PSFK Author:
Nicko Margolies

Popcuts is a new site that has a unique business model for its users.  The approach essentially rewards trendsetters for spotting new music that later becomes popular.  Let’s say you buy a song you like soon after the artist uploads it for the industry standard 99 cents; as it becomes popular you are rewarded for being an early fan and consumer.  The credit you receive for your trend spotting is dependent on the point you jump on the bandwagon.

The site currently boasts a paltry library of 700 songs, but artists are encouraged to upload their own content and Popcuts only takes between 10-20% of the revenue.  Another issue is that the only payment option is in credit for more song purchases from the site.  The top three earners on the site have amassed a combined fortune of almost $40.  Time will tell how successful this model becomes, especially among the many music recommendation sites, but it’s certainly an interesting approach to reward early fans for driving more people to particular artists.

[via USA Today]

If you’re nothing like me, you have a massive swimming pool, a swimsuit-clad harem and six grand just burning a hole in your pocket.  If this happens to describe your lifestyle then the new Aviva IceBerg is perfect for your every need.  Just in time for the end of summer, you can now conquer the fourteen foot peak by climbing up one side with handles and sliding down the other.  This opulent item requires a powerful airpump (available for an additional $100) and assumes that you have an amply deep and wide swimming area at your disposal.  Despite all the clearly over-the-top features, we must admit it would make for a fantastic day in the pool.  At least until someone wanders onto the wrong side of the iceberg and gets drilled by a fellow reveler.

[via Luxist]

As the Olympics have come and gone, it is now time to reflect on the medal counts, the spectacular achievements and finally, the advertising success. China sealed up official sponsorships with record deals and NBC pulled in record viewers on TV and online. The flood of consumers that poured over the games lit up marketing opportunities like an opening ceremony. Amongst these opportunities was a gamble over which athletes to run with. According to a study of global online chatter conducted by Zeta Interactive, some of the biggest winners were those with precision tactics rather than carpet-bombing ad campaigns. Nike bet on Liu Xiang who fell out due to an injury and despite an interesting continuation of sponsorship, it didn’t generate nearly as much buzz as Puma with Jamaican sprinter, Usain Bolt. We’ve written before about Speedo’s LZR Racer and by picking the focused sport and athlete of the game, their publicity and favorable image was unmatched by other corporations.

[via AdAge.com]

If you have trouble with those distorted words while signing up for something online, you’re not alone. CAPTCHAs, as they are officially known, stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.”  Even after decades of research, computers can’t seem to decipher mangled characters the way a human brain can. Luis von Ahn, a computer scientist from Carnegie Mellon University, has developed a security system called reCAPTCHA that keeps that tried-and-true robot filter in place, but harnesses that basic human function for research. Von Ahn’s system pairs a real security word with a word from a historical document that computer-based optical character recognition can’t figure out. If three separate users agree on the meaning of the word then it’s accepted and translated to the digital record.

He has paired up with the New York Times to digitize their achieves stretching back to 1851. According to his calculations, 200 million people a day are spending an average of 10 seconds deciphering these words before moving on with their registration or purchase. With just a fraction of that unparalleled access to human brainpower the project has been able to digitize 1.3 billion words so far with 99% accuracy. So next time you bemoan the fact you have to fill out a form keep in mind you may be reading a word from the civil war. NPR interviews Marc Frons from the project:

Marc Frons, chief technology officer of digital operations for The Times, says the pace is astonishing. Each month, the project digitizes about two years’ worth of newspapers

“Next year, if all goes well, we can do as many as 70 years, which would be almost the entire rest of the archive that is not digitized,” says Frons. “It’s just pretty cool when you’re signing up for a Web site and you see the reCAPTCHA sign. You sort of know, ‘Gee, I’m helping digitize part of The New York Times.‘ “

[via NPR]

The last time we wrote about our ongoing discussion about retail stores leaving their doors open while blasting the AC, things did not look good. We closed the article saying “Maybe we consumer peons have lost the battle for now, but we’ll hold out for results on the war.” It looks like this optimism was actually in order because the New York City Council recently approved legislation that will fine stores that try to attract customers by blatantly wasting energy with gaping doors. This new legislation calls for a warning on the first offense, $200 for the next and $400 for any further violations. We first wrote about our annoyance with this retail policy in early July and our coverage continued as the issue became more public, spawned website sections and even yielded tangible results (later retracted). We’ll try not to gloat too much, but it certainly feels like the voices of levelheaded citizens and council members have prevailed over poor ethical retail practices. Thanks to everyone for their concern and continued submissions.

Finding a good location for an observatory is tough in Britain due to the dense population and the resulting light/air pollution. That’s why the new Kielder Observatory chose a remote region in Northumberland, which offers clear skies and an uncluttered landscape perfect for star gazing. If you can handle the commute to the area, you will be rewarded by a beautifully designed all timber structure that houses both professional equipment and rooms for amateurs to enjoy the same views. The building itself is powered completely by a 2.5kw wind turbine and solar panels. What makes this project so inspiration is not simply the design, but the fact that it was built for only £415,000 (which we’re told is a good deal on an observatory). The Guardian details:

Barclay’s observatory is a happy balance between what appears to be little more than a simple, almost cartoon-like, timber gangway with some sheds on top and some fine technology inside, with the cranks and cogs needed for the telescope turrets sitting delightfully within the simple wooden walls, floors and ceilings. It is rather like being in an early Victorian steamship, especially in the dark, when the red lamps glow (red keeps light pollution to a minimum).

[via The Guardian]
(Also be sure to check out the gallery of other great observatories)

ShootBooth may look like an 8 foot antique camera with bellows, but it’s actually a massive modern photo booth. With their website launching just last week, the folks at ShootBooth are now making their invention available for rental. Beneath it’s comical appearance, the ShootBooth is actually a modern digital SLR behind a one-way mirror. Once inside the booth, the experience is tailored to promote playfulness. The team is happy to customize themes for your party and can provide a LED pen to draw on the just-taken image. Right now ShootBooth operates only in New York City, but we can see this idea getting big.

[via Cool Hunting]

Building off of the success of peer music recommendation and micro-blogging sites, a new idea has entered the fray. Blip.fm is a simple idea that enables people to share what they are listening to and pair it with a short sub-150 character comment. Amongst the similar sites like Muxtape and Last.fm, Blip.fm has been dubbed the “Twitter for Music.” Users already enjoy a layout that badges power users and offers plenty of ways to track down others with similar music tastes. Simple keyboard controls and a scrolling list of “blips” aid an already straightforward website design. The site gives everyone the opportunity to feel like a DJ while keeping in touch with contacts through quick comments. It is important to note that Blip puts the burden of copyright violation on the users who upload music, but only time will tell how that defense works out.

[via crackunit.com]

No, this isn’t a Lego Technic, it’s the latest specialty vehicle created for the Moon Regan Transarctic Expedition. Not only do we love the dual ski-style design, but it’s also completely eco-friendly thanks to it’s propeller driven biofuel engine mounted behind the cockpit. Other innovations include an advanced radar system to warn of crevasses deep in the ice and a center emergency brake that throws a spiked foot into the ice. This Lotus vehicle will aid the Moon Regan team in their goal to raise awareness about the changing environment in the most undiscovered region of the world. From the expedition site:

The Moon-Regan expedition team will cross the great continent using state-of-the-art bio-fueled vehicle technology and cutting-edge communications technology to raise awareness of how Antarctica’s fate affects the whole environment.

With education as its focus, the Moon-Regan team hope to bring global environmental issues into homes, boardrooms and classrooms around the world. The explorers will carry out a series of scientific experiments to highlight the environmental issues; live web feeds will chart their daily challenges and achievements, and an educational film will be made of the expedition.

[via Engadget]

Videos of the vehicle in action after the break.
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