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    Thursday, June 30, 2005

    The future?

    Ive known about ASR and their genius for a hot minute. These guys have actually figured out how to create realistic waves in pools. No not the crappy half foot slow bump you usually see, these are actual pumping shapely waves. Its about to transform surfing if it ever gets some backing. They now have wave pools proposed in texas and new york city. gasp!!! I shudder to think at all the kooks and wannabes who will now make my lineup infinitely worse. Not even worth the fun of surfing circles around them. I can already see all the pissed off dads yelling at me, as i spray their them and their kids with my cutbacks. Siiiigh, only time will tell if this idea catches on, and makes a special sport a little more mainstream. The true spirit of surfing is being one with the ocean, its mahem, fury, and unpredictableness coupled with the beauty. A concrete pool is the "mcsurfing" of the world. If anything it will push the sport, but don't we have enough posers and kooks running around already?

    Versareef, developed by ASR and Surf Pools, works as follows: computer-controlled pneumatic jacks lie beneath a tough rubber mat, subtly altering its shape so that a rush of water, sent by a wave machine similar to those already in use in swimming pools, is moulded into a powerful, curling surf wave.

    New Zealand researchers have devised a shape-shifting rubber reef that can be fitted to the floor of a swimming pool and, with the help of a wave machine, generates four types of wave - Australian, Hawaiian, Indonesian and Californian.
    ASR water conultants/braniacs


    Wednesday, June 29, 2005

    The freshest thing in town

    Thanks to cool hunting for finding out what i already knew. When i lived in san fran, we would go down to this market all the time. It used to be only thurs and saturday, but it sounds like its popularity continues to grow. This is THE MECCA for organics. It had the most incredible vegetables, meats, and assortment of goods in the usa. I have yet to see anything on par with this in new york. A couple hills down from me, it was a secret san franciscan treat. The ambience here at night would be fantastic, so i have to say the idea to extend this into the evening was a no-brainer. If in San Fran, this is one place not on the guide to check out.


    During Summer months from 4pm-8pm the Ferry Building hosts a Thursday Night Market, an event that gathers a cast of local farmers and merchants in what has become something of a tradition for farmer's markets. Running through at least Ocotber, it's a perfect appetizer for dinner at the famed Vietnamese spot The Slanted Door which is also housed in the building."


    Tuesday, June 28, 2005


    just a friendly reminder to backup your work and your harddrive...or else you might lose everything:(


    Where have you been my whole life?

    After spending the majority of my adolescence in a pool, I can firmly speak for the bunch when i say where has this been my whole life??? Nothing was worse than doing a distance set and forgetting how man laps were left. A race was easy because 69 laps in a mile in simple for a teenager to comprehend. " The Inview goggles display a lap count and time elapsed on their lenses so swimmers can track their progress. Invented by industrial design student Katie Williams, the goggles use an in-built compass to spot when swimmers complete lengths. The Inview goggles rely on a compass that orients itself when a swimmer first enters the pool. This compass spots when a swimmer changes direction and logs a lap. The Inview goggles were designed and built for a third-year project on an Industrial Design course at Brunel University. The prototype electronics package housing compass and lap counter are the size of a small stone, and would be a bit uncomfortable to swim with, said Ms Williams. However, the electronics on a finished product would be no bigger than a 50 pence piece and would sit unobtrusively on the goggle's rear strap. " It will be interesting to see if this makes headway. As far as competition, and even up to Olympic scale, i don't see this making strides. The swedes goggles are simple, cheap and have the best fit...ask any swimmer


    Monday, June 27, 2005

    Coolest phone (presentation) ever

    Casio consistently comes up with ingenius products, yet fails on properly advertising them. Known as the quirky mad-scientist brand in japan, here in america, they don't seem to give a damn. The new Exilium is incredibly thin yet packed to the gills with options. Trust me, they were my client for a year but sadly never "got it" as we say. This video from Casio japan illustrates their new waterproof indestructible phone in a beautiful cgi movie. America would surely gobble this sucker up, with our rugged lifestyles. If only Casio would wake up!!!!
    casio gets wet


    wake n' bacon!!!

    OOHHH GLORIUS DAY!!!!!Finally someone is listening....we've been asking for the bacon perfume for years but this is too good to be true.

    Wake n' Bacon is an alarm clock that wakes you up with the smell and sizzle of cooking bacon. Once the alarm goes off, it sends a signal to a small speaker to generate the alarm sound. The signal is re-routed by a microchip that responds by sending a signal to a relay that throws the switch to power a halogen lamp in the "baker module" that slow-cooks the bacon in about 20 minutes.


    Friday, June 24, 2005

    Look Out

    This is from Gizmodo and its a fascinating study of what happens when Phishers get a book on Javascript. Essentially, you go to the typical locked-down Apache site with lots of fake Paypal material. It asks you to click another link and then you get some sort of strange mini-browser that causes your main browser to auto-supply your email and password. I stopped the script before it could do any harm, but clearly they are piggy-backing on a real site here. I have received a couple of these emails and once i fell for it. I wonder if they got my paypal #. These guys are getting really good and everyone needs to be careful. Look at the meticulous skill of the site's craftmanship.

    Click to see the full screen.


    Wednesday, June 22, 2005

    Say Hello To My Little Friend

    Ok along comes another social awareness project that it is oozing infinite smarts. Storker was created by Matt Jenkins and incorporates some of the coolest street art in a long time. Jenkins has populated the streets of New York and D.C. with life-size babies made from nothing but tape. Jenkins fittingly calls the project Storker, the name he's also assigned to the race of clear creatures. They can be found climbing city streetlights, signs, billboards and trees, as well as campaigning roadside in Virginia, where the translucent tots have apparently launched a gubernatorial campaign. I love the campaign sign portion, and if anyone has seen or adopted one, let me know how its going caring for your plastic child.

    "The STORKER PROJECT is a species propagation movement by STORKER seeking to incite select individuals from the public at large, perhaps you. If while passsing by one you feel strange sensations in your nipples or fingertips, adopt the infant, breast feed, and give it plenty of pTLC. It will gradually mature to a full size Tape Man or Woman to co-habitate with you and eventually take you to the Glazed Paradise (or possibly oust you from your home)."


    Tuesday, June 21, 2005


    Euro has a new Peugot ad out. It seems there have been a lot of animation heavy things circulating recently. I have had problems with clients shying away from ani, worried about lack of product shots/ realism. Euro solves this by having a nice mix between live shot and animation. While the ad is witty and very cool, the car doesn't appear to be so. It has a playfulness that reminds me of the MJ/ Bugs Bunny Hare Jordan spots.
    See it


    Monday, June 20, 2005

    holy mothballs batman!

    Night in and night out, Batman keeps the streets of Gotham City safe from crime and villainy. One of the most extraordinary things about Batman is this: Despite the fact that he's a superhero, he doesn't actually posses any super powers. Instead of relying on unearthly abilities, Batman uses ingenuity, deception and clever gadgetry to give him an edge over Gotham's criminal element. Nothing instills fear in the hearts of Gotham's wrongdoers more than Batman's menacing appearance, and that appearance is all about the Batsuit. Kinda funny when you realize its just like the popular kids in high school, who used nice cars and nice clothes to get what they want. not that is a personal experience or anything.....but the Batsuit combines armor, communications and combat technologies into one state-of-the-art crime-fighting system.

    "The microphones in the ears are combined with special earpieces in the cowl that give Batman superior hearing in the field. The microphones can also be used to amplify Batman's voice and broadcast it through a discreet speaker in the suit. This is what gives Batman's voice that distinctive, disembodied and unearthly sound."

    very cool....find out why the batsuit saves Batman's ass day in and day out. Also find out what is really under the batmobile hood.

    Suit up
    Pimp my Ride


    Friday, June 17, 2005

    Culture jamming

    I took a great film class at UNC and one of the subjects we looked at was culture jamming. I can't remember it specifically but it had something to do with U2. One thing i love about new york city, is the great culture jamming. People love to express themselves and aren't shy about modding existing works of art. I think of it as a beautiful conversation, in which one person takes an unfinished sentence and articulates it in a different way. Flickr has a group called Altered Pedestrian Signs. Check it
    Jammed Ped Signs


    Thursday, June 16, 2005

    Now you see me, Now you dont: How to disappear completely

    "City Hideout," from Dutch design studio OOOMS, is a portable temporary dwelling made to fit one seated adult. The collapsable metal box resembles the kind of streetside sheds that commonly house electrical devices such as streetlight controls, new-age parking meters, and small generators. The hideout can be easily assembled on any corner or rooftop as the ultimate urban camouflage.

    The most intriguing feature of this seemingly simple structure is the stark duality inherent in the design. When viewed as a form of escape and asylum from the city, a shelter from metropolitan neurosis, the hideout exudes an OK Computer-like charm, allowing its owner an opportunity to innocuously disappear amidst the bustle he can no longer handle. At the same time, the hideout's slits create the perfect condition for a new breed of urban voyeurism, suddenly casting its inhabitant as a pathological threat to all passers-by.

    How cool/scary is this? New York is full of voyeurs already, this is just another layer. Reminds me of the bushman in San Fran, down in the marina who hides and jumps out at people. People hardly notice the fantastic art (see stencils post), any bets on how many of these will be spotted actively. It does bring to notice that people are "actively" aware of things. We choose to believe what we want to, and we choose to see what we want to. Let the fun begin......


    Tuesday, June 14, 2005

    Southern Wisdom

    Every so often we need a reality check; as i did returning to my birthplace for the first time in my life! For me its while driving ice cream trucks 7 hours through the thunderstorms over the beautiful mountains of vermont. Southerners have a sayin of "When life gives yuh lemons, yuh make lemonade". Life is too short to ever get caught on the eccentricities of situations or anything lacking the illusion of positvity. Change your perspective and remember where you came from. Life is a rollercoaster, just enjoy the ride.


    Monday, June 13, 2005

    My so called life

    In a turn of weird events, i am now going to be driving to Vermont tomorrow in an ice cream truck. This badboy has 1 seat, so i will be bringing a lawn chair. If thats not safe, i don't know what is. My agency is pitching Green Mountain Coffee, and yes it fits in. How i can't tell, but it will be a nice 7 hour drive. Im praying for AC and a radio, but am expecting nothing but a hot tin box. a new post when i get back.


    My Turf War

    Anyone who knows me, knows that the bane of my existence are the pidgeons on my balcony. For over a year now, we have been going at it. They have laid a total of 4 eggs in that time. None of which have produced the flying vermin that they are. Not to mention, it seems to be the outhouse for them and their friends. Those bastards...Burrowing under my grill, any nook, they use it to make a nest. I have been waiting about a year to get a high powered watergun, so when i bust out my door i can greet them appropriately. Some guys who have too much time on their hands have a website dedicated to the history of the water gun and instructions on how to build this bad boy. This head mounted water gun operates with an antique liquid based fire extinguisher and it is actually more complicated than it looks. It might be the super-weapon i need to turn the tide in this war.
    Die Flying Rats


    Friday, June 10, 2005

    Twisted Dreams

    Gints Apsits’ has created an amazing animated film, which would appear to be taking a peek into Jesus’ martyrdom, but also seems open to interpretation. Cool electronic beats going on behind the gothic/messianic imagery as well. If i had this as a dream, i would be seriously disturbed. Cool animation, mooding music, and surely lots and lots of drugs
    Ministry Messiah


    Thursday, June 09, 2005

    R2EAT2:Never get forced to eat monkfish liver without knowing what it is

    ITmedia reports on the world’s first “tasting” robot, developed by NEC System Technologies in cooperation with Sanjuu University. Since actually slapping taste buds on a slobbery, robotic tongue would probably be far too difficult, the company opted to install an infrared sensor in one of the robot’s “hands.” When you put a piece of food up to the sensor, it will blast it infrared at different wavelengths, and depending on the reverb, the robot can determine what food it is. This is surprisingly accurate — the “Health and Foodstuff Adviser Robot” can distinguish between different types of bread and cheese. "MMM fresh mozzarella, must consume. do not eat this!" I can see the robot getting pissed at people for eating Twinkies or kids refusing to eat broccoli, saying "I dont know what it is, let R2eat2 sort it out!"


    Wednesday, June 08, 2005

    Garden State

    Gardens-in-a-Bag offer a living reminder of your good wishes that will last for a very long time. The best part is that they are so easy to grow -- right in the leak-proof bag! Simply mix the enclosed tin of seed into the bag, add water and watch it grow. That's it! They do great sitting on a windowsill or under a desk lamp. Give them and grow them any time of year! For $8 per bag you can get organic Basil, Oregano, Italian Parsley, Chives, Lavender, Alpine Strawberry or Mini-Tomato (the tomatoes are actually $10). Have a garden anywhere you want- just add light and water!!! Perfect solution for all you urban dwellers.
    Let it Grow


    new project

    my sister gave me a rad stencil book a couple months ago. I love the stencils i see here in nyc. Incredibly talented artists contribute to the city everyday, yet most people walk right by or consider it destructive(some of my advertising co-workers incredibly). I absolutley appreciate it. This site is the stencil SOURCE. Im going to start making a couple shirts, as a little side project. Like i need more things to do, but whatever it will be fun. If you want to learn how to do stencils or create your own hip shirts all your friends will want to wear, check it out.


    Tuesday, June 07, 2005

    We aren't in Kansas anymore....

    -from National Geographic magazine:
    "It's a technological first. A well-placed probe fitted with 7 video camerasâ€”6 with a 60-degree field-of-view designed to achieve a full 360-degree field-of-view (one failed during deployment, resulting in a 300-degree field-of-view) and one pointing upwardâ€”captures footage inside a tornado, providing visual data on ground wind speeds where the storm does the greatest damage. And Tim Samaras with his team of storm chasers are there to make it happen. "

    This is so frickin sweet. Check out this footage! takes a little while to load.....

    eye on the sky


    Flipper is smarter than we thought

    WASHINGTON (AP) -- A group of dolphins living off the coast of Australia apparently teach their offspring to protect their snouts with sponges while foraging for food in the sea floor.





    its evolution baby!
    E v o l u t i o n


    Monday, June 06, 2005

    monkey business

    The authors of FREAKONOMICS are reporting on an economic experiment to teach monkeys to use money. Faced with financial realities, the monkeys act pretty much like people:
    A capuchin monkey must decide how to spend his budget of twelve coins (located on the yellow and white striped tray in the front of the trading room.) Two human research assistants are present (one wearing blue and one wearing red), and both hold a piece of food in an orange dish for the monkey to see. The red research assistant "sells" grapes and the blue research assistant "sells" Jell-o cubes, with each piece of food costing a coin from the monkey's budget.

    The capuchin must make a decision analogous to a grocery-store shopper's: how much of their budget to spend of grapes and how much to spend on Jell-o...

    Two unrelated tamarin monkeys sit adjoining each other. Every fifteen seconds, a human research assistant brings a tray loaded with a marshmallow that is just out of reach of one of the monkeys. The only way that monkey can eat the treat is if his partner pulls a red handle that will put the marshmallow within reach.

    But pulling the handle doesn't bring any reward for the puller: pulling the handle only pays if the monkey who receives the marshmallow reciprocates by pulling in the future. Like many human situations, the monkeys must work together to obtain food and build trust while punishing failures to cooperate.

    This experiment is hilarious. The lil critters do a good job of rationalizing about money. In one instance, the monkey picks up all the tokens and threw them all back into the other chamber- a bank heist of sorts. They also experienced that money really can buy anything. Scientists witnessed the first exchange of money for sex ever in monkey history. The monkey who was paid for sex, immediately traded in his token for a grape. HA. i guess monkeys do behave like humans.....
    money aint no thang


    Friday, June 03, 2005

    Wishlist: Unmanned Drone

    Northrop Grumman engineers have spent the last couple of years designing a killer drone for the Navy. Today, the company announced that it's starting to build the X-47B Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems plane. It's the first attack drone "that can operate from both land bases and aircraft carriers," according to a Northrop press release.

    The Pentagon is giving Northrop a billion bucks for the three vehicles, which are designed to "suppress enemy air defenses, perform electronic attack, conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, and perform precision strike attacks," according to the company. The drones will each have a pair of 2,000 pound, satellite-guided bombs to help in the missions.

    I remember when i discovered the internet around 12 in my father's lab. Looking back, how instrumental was it that my father had the latest technology (the old mac) and let me play on it? I can't possibly pay enough gratitude to this. Needless to say i went to work immediately researching why Area-51 was real and why we should visit Roswell when we went to New Mexico. Who knew where it would lead, but thanks Dad. It did get me thinking, could the UFO's of the 80's and 90's been unmanned drones?

    The CIA invented the predator drones for survelliance in Iran and Afghanistan, back in the 80's. If you want to know why September 11th happened and why Islamic Radical Fundamentalism exists today, read Ghost Wars by Steve Coll. Its phenomenal. You won't look at the past or the present the same ever again.

    Ghost Wars


    Thursday, June 02, 2005

    My Freakish Life

    Freakonomics has emerged as one of the must read books of 2005. It currently sits at no5 on the Amazon bestseller list. Steven Levitt is one of the most interesting young economists around. He has set out through deep intellectual analysis to really understand some of the motivations that lie at the heart of human behavior. For an economist, this type of thinking is radical. Most economists want human beings to behave in very predictable ways.

    In their book, Levitt and Dubner force us to challenge our conventional thinking and to constantly question what we told. Reading the book certainly forces one to think differently about real-estate agents and parenting.

    One of my favorite websites Influx, run by Butler, Shine, and Stern in San Fran got an inverview with the authors, here is an excerpt.

    Influx was fortunate enough to spend time with Steven Levitt and his co-author Stephen Dubner and ask them some questions relating to the book and the thinking that surrounds it.

    Many marketers claim that they can understand consumers, through research polling and focus groups. Are they right or misguided?

    There are surely insights to be gained from polling and focus groups but just as surely, real data would seem to do a much better job of revealing actual preferences. That's what economists try to do daily, and what we try to do in Freakonomics: use actual data from any arena of life (crime, parenting, sports, etc.) to see what's really happening underneath all the noise. Sometimes the results are exactly what you suspected but very often there are big surprises.

    What's the best example of a marketer who has capitalized on the strange paradox of human behavior?

    Well, it's unclear that human behavior is a paradox. Occasionally irrational, perhaps, but basically people tend to do what they need to do to get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing. So in that light, Malcolm Gladwell (though not a marketer) seems to have done a wonderful job capitalizing on human behavior: providing a lot of smart people with true stories about other smart people doing interesting things. Gladwell's taste is so good that one simply years to be in his company (well, in truth the company of his writing).

    What's the one thing that business can learn from reading your book?

    As we define economics, it is really the study of incentives. And business, of course, is all about incentives. The tricky part is that every incentive scheme is different, and there are different types of incentives: moral, social, financial, etc. Freakonomics is really a survey of a number of case studies from business, education, crime, etc., that all try to get to the bottom of the relevant incentive schemes. The key is to figure out what incentive scheme you're up against, and gather as much data as possible, and then hopefully you'll see what lies beneath. So we find that real-estate agents sometimes abuse their informational advantage because the incentive scheme is set up to encourage it; but in other cases, we find that incentives work very much in the consumer's favor.

    Im reading this book. Its what i do. This guy just beat me to writing a book but GO READ IT!


    Wednesday, June 01, 2005

    You are so in timeout mister

    These are two products from a so-called "best children's page"..
    The Take-Out-Time-Out is a mat you are supposed to make your kids sit on when they've misbehaved. Bonus creepiness: "TAKE-OUT-TIME-OUT can be used anywhere anytime (home, store, restaurant, playground, etc.)." Imagine the psychological scars you'll inflict on your child by making him sit on this pad in a restaurant. GO SIT ON YOUR CARTOON SPOT RIGHT NOW MISTER!!!! It really does look like a Loony Tunes hole to me..but wow does that kid look upset or what
    The O'Pair is a rope to attach a kid to an adult and was "designed to be a more socially acceptable and safe alternative to a child's leash or harness." Since when was it socially acceptable to be a such a horrible parent you have to keep them on a leash?? THIS IS HOW PEOPLE END UP IN HOME SCHOOLING...
    Help Create Tomorrow's Village Idiots




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