http://www.psfk.com Ideas, Trends & Inspiration Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:37:15 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A Malaysian scientist has discovered a revolutionary method of producing aerogel using waste rice husks. Known for it's ghostlike appearance, aerogel has many possible applications including insulation and as a shock absorber. The strong, light weight substance (it's 99% air) is made of silica, which composes 20% of the weight ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/hi-tech-super-material-made-out-of-rice-husks.html Toronto based street artist Posterchild has produced series of artworks that continues his Mario Blocks theme. Combining vintage video game iconography with guerrilla gardening, he's created a batch of flower planters that look like fire flower power up blocks from the Super Mario Bothers video game. Nice way to inject ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/gorilla-gardening-super-mario-style.html Last October, Australian Fashion Week went 'trans-seasonal' as a response to the seasional change the (European) fashion industry has traditionally dictated. Now we see more signs of this change in attitudes within fashion: In an article on the JC Report, Robert Cordero looks at the trend against fashion 'seasons'. While ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/seasonless-clothes.html We are excited to have Amit Gupta of Photojojo joining us at PSFK Conference San Francisco 2008 on our “San Francisco Snapshot” panel,where passionate locals, including Liz Dunn of FunnyOrDie and Jeremy Townsend of The Ghetto Gourmet (led by moderator Colin Nagy of Attention) will discuss what makes the ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/psfk-conference-san-francisco-speaker-amit-gupta.html BoingBoing recently found itself in a public tiff with one of their former writers, Violet Blue, after the website's editors decided to delete every one of her posts with no identifiable reason. BoingBoing insisted that they hadn't censored their ex-blogger, but rather just 'unpublished' all of her work. In response, Gawker ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/internet-euphemisms-decoded.html For some reason this morning I had my good citizen cap on my walk to work down Broadway between Union Square and SoHo I went into two stores to complain that they had their doors open and their air conditioning on. The reason I chose these two stores rather than ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/eco-complaints-at-good-stores.html Ricoh is building an nature powered billboard, scheduled to go up in Times Square this December. A first for New York, this solar and wind powered giant ad is only the third in the world. The other two are Pacific Gas & Electric's in San Francisco and Ricoh's original eco ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/times-square-to-get-first-solar-wind-powered-billboard.html Opening tomorrow (July 4th) on Montague Place behind the British Museum in London is a new temporary cultural space designed by Carmody Groarke Architects. Called the Sky Walk, the installation is the centerpiece of the Bloomsbury Hub of the London Festival of Architecture. Sky Walk is a series of elevated ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/popup-cultural-installation-takes-over-london-a-street.html German car manufacturer Volkswagen have released a site called "Volkswagen 2028" that sketches a scenario of future automotive mobility, 20 years from now. The site kicks off with a short introductory movie set in the future, where a father takes a walk with his son talking about the old times ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/volkswagens-future-mobility-vision.html When's the last time you wore a watch? With the cell phone having become an indispensable accessory, the wristwatch has become all but obsolete, worn more often for fashion or status than for its actual time-telling capability. Bringing the transformation full circle (not sure if they recognize the irony), Tag ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/transformation-from-watch-to-cell-phone-now-truly-complete.html Replating is the term coined by design studio Language In Common for the simple act of giving away leftover food by leaving it on top of garbage cans. Sort of a small scale version of City Harvest. The replate idea is being spread by their website and with downloadable posters ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/replate-open-source-food-activism.html PSKF recently completed some trends and product ideation consultancy for a client around the subject of Baby Boomers. Here are some of the best blogs we monitored for inspiration (in no particular order): * 20plus30 * Boomer * Aging Fabulous * Time Goes By * Libido & Health * Changing Aging * The Boomer Blog * The Boomer ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/14-boomer-blogs-to-follow.html French clothing company APC has come out with new jeans that are either innovative or ridiculous depending on your point of view. The "Butler Worn Out" series are weathered, not by the traditional sandpaper method but rather by humans wearing them. This unconventional and time consuming method produces the desirable ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/apc-selling-pre-worn-jeans.html Kudzu is an extremely fast growing plant, usually considered a weed that can grow up two two inches a day. A native plant of China, it was first introduced to the USA in 1876. It was planted extensively in the southern United States to prevent soil erosion. Fast forward to ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/weeds-are-the-fuel-of-the-future.html A Facebook organized party that was to be held in Torbay, Devon has been cancelled after British police used unprecedented powers to force the whole town to stop selling alcohol. More than 7,000 Facebook fans looked set to turn up at this Friday causing the police to apply for ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/facebook-event-causes-citywide-alcohol-ban.html Kids today are increasingly prone to social, mental and environmental stresses that lead to hyperactivity, ADD, frantic multitasking, and distraction. How can this tide be turned? A program in Bangkok, Thailand called the "Mind and Self Grooming Day Camp" is helping children deal with these problems by teaching them meditation. ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/meditation-for-kids-in-an-add-world.html Hoping to inspire 9-to-5ers to take advantage of the glory of summertime outdoors, the City of London will be transforming St James's Park into an outdoor office space for two days, from July 3 to 4. The park will provide free wifi, a boardroom, a breakout room, 12 ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/not-your-typical-corporate-park.html Damien Hirst, the highest paid living artist and most provocative of the YBAs, is becoming a free agent. The art world’s answer to Reggie Jackson says he will sell his latest body of work at auction, circumventing de rigueur gallery sales. “The world is changing,” said Hirst, and as always, ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/damien-hirst-throws-a-block-party.html Well some of us have been waiting a while for this one: American Apparel has launched a line of Thermochromatic Jersey tees for men and women, a second take on the ceaselessly entertaining color-changing technology (?) made popular by Hypercolor more than a decade ago. We wondered who would be ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/american-apparels-newest-tee-hypercolor-naturally.html We're looking forward to having Mark Lewis, strategy director at DDB, join us at PSFK Conference San Francisco. On our “Using It” panel along with Adrian Ho (Zeus Jones), George Parker (AdScam), Lynn Casey (Team Noesis) and Rohit Bhargava (Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence), Mark will be discussing how companies ... http://www.psfk.com/2008/07/psfk-conference-san-francisco-speaker-mark-lewis.html