Archive for March 2007

The Nike Airforce 1 is not only the most remixed sneaker in history, it’s also the most coveted. Freshness has a review up of the soon-to-be-launched 1thology site - "the most complete collection of AF1s ever." Almost 1000 sneakers have been  painstakingly documented in hi-res, letting users interact with the most detailed features of each shoe and sort by year, silo (low, mid, high) and color.

But the best part is that every visitor leaves with a souvenir. The site lets users embed their collections on myspace or if they choose, print out posters of their favorite sneakers. This social advertising is so Fresh!

1thology launches April 11th.

Out on the town with no where to go? We’re loving Google text. Tap the name of your bar or restaurant followed by the city name and text to GOOGLE / 466453 and mini-seconds later you get the address and telephone back in an SMS message. Not too sure where to go but fancy a little French action - just type ‘French restaurant’ and your post code and voila(!) : a list of local saucy establishments. No charge (except your usual text costs).

In fact, Google SMS offers instant feedback beyond local listings. They cover the weather (weather NYC), flight updates (LH454 or AA 2111), sports (lakers), movies (the departed 94110), stock quotes (tgt), glossary (define zenith), translation (translate two beers please in french), driving directions (pasadena CA to 94043) and currency conversion (8 usd in pounds).

Google SMS\

The days of a demo tape and a dream are nearly over, according to Reuters:

SonyBMG, the world’s second-biggest music company, said that from Monday it would no longer accept hard copy formats. Instead, budding musicians will be asked to sign up to a record
label Web site such as www.columbiademos.co.uk or www.rcademos.co.uk to
blog their music, photos and videos.

With countless A&Rs scouring music blogs and Myspace to find their next signings, this is obviously nothing new. However, one must cast a small tear for the pending demise of innovative tactics musicians have used to get their tapes in the hands of the right people. One of our favorites is  electronic producer Recloose, who was working at a sandwich shop in Detroit. When techno pioneer Carl Craig came in, he slipped him an extra "demo on rye," which eventually lead to his signing.

Any more interesting demo tape stories you’ve heard? Leave them in the comments.

Today’s WSJ features a front-page story about a berry that turns sour to sweet. Within minutes of eating Synsepalum dulcificum, people have their taste buds altered so that the most bitter foods taste as sweet as candy. From the article:

After languishing in obscurity since the 1970s, miracle fruit, or Synsepalum dulcificum,
is enjoying a small renaissance. In-the-know food lovers from Hawaii to
Finland are seeking out the berry as a culinary curiosity. In Japan,
it’s freeze-dried and canned or sold in tablets. Some restaurants there
have featured it as an avant-garde dessert, including at Tokyo’s
Mandarin Oriental hotel. So has the Four Seasons Resort in Palm Beach,
Fla., where two miracle-fruit shrubs are planted in the hotel’s garden.

Restaurants like New York’s wd-50 and Chicago’s Primehouse, among others, have been already experimenting with cuisine at the molecular level. Perhaps this berry will add an interesting new twist to the way we think about food in the future. 

Core77 points to a Dutch project called c,mm,n which has been revealed at AutoRAI, the Amsterdam car show. The makers of c,mm,n plan to let everyone tinker with the blueprints to come up with a car, erm, designed by committee, we suppose. Core77 says:

The vehicle’s technical drawings and blueprints are freely available online, and everyone is invited to add their own ideas and modifications, provided of course that these are shared again with the community.

…c,mm,n drivers can also easily share information on traffic conditions, route planning and parking availability

c,mm,n Core77 Design Blog

Iain Tait of CrackUnit has spotted a fad in London: secret locations for parties and club nights. It’s like 1989 all over again. Oh yeah, it is 1989 all over again. Iain says:

Secrets are cool. Every single party in London now seems to be held in a secret venue (even though you can buy tickets at Ticketmaster).

iain tait | crackunit.com » Everybody Loves a Secret

This is Joost’s first TV spot where it kind of explains what the peer to peer TV service is.

Not too sure how an old man dipping his fingers in your pint really demonstrates a community, but hey… Related PSFK Articles Joost Will Run On Apple TV [via Adverblog]

According to Paidcontent.org, the BBC will provide UK mobile carriers live, streamed TV and radio channels for mobile handsets. According to the site,

Orange, Vodafone and 3 UK will broadcast BBC ONE, BBC Three and BBC News 24 plus radio stations as part of a trial beginning in a month. Each network already operates mobile TV subscription services that variously include BBC rival ITV and BSkyB channels.

Related PSFK Articles
Three Region Theory For Mobile Phones

With a video on YouTube, Good Magazine have released a timely reminder of the 11 Spring Street art event that happened in December 06. Captures the energy and it’s great to watch and listen to organizers Marc & Sarah of Wooster Collective explain the event.