I’m playing around with some online apps. Give them a shot and let me know what you think:

meebo.com- Great online ajax client for all your IM’s. They’ll have a mobile version soon! They also have MeeboMe, letting your non-tech-centric friends or strangers IM you! KoolIM and Wablet are also promising.

30Boxes.com- Online sharable calendar. I’d put this one up against Google Calendar(I wish they had an offline version to sync to)

AimPhoneline.com- FREE real phone number people can call you on! Be a good 800# for your house. Stanaphone gave out free numbers before, but now charge for this service.

JaJah.com- Web-activated telephony in a click! An interesting approach to voip with some added services. I called Hong Kong on my cell phone for free!!! I still use Skype and Stanaphone though.

goowy.com- Online desktop made simple, though it was glitchy on me at first!

I’ve added a blogroll of books I’m reading on the lower right column. Pictured above is The Long Tail, Freakonomics, and Small is the New Big. A few others on the lists:

Cradle to Cradle
Stumbling Happiness
Ten Faces of Innovation
Thoughtless Acts
Tipping Point
Unleashing the Ideavirus
Art of the Start
Out of gas
The Art Spirit
Massive Change

It’s been a week since Club Passims incredible “Campfire Weekend of Music” and I’m craving for more, but, it’ll be awhile before the next Campfire, so I thought I’d share with ya’ll some vibrant tunes from some recent musicians I heard play live!

Aesthetic Evidence- Eclectic, experimental, voice sample mixes, almost video game like.
Raul Midon- Jazzy, solid, picky guitar beats. Humms out great trumpet sound!
Abigail Washburn- Banjo Folk/Bluegrass musician with a blend of asian culture, and at times singing in chinese.

I initially thought these images were clever CG images, but in fact, their photos of Andre Agassi and Roger Federer (just won his 3rd US Open) having a blast atop the worlds highest tennis court hovering 1000 feet above the ocean at the luxury hotel Jumeirah in Dubai. How freaking cool!!! I’d lose hundreds of balls this way and would probably freak out walking towards the edges (heights= shivers). I’d want to wear a parachute while playing up there. Some beach goer must of been stumped when a random tennis ball hurled down in front of him. We already have Dinners in the Sky, so why not tennis.

More incredible pictures after the jump!

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Tara Donavan creates some incredibly beautiful textures, environments, and objects out of everyday ordinary elements. Pictured above is a ceiling created by thousands of plastic drinking cups.(I’ve seen the spherical ones in college, but this ceiling is amazzzing!) I’ll post a few other pictures of her projects after the jump, otherwise, check out the site for more.

via mocoloco (thanks kai)
tara donavan at ace gallery
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I think this is just a concept, but it sure beats the web of crushed sheet wrinkles ya get at times. I’ve had stitched logos on shirts I’ve fall asleep on do this. The Livestrong armbands do this as well. It would be cool if the pillow case had a bunch of quotes stitched all over it, hence acting like a magic 8 ball each morning.
via swissmiss
jamesmcadam.co.uk

SellaBand creates an awesome platform enabling fans to invest in their favorite bands and get a piece of the profits in return!!! Yes, the passionate fans become the bands investors, marketing crew (word of mouth), and profits are split between SellaBand, the band, and the fans!!! How cool!!!

So how does it work: fans find artist they like on SellaBand.com. For $10, they can buy a share, or ‘Part’. Once the band sells 5,000 parts, SellaBand arranges a professional recording in top studios. Fans receive a limited edition CD of the recording and splits profits from CD sales, Ads, etc. Basically, the more ‘Parts’ you purchase, the more shares in a band you own from the 5000 available.

This strategy is a step up from Threadless.com’s vote-to-make-real method by allowing anyone to become an investment fan “brand sneezer” in a band they love and believe in! Otherwise, it’s just like the stock market for music fanatics. I’ve been through a few musicians tunes and found some really interesting sounds. Check out the site, listen to some musicians, and invest in the ones ya crave!

SellaBand.com
Here’s another interesting angle to music by the users!

It’s about time some people started working on this… generating power through our footsteps! Yup, kinetic energy! British engineers are converting street vibrations into electricity and predict a working prototype by Christmas capable of powering facility lights in the busiest areas of a city.

“We can harvest between 5 to 7 watts of energy per footstep that is currently being wasted into the ground,” says Claire Price, director of The Facility Architects, the British firm heading up the Pacesetters Project. And a passing train can generate very useful energy to run signaling or to power lights.”

We have the Ocean Power Delivery Systems, Floor and Turntiles in Subways, Solar projects (CA just passed a huge home solar panel law), and finally sidewalks. Wohooo for energy!

via Wired

update: Now a sustainable night club dance floor in which the dancers transfer their disco lovin enegry through the floor to whatever powere the bar, dj, speakers, toilets, or lights need!

If your an entrepreneur craving to hear about ideas and good stories then you should watch this video (90 mins) of Guy Kawasaki and 5 Silicon Valley entrepreneurs talking about the challenges and factors in succeeding in the start up world. The panel included Lauren Elliott of Personal News Network, Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn, Joe Kraus of JotSpot, Daniel Mattes of Jajah, and Alex Welch of Photobucket.

via GuyKawasaki
Google Video

Wow!!!…Watch this video and be astonished, mesmorized, and creeped out all at the same time. I thought it was CG then realized it was freakin real!! What an awesome experience this must of been watching these master puppeteers work their magic in this festival! I wished I was in London when this event (The Sultans Elephant by Royal de Luxe) happened, but it’s not too late as the show will continue on to Calais (September 28–October 1) and in Le Havre (October 26 – 29,2006) I’ll admit, my first craving for puppeteers was while watching Being John Malkovich and now this amazing creation! I’m sure everyone felt like a kid again in some mysterious way. I want one! More pucs after the jump!
More pics on Flickr here.
The video of the Giant Girl!
The Amazing Elephant!

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