This has to be one of the simplest, yet most novel, ideas I’ve seen in a while. Half the clothespin is a lamp, consisting of a battery and an LED, from Sungho Lee. Clamp it onto anything you can think of and you’ve got an instant light source. I’m not sure how you turn it on or off, but unfortunately since’s it’s just a prototype I’m not too concerned. However, the budding electrical engineer should be able to whip up some of these in no time. Any takers?

The latest tie from Thomas Pink. Combine with the wallet holster, and you can just leave your pants at home.

Want to point an e-finger towards the wickedly talented italian artist who goes by the name Gipi.

He’s an incredible illustrator and story teller with a very loose pen & brush applied to very skillfully composed shots. I can only say you should go pick up “Notes for a War Story” right away, no questions asked. Every page is just tasty as hell, and that’s all there is to it.

Scope him out at his blog. Who cares that it’s italian. Watercolour is universal.

Notice how those glasses don’t have a frame…at all. That’s because they’re attached to a bar piercing through the bridge of the nose. Morpheus would be so jealous. If your mind, like mine, goes instantly to the idea of having your glasses ripped off then fear not, they’re attached by magnets.

I’m currently sitting in an inorganic chemistry class, and we’re learning about the periodic table, but what I really think is important about this iconic table of letters is Mendeleev. Other than just boasting a BA name, he also created this thing with only basic knowledge of the elements (by today’s standards). What’s so special about this, you say? Well, this periodic table doesn’t just describe certain elemental properties about which Mendeleev didn’t know about, but it also predicted the properties of elements that hadn’t even been discovered. That’s right, this man predicted the FUTURE.

It’s hard to say no when you’ve got Humphrey Bogart and Dwight Eisenhower endorsing your product.  It’s especially hard when that product is delicious sausage and beer.  Calling themselves “Purveyors of Artisan Sausage”, the crew at Frank definitely has their niche carved out.  And their niche is hungry.

They’ve got everything from the plain hot dog, to chili cheese dogs, to the Jackalope, an antelope and rabbit sausage.  Artisan sausage is right.  And why not top it off with the of all upsizing options: “Pork It – Split any hot dog, stuff with white American cheese, wrap with bacon and deep fry.  Add $1.75″

We’ve seen people doing this kind of thing in the privacy of their own home, but to have a restaurant actively promoting it on their menu is an entirely new phenomenon.  We can’t ignore the identity work that the guys at the Decoder Ring Design Concern have done for Frank.  It’s both bold, and classic.  Not unlike our friend, the hot dog.

The London Ontario Live Arts Festival starts it’s fourth annual venture this year. Expanding their offering again, this festival is comprised of both free and paid venues of visual and musical artists. Downtown will be bustling with the likes of akron/family, nomo, and my favorite of the year (and his 2nd performance at LOLA) final fantasy (aka Owen Pallett).

If you’re in the London or surrounding area this weekend I fully advise you to make a stop at Victoria Park for some excellent performances. Or check out the website for a full link to all the venues and a schedule of the event.

Scribblenauts is a puzzle game for the DS.  Puzzle games are pretty standard fare, right?  Well, Scribblenauts really kicks it up a notch.  The premise is simple: write down something.  Anything.  That thing will then materialize in game, and interact as you would expect it to.  Policemen chase crooks.  God fights the devil.  Lions eat meat.  Zombies turn people into other zombies.  You then use these elements to solve the puzzles in the game.

But what’s really impressive is just how vast the pool of objects is.  I performed a test of ten random nouns, to see how the game would fare.  Here’s the results:

1. Architect – Out pops a little guy in a hard hat and coveralls.  I suspect this is just a synonym for “construction worker” and try that out.  Much to my surprise, it’s a totally different guy in a hardhat and safety vest.  Impressive.
2. Crayon – A small, grey, vaguely crayon shaped object appears.  My character picks it up.  It doesn’t seem to do anything.  Then, I click on the architect and the construction worker, and it turns them pink!  I try “green crayon”, but it still turns things pink.
3. Dolphin – A dolphin shows up.  Unfortunately, I’m on the land, so it just kind of sits there.  If I click on it, a ride option appears.  My character mounts up, and the dolphin actually starts making clicking noises.  I try “shark”, and the two of them battle to the death.  Dolphin wins.
4. Gauge – A little clock-face or dial appears.  It doesn’t really do anything.  Then again, it’s just a gauge.  it’s not attached to anything.  What were you expecting it to do?  I turn it pink with my green crayon.  The dolphin won’t shut up now.
5. Grain – A single shaft of wheat appears.  I try “rain” to see if I can make it grow.  I drop a rain cloud overtop, but nothing happens.  I finally draw “‘pool” for the dolphin, and drop him in it.  He stops chattering.
6. Moustache – A brown, handlebar moustache materializes, and I drag it onto my character.  It adheres itself to his face.  Instant disguise!
7. Pediatrician – A long haired woman with glasses enters stage right.  I’ve seen her before.  This is the same sprite that’s used for “doctor”.  But that’s not too bad.  How could you really distinguish a pediatrician from a doctor anyways?  On a hunch, I try “engineer”.  Out pops an architect clone.  Engineers everywhere boycott the game.
8. Moat – I’m running out of room in this level.  You can only have so many items at once.  I get rid of the rain cloud and the gauge.  The engineer runs over and eats the grain off the ground.  Have we no class?  I try “moat”.  It’s basically an island, with water on either side.  It’s pretty small, but it is definitely a moat.  I drown the architect in it.  “Island”, on the other hand, gets me a little mound of sand with a palm tree attached.
9. Sled – I’ve seen this one before, when a friend asked me to try “bobsled”.  So, bobsled and sled are the same thing.  Right.  Tell that to the cast of Cool Runnings.
10. Sousaphone – I don’t have much faith in this one.  I type in “sousaphone” and out pops a little tuba.  Is that what a sousaphone is?  I check wikipedia.  Not exactly, but pretty close.  I equip it to the engineer.  He looks confused.  I try “musician”, and a little man in a tuxedo and white bow tie pops up.  Interesting choice of stereotype.  He looks more like a maître d, but I give him the sousaphone.  Nothing happens.  I was really hoping that he’d play it.  I get stuck in the moat, so I try “ufo” to get myself out.  I hop into the flying saucer a zoom off into the sunset.

The breadth of this game is impressive.  The gameplay itself can be a bit confusing at times, but it’s definitely worth picking up if only to get “God” and “Amen Ra” to duke it out in a cage.  Want to try a word out, but don’t have the game?  Leave a comment, and I’ll let you know the results.

Fondation Cartier of Paris, made this awesome site, which analyses Paris grafitti tags letter by letter. I came across this through infosthetics, a blog dedicated to data visualizations (Adam would be proud), which is worthy of a post on its own. Check them both out.

In the constant struggle for looking for a place to hold your ID, money and cellphone, but don’t want to ruin the lines of your super slims? Both Adam an I have adoped the “back pocket method” but if you’re worried about sitting on your phone, you might want to opt for this. Beryll‘s Holster Wallet has a side dedicated to your phone/media player and the second is a wallet. Although, this option requires the right style to pull it off, if you can manage you’ll be blazin saddles at the bar in no time.

The only downside to this buffalo leather masterpeice? The $795 price-tag which can be spent by appointment only.

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