Geocities was bought for 3.6 billion dollars in 1999 by Yahoo. Facebook, one of the newer trendy social networks, is apparently trying to sell themselves for 2 billion now. The founders of Facebook are Harvard undergrad dropouts. The number of American millionaires is at a record high of about 9 million Millionaires. Are all of these social networks worth this much? Myspace, Orkut, Friendster, Hi5, LinkedIn, etc?

Sure makes me wonder when I’m going to make my million. Check out those links, figure out a better network, and go make a billion.

Talk about sustainability in design. These cute bears are made out of, well, Tofu!

“SOYSILK® is a fabulous, cutting edge fiber made from soy. – it’s earth-friendly and from renewable resources. No petroleum products are used. “

Tofu Bear
SoySilk (the creators of silk, bamboo, tofu, and other such innovative fabrics)

I’ve always been facinated how certain brands replace product names, such as Coke=soda, Kleenex=tissue paper, sharpie=permanent marker, ipod=mp3 player, etc. I’ve noticed in todays tech world that powerful brands also replace our everyday verbs. When a brand replaces a noun or verb in our mindsets, then it becomes a brand Sneezer(a brand that spreads fast and becomes ridiculously powerful!)
Here’s my short list of brands that have replaced a few of my everyday verbs!
Google= search/find
Tivo= record
Xerox= copy
Ebay= sell(maybe buy or advertise)
Fedex= mail (with quality)
Kazaa= download
?= shop (maybe amazon someday)
?= email (maybe gmail soon)

Coca-Cola blak introduces the new and invigorating blend of Coca-Cola with an essence of coffee. Comes out April 3rd… can’t wait to give this one a try!

Reminds me of those days of soda fountains and mixing your own creative brew. Here’s another mix, coffee and beer.

Blak
Press release

Who says peanut butter has to be spread! PBslices creates the easy to spread peanut butter slice, much like cheese slices. It was introduced in 2002, but hasn’t really spread out in the market..hehe. I love the idea, but then again, it seems odd. I eat slices of meat, cheese, and bread…but jam, peanut butter, perhaps a vitamin slice one day? This again is an example of perceptial familiarities. If peanut butter was first introduced by the slice, would we find the spreadable version odd?PBslices

I’ve noticed a growth in mainstream “Create-It-Yourself” products. Usually I’d only see these options in a hobby store, but it’s nice to see some hitting the mainstream with style. It’s a definite question of “mass customization”, success or a mess. Are consumers willing to pay more for a blank canvas and a sense of individualism? Do they want to do more?(Betty Crocker Egg Cake Case)

Puma Mongolian Grill (Desgin your own shoe)
Bytrico Chalkboard Shirt
Adicolor Shoes, via SneakerFreaker
Timbuk2 Artist Canvas Bags
Sketch On Munny Vinyl, Kidrobot

Did it fool you? It fooled me! It’s amazing how the smallest details trigger your perceptions. These cute pincushions by Alesina Design appear to be inflated by air, but are in fact filled with polyester fibers. Can simple elements within a design, such as these air valves, entirely change your perception of an object? For sure! I’d love to see more examples of visual triggers like this one. As far as I know, these colorful soft objects might be hard painted pieces of concrete, but who knows.Alesina Design

update: seems you can buy these through this company, kikkerland.

Pumas added a new fleet of designs to their Starck series. Check them out!Puma.Starck

Fashion designer Alexander McQueen has a collaborative partnership with PUMA to bring out a refreshing line of men and womens shoes. The line-up includes a series of shoes inspired by the human DNA. Go to ‘hotspot’ in Pumas website to get the full story on the design methodology. The series will be available at select retailers Spring 2006.

AlexanderMcqueen.Puma Site
eLuxury

Google Video has a clip of Seth lecturing and a Q&A with Googlers after wards. If you haven’t read his books, go get them, cause it’ll make ya rethink how the world of marketing works. I realllly hated the idea of marketing at first, but now I’m hooked!! I’ve read “Purple Cow” and “All Marketers Are Liars”. He really points out small details that make a huge huge difference. Why does sushi taste better when a japanese person rolls it, rather than an American, even if it’s the exact same roll? Why does a BMW drive better than a Lexus? Why does wine taste better in this glass instead of the other? He’s even made his books free online, and they still sell like hotcakes!!

Seths Blog
Seths Speaks Video
Buy “All Marketers are Liars Book”

TED TED TED. What more can I say. It is by FAR THE BEST brain charging, mind-boggling confernece I have ever been to. It’s a life changing experience that is hard to explain. I’ve been fortunate to attend the last 4 TEDs (Technology, Entertainment, Design) and just returned from TED2006. Instead of writing about every single amazzzzing event, I’ll link to some other blogs articles on the conference. Otherwise, some of my highlights were:

1. AL GORE (he is seriously funny)
2. Tony Robbins (what an energizer)
3. Ken Robinson (Man with wonderful words)
4. Playing in a Drum circle at midnight with a bunch of CEOs, Directors, managers, all from fortune 500 companies.
5. Drinking, eating, chillin, with those same people at a private monterey aquarium party.(FABULOUS!)
6. Drinking, chatting, brainstorming with the same peeps at the bar across the street.
7. Watching, listening, laughing, at Charles Fleisher. (Probably one of the most talented, smartests, and funny people on earth)
8. Listening to an 11 yr old violinist zip through some tough classical pieces.
9. TOM RIELLY (As always, a man that sees it all)
10. Beach Party. Great converesations, great weather, great people!
11. Being amazzed at Dynamo.
12. Sitting next to Sergey Brin, Charles Fleischer, Danny Hillis, Peter Gabriel, and Chee Pearlman, all at the same time, watching a session.
13. Watching the Children of Uganda dance!!!!! Unbelievable!!!
14. Listening to Larry Brilliant. Watch the webcast with the other 2 winners.
15. Realizing I was at TED again…TED’s a knowledge heaven that really exisits.

Too many highlights to talk about, but here are some other blogs to check out.

TED blog
Ethan Zuckerman
Bruno Giussani
Tom Guarriello
Lone Ronin
Kate Trgovac
Loic le Meur
Renee Blodgett