Save Your Raisin Toast!

If you find hovering over your toaster, continously checking on the state of your raisin bread as tedious as I do, you'll appreciate this little beauty, prototyped by German industrial design company Stenform. You've gotta love the product description on their site:

"At work, he shows himself and at the same time he explains how he works. He neither hides the bread, nor its preparation. In this way it is possible to receive him as an idyllic little light. He stages the bread and the way it gets toasted, which is accompanied by warm light and a tempting aroma."

Not knowing anything of German-speak, I can only presume that the language assigns gender to inanimate objects (either that or this is a toaster designed by Gollum).

Go see for yourself (scroll to the right): http://www.sternform.de/set_product.html

Hudson

This little store in Carlisle St, Balaclava, has so many desirable goodies. Figurines (Be@bricks, Qees etc), t-shirts, Obey propoganda, Hip-hop books and collectibles, talking watches and more. Appreciated by toy collectors and kids alike, Hudson represents a collection of cool that you can touch and envy (I want the job going overseas and choosing all that stuff!).

Find it here: Street map to Hudson

'Survivor' stacked with models

Say it isn't so!. Apparently reality TV isn't real!

Get the dirty truth: http://www.adrants.com/2005/02/cbs-markets-survivor-with-pretty.php

Jon Stewart's Daily Show on Bloggers

I'm just blogging the "bloggers vs. journalists as news source" segment from the Daily Show (I feel like an existentialist detective!):

So funny, must watch: http://homepage.mac.com/onegoodmove/movies/ds021605bloggers.html

Duck.. it's a gay bomb!

From the BBC: "The US military investigated building a "gay bomb", which would make enemy soldiers "sexually irresistible" to each other, government papers say."

They SOOOO got this idea from the Maxwell Smart movie Nude Bomb

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4174519.stm

Chad: Boy in a Bubble

Here's the story of Chad - a boy so addicted to Sega's upcoming 'Super Monkey Ball Deluxe' that he decided to live in a bubble. Funny couple of promotional movies where Chad struggles with the issues associated with his lifestyle choice...

See Chad: http://www.mybigball.com/

Spazzstick

New leader in the race for best product name of 2005, Spazzstick is the world's only caffeinated lip balm. Now if someone would only invent caffeinated toothpaste, it sure would save me time in the morning.

Go spazzy: http://www.spazzstick.com/mainframe.htm

NB: Double cool points cause it's made by trolls.

3hive: sharing the sharing

If your iPod's crying out to sing something new, check out the wonderful MP3 blog, 3hive. These guys links to MP3s that record labels put on artist sites for free download. There's so much great stuff on offer, but if you're feeling a little lost try a couple of my faves:

Yo La Tengo

Calexico

Elliott Smith

Postal Service

Neko Case

But there's so many more too..

I'm just sharing those sharing the sharing,

Leet 4 noobs

Here's a very useful primer for those parents who've already mastered the term 'bling bling' (much to the dismay of all around them). But honestly, every time Microsoft goes anywhere near trying to understand popular culture (need i remind you of THIS??), the world feels just a little bit more wrong. Please tell all the kids you know that Bill's onto their underground ways..

Read up: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/children/kidtalk.mspx

Mr. Picassohead

Finally! A way to immortalize my nine-eared creature on completely erasable digital canvas!

Try yourself: http://www.mrpicassohead.com/create.html

Can dance.

This is a pretty cool update of Gene Kelly, presumedly using all kind of fandangled CG etc. (and a mask). But I just can't get over how good a dancer the guy is:

See Golf GTI ad: http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-video/Media/video/2005/01/27/golfgti.mov

Update: Someone emailed me a link to the Kottke.org article interviewing this guy. His name's David Bernal and he calls himself "Elsewhere" because:

It's a ".. reference to the state of disconnection I experience while dancing. When I focus on my movements to the point that I become oblivious to my physical setting, I am mentally elsewhere" and it's "The direction I attempt to push my style."

That's so cool. On this site, you can also find other videos of his work, like this and this. Does anyone else get the feeling we're gonna be seeing a lot more of Elswhere everywhere?

Afri-Cola 'Nuns' ad, 1968

As Design Observer points out, "eventually all advertising will seem strange". Well in these stakes, Charles Wilps' 1968 cola commercial has arrived. Afri-Cola is a highly caffeinated German soft drink clearly aimed at people who need no more caffeine at all. Apparently the voice over by Nico is "sexy mini super flower pop op cola". Ok then.

Watch the ad: http://www.afri-cola.com/eng/01/01_03_window_wilpkinofilm.html

Read more and see more at Design Observer: http://www.designobserver.com/archives/000284.html

Blinkenlights

This seems particularly beautiful to me. Sure it's just lights going on and off, but there's something about building-sized pixel art that appeals to my sense of aesthetic (and ego). Throw in a game of Pong or Tetris, and what's not to love?

http://www.blinkenlights.de/arcade/live.en.html

The Human Clock

Here's a web-based clock comprising of pictures containing the current time. Quirky, eh? Would make a cool projection. I never thought the desire to be immortalised in a clock would motivate people to take photos - wrong again.

It's time: http://www.humanclock.com/clock.php

"I sue dead people"

I had to draw your attention to this story if only for the reason that the headline conjures up images of armies of zombie lawyers (and your nightmares needed updating anyway..). Gertrude Walton's been a bad, bad girl and has paid for it dearly.

Go Read: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050204-4587.html

New Kleptones album!

More mashups from the geniuses behind "A Night at the HipHopera".

Download here.

Dining with the Beasties

Kirsten and I sat next to Beastie Boys Adam, Mike D and MCA (and some hired muscle) last night at Circa. No, we didn't hassle them for autographs or photos - we respected their privacy, as they did ours (damn i wish my phone cam worked better in low light!). Good to see that touring veterans of this magnitude enjoy fine dining while in Melbourne. I wonder if Slipknot will be tempted by Circa's Rabbit terrine, spiced pistachio, watercress and endive salad, while in town...

Las Chicas, Balaclava

Abandon Wall Two 80s’ indifference (ok... you can pretend you don’t recognize me from the last 7 years I’ve been coming here..), and jump on the bandwagon for the best coffee (new leader!) in the 'Balaclava Bagel Belt' - Las Chicas. There’s snappy but charmed service, an extra shot as standard in the large cup, and warm muffins with the tastiest tops this side of a Kylie concert. The takeaway service window is ideal for coffee in transit, but if you can occasionally linger longer, there are some fabulous savory breakfast combos.

* welcome Gridskipper readers

Tivo HME Software Developers Kit

Rockstar set-top box provider, Tivo, has released an open developers kit allowing people to make their own applications using the platform. Tivo was already the best thing to happen to television since... television. THIS is the best thing to happen to Tivo, cable, broadband etc ever (of coure, we don't have Tivo here in Australia... but one day...).

Java programmers across the world will be knuckle-to-keyboard making cool apps like the examples in the Gallery, and more. And as soon as they open up the scheduling and recording functionality into the kit, we're going to start seeing "TV Mash Ups", creative slice and dice brogramming and a new breed of Content Jockeys keen to broadcast their software-video-interactivity combos. This is the start of something interesting...

http://tivohme.sourceforge.net/