Here’s a humorous gift for the MacBook Air obsessed girlfriend: MirrorBook Air
The Creative Mind
“The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.”
-Carl Jung
(via The Happiness Project)
Striped Fleece Laptop Case
Beautifully simple striped fleece laptop cases. (With matching backpacks!)
Bicycle Frame Handle
Love this simple product idea: Bicycle Frame Handle. Watch the product description Kickstarter video here. (they’re fully funded)
Wikiweb
Wikiweb is a reader for your iPhone and iPad that visualizes connections between articles. I had the pleasure to try it myself a few weeks back: It’s quite magical!
Hat tip to the Friends of the Web folks!
Shopify’s Build-A-Business Competition
I am hugely honored (and humbled) to be one of the four mentors in Shopify’s Build-A-Business Competition which literally launched a few hours ago.
If you’ve been toying with the idea of starting your own business, this is your chance. Give it a try and potentially win a $50,000 investment in the process.
Here’s how you get started:
1. Think of Something to Sell!
2. Create your Store on Shopify. (That’s where I run Tattly from! I can’t recommend them enough!)
3. Grow your Business with help from Google AdWords and Mailchimp Credits
4. Watch the Leaderboard and get advice from your mentors. (If you qualify for the Design, Art or Home category, that would be me)
And here’s what you can win: A $50,000 dollar investement from your mentor in exchange of a 5% stake in your company – valuing your business at $1 million.
A VIP trip to New York City where you’ll meet all of the mentors: Tim Ferris, Eric Ries, Daymond John and me.
You’ll also get a special one-hour meeting with a Fast Company editor to pitch a feature article for their print magazine. And you’ll receive $20,000 Google AdWords Credits.
I’ve entered the competition last year with Tattly. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made!
So, what are you going to sell?
Flag Conversions Tea Towel
This Flag Conversion Tea Towel is useful and good looking and therefore qualifies to enter my home.
Chameleon Band-Aids
This Chameleon Bandage takes the concept of band-aid protection a notch higher by becoming literally invisible. It’s a 2012 IF Design Talents Entry by Xue Xing Wu, Zi Yu Li, Yue Hua Zhu and Zhi Qiang Wang.
Love when human products imitate nature and hope these will be available for purchase soon.
(via shoeboxdwelling)
These Days
Jack Cheng wrote a novel:
“These Days” is about Connor Vast, a guy who designs fake computer interfaces for plastic prop displays in furniture showrooms. He meets a girl who doesn’t own a cellphone and is as disconnected as he is connected. As their relationship develops, he falls in with a group of entrepreneurs out to invent the future, but it’s the same future she’s rebelling against. It’s a story about the human side of technology—the people who make it, the reasons they build, and the people on the other end.
If this sounds like something you’d like to read (I do) then go and support Jack’s Kickstarter.
Don’t know how Jack Cheng is? Visit his site and check out some of his articles.
(Thank you Jonnie)
Friday Link Pack
– Do you Live in a City? (via explore)
– Hipsters don’t know what the Higgs boson is
– The 10 Top Read Books in the World
– BBQ Tattly Set anyone?
– Intruiging: Video of a 12 year old, having a conversation with himself as a 32 year old. (via @nickbilton)
– The Top 100 WordPress Plugins Ordered By Downloads
– Great Post by Marco Arment about The camera you have with you
– Swiss Bunkers (Thank you Maria)
– What’s new in iOS6 (via @emilychang)
– Ten Tips for Hiking with Kids
– A Floating Mug. Cool.
– Most charming Bookends.
– Our friends set up this giant rubber swimming pool in their backyard. The kids love it. (I admit, I would have never bought it.)
– The blind can take perfect photos with their iPhones, guided by the built-in Camera app.
– … when you activate your supporters, you need a clear path to victory, not a wild goose chase.
Grit
“Grit is the stubborn refusal to quit.”
– Jonah Lehrer
A quote from Jonah Lehrer’s fantastic The 99% Talk
Jonah Lehrer: The Origins of Creative Insight & Why You Need Grit
“The answer will only arrive after we stop looking for it,” says bestselling author Jonah Lehrer. Examining recent research into what drives creative insights, Lehrer breaks down how and why we have “aha!” moments, using examples that range from Bob Dylan writing “Like A Rolling Stone” to a Tibetan monk’s zen puzzle-solving powers.
But insight isn’t everything. Those who achieve great things in the long-term also have another important quality: Grit, a single-minded persistence that helps them keep their eye on the prize and pushing ever-forward even when the “aha!” moments aren’t around.
More about this fantastic The 99% Conference Talk.
Choice Cuts of Potato
This Choice Cuts of Potato Tea Towel is the perfect gift for the vegetarian in your life.
Elevator Groupthink
I am wondering how I would react. Interesting post over on Brain Pickings: Elevator Groupthink: A Psychology Experiment in Conformity, 1962.
Crackling Crystals
Crackling Crystals, by Noah Kalina. Perfect for 4th of July.
Happy 4th of July
Thank you Karen for the Strawberry Shortcake
Happy 4th of July everyone! I am taking the day off! Hope you’re all having a great day, no matter where you live!
Minimalist Clothes Rack
Minimalist clothes rack by Danish designer Jakob Jørgensen. I approve.
Piggy Bank Cardboard
This Piggy Bank is made out of cardboard and probably one of the most adorable things I have seen in a while. The industrial design was made by Andreu Carulla, the graphic design by Canseixanta Studio and illustration-collage by Txell Darne.
Gabi
Gabi claims to have reinvented the way we use Facebook. The iPhone app lets you visualize and interact with the social network giant. Gabi filters your content according to what’s popular, controversial, and relevant to you. Instead of displaying everything in your news feed, it only shows you what’s best: the best pictures, videos, statuses, groups, links, interests, etc. I’ll give it whirl, currently downloading.
(via @johnsonTBO)
Stamp
A stamp for your wall. Screen-printed and slightly angled. Comes in three different colors. Love it.
Polaroid Photos Frame
Ever tried to nicely frame a Polaroid photo? Exactly. The Swiss folks behind Refurnished.ch took matters into their own hands and created this Polaroid Frame. Lovely.
RoboChair
Nerds Rejoice! RoboChair is foldable chair that doubles as wall art! Unlike most folding chairs that get stored in a closet or tucked away when not in use, RoboChair hangs proudly on your wall with an easy mounting bracket.
If you want to make one of these your own, head over to Kickstarter and support the RoboChair campaign.
♥ / HomeTalk
A big thank you to HomeTalk for sponsoring this week’s RSS Feed.
Whether you’re a homeowner, a renter, a contractor or a gardener, Hometalk is a great place to ask questions, find professional help and celebrate your own projects around the home. They’ve created a place where it’s simple to ask, share and communicate with others who are enthusiastic about their homes – a warm, inviting and passionate community backed by enthusiastic experts and users that will inspire and support great ideas.
(Interested in sponsoring a week of my RSS feed, learn more here.)