Our awesome Make Change Tattly by Ewan Huwa is now available as a print.
Amit Gupta Needs You
I mentioned Amit Gupta‘s search for a bone marrow match last week. Now, David Cole and Tag Savage put together a site that will help you figure out how you can help.
In case you’re afraid of becoming a potential donor, you should know, that modern bone marrow donations are done with a process similar to blood donation It’s painless, but boring. Head over to www.amitguptaneedsyou.com and do your part. I am registered.
Ignore haters.
Wise words by my studiomate Chris Shiflett:
I always take more pleasure in liking something than in disliking something. That’s not to say there aren’t some things that deserve to be liked and some things that deserved to be disliked, but I’m never fond of disliking something.
The lesson I’ve learned is to be wary of those who are. The ones who seem to think that being critical is the same as having good taste. Those people almost never have good taste, so their opinions don’t matter.
There’s no particular sophistication required to be a critic. We know this, because children often dislike foods they learn to love as adults.
So, even if what you’ve done isn’t so great, just remember that those who can’t say so with grace, those who seem to take pride in criticizing you, their opinions don’t matter. It may very well be that you’ve created a masterpiece, and they’re just children.
If you can learn to be a fair judge of yourself, you won’t feel the need to rely on other people’s opinions.
And then, of course, there’s always this.
♥ / Dia:Beacon
A big thank you to Dia Art Foundation for sponsoring this week’s RSS feed!
Q: What do you get when you combine a restored 300,000 square foot Nabisco box printing factory with renowned artworks by some of the most influential artists of the last half century, and breathtaking views of the Hudson River?
A: Dia:Beacon, Riggio Galleries, the home for Dia Art Foundation‘s acclaimed collection of artworks from the 1960s to the present, located in Beacon, NY—just a short train ride from Grand Central Terminal and a 7-minute walk from the station. In addition to its museum on the Hudson—where the galleries are illuminated almost entirely by natural light—Dia commissions, presents, and preserves site-specific, large-scale art projects across the country, many of which are among the art world’s best-kept secrets. To plan a getaway to any of Dia’s must-see destinations, or to learn more about its current programs and its thirty-seven year history of supporting artists most ambitious visions, visit www.diaart.org.
Personal sidenote: Dia:Beacon is one of my *favorite* places in the NYC area. It’s the perfect daytrip from NYC. And my favorite photo of Ella, my daughter, has been taken at Dia.
(Interested in sponsoring a week of my RSS feed, learn more here.)
Let’s all please…
Let’s all please Focus today on Doing More Fun Stuff.
Starlee Kine: Fear, Heartbreak, and Making It Happen Against All Odds
At the 99% Conference, “This American Life” contributor and producer Starlee Kine talks about what making ideas happen has to do with Little Orphan Annie and Phil Collins.
Quarterly
So, what would you think about a subscription service that sends you a surprise in the mail, every 3 months, curated by me? Well, that’s exactly what Quarterly does.
For another 47hours you can sign up to Quarterly until it goes back into closed Beta for a while. The current list of contributors consists of Maria Popova, Liz Danzico, Scott Belsky, Bobby Solomon, Emily Pilloton, Alexis Madrigal, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Geoff Manaugh and Mike Monteiro.
I subscribed to Scott Belsky. Excited to receive my first shipment!
Foaming Soap Dispenser
Another new product by Skip Hop: A penguin that serves as a foaming soap dispenser. Yup, like it.
Octopus Ring Toss
This Octopus Ring Toss bath toy by SkipHop is simply adorable.
Twitter + iOS 5 = YAY!
Twitter is now fully integrated into Apple’s new iOS 5 mobile operating system.
This is big! This makes me happy.
(via daringfireball)
A Free, Open, Curriculum for Web Education
WaSP InterACT is a community driven project that offers a free, open, curriculum for web education.
Schools that teach web design struggle to keep pace with our industry, and those just starting their curricula often set off in the wrong direction because the breadth and depth of our medium can be daunting.
The WaSP InterACT curriculum project seeks to ease the challenges schools around the world face as they prepare their students for careers on the Web.
WaSP InterACT is a living curriculum designed to change and keep pace with the fast moving industry. Its courses are divided into several tracks that provide students with a well rounded foundation in the many facets of the web design craft.
Get involved and contribute!
(picked up at BrooklynBeta, which I am currently attending)
How To Spot A Liar
On any given day we’re lied to from 10 to 200 times, and the clues to detect those lies can be subtle and counter-intuitive. Pamela Meyer, author of Liespotting, shows the manners and “hotspots” used by those trained to recognize deception — and she argues honesty is a value worth preserving.
52×52.org
The lovely 
Jessica Hische just revealed her latest do-good-side-project called 52×52.org here at BrooklynBeta.
The idea: 52×52.org will help you give to charity, every week, for one year. Her site will act as a messenger, not a middle-man, asking you to donate $52 directly to the featured charity. If $52 is too much, donate $25, $15 or $10! Give whatever you can, each and every week for one year, and together we will make a giant difference. Here’s the site: 52×52.org.
If you want to help Jessica to make it easier to donate/give and help her build out the site, please get in touch with her!
Expectations
“Expectations are just leftover praise. They are a blessing. If you didn’t have the capability to meet them, they wouldn’t exist.” — Chris Shiflett
(opening words by Chris Shiflett at the BrooklynBeta Conference)
BrooklynBeta
Most amazing conference badge I have ever seen. Hat tip!
My studiomates Chris and Cameron organized a sequel to last year’s BrooklynBeta Conference. And it is happening N-O-W! It seems as everyone in my Twitter stream has come to Brooklyn and is currently 3 blocks away from my apartment. (check out the attendees here)
The notion of BrooklynBeta is dear to my heart: Chris and Cameron believe that the more people who work on their own ideas, the better place the Web and the world will be. So they built a conference where developers and designers can meet and then hopefully team up on new projects.
My studiomates Chris, Cameron and Team Jessi have been working *hard* over the past few weeks and I am thrilled to be attending today.
Ok then, off to BrooklynBeta!
Mixing Colors
Beautifully Analog: See what happens when you mix different colors. #mustremember
(via curiositycounts)
Manon Shopper
The Manon Shopper was specificly designed for carrying presentation material A3 and extras such as a laptop, sketch roll and art supplies, but is also perfect as a shopping bag!
BABYBJÖRN Travel Crib
I am impressed with the Baby Bjorn Travel Crib. I just watched their demos and it looks sturdy and easy to pack. Impressive!
DUMBO
I consider myself the unofficial ambassador of Brooklyn. I moved to here 11 years ago and found a new home.
I live and work in Brooklyn. My work home is in DUMBO where my studio is overlooking the East River with stunning views on Manhattan.
DUMBO stands for “Down Under The Manhattan Bridge Overpass” and is the sliver between the Manhttan and Brooklyn Bridge. I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else. Why? Well, I might be giving my secret away here, but, DUMBO let’s you fake small-town living in a big city. DUMBO’s streets are fairly quiet, and I like that. Yet, we look over to Manhattan and think “Oh, look, there’s NYC!”
The Walentas had a lot to do with what DUMBO is today, and I am eternally grateful to them for so masterfully curating this little neighborhood.
And then there is the DUMBO Business Improvement District Bureau that is run by some wonderful folks and they just launched a fantastic DUMBO resource site.
There’s lots to see in DUMBO and dumbo.is makes it easy to plan your visit in advance. See what’s happening in DUMBO on the Decoder page. Read up on some businesses that are residing in DUMBO.
And if you’d like to see some of my DUMBO suggestions, then check out my itinerary.
And most of all, bookmark the homepage: www.dumbo.is
Drop Wooden Stool
I find this Drop Wooden Stool by Skram beautiful.
HAERSKOGEN
Next time I take a walk in the woods, I’ll be on the look-out for these little creatures. Hat tip to the creator, David Lupeschen. Watch in full screen mode and with sound ON!
Migros Bag
This bag brings back a lot of childhood memories: It’s the packaging iconography of my favorite ice-cream from when I was a kid in Switzerland.