Snowman Goes to the Dessert

January 22nd, 2011


As snow poors across the world it reminds me of when I attended RISD where I met several international students whom had never experienced snow before. At times, I’d see these students sit outside in a corner just watching the snow for hours as it collected on their shoulders, but then I’d pile them up into theh snow, telling them this was the full experience.

Anyhow, the video above reminds me in this experience.  Panasonic has a new Insulator and to demonstrate how good it is, they made a snowman in Japan, packed it up inside this new material, then shipped it o Bahrain 8,000 kilometers away. Besides the incredible feat, what grabs my attention even more is a reminder in how amazing snow can be. It’s amazing to see how these kids from Bahrain react. I do wonder I I first reacted seeing snow? Do you remember your first time?

For more details on the project and the story behind it:
http://eco-ideas.net/sparks/snowman/


Cocohon 555

January 22nd, 2011


Cocohon 555 celebrates a gathering to bring together a feast with 5 pigs, 5 wine makers , and 5 chefs.  I’m thinking about going to the one in Boston next sunday. They have dates in NYC, Seattle, Napa, SF, DC, Chicago, Denver, LA, and New Orleans as well. Looks pretty amazing. Has anyone here been?

“Cochon 555 is a one-of-a-kind traveling culinary competition and tasting event–five chefs, five pigs, five wine makers–to promote sustainable farming of heritage breed pigs. Each stop along the ten-city tour offers hard-working local farmers the opportunity to connect with like-minded agriculturalists, renowned chefs and the pork-loving public. Our goal is to help family farms sustain and expand their businesses and to encourage breed diversity. Cochon 555 is the only heritage breed pig culinary competition in the country.”

via cocohon555


Cracking The Credit Card Code

January 22nd, 2011

Interesting facts about your credit card number. Makes me wonder if the credit card should ever need a redesign to make it more secure somehow…

via mint


TEDMED 2010: Shaf Keshavjee

January 19th, 2011


Back in October I posted about an amazing experience in touching a living lung during TEDmed2010. Well, now the talk about the Vitro machine that helps keep these organs alive for transplants is online here.

“Dr. Keshavjee mesmerizes the TEDMED audience as he unveils a breathing lung on stage and describes how this technology is saving lives.”


Entertainment Gathering 2011

January 19th, 2011


One of my favorite conferences to attend in the best location in Monterey CA is the EG conference happening April 7-9. It’s a very intimate gathering with 300 attendees and speakers for 3 days over lectures, conversations, and an assortment of entertainment ranging from discovery, music, technology, the mind, and amazing stories… or at Matt Groening of the Simpsons who also attends says “It’s like being a fish and analyzing your water…it’s too hard to describe the EG experience.”

I’d highly recommend anyone that can come to attend since I’ll be attending this year as well. it’ll be my 3rd year. Also, for those of you that might need a bit of help, if I can get 4 other readers to attend, I can get a pretty good discount off for each of you. If you are interested, throw me an email and I can send you more details.


TEDMED 2010: Charity Tillemann

January 19th, 2011

Charity Tillemann was the opening act at TEDmed 2010 back in October. Watch the video, and don’t miss out on the amazing talk after her singing. It’s an unbelievable story and I don’t want to ruin anything so if you have 20 minutes, watch the video and be prepared to be amazed with her story. I got to have dinner with Charity later that night and she is quite a firecracker of a personality!

TEDmed


LEGO Angry Birds created by Chiukeung

January 17th, 2011

Awesome… thats all I have to say about these Lego creations Angry Bird style. I can even hear the theme song ringing in my ears now… If only Lego had the rights to sell sets of these…they would sell millions.
Lots of pics after the jump. All of the pics on the facebook album via Tsang Yiu Keung (aka Chiukeung).

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Things Real People Don’t Say About Advertising

January 16th, 2011

Ha! Have you ever seen a website or ad and just wondered…what was their marketing department thinking?
“Things Real People Don’t Say About Advertising” takes a crack at marketing with very truthful strategies they seem to add to everything for no great reasons. Take a glance at their site, but I’ll post a few of my favorites below after the jump.

via holidaymatinee

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Upcycling: Latex Roll Pouf

January 15th, 2011

Pretty neat little reuse of wasted material. In this instance, sheets of latex used to cut out shoe insoles are taken, rolled up, and turned into seats. I’m curious how comfortable they are, but as usual, any bright colored, odd shaped material placed in a clean space looks rather cool. About $80 each. I guess they would be easy to roll around…leaving footprints. ha.

via inhabitat
buy at E-side.


A Mystery: Why Can’t We Walk Straight?

January 11th, 2011


I think I can do this, but i guess i need someone to watch me.


Nathalie Stämpfli: Soap Flakes

January 11th, 2011


Clever design.. I’ve always hated picking up a damp sticky wet soap bar… so why not keep it dry, and grate it. Clever design by Nathalie Stämpfli and her Soap Flakes project. I want!


TED: Ads Worth Spreading Challenge

January 9th, 2011

Ads on the web are horrible. Marketing needs to change, and more importantly, the meaning needs to change and relate back to a user desire, versus a forced upon undesirable interrupting ad.

TED is launching a short project to solve this issue, or at least to understand it more. They got million of people to watch 18 minute ads about ideas worth spreading, so why not take on the challenge in making ads worth spreading… or bette yet, what is an ad in the web world… what should it be, a broadcast, an idea, a problem, a challenge, a solution, or something else.

Watch the video above and learn more about this project which you can participate in here.