Design ← A Little Ludwig Goes A Long Way

TV Remotes and dogs’ mouths, a perfect match

Jun

2012

Grab bag of entertaining things I read this weekend: * “TV remotes are super awesome”:http://gm.asm.org/index.php/component/content/article/48/313-the-most-contaminated-surfaces-in-hotel-rooms * “French beetle aircraft”:http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/8/3073654/french-beetle-coleoptere-aircraft. Jet fighters meet Dr. Seuss. We should let the French design all our weapons systems. We might not win the war but man would we look trippy. * “Desk optimized for doodling”:http://design-milk.com/my-desk-by-miguel-mestre/. This is not ridiculous ...

SimpleTV, Aereo miss the mark

May

2012

Some early reviews of the original Kindle were very dismissive, wondering why anyone would want to carry around a limited device with a goofy display. These tech-savvy reviewers predicted failure for Amazon, saying that people would prefer general purpose phones or tablets for reading. A lot of these reviewers were not actually heavy book readers ...

Hey, Father’s Day is not that far away, if you need ideas for me…

Apr

2012

Unfortunately I have more ideas than offspring… * “pivoting power cord”:http://www.quirky.com/products/44-Pivot-Power-Flexible-Power-Strip. I’ve often wondered why powerstrips are so ugly. We all have them and they all suck. * “quirky”:http://www.quirky.com/. Recommended by Blake, lots of cool stuff here. * “Fireball Crosswords”:http://www.fireballcrossword.com/. Recommended by Bruce. * “Snapguide”:http://snapguide.com/. Also recommended by Blake. * I’m a sucker for “nice ...

Tools I Want But Don’t Need — January 2012

Jan

2012

Since I am semi-retired from Halloween prop-building (tho I still have 2 storage pods full of gear if anyone wants to buy some skeletons, tombstones, etc…) I have not been buying as many tools and workbench gadgets as I used to. If I was buying, I’d be trying these out: * “Planet Pocket Tool”:http://atwoodknives.blogspot.com/ — ...

Lava is an awesome product name, I want one now.

Oct

2011

Seriously, who would not want a “Lava heater”:http://www.coolhunting.com/design/lava-heaters.php? I am ready to order one today. Contrast with the “Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch”, Samsung’s latest phone. How stupid a name is this? Do they seriously think this will have lasting impact in the market? What will they call an upgraded version some day? ...

New Sony Reader, same old busted strategy

Aug

2011

“Sony has a new e-reader out”:http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/31/sonys-latest-kindle-killer-is-worlds-lightest-ereader/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29 and it seems to be very nice hardware, I’d love to buy one. Let me check out their reader store and see what their book inventory looks like these days: Oh. And this kind of sums up Sony’s strategy. Nicely designed premium hardware, but off in their own software ...

Law of Constant Headphone Frustration

Jul

2011

I love the fact that my Beats earbuds never tangle in my pocket due to their ribbon cable design. Ok they tangle a little but like one millionth the tangle frustration of typical buds. But dammit, the in-ear gel plugs pop off constantly and get lost. Speculation: the tangling of the cord actually protects and ...

Sony’s super awesome design skills.

Jun

2011

Insert Disneynature Ocean Blu-Ray disc into PS3. “Oh your Blu-Ray player encryption keys are out of date, you must download an update”. Spend 5 minutes wandering through obtuse PS3 menus to find the system update choice, “Oh your network connection isn’t working”. Spend more time figuring out where and how to config the PS3 wireless ...

Ostrich Nap Pillow

May

2011

Today’s example of design gone astray — the “ostrich nap pillow”:http://design-milk.com/ostrich-nap-pillow/

It’s not too early to start thinking about Father’s Day

Mar

2011

I don’t need or want any of this stuff actually but am drawn to all of it… * “Car map light”:http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20100526/flexible-map-light/. Ok who looks at maps anymore, but this is nicely designed! * “Multimeter Clock”:http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2010/06/24/multimeter-clock-styled-after-the-simpson-260-multimeter/. Love the reuse of old tech here. Wish I had the skill/vision to create things like this. * “Carol Kipling ...

Can’t miss gifts for father’s day

Jun

2010

No way your father has any of these… * “LED showerhead with remote control”:http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/02/11/finally-a-color-changing-led-shower-head-that-includes-a-remote-control/. Wrong on so many levels. * “Barking USB Dog”:http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/03/10/move-over-humping-usb-dogs-here-comes-the-dodobongo-usb-dog/. Just because you can make something, doesn’t mean you should. * “RoadKill Rug”:http://design-milk.com/roadkill-rug/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=Google+Reader&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+design-milk+%28Design+Milk%29&utm_content=Google+Reader. High fashion in parts of West Virginia. * “DIY Liquid Nitrogen Generator”:http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2010/05/27/diy-liquid-nitrogen-for-less-than-500/. A thousand and one uses. * “The ...

The size of our gadgets

Apr

2010

Some smart guys have noticed that “internally, the iPad looks more like a battery with a computer than a computer with a battery”:http://daringfireball.net/2010/04/the_ipad. This is a pretty fundamental point. I remember back in my first job, working on automotive electronics strategies, someone asked me “how small can a CD player be” and to me it ...

Awesomely cool household items I want but can’t really justify

Feb

2010

* “Magimix Vision Toaster”:http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2010/01/magimix_vision.php. Our current toaster works just fine but this one just looks so awesome. * “Wood Alarm Clock”:http://okthestore.com/gallery.php?id=73. I hate your typical alarm clock, this is pretty atypical. * “Magisso Cake Server”:http://design-milk.com/magisso-cake-server/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+design-milk+%28Design+Milk%29&utm_content=Google+Reader. Don’t make that many cakes but this is a reason to start. * “Shattered Glass Table”:http://blabitalia.com/en/products/b-glass/impact/ is awesome looking. Sign ...

Household items I want but don’t need — lighting and curves

Dec

2009

* Solar coasters. Uber-dorky but I still think fun * Curvaceous bookshelves. I suspect these might look a lot worse when filled. But still admirable. * Sled chair. Blast back to the 60s. * Glass decanters. Sucker for all things glass. In another life I would have been a glass-blower. * Battery powered lamps. Gorgeous.

Stuff I Want But Don’t Need

Dec

2009

Toshiba Escargot Vacuum. Japan only, boo hoo. The Storyboard book. Very nice. See-through sink trap. Not clear that I want to see what is in there but still a cool idea… Design plate challenge. Great looking plates… Wireless HDMI. Way too expensive, and hate the resolution limit.

Stuff I Want But Don’t Need — too late for Christmas edition

Dec

2009

Awesome Studio Mango rugs. Love the asymmetry. Hometown Jigsaw Puzzle. Would order one but 2-3 weeks for production… Compartes Chocolates. Not really a chocolate fan but these are just so great looking… Blue shift bumper sticker. Geek humour. Tyler Cowen’s book list. His recos have a high hit rate. Pocket Ref book. If Kurt recos, ...

Grabbag of interesting articles on math, econ, science, design, web

Nov

2009

No theme here other than “stuff I happened across recently” Terry Tao math blog. Brain stretching. How Goldman profited on housing crash. Don’t know how reliable this source is but disturbing. Controversy about whether there is or is not a giant magma chamber under the state of Washington. Probably not but a great disaster movie ...

Stuff I Want but do not need — Mostly wood and furniture edition

Nov

2009

Kinetic wood sculptures. No idea what I’d do with but admire the artist (via Grimvisions) Secret Knock Detecting Doorlock. No sillier than any other door unlocking scheme we use. Bendywood. The perfect building material. For Gumby. Ceramic Speakers. Dinner set Lamp. OK this one I really secretly want. Revomaze. Because life is too simple and ...

Stuff I Want But Don't Need — shelving, lighting, tools, tripod

Aug

2009

* Fold out shelving system. Wow this is just awesome looking. * Kurt’s key list of propbuilding tools. * Rich and Bob’s Tripod reco — Gitzo1541T and the Really Right Stuff BH-40LR. I actually need this. * Hangman light. Awesome tho I think the rest of the family might object.

Stuff I Want But Don't Need — Leg Lamp edition

Aug

2009

Remember the Leg Lamp from A Christmas Story? * USB Aroma Diffuser/Hub/Moodlight — good to see that the tech industry inventive spirit remains alive, with products like this the US economy will remain a juggernaut for years to come. * Paperclip Lamp. I bet it breaks if you adjust it too many times. * GSelect. ...