas ornaments at Shawn Lovell's home a few years back. My friend Valerie brought me as her guest, and had hinted that Shawn was an metal artist of some sort. I guess I was expecting the stark 2 dimensional rusty stuff that's all over Berkeley and Oakland. When I saw one of her beds... my jaw dropped. They have an ethereal beauty and though made of metal, there is a sense of life and celebration in her work. Forged metal artists rock! click the pic to visit her website. Read More...

Stacks are mandatory from here on out. It’s about the most logical way to arrange photos on a computer display.

Aperture was first. Lightroom needs them. And now Photoshop CS3 has them. Click the pic to take a look at this quick demo from Murphymac to see stacking in action. Read More...

Alec Bennet created this Simon hack with jogging trampolines and revamped it for the recent Make Magazine "Maker's Fair" click the pic for more. Read More...

You think your WEP Protected wireless base station is secure? sorry... click the pic for a video tutorial Read More...

UK only right now... but the idea is good. It's software that walks you through a series of image based questions, (i.e. you are most like this picture) and at the end, points you to gift ideas based on your answers. A powerful tool for the terminally lazy or uncreative gift purchaser.
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30,000 of these bubble stickers were printed. They were placed on top of ads all over New York City. Passersby filled them in. Here is a collected gallery

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Half Pint Glass, a double-walled insulating drinking glass for hot or cold drinks Read More...

I've never heard of him, but he's doing some interesting stuff and has a twisted sense of humor. Click the pic for more. Read More...

This i exactly what it says it is... a science project by design students that is creating jewellry made from bone cells harvested from you... the doaner and then grown in a petrie dish until the piece is finished


Focussing on advances in tissue engineering, our project began with an investigation of implantable technologies: we discovered that scientists were not only using metals and bioplastics to repair damaged bone tissue but developing a method of growing actual bone outside the body to transplant into patients. Our intention was to create an object that would allow these technologies to be considered in relation to a familiar experience. Could design be used to construct an open-ended and provocative statement, in contrast to narratives found in the media which focused on threatening or fantastic representations of the technology?

We were fortunate to strike up a partnership with Dr Ian Thompson, who worked in the Department of Materials at Imperial College. Headed by Professor Larry Hench, the department developed the first generation of bioceramic material in 1969. With their support we were able to start thinking about a collaborative, public communication project.

By situating bone tissue engineering within the framework of a relationship between two people, the Biojewellery project aims to create public dialogue with emphasis on communication and the accessibility of the scientific processes involved.

We aim to document the couple, using interviews to give an impression of their motives, create time-lapse film of the donated cells as the tissue develops and record the making of the rings in the studio. By showing bioengineering processes in this way we hope to encourage ethical debate, and raise critical, constructive questions over how advancements in science relate to our identities and desires.
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Saw this study of Elium Studio awhile ago but recently reminded by reading the current issue of Dwell magazine... 'don't lie. you've always wanted to be able to sit back and watch your fluffy white bread turn a golden, crunchy brown right before your eyes. well, now you can, thanks to Elium's Clear toaster, which reveals the magical transformation in all its glories. the decision of how toasted you'd like your toast is now all yours. you can also easily decide when it's time to clean your appliance.' Read More...

designer Louise Campbell is known for her playful and experimental works. her new design Veryround Seat for Zanotta is a great example. this is a masterpiece in design and technological construction. it's made of a single .08" thick steel sheet frame which is laser-cut, coloured white and varnished for outdoor use. each piece is signed by the designer.avaliable @ Unica for $5272US.

thanks steph! Read More...

It seems like the "web 2.0" sites that are making the most waves these days are the ones that have the foresight and openness to release an API and allow users to mash up their content. Google Maps is a good example of this. Although Flickr doesn't really need any help from users to bring it to the forefront of people's minds, they've still released an API. That API lets people do interesting things with their data, and one of those interesting things is Flickr Leech.
Flickr Leech allows you to choose between Interestingness (by date), By Username, By User ID, Favorites, By Photoset, Group Pool, and Search, and returns a massive set of thumbnails to allow you to very quickly browse your results. Clicking on any thumbnail opens that image's Flickr page in a new background tab or window, allowing you to continue browsing, then view all of the images you selected once they've already loaded. Slick. Probably my favorite part of Flickr Leech is the snarky messages you get on each search - fun stuff. Read More...

Xdrive is now available. I just went to the site and signed in. The service looks good. It is nothing like the old Xdrive service of past years (which is a good thing). The web interface is nice, and the site is available to Windows, Mac, and Linux users. Today's Xdrive is feature packed and well worth the free price tag, in fact at $9.95 a month, the 50GB drive is worth it too. You can opt to sign-up for the yearly payment plan, and you'll pay $99.50 (2 months free). Xdrive sports a built-in music player for your music, special photo features, mobile viewing and faxing of documents (from your cell), and even allows you to setup automated scheduled backups when you download the Xdrive desktop client. I had a small hiccup installing the desktop client, but it did end up working just fine. Read More...

Dutch architect Janjaap Ruijssennaar’s floating bed defies gravity. Kept in a permanent state of suspension by magnets built into both the bed and the floor, it doesn't require any other form of energy to keep it afloat, and according to the designer, it can hold the weight of a sumo wrestling team!

Questioning the ways in which gravity determines the image of architecture, Ruijssennaar wanted to design a product that used something other than gravity as its dictating force."In contrast to conventional furniture which falls towards the earth, Floating Bed falls towards the sky." Read More...

The Experience Project is a site where you can anonymously share your life experiences in a very web 2.0 (social) way. The site reminds me of 43things, where you list your goals, but the Experience Project is a bit different. You can join groups that align with things you have experienced, have not experienced, or plan to in the future. You can meet up with people (anonymously), share your plans, secrets, dreams, and well, experiences with everyone. In the interest of anonymity, the site will even automatically blur a picture of you as your icon, so you are not recognizable to everyone else. You might find the site interesting or just downright annoying, it is hard to tell. If nothing else, go check out the software this site uses. It is interesting, not to mention the notion of why anyone would ever want to share things like this on the web. Two words: morbid curiosity. Read More...

The Comfort Sphere is conceived as a solitary, holistic sensory space for use at trade fairs and exhibitions. It offers visitors a space for individual experiences, for taking in information and for entertainment. Inspired by Eero Aarnio’s “Ball Chair” from 1963, the Comfort Sphere creates an intimate presentation space reduced to the essentials. The design employs two archetypal shapes, the circle and the line. Featuring high-end hi-fi and multimedia equipment, it offers a broad range of uses for communication and presentation purposes. An integrated audio system exclusively developed by Dynaudio gives the user a previously unknown audio experience. The Comfort Sphere welcomes the visitor with its open side. After sitting down the visitor starts the presentation by rotating the sphere. Read More...

A Kerala student has developed a technique for portable data whereby the data can now be stored on ordinary paper. And to boot, larger amounts of data can be had on lesser space. Named “Rainbow Technology”, the new technique is the brainchild of Sainul Abideen, who has just finished his MCA at Muslim Educational Society Engineering College in Kuttipuram in Kerala’s Malappuram district.

The extremely low-cost technology will drastically reduce the cost of storage and provide for high-speed storage as well. Files in any format such as movie files, songs, images and text can be stored using this technology.

Currently, of the several options available for data storage, DVDs are the best mode. But a high quality DVD, which is very expensive can store only about 4.7 gigabyte (GB) of data. In contrast, the Rainbow Versatile Disc (RVD) can store 90 to 450 GB. And Sainul has simultaneously developed a scanning drive based on his Rainbow software which will come in smaller sizes to be initially carried with the laptops and later to fit into their bodies.

Sainul, who has just turned 24, says that instead of using zeroes and ones for computing, he used geometric shapes such as circles, squares and triangles for computing which combine with various colors and preserve the data in images. An RVD therefore looks like a printout of modern art. Click the pic for full article.


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Pre fab micro home developed by Brits and Germans. Click the pic for more info. Thanks Jon!

"The team of researchers and designers based in London and at the Technical University in Munich developed the m-ch as an answer to an increasing demand for short stay living for students, business people, sports and leisure use and for weekenders. The m-ch, now in use and available throughout Europe, combines techniques for high quality compact 'living' spaces deployed in aircraft, yachts, cars, and micro apartments. Its design has been informed by the classic scale and order of a Japanese tea-house, combined with advanced concepts and technologies. Living in an m-ch means focusing on the essential - less is more. The use of progressive materials complements the sleek design. Quality of design, touch and use are the key objectives for the micro compact home team....for 'short stay smart living'." Read More...

Film maker Lorenzo Fonda was such a big fan of Blu’s art that he felt everyone should know about it. They got a production company to back them and flew across the world to explore how different cultures and lifestyles would influence and inspire Blu’s art. Would it develop? Would it change? Would he like that one Mexican pattern so much that he will start be obsessed by it and paint it everywhere?

They crossed Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Argentina filming, taking photos and painting on buildings. Read More...

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click this ugly/cute picture and dig in to knot magazine's site which died in 2004, but still has some fresh and interesting content from young writers from across the country. It's not all great, but there are some very nice lyrical moments and Salon.com style editorial writing.


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apparently this piece is available again... for a mere $12K... artsy bohemian shel silverstein clones sold separately

the living tower by verner panton, 1969. a quintessential '60s design reflecting the living landscape theme that was so prevalent throughout the decade. championing "more comfort, more of an experience, and more color", panton's tower uses all three dimensions of the living space, creating sculptural furniture that is conducive to fostering communication and interaction among people. constructed of birch plywood and available in three colors of kvadrat tonus fabric.
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Cool bundle of journals from Nava Design. Available at raredevice.com

Twelve slender journals in moleskine-like wrappers means one journal per month for your thoughts and drawings. One hole punched out of the edge for each month. 80 pages per month.

click the pic for the web store Read More...

I somehow missed this cultural phenomenon... or maybe it's just starting. I used to write notes and them in library books or hide messages in the stacks of scrap paper at the card catalog so some random person would find my message. This idea is similar except you exchange random surprises on the sly.

A dropspot is a kind of alternative mailbox. It’s a hiding place in a public space, where people can leave things for exchange. Anything. It’s a wierd and wonderful way to add personal character to the streets that we live in. Stash something fun and see what you get back.

To find a Drop Spot in your neighborhood, visit the Drop Spots map. Select a Drop Spot map marker near you, make note of its location and visual description and head out the door to find it! Once you locate the spot and discover your mystery gift, make sure to leave one in its place to keep the exchange going. For gift tips and ideas visit the FAQ page.

To create a new Drop Spot, find a hidden nook or crevice in your neighborhood to tuck away a simple gift you would like to share; perhaps a poem, photograph, favorite quote, or mix CD—something fun that represents you. Then log on to dropspots.org to map and describe the secret location of your gift so others can find it.

click the pic for the FAQ

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I stumbled across this photoblog and just had to post this pic. Valerie's photos are a nice cross section of SF culture... this image captured a classic cartoon drag moment.

from her bio:

valerie j. cochran has been fascinated by the art of film photography since she was a young girl in rural missouri. she briefly studied photography at the savannah college of art and design in the early 1990's. her work today explores the roles we all play in our daily worlds, including her own as a full-time waitress. in may of 2004 she began your waitress photos which was followed by yourwaitress.com in august of 2005. her photoblog has become an ongoing conversation with random overlooked analog views from her home in berkeley, california and beyond. Read More...

Treehouse Workshop is a Washington State company that builds cottages in trees, interestingly... most of them are used as "extra rooms" or cabins.

from the site:

Does TreeHouse Workshop build TreeHouses suitable for living in?

Generally we don't do this, for a number of reasons. First, a lot of people looking to do this are trying to create a more economical living space than building a ground based house. However, to fit a tree based structure with plumbing and the associated equipment is quite complex, requiring considerable support and design considerations. This extra load is what causes the overall cost to rise beyond the suggested budget.

Permits are usually required for structures with plumbing because they can be seen as a permanent living residence. There may also be concern about the structural safety of the house so an engineer may have to prepare a report on the plans.

We are currently in the design phase for a fully equiped TreeHouse that will be plumbed and have electricity. It gains extra support with the use of 'artificial trees' crafted from steel and concrete and molded to look like real wood. Read More...

Photojojo is a gathering of cool photography related projects from around the web. Everything from technical info for beginners to cool project suggestions for all budgets but leaning towards great results from low cost materials.

The pic shown is from the Project 365: How to Take a Photo a Day and See Your Life in a Whole New Way

click the pic for more. Read More...

Gallery of street art in Tokyo train station that was painted on boxes that homeless people were living in.


"There were many of Homeless Cardboard Houses in Shinjuku station, Tokyo. The above was the symbol called "Left Eye of Shinjuku".
What had The Left Eye ever been seeing ..."
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inspired by Stonehenge in England, this fabulous shower is created by designer Matteo Thun for Villeroy & Boch. it has many functions that will provide you a luxurious shower/steam bath experience. the middle console has touch screens on both the inside and the outside so you can control the system when you're in/out of the shower. it features a MP3 player for you to listen to your favorite music while revitalizing. it also features aroma and light therapy, rain shower or a Scottish shower, and pup-up seating.

the middle console is available in teak, limestone, and champagne -metallic aluminum. you can choose to place the shower free-standing or against a wall. 2 sizes are available. Read More...

nice interlocking forms for wedding rings Read More...

lighting design guru Ingo Maurer created this magnificent table. made of black steel base, laminated safety glass and 278 white l.e.d.'s internally per leaf that emit light on both sides. no conductors or cables are visible. the metal bases are adjustable in height. you can dim the lights by using an external ballast. this innovative table is limited in production. if you are loaded and in love with it, you can get it @ unica home for $28875US. Read More...

I looked at a lot of file transfer tools before I found filechucker by encodable systems. The best way to describe it is "an AJAX file mover for browser file transfers". You buy a license for your domain ($39), and yo can set up webrowser uploads to a directory with username and password security.

It's dummy proof FTP using an AJAX application that has a small footprint and is fairly easy to set up.

Setting up security is a little more complicated, but if I can do it... you can do it. Click the pic to visit the site. Read More...