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I’ve been incredibly busy helping organize the TEDxCambridge event occurring May 16th at the MIT Stata Center. The theme “How do you eat”  is based off of this year TED prize winner Jamie Oliver in regards to Food and education. If you are in Boston May 16th, apply to get an invite and let me know. We can only invite 300 attendees and registration will close soon. You can learn more on tedxcambridge.com

Also, if you are in a position to sponsor any food, funding, or gifts for the event, please contact me asap. (now! =) ).
We will have 2 break sessions followed by an evening event in eating, drinking, and idea sharing!

Lots of awesome speakers in the line up!
– Wylie Dufresne: WD 50
– Chandler Burr: Times Scent critic
– Dan Ariely: Behavioral Economist
– Richard Chisolm: Filmmaker
– John Gertsen: Mixologist
–  many more!

update: Photos on flickr, via eddric(350),Tino(40), JB (60), millie(16)

I’m off to nyc for the rest of the week for the wonderful GEL (Good experience Live) conference.  Let me know if your there.

Right after that I’ll be scurrying off back to Boston for ROFLcon II for a rather fun 2nd day of the web in a room!
Several posts to follow, otherwise, lots of extra mini links on the facebook fanpage.


Summers near and it’s times to buy some new shades. Having been in an Industrial Deign program a few pairs of safety glasses has always been standard, but to see them make it out to the fashion world is refreshing with a twist of style to the vintage look. Jon and Lizzie of Wintercheckfactory.com have taken a spin on the safety glasses and I might just have to get a pair. A good buy for $45.

via coolhunting


Wow! Bing has really taken Maps navigation to a new level. First off they are finally integrating Photosynth into Maps which will take some time to become more common due to cameras lacking gps data, but then they blow the socks off of the TED audience with streaming video footage inside a map taking augmented reality to a live reality. Watch the video above to be blown away!

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I was shopping around Boston this weekend and came upon a new watch by Nixon (51-30 PU) that caught my attention. It’s big, heavy, and pretty feels great on the arm. I’ve come by other like watches which cost more but I just wanted to share this find with ya’ll because I like it and think it’s a pretty good deal for $370 though $300 would be much nicer. I’m thinking about buying it, but for now, I’ll just share the find. It comes in a few colorful flavors. Check it out.


While in Hong Kong I was told about some Coca-Cola soda bottle that created ice just by shaking it. These soda bottles are stored in a special vending machine throughout Hong Kong. When you open it, then shake it a bit, the inside liquid creates ice! I didn’t have the time to fetch one of these bottles, but I found a few video clips (here, here, and the above video) .

From my knowledge, the soda is the same as regular soda, but the temperature is a bit more chilly. When you shake the soda after opening it, carbon throughout the bottle fizzes up, creating ice crystals, hence making ice. It’s just the right temperature to turn some of the of the liquid to slush, but not freeze the whole bottle.  I’m making a guess about how this all works based on this “Beer magic trick video” though it seems to also work with plain water. I’m going to have to give this trick a try.

more videos after jump.
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Awesome experiment!

Blue Dot Studio put 25 of their chairs on the streets of Manhanttan, and then followed the chairs through a combination of GPS and video surveillance as people picked them up and took them home–which, by the way, the public could follow in real time on Twitter. Then they interviewed the chair-collectors. This is the film.I love the friendly use of hacked mobile and surveillance technologies to enhance the shared nature of urban experience, and the exploration of how today’s brick-and-mortar cities are fused with real-time electronic interactions. I love the way these people talk about how the chairs intersect with their lives, and the passionate way they speak of “curb-mining” and upcycling the things they find on the city streets.”

Blu Dot Real Good Experiment

vimeo video

via boingboing


Smaaart idea! Watch the video above or here.

“Forsman & Bodenfors came up with another innovative digital campaign for Ikea by turning one of Facebook’s basic functions into a promotional tool, to promote the opening of the brand’s Malmo outpost, its most modern store to date. Armed with little media budget, the agency came up with an unconventional Facebook campaign that started with a profile of the store’s manager, Gordon Gustavsson. Gustavsson uploaded pictures of the store’s showrooms to his photo album and any “friends” who tagged the products with their names then won those items.”

via creativity online

This weekend (thanks vimeo) I’ve been enjoying the TV series Design for Life (mentioned before) featuring design guru Phillipe Starck.
Unlike many other design reality shows that I’ve seen, Design for Life dives into the reality in design thinking. Most people outside of the design community generally perceive design as purely aesthetics which in some industries is true, but in a majority of the ones I know, aesthetics is perhaps the last 10% in design.

Design is a method, a process, a way of life, a means to adapt. One breaths every aspect in design while eating, walking around, watching people, sleeping, or typing as I am now. There is a intricate pathway in researching, understanding, inventing, presenting, developing, trying, and broadcasting before one even touches how an project finally looks. Designers want to encapsulate an experience from A to Z and not just elements of a product. One must understand how to observe and learn about a project, then have the ability to influence and push forward a direction upon these observations. Then the deep dive into sketching, communicating, collaborating, interacting, and executing several steps within design. A large understanding in manufacturing techniques, engineering, material properties, transportation limitations, cost, client definitions, brand awareness, business, marketing, users, and trends are all aspects which all designers should be knowledgeable of.

Design for Life is an entertaining glimpse into Starcks personality and philosophies while watching his team educate young individuals into their process. It would be nice to see more shows like this.  Watch the 6 episodes after the jump via Vimeo…. which does not include commercials =) ( a better user experience)
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ScooterSuitcase
Oh my, luggage that flips into a scooter while your waiting in the airport. A little bored, or tired lugging your gadgets around? Stick them in, flip out the wheel, and ride them around! ha! pretty sweet and has a I want One vibe. Not sure if this is just a concept or actually going into production, but I think I’d buy one for 80-90 bucks and have some fun in the airport.

via crunchgear

itouch.dupont

Dupont sent designverb an iPod Touch to test out their new MySurface app which has a catalog of  Corian and Zodiaq materials.   It’s a pretty simple app with a library of images to flip through and a gallery of environments. Though I personally find materials like Corian and Zodiaq very tangible, a quick glance at colors and texture visually with this app can be quick filter in selections before grabbing real samples to feel their weight, temperature, light refraction, and vibe.

And yup, I’m giving away a brand new iPod Touch (thanks dupont) to a reader that sends me the best improvement  for this app or any other general cool design must have app that does not exist. Send ideas to designverb (at) gmail.com . I’ll pick a winner in a few weeks.

I’ve got a few suggestions for this particular app:
1. For iPhone users, let them use the camera, and augment the materials in their real space.
2. Let the materials be custom adjustable to augment onto their cameras view like a table.
3. A details page about the material like hardness, texture, cost, colors, uses, weather, etc.
4. Options in sorting, not just by color, but by hardness, texture, weight, grain, cost, etc.
5. Have a gallery of images for each material, not just a separate gallery.
6.  I know Corian has some translucency . Maybe show what the material looks like when thin and back lighted.
7. Add an adjustable bar to have light go across the material. See how it reflects, moves, changes.
8. Maybe add some filter options… dark, marble like, textured…search.

A few pics of the app after the jump of the app.
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