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Tech Finds by Design Sponge

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

DesignSponge.com is such a great resource, from everything to interior design inspiration to party planning to living a design-filled life, and more. Here are a few great “tech” finds from Grace Bonney and co.:

Long gone are the days of boring black or plain silver laptop surfaces. You don’t have to settle for that monochromity anymore! Show your natural side with these woodsy, yet sleek, wood grain laptop skins.

The same goes for your phone and other devices these days! I’m a pattern lover to the core, and these tech device covers speak to that love of wacky pattern and color. You’ll definitely stand out from the crowd with these skins… and that’s what you want, right? RIGHT!

Have a hankering to do a little office DIYin’? Personalize your work space with these simple, but impactful, tutorials and I promise it’ll brighten up that office glum in a hurry!

Tags: design for geeks, Design Sponge, geeky, good design, laptop case, laptop skin, office decor, office DIY, office tutorial, pattern, patterned skins, phone case, phone skin, tutorials for your work space
Posted in Design, Technology | No Comments »

Inventive home features from the 50s

Monday, July 18th, 2011

Our homes today are oh, so modern. Equipped with tv screens on our appliances, shiny chrome pop up vents, under cabinet lighting and the fanciest in floor and counter surfaces, our homes have transcended simply convenient and have made our lives EASIER to live.

It’s fascinating to look back at home and technology trends of decades before, marveling at their silly future predictions and clunky “modern” designs. RetroRenovation.com often features such wonders of antiquity on their blog, and they’re a riot to behold!

A medicine cabinet with a locking “poison shelf”? Ingeniously NOT useful at all. Recessed “package receivers” and shoe racks? Not quite useful either, but must have been all the rage in the 50s!

What is YOUR favorite outdated house trend that you scoped out in an older relative’s house growing up?

Tags: 1950s kitchen, 1950s technology, 50s homes, poison shelf, retro home, retro home trend, retro kitchen
Posted in Design, Kitchen, Technology | No Comments »

Conserve water or else

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

How much water do you use while washing your hands? How many times a day do you wash your hands? Yan Lu thought about these questions… and then he created this fishbowl faucet to illustrate to people how precious water is, and hopefully promote a more conservationist attitude.

When you turn the water on to wash, the water in the fishbowl starts draining and the water level goes down. It’s a gentle, and demonstrative, reminder that with each second we waste, we’re using up a very valuable resource.

I think I would replace the poor fishy with a toy replica instead though! Wouldn’t you?

Tags: bathroom faucet, conserve water, environmentally friendly, environmentally friendly faucet, fish bowl faucet, modern bathroom faucet, Yan Lu
Posted in Bathroom, Technology | No Comments »

The Finger Slide, as a doormat

Friday, May 13th, 2011

Apple is pretty ingenious. We’ve seen that in the development of their products, the grace and ease of their functionality and the way they stealthily rose, and stay at, the very most tip top of our ever-increasing tech-focused world. So why not take that a step further and apply their aesthetic to… a doormat?!

The doormat guides you as to the best way to wipe those feetsies before you walk through the door, gently left to right. They are made in Germany by a German company (no, Apple does not have their fingers in this) and you can purchase you’re very own instructional geeky doormat here!

{ via Freshome.com }

Tags: apple doormat, geeky doormat, iDoorMat
Posted in Design, Technology | No Comments »

Timbuktu: first iPad magazine for kids

Monday, April 18th, 2011

Dubbed as the “1st magazine for children”, Timbuktu for the iPad impresses with it’s stunning graphics and interactive capabilities that make the kiddos squee! It’s available for download for free in the app store and is a must-try for 7 to 10 year olds.

The imagery is clean and bubbly bright, a visual treat for the wee imaginative ones. But it’s the media features, the interactive audio interviews with each character, that are the real draw here. The slide and touch functionality is smooth and effective, and easy for those chubby little fingers to navigate. Fun topics in its first issue include popsicles, arctic beaches, serenades, letters from India and conversations with animals living in extremely cold environments.

Timbuktu magazine for kids on the iPad is one big huge dose of learning wrapped up in user-friendly categories and an imagination + technology approach that is entertaining and fun.

Tags: children's iPad app, children's technology, iPad app, kid iPad app, Timbuktu
Posted in Technology | No Comments »

Technology in the kitchen

Friday, April 8th, 2011

Every once in a while, a product is released that is so ridiculously cool, but absolutely unnecessary (for most folks) and is a slap in the face to all things sensible. These days technology is everywhere, even in our kitchens.

LG is making available later this year an HDTV refrigerator with two screens. TWO screens. It’s a flashy toy to be sure, expensive certainly… but a necessity? Hardly. The larger of the two screens is a 15″ complete with a tuner. The smaller screen on the left door displays weather, has a recipe bank and even has a to-do list. So I guess now you can check the temperature outside, plan your nightly meal and check things off your list, all while you’re standing there getting some crushed ice.

And Siemens isn’t far behind LG in the kitchen technology realm. Say hello to the multimedia ventilation hood! It features a 17″ (remember when we watched regular non HDTVs in that size?) high resolution TV screen with a DVD and CD player. It’s a modern and pretty hood, but what if you get grease splatter on your fancy little TV?

WHAT will they think of next?!

Tags: hdtv refrigerator, kitchen technology, luxury kitchen appliances, multimedia ventilation hood
Posted in Kitchen, Rangehoods, Refrigerator, Technology | No Comments »

DesignScene for iPad

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

Claiming to be “a real-time inspiration app for graphic designers drawing from myriad relevant sources”, the DesignScene app for the iPad is a photo browser/RSS reader hybrid, focusing on a finite arena of content rather than a single style of presentation. It’s basically an artsy design geek’s favorite new app.

There are categories like infographics, packaging and graphic design which can be flipped through or full-screened for more viewing capability. And to the side is an RSS-similar listing of blog posts from a collection of design sites.

It’s pretty awesome, and a slick way to present such content. It may seem a steep price to pay at $4.99, since most RSS readers go for around $1. Personally, I think the few bucks you spend for AWESOME design and great functionality are definitely worth the price. Watch the video demonstration.

Tags: design app, DesignScene, iPad, iPad app, technology, technology design
Posted in Design, Technology | No Comments »

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