Learn Something Every Day is a daily project by UK based design studio Young.

Steve Rubel has posted an interesting series of images illustrating ten common phrases that are fading from use.

Writer / actor John Hodgman has presented an interesting theory about a coming geek-centric future in a recent interview with the Kansas City News.

cityoneminutes is a global web video project that allows you to observe 41 different cities around the world in one-minute intervals.

A vampire rendition of Barbie will be used to market an already popular movie adaptation of the Twilight series. The launch of the two doll set will coincide with the opening of its second film this November. This isn’t the first blockbuster that Barbie is sporting, she most recently suited up for Star Trek.
Barbie has come a long way since its creation half a century ago. It has tread murky waters during controversial eras in American socio-cultural history, becoming an object of commentary on three big isms: racism, sexism, and consumerism.
Several versions of Barbie have stirred up debate around their [...]

Image Credit: Getty Images, Giovanni Carella/Flickr
Citysounds.fm organizes and unleashes the latest music from some of the world’s most dynamic cities, from Tokyo to Sao Paulo. The project shows off each city’s unique audio soundtrack that reflects its inhabitants energy, charm, and passion. The project, developed by Swedish duo Henrik Berggren and David Kjelkrud uses SoundCloud’s API to find the music and streams it to build an online catalog of global beats.

[via Music Hack Day]

Culture site Flavorpill has always hung its hat on curation—culling cool urban to-dos and telling people about them. Last week, they relaunched their site with a new invite-only listings hub—the Flavorpill 50—that reinforces this tack and adds a new twist.

Bruce Sterling points us to a remarkable and timely new term – “hand-me-up”. It’s the act of a member of a younger generation passing along newish, but out-dated technology to a member of an older generation.
Urban Dictionary’s definition:
Where the young generation in a family adopts and purchases new technology product at a fast rate, and old versions (that are in working order but are not up to current standards) of that technology product are given to the parents or older generations of family.
Commonly occurs multiple times on commodity technology gadgets, leaving your parents with many gadgets to play with.

The Onion ‘reports’ that we’re spending 90% of our waking hours staring at glowing rectangles…

Boing Boing points us to a very interesting Wall Street Journal Article that explores how homeless people are using the Internet. Corey Doctorow also predicts that within five years, network access will be declared a universal human right. Lots of great brain food all around.
The WSJ reports:
Like most San Franciscans, Charles Pitts is wired. Mr. Pitts, who is 37 years old, has accounts on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. He runs an Internet forum on Yahoo, reads news online and keeps in touch with friends via email. The tough part is managing this digital lifestyle from his residence under a highway [...]

It was recently suggested by Barack Obama that we should borrow and spend less and save more, not rebuilding the economy on the same sand but instead lay a new foundation for prosperity. It’s not the message consumers, this country, or the rest of the world is used to, particularly in a recession.  For instance, after World War II, amidst the depression, retailing analyst Victor Lebow suggested that “Our enormously productive economy … demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our [...]

Just when the economic situation is getting everyone down and dreary, there would appear to be a shiny, glitter-ball of light at the end of the tunnel. Usually saved for the Christmas party, disco is experiencing a serious comeback, proving it’s Stayin’ Alive in 2009. But don’t anticipate the familiar cheese; this revival isn’t for the faint hearted. London’s new disco scene boasts a whole host of nights catering to the musical needs of those with disco fever. To name a few, nights at Spangles, Tropicana and Disco Bloodbath are some of the best picks. DJ Dan Beaumont of Disco [...]

Athens just announced that the long-anticipated New Acropolis Museum will finally open this summer on June 20th. The ambitious museum and conservation project, almost 30 years in the making, calls for a state-of-the-art facility in the middle of the city’s historic center.
Although we were disappointed to have to wait another few months, our recent sneak peek of the galleries left us more than impressed. Instead of throwing up columns and attempting to blend into the ancient cityscape, the museum is completely abstract and modern. The controversial design resembles a stack of mislaid books, with the top floor [...]

Sneakers can speak volumes, both about their owners and the times. In fact, in many countries sneakers are considered cultural artifacts. It’s no surprise that people around the world collect, critique, and obsess about kicks. But the lengths some sneaker fans will go, and then spend, often seems a mystery. Mysteries make us curious, and beg decoding.
Peep Insights recently conducted a global sneaker culture immersion, talking to sneakerheads in key cities like Tokyo, London and Sydney to get an insider’s perspective on trends and attitudes. We got the chance to talk with the owners of [...]

There is so much serious, snooty editorial about fashion, we always appreciate when Vice comes out with its Fashion issue. Their most recent is no different. From the interview which hails Kai Kühne as a renegade fashion star before getting him to admit that he doesn’t understand fashion, to the article which claims in all seriousness that epaulettes (those ornament-like shoulder accessories on army uniforms) are the future of fashion, to the amazing cover featuring a wild pig (see above), the whole thing is a breath of fresh air.
Vice Magazine: The Fashion Issue 2009