fun

Weekend Links

Posted by _tango! on November 26, 2007
Posted in: art, brand, design, entertainment, experience, food, fun, information, inspiration, me, style, tech, thoughts, weekendlinks. Leave a Comment
weekend links

What an exhausting fun filled thanksgiving week/end! I was out in the Vegas area with family and friends pounding out hours of non-stop eating, mahjong, wii-ing, casino visits, shows, shopping, and many goofy hours with my many cousins in arcades (punch the duck game above) and everything else. Good times!

I’ve only returned to find out that a parking ticket I appealed 3 months ago got declined for no reason. I had pictures etc supporting the wrongful ticket, yet they will only let me dispute it in court, meaning take a day off from work, or pay the crummy $50. I really don’t understand why they don’t fix their system. Sure this system makes people pay more tickets, but when a wrongful ticket is given, the only choice is to pay rather than take a day off.

Design Note: Making money can be a sign of a great business, but sneaky tricks will lower the brand trust and the longevity in a business. Users come first in my world… always! Don’t you love those brands that just fix things without asking questions, then hate the ones that do ask!
Now for the links:
– Pancaking a truck video!
– Amazon.com launches “kindle”, their e-book/ink reader.
– Cool Torn graffiti work by Alexandre Farto
– Creative IKEA ads… I wonder if these layouts would be good?
– Swims: Rubber slip-on booties for your nice shoes.
– Popcorn Fork!
– Cool origami folds using bills!
– What hundreds of thin paint layers look like stacked!
– An Interview with Jim Gromen on the rebirth of MadBalls!
– Another Eco Friendly Powerstrip!
– Google Android (G-phone) emerges!

Pop!Tech 2007 Recap

Posted by _tango! on November 13, 2007
Posted in: art, brand, design, entertainment, experience, fun, ideas, information, inspiration, me, Poptech, style, tech, thoughts. 1 comment
Poptech 2007 Camden Maine Jonathan Harris Dan Gilbert, Carl Honere

I’ve returned from the mind-numbing inspiring PopTech Conference still a bit jittery from the collective curious minds at this year’s awesome gathering. This year’s theme “The Human Impact” was way more than I expected covering everything from politics, waste, medicine, minds, communities, art, science, music, and everything else in between. The speakers filled the opera house with passion, greatness, huge questions, and ideas that sparked the hundreds attending and thousands watching online.

PopTech also launched a new extension to their conference called the “Pop!Tech Accelerator” facilitating world changing projects starting off with “Masiluleke“which is a groundbreaking software tool for HIV/AIDS patients throughout Africa. The idea of “Accelerator” is to leverage the community of PopTech attendees with their network to create world changing projects.

As usual, I’ll point my fingers to ninja blogger Ethan Zukerman who sat in the dungeon simulcast room next to me zipping his feisty fingers onto his furious laptop for the complete detailed recap, but I’™ll post more on my experience, a bit on the speakers, lots of pictures, and my journey up to beautiful Camden Maine. I’m not sure when all the footage will be archived and available for viewing, but they’ll eventually appear on their PopCasts Streams which I’d suggest catching up to.

My recap after the jump, otherwise, Poptech 2008, a definite must go to!

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Aarrow Advertising

Posted by _tango! on November 6, 2007
Posted in: art, brand, entertainment, experience, fun, ideas, inspiration, style, wacky. 3 comments

Check this out. Some students get summer jobs holding up signs on street corners, they get bored, so they start competing against each other, flipping their signs like bartenders with bottles or pizza dough spinners. They start up their own advertising company, their acrobatic signage goes viral , and now they have a multi million dollar company with sign spinners across the country! via The Big Idea

Seriously, you can freshen up any dead business and make millions… very cool!
Watch the video above, their website, story, or other videos.

Weekend Links

Posted by _tango! on November 4, 2007
Posted in: art, brand, design, experience, fun, ideas, information, inspiration, style, tech, wacky, weekendlinks. Leave a Comment
Pixels games sketches

Note of week: “Mystery is more important than knowledge.” JJ Abrahms. This might apply to all shakes in life but sometimes it’s just better not to know, in life or in TV shows.

– Smart Strips, Power strips that actually stop using power when appliances are turned off.
– A new Plug In hybrid designed by BMW and Aston-Martin Designers. Will this compete with the Tesla and Aptera?.
– Houses with a view! Breathtaking!
– Sketches for games. Very cool! via NotCot.
– A visual interface comparison over time: Google vs Yahoo.
– FOUND magazine. A magazine made up if things found… usually odd notes. good stuff.
– Device Charger Holder. A cute useful stand for your phone and plug.
– Targets NYC Grand Central Holographic Fall Fashion Show (Nov 6,7)

Fuerzabruta in New York City

Posted by _tango! on November 1, 2007
Posted in: art, design, entertainment, experience, fun, ideas, inspiration, music, style, thoughts, wacky. Leave a Comment
Fuerzabruta show

Woa! People crashing through dry walls, flying boxes, and debris while gliding through slimmers of water above you on a transparent surface, stomping furiously through rooms, pumping their arms and feet to music, under, over, and on all sides of you! Very cool! Check out their video above, hit up their website, and go get tickets for their brief NYC visit!

“Att: New Yorkers. Get your credit cards ready, and book your standing space at ‘Fuerzabruta’, one of the most unique shows you’ll ever see. ‘Fuerzabrutaâ’ is a celebration of pure physicality, where performers move seamlessly between three stages – ground , air and underwater – to a thumping score that’ll make you feel as if you’re in an experimental Paris nightclub. Sexy, exhilarating and breath-taking to say the least. “There are people who see the show that dance and stomp and get caught up in the physical parts, while some just watch with their mouths hanging open” says co-creator Diqui James. The audience is obliged to stand during the performance, but really, you’d be giving the same amount of standing ovations anyway. Fuerzabruta is on at the Daryl Roth Theatre until February 17. Tickets are $70 but a limited quantity of $25 rush tickets are made available at the box office 2 hours before show time (cash only)” via coolhunter

More pictures via Flickr
Youtube Videos.
www.fuerzabrutalondon.co.uk
NYC tickets at Daryl Roth Theater.

Karl Zahn: Energy Savings

Posted by _tango! on October 28, 2007
Posted in: art, design, fun, green, ideas, inspiration, tech, thoughts. Leave a Comment
oboiler slot loading power

“A very simple modification to a standard electrical coverplate changes its function from one of consumption into conservation. A standard junction box behind the face plate catches your coins and saves them.”

Neat! I’d probably need a cash or credit card slot, but I like the concept. I wonder if there are any electrical metering attachments, somewhat like the iSave water meter concept. This almost makes me want to make a piggy bank for the green, sustainability, aids, foundations etc…take all that pocket change that pile high monthly and donate it. A Donation Piggy bank.

via oboiler

Gadgetoff 2007 Recap

Posted by _tango! on October 17, 2007
Posted in: art, design, entertainment, experience, food, fun, ideas, information, inspiration, materials, me, misc, tech, thoughts, wacky. 4 comments
rocket bike jet bike gadgetoff 2007

Woa, bang, boom, yikes, aha! That about sums up my experience at Gadgetoff 2007. What a mind torching adventure with a surplus of surprises, ear wrenching explosions, curious minds, and a safari into a wonderful world of gadgets we all love to geek about! Everything from flame throwing bbq’s, rocket bikes, robotics on wheels, and hybrid cars roamed every corner while gaming devices, weird toys, numbing food items, interactive screens, musical instruments, and hot air balloons filled up the rest of this landscape of greatness with people from all ages and disciplines.

Gadgetoff’s spontaneous flow of events kept you on your feet, jumping from boats, to buildings, into a rustic railroad house, and a cool science museum while somehow getting us all to sit calmly in an auditorium for several intellectually stimulating lectures. We were a geek fest storming the town in fashion with electronics in every pocket, Segways leading the crowd, and individuals rifling with excitement on anything cool and usually out of the ordinary.

I’ll post a few pictures on my adventure after the jump with notes, otherwise, hit up Gadgetoff.com, their blog, or a bunch of their YouTube Videos thanks to Michael (co-founder)

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TEDTalks Master List

Posted by _tango! on October 15, 2007
Posted in: art, brand, design, entertainment, experience, food, fun, ideas, information, inspiration, materials, me, misc, style, tech, TED, thoughts, wacky. Leave a Comment
Ted Talks Poster List

“Two weeks ago, TED.com hit a milestone: posting our 150th TEDTalk. To help you keep track of all the TEDTalks you’ve watched and want to watch, here’s a simple, low-tech tool: a list of all the TEDTalks posted to TED.com so far, in the order they were posted.”

Nice, a master list! via TED

Other inspirational conference video sources:
– GEL videos
– POP!TECH PopCasts
– GadgetOff
– All Things Digital 

Weekend Links

Posted by _tango! on October 14, 2007
Posted in: design, entertainment, experience, fun, ideas, inspiration, misc, style, tech, weekendlinks. 1 comment

weekend links charlotte eventys office
It’s been a busy few weeks on my side… apologizes for the lack in postings, but keep sending me goodies. Besides my trips to NC, NYC, MI, RI, and ME this week, it should be back to normal by months end. Enjoy these links.

– Insane Base Jumping video: Jumping closer is better.
– Are you Left or Right Brained: A quick visual test. I saw both.
– Cool convertible jacket to bag: seems ninja like. I want!
– Aptera Hybrid Car on pre-order: Jetsons like Hybrid car.
– Table Frisbee: The new underground home sport.
– A Giant Pink Bunny Doll
– iPod Cassette Tape hack: Making your ipod retro cool!
– Blobbing: catapult your friends off a blob of air.
– USB 3, finally!
– A “Simpson’s” Scene to Reference guide.

GM Test Drive Experience: Detroit Proving Grounds

Posted by _tango! on October 12, 2007
Posted in: brand, design, entertainment, experience, fun, ideas, information, inspiration, materials, me, style, tech, thoughts. 9 comments

GM test drive detroit driving

A few weeks back I was invited by GM to fly out to their Proving Grounds in (Milford) Detroit to test drive their new 2008 cars, take a “Drivers Skill Enhancement Course” (stunt school), interview some VP’s in Design and Energy, and have some fun. I’ve grown up driving Japanese cars but took this opportunity to dive into GM’s world with an open designers mind and to scope out all of their brands; Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, Cadillac, Saturn, Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC.

I’d like to thank GM for funding this gathering and would welcome this adventure again though I’d suggest a few changes which I’ll address throughout.

If ya don’t like to read, check out the video I composed from hundreds of pictures taken during the journey above.The entire journey and story after the jump.

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Pultius Remote

Posted by _tango! on October 5, 2007
Posted in: brand, design, fun, ideas, inspiration, style, tech, thoughts. Leave a Comment
art.lebedev pultius remote control

Art Lebedev Studio brings to us the Pultius Remote Control, an ingenious simple remote control with over 100 buttons allowing users to have 1 touch access to the first 100 channels and easy access to all 300. Some might find this design bizarre and odd, but I love it even though you can probably use it to press the buttons on the actually TV from your couch.

Sometimes it takes complexity to make things simple and the color gradient I find delightful and reminds me of candied dots. Access any channel instantly… no more channel surfing or button pressing guessing.

I think this Pultius Remote is just a concept, but put me first in line when it’s available… or go buy their overpriced but uber cool Optimus OLED keyboard that took too long to come out. Also, the whimsical “folderix” folder icon usb stick.
More images after the jump.

via gizmodo

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