Surge protectors and power supplies are, for the most part, the missing link in a design-conscious office space. This design (prototype shown) is by Grin’Termeer, aka p32, a design duo working in Concord, New Hampshire. The power strip is designed to look like a container ship (we kind of see a battle-ship resemblance here too), it’s made from a cast rubber body set over a metal chassis. The ship powers the electronic devices leaving their cords in the wake– right on. A nice find by New City Movement.
We all have cellphones. We all depend on them. But many of us are tied into super long contracts that — for one reason or another — we want to get out of. The people at Celltradeusa.com have come up with the brilliant concept of creating a online trading ground for cellular service contracts. Say I have a Verizon contract with 13 months remaining on it but want to switch to Cingular, and you are a Cingular customer who wants to change to Verizon because you need the free ‘in network’ minutes because you just made the ill-advised decision to commence a long-distance relationship with a girl across the country who uses Verizon. Well, you can log onto Celltradeusa.com and work out a deal to swap contracts with me. The site basically creates a commodities market for cellphone plans. Celltradeusa swapping is cheap ($20 to get out of a contract; free to pick up a contract), and the process is supposedly quick (20-30 minutes). Say goodbye to those $300 cancellation fees.
Tomorrow, Friday, November 3rd, Borat’s movie finally hits U.S. theaters. We have already hyped the Borat movie, but we are so excited to see the movie that I think one more post is warranted. This time, we want to share with you Borat’s guest appearance on Letterman. We had the chance to meet Jay Leno in Vegas this week, but have never met Letterman– personally, I think they’re both great, and never quite understood the fact that people always feel like they have to pick one or the other. But I digress. Besides the fact that this Borat interview is drop to the floor funny, the musical guest on the show that night happened to be Beck. You know how much we love Beck– so when you put Beck on a stage for a live performance, and then have Borat sneak in for a little guest performance, you create something truly great. Check out the embed.
Sick of all those goodie-two-shoe wrapping paper? Us too. It’s time to turn up the attitude with Si Hill Design’s (W)rapping Paper. Paper with lyrics from House of Pain, The Sugar Hill Gang, NWA and Vanilla Ice. Perfect for wrapping up glocks, brass knuckles, gangsta-rap coloring books and just about anything else this holiday season. You can get your pre-order on by emailing the designer: sihill@sihilldesign.com, or leave a comment on their blog. Via BB
Ryder Robison was born in Oslo, Norway, currently lives in New York, and is an artist we dig. He spent the greater part of the last decade as the bass player in the Denver-born, major label band VAUX, but he recently left the group to pursue is own talents, design being one of them. He crated his art-skills (and partying) as a Fine Arts major at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His portfolio, PantherAttack contains compelling illustration, painting, and some fairly dark (although quite interesting) photography. My favorite work of his is the basic watercolor two-color instruments, like the ones shown here.
I’m sure if you’re reading our blog, you’re pretty computer savvy, and you probably know what Web 2.0 sites are. But for those of you who need a little explanation: Web 2.0 sites are ‘new and improved sites that make the web their platform, provide users a way of interacting with each other, and organize and categorize their content.’ Basically, Web 2.0 sites are the ’second coming of the World Wide Web.’ The best resource I’ve seen for finding these great new sites is Real World Software Development’s list. Not only does Real World provide a comprehensive list of sites, but it links you into other helpful lists. Real World’s list is broken into categories like social bookmarking, social network, communications/email, mapping, job search, shopping, travel, calendars, etc. Thanks to my brother and advertising guru Brendan Starr over at GSD&M in Austin, TX for the tip on this great resource.
I love when brands put their fate in the hands of their customers. That’s exactly what Kettle Chips is doing with its Peoples Choice: Passport to Flavor campaign. For $20, Kettle Chips will send you a box with five limited edition flavors including Aztec Chocolate, Island Jerk, Royal Indian Curry, Dragon 5 Spice and Twisted Chili Lime. Once you have indulged in a decidedly exotic chip tasting experience, you can vote online to determine which of the 5 flavors will become an official Kettle Chips flavor (voting also enters you into a $4,500 travel gift certificate sweepstakes). You’ll also get ‘A Taste of Putumayo: Music for Every Palate’ sampler CD, trivia postcards, voting ballots, food pairing ideas, drink recipes, and a premium chip clip. If you ask, me this is a no-brainer gift for the holiday season. The price is right, and it has a little bit of everything–but most importantly, it has Kettle Chips.
I love when brands put their fate in the hands of their customers. That’s exactly what 
