Good idea: "Tray table book"

Ever been looking out the window of a plane and wondered what the heck you were looking at? well, this book solves that problem. They point out all the major aerial landmarks on the most-traveled US air routes.

It comes with a CD so you don't have to lug the book around on business trips where you have to bring your laptop anyway -- sure beats editing that Excel spreadsheet.


"America From the Air reveals dozens of geological, agricultural, and man-made curios you'd never know to look for, let alone identify"
via Wired

Tengu

Tengu is a super-cute device that responds to sound. His mouth will move in response to all sounds in the room. There are also several different versions of his face, which can be changed by blowing on a microphone located on the bottom of Tengu.

Powered via USB connection (MAC and PC).

check out this YouTube video:

It's made of plastic and LEDs, designed by Crispin Jones.

you can buy Tengu at moss online

How to make a Christmas wreath!

I did it this year for the first time on my own, it was...how shall I say...CHALLENGING. And the results were "interesting" -- wish I had consulted WikiHow first:

http://www.wikihow.com/Create-a--Christmas-Wreath

Joining the resolution: Nike Plus scrapable Flash widget

I heart Flash widgets. Now you can post a widget with your 2008 running goals on your blog or website like so:



Of course you must be a Nike+ user to use it. If you haven't seen Nike+, you should check it out (nikeplus.com)--it's my favorite thing Nike has ever done, product-wise, and a project whose precursor, NikeRunning.com, I worked on at R/GA.

Only problems with this widget is the "xx day remaining" which should be DAYS, and the fact that this is a monthly goal which is part of a new year's resolution doesn't appear anywhere on the widget.

(my goal: to run the NY marathon in under 5 hours!!)

Here's a screenshot of the site:

VIVA LA RESOLUTION!

Quality of Life

a fascinating article on the best places to live! I won't spoil it by telling you who won. Here are some surprising charts:























Best places to register a new company:
(in # of days it takes to do so)


and worst!


check out the article >

from internationalliving.com

Jim Campbell

LED magic!

I just came across the website of this artist, and it reminded me how simple things can be so good.

Born in 1956 in Chicago, Illinois, New Media installation artist Jim Campbell got a
B.S.(chuckle, chuckle!) in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics from MIT in 1978. He has exhibited all over the world, but is based in the Bay Area. In my mind, he is most famous for his LED videos-- it looks like a video of a man walking but when you get up close, you realize the effect is produced by a grid of LED lights that grow dimmer and brighter-- the pulsating light tricks the eye into seeing a man, walking on snow...

check out his site >

Funky Forest Interactive Installation

Funky Forest' is an interactive ecosystem where children create trees with their body and then divert the water flowing from the waterfall to the trees to keep them alive. The health of the trees contributes to the overall health of the forest and the types of creatures that inhabit it. Made with openFrameworks.

by Theodore Watson and Emily Gobeille, Netherlands

more info >

Funniest Holiday card yet: ElfYourself!

too much...still crying...you upload photos of yourself and friends and you become...dancing elves!

Hilarious!

Bizzarrely, it's an OfficeMax campaign.

check it out: http://elfyourself.com/

Magnetic Web Widgets!!

Magnetic checkboxes, dropdowns, generic logos, etc-- great for prototyping
...or just sticking on the fridge. OK, maybe not sticking on the fridge.

Too bad it comes with a book and all that, because the $200 price tag for the whole Usability Kit it comes with is a bit heavy if you just want the magnets.

I just think having website elements in magnet form so you can move them around and draw around them on a whiteboard is brilliant!

check them out (they are mace by sitepoint)

LEGO Graffiti

Jellyfish made of lace!

fabulous work by Elide Endreson at Red Cake Gallery (gallery just opened online and in SF!)

Love Jeff Soto's Work

so good!

check him out at http://www.jeffsoto.com

Monster Engine makes "real" paintings from kids' art

this is AMAZING stuff. Dave Devries takes kids' drawings and turns them into "real" fleshed-out ones. It's great because kids' imaginations are so amazing but their skill level doesn't always translate into a drawing that conveys the idea as well as someone like Dave could.

He's also got a book out.

check it out >

Free email and Instant Messaging on Flights

Sound too good to be true? Well JetBlue is launching email and IM access on their JFK to SF flight this Tuesday, December 11th.

It's about time!

Of course, it will be super-limited at first. They're partnering with Yahoo! so of course it is limited to Yahoo! Mail and Messenger, and in terms of mobile devices, only Wi-Fi enabled BlackBerries will have access to their BB mail and messenger.

However, as someone who just came back from a business trip, I can see enormous value in this idea--and it can't hurt to be able to stay in touch when you're traveling, as staying abreast of last-minute schedule changes and meeting up with people on arrival can be quite a challenge!