Adactio: Links

The Worst Things For Sale » The Internet’s most horrible items. A daily blog.

These are like chindogu, but they’re all available from Amazon with accompanying reviews.

Dough Globe - Your little living world

My last shipment from the Quaterly contained everything I need to get a sourdough starter going (thanks to Alexis Madrigal). I think I might have to get me one of these cute sourdough globes: “It’s like a Tamagotchi, but actually alive.”

Be sure to check out the the blog documenting the design and development.

Subtraction.com: Built to Not Last

A spot-on analysis by Khoi of the changing perception of the value in product design, as exemplified by Apple.

Incept Dates – Jack Move Magazine

A superb piece of writing from Erin, smashing taboos with the edge of Bladerunner.

Gardens and Zoos – Blog – BERG

A lovely piece from Matt examining agency and behaviour in the things we surround ourselves with: frying pans, houseplants, pets, and robots.

These are the droids you are looking for.

angry, productive birds (tecznotes)

Mashing up Angry Birds and spreadsheets to better visualise project time-tracking.

Productivity Future Vision (2011) - YouTube

This vision thing commissioned by Microsoft shows a future-friendly networked world where content flows like water from screen to screen.

Design Firm Seeks to Humanize Technology - NYTimes.com

Those lovely BERG chaps profiled in the New York Times.

Russell M Davies: Make things, not media platforms (Wired UK)

A rallying cry from Russell, urging us not to rely too much on the intangible.

Physical GIF by Greg Borenstein — Kickstarter

What a wonderful idea! Create a zoetrope from an animated .gif.

Make Your Own Pick Using Recycled Credit Cards » Design You Trust – Social design inspiration!

This is rather brilliant: recycle your old credit cards into plectrums.

ISS-Notify by Nathan Bergey — Kickstarter

I want one! An ambient signifier (in lamp form) to let you know when the ISS is flying overhead. Geekgasm!

Red Pop - the big red button for your iPhone camera!

Brendan’s latest product looks like it’ll be a thing of beauty. But he needs help getting it funded on Kickstarter. If you like taking pictures with your iPhone, I suggest you back this project.

YouTube - Harvard Humanists Stephen Fry 2 22 2011 Chapter 10 Molly Lewis

If I had the right biological equipment, I think I too might offer to bear Stephen Fry’s children …in a song.

Ben Bashford - Notebook of Things - Emoticomp

How does an object’s character and/or behaviour tie in with communicating its purpose in life, how it looks and how it should be used?

RORY HYDE PROJECTS / BLOG » Blog Archive » ‘Know No Boundaries’: an interview with Matt Webb of BERG London

Matt is, as usual, eloquent and inspiring.

What deux yeux have teux deux teuxday?

A very nice take on the to-do list app.

RCA student radically improves the UK plug | ICON MAGAZINE ONLINE

Superb product design.

Apple - Environment - Life Cycle Impact

A detailed document from Apple on their products' total carbon footprint.

The Good Enough Revolution: When Cheap and Simple Is Just Fine

A great article about the rising prevalence of "rough consensus and running code" in the real world.

Accident-explanatory slings to make you smile

If you've ever broken/strained a limb, you'll know how tedious it gets answering the inevitable "what happened?" question time and time again.

GT!Blog » Why Japan didn’t create the iPod

Could it be that the inability of 8-bit computers to render Kanji had a direct influence on the direction of Japan's electronic product design and economy?

Plastics in the 20th Century – post WWII - a set on Flickr

I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? Plastics.

You've got too much e-mail - Los Angeles Times

Tantek is quoted ("EMAIL shall henceforth be known as EFAIL") in this LA Times article on the tyranny of email.

Silicon Valley meetings go 'topless' - Los Angeles Times

A report on the growing trend of banning laptops from meetings. We never have laptops at the Clearleft Monday morning meetings but it wasn't a policy: it's just common sense/courtesy.

shiyuan.co.uk

The idea I like most from this portfolio is the heat-sensitive wallpaper with blooming flowers.

evhead: Will it fly? How to Evaluate a New Product Idea

Ev Williams has some tips for evaluating business ideas, broken down by tractability, obviousness, deepness, wideness, discoverability, monetizability (ugh!) and the all-important "personally compelling" factor.