Selected by markwhiting

• 
  Holy Kaw!

• Google Buzz's official demo [video]

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:25 am

  Google has just unveiled its latest attempt to become more relevant in the social media space—Google Buzz. The product is integrated within Gmail and will be rolled out gradually to all of the webmail service’s users over the next few days. While this development is still unfolding, you can check out Google Buzz’s two-minute demo of Buzz in action both online and via mobile. What are your initial reactions? Another soon-to-be-forgotten Google product like Wave, or a Facebook/Twitter killer? Full story at Mashable. Total Google coverage. Permalink | Leave a…

• Darth Vader’s original wimpy voice [video]

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:15 am

  Imagine a galaxy far, far away where Darth Vader sounded like any other British bloke strolling down the corridors of the Death Star. Before James Earl Jones provided the menacing voice of the Dark Lord of the Sith, English actor and bodybuilder David Prowse delivered the lines from inside the Darth costume. While George Lucas never intended for Prowse’s voice to make the flick’s final cut, it’s weird to imagine how different Star Wars would have been with a different Vader voice. Full story at Huffington Post. Tons of Star Wars tidbits. Permalink | Leave a…

• 7 things you didn’t know about condoms

  9 Feb 2010 | 10:14 am

  Rubbers. Raincoats. Inconvenient. Whatever you call 'em, condoms remain a must-have in the safe sex tool box. Long before the days of Durex and Trojans, men used animal intestines to protect their willies (that sounds lovely, eh ladies?) and still to this day use lambskin condoms for latex allergies and supposed extra sensitivity. Want to learn even more fun facts about condoms that will surely impress your friends and potential lovers? Check out Asylum's seven things you probably didn't know about condoms that includes tantalizing tidbits like: Vaseline + condoms = Disintegrated rubber and…

• Horror flick mirror scare mash-up [video]

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:25 am

  Horror movies love to rely on cliches to scare the bejeezus out of us, but does it really surprise anyone that the axe murderer is going to pop in the reflection of a mirror? Ok, yes, it still totally sparks a few pee-in-pants moments. Check out this mash-up of mirror scare moments (fair warning: don’t watch alone in a big, dark, scary house): Full story at Four Four. Boo! Tons of scary and not so scary movie news. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• 7 things you shouldn't do on Valentine's Day

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:13 am

  Ah, Valentine’s day. February fourteenth marks that special moment in the year when Hallmark cashes in on our emotions and cupid gets busy shooting arrows. Whether you’re indifferent, excited, upset, or madly in love—there are seven things you just shouldn’t do on this lovey-dovey holiday. See a few do-not-do’s below: Go on a first date. First dates are hard enough, why add the extra pressure? Call your ex. Abort mission! On a day like this, it’s normal for your thoughts to drift to the one you used to be with, but you broke up for a reason. So, spare…

• 
  Yanko Design

• Kitsch Styling Bags

  Radhika Seth

  9 Feb 2010 | 2:08 am

  How you accessorize can change the way you carry yourself dramatically. In an odd way, your office bag is an extension of your personality as well. Sixr, Papr & Papr II are a series of bags that add the right amount of sophistication to your persona and come with amazing variations and colors. Have a look…. The Sixr comes in 2 variations: Camel & Black The Papr comes in 3 variations: Camel, Black, Black AmericanRedCross LimitedEdition The PAPR II shoulder bag comes in 3 variations: Camel, Black, Black AmericanRedCross LimitedEdition Designer: KIMKIM Artifacts [ Buy it Here Sixr |…

• Stackable Bottle

  Radhika Seth

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:30 am

  You don’t need complex words to best describe an idea; sometimes a simple image can do the trick. What we have here is the 5 Gallons Mineral Water Stackable Bottle. A simple indent at the base of the bottle provides a nestling space for the neck of the bottle below. Stack them up and save space. I love the impromptu flower-vase-by-the-water cooler idea! Designer: Yujin Kim

• Play The Razor Prank

  Radhika Seth

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:15 am

  One of the pranks that you could play with your friends travelling by air is to slip this pill-sized box into their hand luggage. The pill box actually holds a folded sheet of razor! Yup a disposable razor that neatly rolls up into a pill! Which is obviously not allowed in hand luggage. Convenient, hygienic and safe! Designers: Hoyoung Lee, Youngwoo Park & Seunghwa Jeong

• Get A Jiffy Ride

  Radhika Seth

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:00 am

  Skoota can be the ideal commute for me, to get around the congested by-lanes of my overcrowded city. This compact urban electric scooter transforms from a full-bodied rider to a compact companion in five easy steps. It uses the latest Super Charging Lithium Ion technologies and an in-wheel brushless hub motor to add efficiency. Features include an LED blue halo headlight, simple two button interface, five minute super charging lithium batteries and front calliper/ rotor braking system. In essence, get reduced physical footprint & carbon footprint! Designer: Stuart Emmerson

• One Loud Table

  Chris Burns

  9 Feb 2010 | 12:02 am

  From the creator of Pepper Knuckles and Music Blocks comes this wild and crazy table for your music collection. It’s called “Amusity” and it’s rather full of music and amusement, if I do say so myself. The designer Idan Arbel says that this is a tangible user interface coffee table for your entire music library. Toss it all on there and let the circus begin. You can play music videos, access information on the artist, song, album, etcetera, and using such information control the flow of the songs. Meta data like popularity and genres control the way the music is…

• 
  Smashing Magazine

• Applying Mathematics To Web Design

  Adit Gupta

  9 Feb 2010 | 4:52 am

    “Mathematics is beautiful.” This may sound absurd to people who wince at numbers and equations. But some of the most beautiful things in nature and our universe exhibit mathematical properties, from the smallest seashell to the biggest whirlpool galaxies. In fact, one of the greatest ancient philosophers, Aristotle, said: “The mathematical sciences particularly exhibit order, symmetry and limitation; and these are the greatest forms of the beautiful.”Because of its beautiful nature, mathematics has been a part of art and architectural design for ages. But it has not been…

• Color Theory for Designer, Part 3: Creating Your Own Color Palettes

  Cameron Chapman

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:58 am

    In the previous two parts of this series on color theory, we talked mostly about the meanings behind colors and color terminology. While this information is important, I’m sure a lot of people were wondering when we were going to get into the nitty-gritty of actually creating some color schemes.Well, that’s where Part 3 comes in. Here we’ll be talking about methods for creating your own color schemes, from scratch. We’ll cover the traditional color scheme patterns (monochrome, analogous, complementary, etc.) as well as how to create custom schemes that…

• SimpleFolio: A Free Clean Portfolio WordPress Theme

  Elja Friedman

  7 Feb 2010 | 8:35 am

    Today we are glad to release a beautiful, simple and clean portfolio WordPress theme — SimpleFolio, designed by Omar E. Corrales and released for Smashing Magazine and its readers. SimpleFolio is a portfolio theme that includes a blog and a very extensive option page that allows you to exclude all your portfolio items from the blog page. It also includes a front page slider.It has 2 different widget areas and threaded comments, and also supports paged comments and has 2 different page templates for advanced usage. The control of images is done from the post page.Download the…

• Beautiful Motion Graphics Created With Programming: Showcase, Tools and Tutorials

  Vailancio Rodrigues

  6 Feb 2010 | 5:50 am

    When you hear the word “creative”, what type of profession comes to mind? Maybe a graphic designer, painter, sculptor, illustrator, or writer? It’s unlikely that you would consider a “programmer” when thinking of creative fields of work. But programmers have the potential to be creative and come up with ideas or concepts that will impact others in positive ways.We often turn to programmers to solve mathematical-related problems, but the concept of mathematics in programming is what powers programmers to innovate. When you think of mathematics you…

• 50 Free UI and Web Design Wireframing Kits, Resources and Source Files

  Paul Andrew

  5 Feb 2010 | 6:04 am

    Planning and communication are two key elements in the development of any successful website or application. And that is exactly what the wireframing process offers: a quick and simple method to plan the layout and a cost-effective, time-saving tool to easily communicate your ideas to others. A wireframe typically has the basic elements of a Web page: header, footer, sidebar, maybe even some generated content, which gives you, your clients and colleagues a simple visually oriented layout that illustrates what the structure of the website will be by the end of the project and that…

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  Designboom - Weblog

• david bowen: growth rendering device

  9 Feb 2010 | 11:48 am

  the growth rendering device is a kinetic sculpture that is draws images of a small plant based on its growth patterns. the project’s creator is david bowen, an artist working as a professor at the university of minnesota duluth. the sculpture provides light and food to a small plant being grown hydroponicly inside a vase. as the plant grows, the system reacts by producing rasterized inkjet drawings of it every twenty four hours. each time a drawing is complete the roll of paper moves forward to make room for the next drawing. bowen points out however that ‘this system is allowed to run…

• missmoun: rubber mp3 player

  9 Feb 2010 | 9:33 am

  designer mouna andraos created this rubber encased mp3 player as an experimental DIY prototype. the design came about when andraos was a student in theinteractive telecommunication program at NYU. as part of here research into DIY consumer electronics, she created the device based on raphael abrams 'the super simple mp3'. a thick transparent rubber protects the device from falls, while adding a unique exterior material. the rubber enclosure can be pried apart to access the interior electronics. andraos also embedded small threads of wire within the rubber. while the rubber mp3 player is a…

• willemijn de greef weavings jewelry

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:55 am

  galerie marzee exhibited the work of the dutch jewelry designer willemijn de greef at object rotterdam 2010. 'touw- zilver- touw', 2009 hemp rope, yellow yarn, silver 'ropes' hemp rope 'perls' perls and yarn 'drijvers' (floats,) 2009 hemp rope, ceramics 'leguaan', 2009 hemp rope, yarn, silver these pieces were inspired by the men and women of the dutch zuiderzee. the pieces refer to the demise of the fishing industry and traditional crafts. willemijn de greef lives and works in utrecht.

• scholten and baijings: paper table

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:26 am

  amsterdam-based design duo scholten & baijings exhibited 'paper table' - their vision for the art of dining. the collection of tableware is part of the total table design project, which was exhibited at object rotterdam 2010. paper cups and saucers royal leerdam crystal (glassware), koninklijke van kempen & begeer (cutlery / table accessories) and the audax textile museum, tilburg (table linen), joined forces to produce their designs. paper cups and saucers paper cup, saucer and plates paper cup, saucer and plates paper cup and saucer glass vases cutlery 'paper table' photo by…

• zero rupee note by 5th pillar

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:22 am

  front in india, people often face situations where they are asked to pay bribes for public services that should be provided free. in response to this the organization 5th pillar has begun to distribute zero rupee notes in the hope that ordinary indians can use them as a means to protest bribe demands by public officials. back 'vijay anand, 5th pillar's president, says it works not because bribe-takers are fooled into thinking the money is real, but because bribery is a crime in india, even though it's so widespread, and most officials are only comfortable asking for bribes when they know they…

• 
  visualcomplexity.com

• Plasma

  Comissioned by ArtAids, for the exhibition FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN, Plasma is an interactive network of links and tags that belongs to a ongoing research on the topic of AIDS, from an integral and holistic point of view. Created by Santiago Ortiz and L�a Legrand, the project is still under way and welcoming further collaboration.

• NetFlix Similarity Map

  This visualization depicts the similarities between 5,000 movies as found by an algorithm used for the Netflix Prize. Movies are represented by dots with adjacent titles. Similar movies, as determined by customer rating patterns, are connected by a line. Colors closer to red indicate a weaker similarity, and colors closer to yellow indicate a stronger similarity. Many similarly-rated movies tend to cluster around topics, themes, directors, or actors. You can see a previous version of the project here.

• PostModernNews

  PostModernNews deconstructs a collection of Twitter messages into a bag-of-words, replacing syntax with a graphic re-arrangement of terms that the reader must re-associate to assert meaning. Users can either enter particular search terms or select one of the expandable categories, e.g., Trends, Celebrities, Editorial, to get started. The interaction with the generated territory allows different behaviors. While some relationships are drawn, others are implied with boundaries, solid or porous, and others only appear when queried with the cursor.

• Mentionmap

  Released by Asterisq, Mentionmap is a web app for exploring your Twitter network. It allows you to discover which people you interact the most and what they're talking about. It's also an interesting way to find relevant people to follow.The visualization runs in your browser and displays data from the Twitter API. It loads each user's Twitter status updates (tweets) and finds the people and hashtags they talked about the most. Clicking a user will display their network of mentions as well as details from their profile. The lines drawn between nodes become thicker the more users mention each…

• SourceMap

  SourceMap is an outstanding venture sponsored by different groups within the MIT. As they state on the site: "When you invite people to an event, buy the ingredients for a recipe, or design the parts of a product, your choices have a significant impact. Some things have vast supply chains that stretch across the world while others are completely regional. Understanding the reach of our sourcing is fundamental to improving economic, social and environmental conditions."Sourcemap is a tool for producers, business owners and consumers to understand the impact of supply chains. The site is a…