Copy Cat Designer January 31, 2006

If your weekends are lacking some artistic creativity, head over to the MoMA store, and purchase a designer emulation kit by Mark McKenna. Put your own spin on famous lamp designs with these DIY kits.

"A tongue-in-cheek homage to some of the best-known designers and their lamps. Each kit is based on a famous product, such as the Lucellino table lamp designed by Ingo Maurer. The purchaser can take part in the "design process" and create his or her own design classic by assembling the kit and attaching it to a 9-volt battery (not included) to display a bright light. " Via D*S

Disney Laptops for Fancy Kids

Epson Direct in Japan has made available a nice collection of laptops with everyone’s favorite Disney characters aimed at kids.  Tinkerbell, Pooh and Mickey decorate the inside and outside of the new Epson Endeavor laptops. Of course, they are only available in Japan, so all you Mickey collectors will have to order internationally. The NT2850 line has the best Mickey Mouse designs as the inside of Mickey’s silhouette is made up of comic strips.

Are you smitten? January 30, 2006

Ah, love is in the air. Check out these fleece Glovers by Franziska Holzmann, perfect proof that love will make you do silly things. They only come in bright red for you scream-our-love-from-every-rooftop inseparable lovebirds. The set comes with two individual gloves, and one glover (two gloves in one). The good news, is they are only available overseas, just in case you tough guys were sweating it.

Red Hot iPod on the way

Expect to see a red and pink gadget boom right before Valentines day, like this red hot iPod. T3 magazine has the scoop on a special edition iPod that may be released soon. As the story goes, Bono was overheard talking about a red AMEX card and red iPod. Today he unveiled the red Amex card, which is part of a global fight against HIV, with 40% of the proceeds to benefit the Global Fund to Fight Aids. So naturally, there is a great deal of speculation that a red iPod may soon be in the releasing stage. I guess we’ll have to wait in see…

Your Secret is Safe on USB January 28, 2006

Being a teen today, means you have to be a lot more tech savvy, and ditch that old lock and key diary your momma gave you. Who needs to contribute to the waste of paper, when you can safeguard all your teen secrets in a portable USB diary. The encrypted diary can be used to store pictures, journal, and even comes with an MSN Messenger interface so you can chat with friends. This plug & play capsule comes in red, black, pink and blue and stores up to 128MB of data, which is pretty low if you’re an active writer/photographer. It has an "Eyes Off" feature that closes your diary when someone is looking over your shoulder. Definitely more private than MySpace or Friendster. The product is sold in Australia for $55.00. Product Page

Blog your Shirt

If you are a blogger (and who isn’t these days), you will enjoy a customized shirt from SnapShirts. This company makes custom t-shirts by pulling the most frequently used words from your blog. A word cloud will then display in alphabetical order the most popular words used in progressively larger fonts. If you don’t have a blog, but love literature, they have an Author’s line that uses classic literary text from your favorite Shakespeare, or Jane Austen love story to make word clouds. The shirts are only $18, and come in many colors and sizes. [LifeHacker]

RAZR in the new Pink January 27, 2006

Move over magenta, the RAZR V3c is draped in a new pink hue. Many of you had a problem with the overpowering magenta hue, that even I opted for the black version after seeing the magenta number.  Verizon secretly rolled out a soft Pink RAZR just in time for Valentines. [Engadget]

Other colors:
Magenta Razr
Dolce and Gabbana Razr
Moto Black Razr
White Razr

Bath time can be fun again

Bath time can be fun again for adults. Pioneer in Japan will be selling the "Happy Aqua Lumi" floating bath lights to help you get some enchanting light therapy in while bathing.  The crystal cutting design changes slowly into 7 colors when in rainbow color mode. They require AAA batteries, and won’t be available until mid-February. They also will be releasing small waterproof speakers that hook up to an audio player. [Via]

Nippy Warmers

I’m sorry, but I could not stop laughing after seeing these "nipple warmers" and so I had to share.  What are they thinking?  I don’t see how these can make anyone "feel luxurious". They look more like un-natural hair growth. But apparently, Playboy featured them in their magazine a few years ago.  I guess Playbunnies got it all wrong in this photo, because they are supposed to be worn furry-side facing towards your body to warm your sensitive anatomy, and overcome embarrassing "show throughs".

"Possum fur nipple warmers are new, fun, and functional. Great for cushioning your nipples by placing inside your bra, protecting from cold and excessive "show through". No more embarrassing pointers on nippy mornings. Great comfort for breastfeeders with tender nipples. The fur the brushtail possum is luxurious and plush like mink – (no relation to USA possums)."

Invisibility a Possibility?

A Japanese Professor has created an optical camouflage system that masks an object by making it appear transparent.  But how is this possible?  The transparent cloak only gives the illusion of being transparent because it’s reflecting an image that is being captured behind the person.  A projector in front of the person, then displays the image onto the retro-reflective cloak. Pretty damn clever! Link