No One Belongs Here More Than You

What better way to see a book than with some great storytelling? And Miranda July's website for her book 'No One Belongs Here More Than You' is definitely an example of great story telling (maybe not fabulous photography but good storytelling). I plan on buying the book based solely on the joy I got from the ridiculously entertaining approach to the website.

Otto

According to designer Duncan Wilson, "Every object and surface in our environment has a whisper; subtle tremors and vibrations that are usually undetectable to the human ear, produced by the activity and movement of daily life." He developed Otto to give you a glimpse into those secret whispers of objects. Otto uses suction cups and magnets to latch onto objects and amplify their sounds into ambient music for your listening pleasure.

WALL-E

I went to see WALL-E today. It was fabulous. Like most Pixar movies, I was very inspired by the story, the characters, and most of all, the artwork. The story is about a robot (WALL-E) that is left on an abandon Earth to clean up the garbage. The movie has very little dialog but tons of story. The robots are all full of character and personality. I was also super amused and fascinated by their interpretation of the future. If you are inspired by Pixar's art, I recommend checking out the Art of Pixar books. I recently purchased The Art of WALL-E.

FontStruct

And speaking of fonts... I just came across this great font building software called FontStruct. It allows you to build, share and download fonts for free. The gallery of designed fonts is very inspiring. (Discovered through Springwise).

Font Conference

If you are someone who works with fonts on a daily basis, you will definitely appreciate this Font Conference video from CollegeHumor. It is a brilliant comedic video that personifies fonts. It's full of fantastic typography jokes. My favorite character is Wingding... "Mailbox! Open Mailbox!". (Found through ComputerLove).

The Human Race

Nike has come up with an interesting concept for a worldwide 10K run that they are calling The Human Race. The race is scheduled to take place on August 31 2008. In 25 cities, such as Vancouver or Madrid, there will be organize race routes. But participation is not limited to these cities. Nike is encouraging anyone with the Nike Plus software and hardware to also take part. Their website offers training routines where you can track your progress.

Zune Branding Animations

Nervo Design and Animation has created these great animations for Zune. There are 5 unique animations. The short videos are meant as a branding accompaniment for Zune events and presentations. They are slightly random but in a interestingly captivating way. (Found through one of my favorites, Computerlove).

Destroy Today Calendar Screensaver

I've been using Dropclock as my screensaver for the past few months but I think it's time to move on. I'm considering this calender screensaver by Destroy Today as a replacement. It's subtle, clean, informative and interesting.

Barcode Plantage

German design student, Daniel A Becker, had created this great interpretation of a barcode reader. Barcode Plantage is a barcode visualizer, programmed using Processing. The program turns barcodes into coloured Bezier curves, complete with an auditory interpretation and definition of some of the number's meanings. Prints of the barcodes are available for $7 each.

DIY Google Images

Fun with photos. Create you own low tech Google Images sheet. Just print out a Google Images results page (with appropriate titles), cut out the images, and take a photo (of the appropriate subject) though the paper. (Found through Fubiz).

Entertaining Surveillance Cameras

Ha! This idea made me smile. It is instructions on how to entertain surveillance cameras by creating interactive robot invasions. (Found through Hyperexperience)

I'M Making a Difference

I received an email to my hotmail account last week about Microsoft's I'M Initiative. I was pretty impressed by the idea and immediately signed up. The concept is that if you sign up for the initiative, every time you IM or use Hotmail to send a message, a portion of the advertising revenue goes to one of ten charities (you can choose which one). There is not cost to you... all you have to do is chat. Microsoft has put no limit on the donations. In their words "the sky is the limit". To promote the initiative, Microsoft is starting a 30 day I'M talkathon, explained on this fake but humorous blog. So sign up and talk, talk, talk.

Pocketable Rainbow

Some days it's a good idea to keep a rainbow in your pocket. Created by Masashi Kawamura.

King of Kong

I just finished watching the movie King of Kong. I highly recommend it. It is extreme neediness overlaid with crazy madness. The movie is a documentary about a guy trying to beat the Donkey Kong high score. I know, I know, that could be a potentially terrible documentary, but it's totally not. I had no idea that the world of classic gaming was so much like a high school drama.

Bjork's Wanderlust Video in 3D

Bjork is know for taking creative liberties with her music, her fashion and her videos. She puts the art back in artist. The newest version of her Wanderlust video is no exception. The video is able to be viewed in 3D, using old school blue-red 3D glasses. The release of this video caused a You Tube worthy, wanna-be-MacGyver, 3D glass making episode at my house. Let me just say that bags of Kool Aid are not adequate substitutes for red acetate. You can view the 3D video on the Wired website, along with their (proper) instructions on how to make your own 3D glasses.

Dropclock

I have been enjoying this Dropclock screensaver for the past couple weeks. It shows the time in Helvetica numbers dropping super slow-mo into water. You can choose between white on black, or black on white. Unlike most clocks, this is very calming to watch the minutes slip by.

Live Launch Coverage

Tonight I am completely enthralled by NASA's Live Mission Coverage of the space shuttle Endeavour's preparation for launch. I've already been watching for an hour and a half. I've seen all the astronauts get suited up and strapped in. They have just closed the access hatch with just over 2 hours until launch. The NASA TV feed's only audio is the team's radio communication. There are times when it's totally silent. I guess you could argue that it is not that interesting... but I'm completely memorized. Good thing I didn't have any plans tonight because I can't pull myself away!

Walk Score

If you are moving and looking for a place to buy or rent, you should check out the website Walk Score. It scores neighbourhoods based on how walker friendly they are. Walkable neighbourhoods are determined based on proximity of restaurants, shops, schools, parks, etc. The site admits some shortcomings in their calculations, but overall it's an excellent approximation of walkability. The Walk Score website has a great list of reasons why it's important to live somewhere walkable. The reasons range from the predictable eco-friendly sort to some you many not have though of, such as increased social capital. Very cool site. I'm going to be looking up the walk score of every neighbourhood I consider living in from now on. (Thanks Karon and fam).

Phil Collins + Gorillas = Happiness

I was really exhausted tonight and noncommittally thumbing through old bookmarks when I came across something that made me feel much better. It's a link to an brilliant British Cadbury commercial from last year. If you are reading this from England you are probably rolling your eyes at me (I apologize). If you haven't seen it, take a couple minutes to watch. Phil Collins plus a Gorilla... how can it not be awesome?

The Bureau of Communication

Magnetism's Bureau for Communication has a hilarious collection of Mad Libs style forms to fill out and email to your friends. Forms include Unsolicited Feedback, Declaration of Romantic Intent and Statement of Gratitude, amongst others. They have also recently added an archive of sent forms if you are interested in what everyone else has to say. They state that 'attempts at humor are highly discouraged'. Ha!

The Heart

The Wellcome Collection is an interesting mix of galleries, exhibits and events that examine what it means to be human. They combine the ideas of medicine, life and art into each exhibit. One of their current online exhibits is called The Heart. It's a grouping of images and readings about the heart. It looks at the anatomical heart, the symbolic heart, and the sacred heart. The range of meanings and perspectives of the heart make it a refreshingly interesting collection. The Heart is a nice little online outing on this lovely Valentine's Day.

Overheard in New York

I'm moving away from New York this week :( I'm really going to miss the character of the city and all its inhabitants. This reminded me of the site Overheard in New York. It's part of a series of websites where people submit pieces of overheard conversations. Too funny! Overheard in New York is my favorite of the Overheard websites. You just have to read a few posts to appreciate the awesomeness of New Yorkers.

Virtually Mine

Virtually Mine is an interesting exhibit created by CITIZEN:citizen for the Peel Gallery. The exhibit examines the value of objects. By value, they don't mean how much it would sell for at an auction, but what kind of value the object has to its owner. The general public is invited to bring objects into the museum to be cataloged for the collection. When someone submits an item they describe themselves, the object they are submitting and the explanation for its inclusion. One of my favorites is the Armani Handbag included in the image above. The owner explained its value by saying "It's my favorite bag. I think it's extremely classy and I got it on sale in SoHo for nearly nothing. I feel sexy when I use it."

My Oats

My Oats is a crazy little online drawing application that allows you to create multi-sided kaleidoscopeing patterns. Patterns can be made with anywhere from 2 to 16 repeating areas. You have a range of drawing tools to work with and control over opacity, line weight, background color and glow. Users have created some amazing results. Check out their gallery and play around with it for yourself.

CDX Game

CDX is a interactive video adventure created by the BBC and the always inspiring Preloaded. The game was designed to accompany the BBC mini-series Ancient Rome but it's a fabulous stand alone piece. The game is educational in a very subtle way. It reminds me of a modern, adult version of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. Preloaded used a combination of Maya Renderings, video, and Flash to create this online adventure. CDX won this year's Flash Forward Game category.

MAC Cosmetics' Halloween Looks

The MAC Cosmetics site has a section called 'Looks' where they demo different makeup styles. One of their current sets of Looks is Halloween. They have some great Halloween makeup suggestions including Dark Things, Optical Illusions and Robotniks. Each Look is printable and gives a full suggestion of the products used to create it. I think this is a great promotion for a cosmetics company. It's fun and shows the versatility of their products.

City Shrinker

These City Shrinkers are created by Ben Thomas. They are photos of the real world altered to look like scale models. Ben says he tries to alter the familiar to cause people to second guess and question reality, even if it's only for a second.

I've seen a couple good Photoshop tutorials on how to achieve this effect, but I've yet to come across anyone who can do it better then Ben Thomas. (Found through Wooster Collective).

Starbucks + Apple = Pure Joy

When Apple and Starbucks first announced their iTunes partnership I was intrigued but not particularly excited. I didn't really understand why I would want to interact with a Starbucks branded version of iTunes, even if they were giving me a free song. But... I tried this out at a Starbucks on Friday, and I have to say it's pretty amazing. Amazing enough that I almost forgot my coffee in the iTunes haze. Why is it so amazing you ask? Two reasons. The first is that it was seamless to the point of being magical. The second is that it was an inspiring example of location based content customization.

So, let's go back to seamless for a minute. I walk into Starbucks, turn on my iPhone, click on the iTunes music store and voila, a Starbucks button appears at the bottom of my screen. Clicking on it allows me to not only to purchase Starbucks content, but also tells me the name of the song that I hear playing in the store. I'm not sure why this seems so incredible in this day and age, but it does.

As I mentioned, the second thing that I found really inspiring about this experience was the adaptation of software based on my location. Again, I'm not so sure why this is so rare these days when so many types of devices can tell where you are, but there are very few companies that are actually using your location to deliver customized content to your phone or computer. Props to Starbucks for seeing an opportunity and doing something interesting.

Unfortunately this service is currently only available in New York and Seattle, but more Starbucks locations are scheduled to participate soon.

Eric Johnson, meet World

World, meet Industrial Designer and digital music artist extraordinaire, Eric Johnson. Eric just debuted two of his most recent musical experiments at Etsy Labs Handmade Music nights. The first was his very entertaining Theremin Crutches. He recycled an old pair of crutches into a large theremin. The result looks and sounds like someone releasing all the stress the crutches have collected. Love it!

Eric's other project, Sixty Switches of Fury, is even more fabulous. It's a controller made to look like a piece of suburbia. The large section of wall houses 60 (now 61) light switches each controlling a music sample. The switches are arranged in octives like a keyboard, but unlike a keyboard you don't have to hold the keys down. Instead you just turn the switches on or off, creating a more natural and useful interface for those of us with only 10 fingers.

I appreciate Eric's approach to musical instruments because he comes at it from a design background and not just a musical one. The end result is all about the user interface and the interactive experience. The fabulously entertaining music is just a bonus. Eric's work was recently been featured by Wired and Time Out New York. May I just say that Nerdsters are awesome!

Google Earth Sky View

The latest version of Google Earth (4.2) includes a feature that they they have been promising for a while, called Sky View. It is an awesome astronomy resource which allows you to navigate the universe, as well as the Earth. It is still Google Earth as you know it, but with a little button that allows you to switch from a view of the Earth to a view of the sky. The Sky View feature includes constellation labels, images and information from the Hubble Telescope, star names, and animated planetary orbits. Watch a video demonstration here. Or better yet, to experience it yourself, download it here.

Net Disaster

I don't know why this is so fun, but it is. Net Disaster is a website that allows you to inflict catastrophes on your favorite (or least favorite) websites. Just type in the target site's address and choose the type of damage you want to inflict. Disasters to choose from include; wasp stings, spilled coffee, throwing tomatoes, sending in protesters, spray paint graffiti and much more. A great stress reliever. (Found through the always fabulous Swissmiss).

Pattern Game

I was looking for some Flash examples last night when I came across this Pattern Game. It is mesmerizing to play with and a nice example of some mathlete style Action Scripting.

Earth as Art

I came across the site Earth as Art today. It's from a couple of years ago, but I found it really inspiring. It celebrates the beauty of the Earth by featuring a collection of stunning high res satellite images of our planet. Above is a photos of China's Himalayas.

Endeavour Launch

In my opinion, there are few things more magnificent to watch than a space shuttle launch. The space shuttle Endeavour took off last night on its 22nd flight into space. Video of the launch is available on NASA'a shuttle website.

Rasterbator

Do you have a blank wall that needs filling? Then you need to do some Rasterbation... pronto. Rasterbator is an online or downloadable program that rasterizes any image into large scale posters (up to 20m) divided into neat little 8.5 x 11 pieces perfect for your home printer. What is your excuse for that blank wall now?

Michael Cross' Bridge

This art instillation called Bridge, by Michael Cross, was part of last year's London Design Festival. The setting is an old church filed with 60 inches of water. As you approach the water you are met by one single stepping stone. Stepping out onto the stone causes a series of small platforms to rise out of the water creating a walkway. As you walk out to the center of the church, the steps disappear behind. You end up peacefully alone above the water, free to take in your surroundings. Sounds wonderful.

Unfortunately, based on people's Flickr photos it looks like the insurance company stepped in and added lifejackets and an escort to the mix as well as cutting out the disappearing steps. The effect isn't quite the same. (Found through Computerlove).

The Opposite Side of the World

As little kids, my sister and I would often dig in the sandbox. Most of the time the imagined goal was the same - dig to China. I would have been greatly disappointed if I had done all that digging just to find out that the other side of the world was just the middle of the ocean. Luckily modern children don't need to waste their time digging... they just have to go to this website. It shows you what is on the exact opposite side of any point on earth. (Don't get your hopes up too high, odds are the other side is ocean).

Teaposy

Teaposy tea is all about the experience of tea. Their tea comes in a compressed bulb. When you place it into a (preferably clear) teapot of hot water it starts to slowly bloom. Instead of impatiently waiting for you tea to stoop, this allows you to stop, relax and enjoy the process. Click here to watch a video.

Fun with Contact Lists

Haha...this is a pretty awesome idea. Get your friends to pose on scanners or glass doors (anything that gives them that good and smushed look). Then save the images as their contact list photos (this works particularly well if you have an iPhone). It gives the appearance that they are trapped in your phone. Too funny. (Found through NOTCOT.org).

HBO Voyeur

HBO's amazing new Voyeur website allows you to peak into the windows of five New York apartment buildings. It's a stunning Flash website created by the Brooklyn based Big Spaceship that combines video, music and colors to great dramatic effect. At each building you watch the story or stories unfold over a matter of days. There is something disturbingly captivating about watching people through windows. The site is part of a larger experimental 'Hyper Media' advertising campaign by HBO.

Face Your Pockets

Face Your Pockets is a Russian blog that invites you to show the world what is in your pockets. Just empty your pockets onto a scanner, insert your face, and scan. The result is a strange little glimpse into people's lives. Apparently 50% of people carry a band aid in their pocket... who knew. (Found through Core 77).

Climate Cars Bike Rescue

Climate Cars are a new fleet of eco-friendly taxis in London. They drive hybrid cars and offset their emissions using The Carbon Neutral Company. What is interesting about Climate Cars is their Bike Rescue service. All of their cars carry bike racks. So if your eco-friendly self chose to ride a bike to work but then later questioned your commitment to climate change when it started pouring rain at the end of the day, you can still get a ride home from Climate Cars (complete with bike and a guilt-free conscious). (Found through Springwise).

Transformers Movie

I saw the Transformers movie on the 4th and I thought it was totally awesome. If you are a fan of the original Transformers, a connoisseur of CGI, or just an action movie lover you should definitely see this film at the theater. The visual effects are were done by Industrial Light & Magic, and they are close to flawless. I think Michael Bay and team did a great job of modernizing Transformers without losing their original character and appeal.

If you haven't already done so, check out these high res renderings of the Transformers on Michael Bay's site and this Popular Mechanics Article about the movie's special effects.

Johnny Hollow Website

I just spent about an hour pushing blobs of green liquid around with my little bug self. That is thanks to the interactive Johnny Hollow website. They deserve some props for making a site that kept my attention long enough for me to decide that I actually liked their music. (Found through the FWA)

Photosynth

OoooOOo... I've just been playing with this demo of Photosynth. It's fun and amazing on so many different levels. The demo is a 3D reconstruction of St Mark's Square in Venice, made up of photos taken from Flikr. The photos are arranged based on their spacial relationships, creating a virtual model that can be rotated and zoomed. Graphics indicate where the picture was taken from and outline of other near by photos. This demo was released almost a year ago by Microsoft Live Labs and featured at this year's TED conference.

What is really amazing to me is how such large amounts of data can be so easily manipulated (accomplished partially by just focusing only on what is within the parameters of your screen). For more about the technology and it's uses check out this video. (Thanks Mike!)

Street View

Wow...Street View on Google Maps is really amazing. It is street level photos that you can rotate 360 degrees and zoom in and out to show what you would see if you were standing on that point in the map. So far it only exists for New York City, Denver, Miami, Las Vegas and San Francisco but hopefully this is just the beginning. This is one of the Google Map features that I've been waiting for, (although it wasn't quite as awesome in my head... it was more about photo reference shots for directions). If you haven't tried it out yet, go do it right now at maps.google.com and click on Street View.

Evian Ballet

I never thought a ballet would be so fun to choreograph... especially in German. I guess when it involves knee high water, dolphins, diamonds, and giant cherries, it's hard to go wrong. Create your own here, care of Evian.

Red Interactive Agency

I get very excited when someone does something unique with a website. There are so many awesome websites out there that it is hard to pull off something new and interesting but I think Red Universe has done it. Each user to their site becomes a character in their universe. You get to run around exploring the site and chatting with other visitors. You even get to fly about in a little superman pose. It is simple but also fun, interesting, and most importantly engaging. The site recently won a well deserved FITC award in the Self Promotion category and ultimately won Best in Show. (Found through the FWA)

Polar Clock

In need of a new screensaver? How about this nice Polar Clock by Pixel Breaker? It shows the date and time in growing color coded circles. Although it's not particularly effective at saving your screen (because it has a fair amount of non-moving or very slow moving graphics), it is fun to watch. Available in 2 versions (I kind of like the first better) for Mac or PC. If you don't want to install this as a screensaver you can also just experience it online here.

15x15

15x15 is a website that plays on Andy Warhol's theory that 'In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes'. The site constantly shows 15 boxes, each playing a 15 second video clip captured using mobile phones. The videos can be of any content, as long as it is not offensive. The variety of the clips is pretty entertaining. Clips can be submitted by anyone by uploading them from your computer or sending them directly from your phone using MMS.

Retrievr

Retrievr is a valiant attempt at a new way to search images. Just make a quick sketch of what you are searching for, using the tools provided, and Retrievr will search popular Flickr photos for matching images. The search works by using an algorithm that identifies similar rough shapes and colors. It's not perfect, but pretty amazing. The creators consider this an experiment and seem eager for any feedback. Try it out here.

Map-Making added to Google Maps

Google Maps has just added a feature to allow users to make, save, and share their own maps. Just go to Google Maps and click on the My Maps tab. You can add markers with embedded text, pictures or video, as well as direction lines or shapes. Each saved map gets its own web address so that you can easily reference it. All published maps are added to the Google Maps search database. For a couple examples check out Olympic Host Cities, or The Googleplex.

One Minute Queen Victorias

This is a collection of 391 drawings done at last year's Victoria and Albert Museum Village Fete. Each artist was challenged to draw a portrait of Queen Victoria in one minute without taking their hand off the paper. The results cover an amusing range of images from slightly unflattering (to the poor queen) to downright insulting. It is amazing to see how few visual cues you need to recognize Queen Victoria. Check out the full set here. (Found through 30gms)