Topobo’s kinetic memory toys which I’ve known about since 2004 is finally available for a limited production purchase.  Check out the video above or website to learn more.  I played around with them while at the MIT medialab in 2004-5, and must say, they are addictive! Congrats Hayes and Amanda for inventing, sharing, and bringing this idea to life!

“Forget about the hybrid auto — Shai Agassi says it’s electric cars or bust if we want to impact emissions. His company, Better Place, has a radical plan to take entire countries oil-free by 2020.”

RISD’s first “What We Do” Event is going on today, April 11th. Head on down.. I’ll be there!

“What We Do is a new, student-run, RISD event designed to bridge departmental gaps and create new connections through the sharing of ideas.

On Saturday, April 11th, 100 members of the RISD community (students, faculty, staff, and alums) will share something that they do with the rest of the RISD community and the larger surrounding community of Providence.

Leading up to the day of the event, 8 site-specific “spaces” will be created by members of every department at RISD; majors paired up to encourage cross-departmental collaboration. The spaces that they build will house the day’s events creating a street-fair environment for the open sharing of how people at RISD spend their time and energy. ”

update: some pics of the event after the jump.
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Behance and Coolhunting bring to us their very first conference “99%” which “focuses less on inspiration, and more on how idea generation and organization come together to make ideas happen.” It all takes place next week at the The Times Center building  NYC, April 16-17, 2009… I’ll be there, so get your tickets here while they last!

A few of the speakers:
- Michael Bierut of Pentagram
- Cheryl Dorsey at Echoing Green
- Seth Godin of  Squidoo, and several Books (purple cow, tribes, marketers are liars)
- Ji Lee of Google and Bubble Project
- Jeffrey Kalmikoff and Jake Nickell at Threadless
- Scott Thomas of Obama for America
- full list here.

A pretty nifty door designed by Slam Doors. Built for a toddler, kid, and adult to size in 1 door.

Reminds me of a project I did (porsche door) at RISD back in 2002, except my door was designed for a dog, person, Porsche, and window fence when a package was delivered or you just wanted a large opening without anyone walking in .

via interiordesignroom
Slam Doors

“BMW’s MINI division will debut its first color-morphing car in Singapore in June. Called the MINI Chameleon, the car changes color according to weather conditions.

For example, on a rainy day, the car’s paint brightens to improve visibility while on a sunny day, it lightens to reflect heat and cool down the vehicle.

The color-morphing technology was made possible due to a special treatment called FeintPaint by Spanish company Payola Forlids.

Cars treated with FeintPaint comprises tiny magnetic iron oxide particles which can interact with a low grade magnetic field to change the spacing of the particles, and hence its ability to reflect light and change color.

The color changes take effect in seconds, and should be quite a sight to behold! Unless of course, you’re the owner, and you’ve no idea where you last parked your car in a multi-story car park. ”

It’s about time someone did this! Wished this color technology could be applied to the interior leather as well…nothing like black leather during the winter, but oh my is it toasty to the touch in the summer! Would also be cool if the cars color changed as you sped up on the highway, from a cool blue to a hot red the faster you went.

via luxury insider

A great info viz video of “Little Red Riding Hood“. Awesome simple airplane graphics! This project was inspired by the famous “Royksopp: Remind Me” Video.

Here’s a fun little remix 2.0 of the original “Did You Know” video reminding us how fast our worlds shifted because of technology and a global economy. First remix after the jump as well.

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Great talk again by Dan Ariely during TED2009… Buy his book Predictably Irrational.

“At the Taste3 conference, chef Dan Barber(Blue Hill Farm) tells the story of a small farm in Spain that has found a humane way to produce foie gras. Raising his geese in a natural environment, farmer Eduardo Sousa embodies the kind of food production Barber believes in.”

Pretty awesome story. Makes me think about sustainability, agriculture, quality, and just doing things naturally, how things are meant to be.

If your in the Boston/Cambridge area today, there’s a pretty interesting panel discussion going on over at the Harvard GSD 5-7pm. I’ll try to be there.

“How do the new forms of connectivity enabled by the internet affect flows of power in society? Does electronic communication create new forms of self-identification, new political sensibilities, or new avenues of empowerment? Or do old hierarchies get reinforced and familiar divisions, such as those between male and female or right and left, get more firmly entrenched through new routines? How do design choices affect relationships of power, for example, by selecting who should be connected to whom and across what sorts of spaces? Drawing on studies of teenagers and professional designers, cities and the blogosphere, this distinguished panel will lead us on a fascinating journey across today’s changing public spheres. They will offer tantalizing glimpses into the democratic imaginations taking shape in cyberspace.”

Full description here.

I’ve mentioned the irresistibly cool Felt Rocks before, but if your craving something smaller, go grab some felt rocks on etsy or go a big box of my always favorite carpet poofs!