Polymer Tone Shrine For Your iPad

Georg Dinkel from Germany has looked at polymer for many years in his job as a photographer for Staedtler, the maker of Fimo. This year he picked up a couple of leftover blocks and he was hooked.

Except for a wooden frame and the electronics, the rest of his Tone Shrine is polymer. Three speakers and an iPad are housed inside the structure which took three months to complete.

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Man-Eater

For four years Daniel Disselkøen took the same tram to art academy. He wondered why you would look out the window with curiosity when there is no reason to expect anything new. He decided to change the daily journey for his fellow passengers and himself. He didn't move the tramway track, but he added something. Man-eater, a pedestrian-head eating creature. Man-eater is part of his graduation project 'Remake Reality' for the Royal Academy of Art in the Netherlands.



Vimeo link

(thanks Cora)

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AIRPod, The Car That Runs On Air

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An AIRPod is a prototype of an alternative fuel vehicle produced by Motor Development International in cooperation with Tata Motors, that is powered by compressed air. The AIRPod comes in three models that vary the number of seats and amount of cargo storage while keeping the same basic chassis.

It is designed as an zero-emission urban vehicle. Prototypes have been tested by KLM/AirFrance for use as emission-free vehicles in airports. MDI has been promising production of the AirPod since 2000 but as of 2012 none have gone on sale. Most experts agree that compressed air cars are inefficient and impractical.

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Coco Chanel

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Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel (1883 - 1971), better known as Coco Chanel, was a French fashion designer and founder of the Chanel brand. Along with Paul Poiret, Chanel is credited with liberating women from the constraints of the corseted silhouette and popularizing the acceptance of a sportive, casual chic as the feminine standard in the post-World War I era.

A prolific fashion creator, Chanel's influence extended beyond couture clothing; her design aesthetic was realized in jewelry, handbags, and fragrance. Her signature scent, Chanel No. 5 became an iconic product, one irrevocably identified with The House of Chanel.
Take a look back at the woman who changed it all.

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Lawn Drink Holder

If, where you live, it is as hot as here, with temperatures up to 35° Celsius (95° Fahrenheit) you could need a cold drink. But what happens when the only place to put your drink is an uneven patch of grass? Sounds like you need an extra hand. Next time, pack a set of lawn drink holders and never again worry about an accidental tipped can.

Molded from durable stainless steel, each beverage holder wraps around your can or bottle for a handy, secure place to set your drink. Just push the 7.5-inch post into the ground and the handy can holder will do the rest.

(thanks Cora)

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Freestyle Cruiser

The Freestyle Cruiser from FreeStyle Slides is the world's first custom made, sealed-air inflatable water slide for the yacht industry. The idea is that riders can experience different ways of going down the slides which brings a whole new dimension to the sport of sliding. The slides' 45 degree drop is extremely exhilarating and allows riders to reach incredible speeds.

(thanks Cora)

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10 Of History's Most Beautiful Typewriters

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Typewriters are intricate machines - complex little boxes that require an abundance of ingenuity to produce. They are often beautiful, and they occasionally find wildly imaginative ways to conduct the delicate dance between the hammers and the keys.

So much of the way we interact with machines today directly links to the innovations pushed forth by typewriters in the late 19th century. In fact, it's hard to chart the progression of technology without considering the typewriter. So here's a look at 10 of the most beautiful typewriter designs of all time.

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Wake-Up Cup

Most of us need that cup of coffee in the morning just to really start the day. The Wake-Up Cup is the mug that perks up when it's filled with a hot robust caffeinated beverage! Watch the eyes that are all drowsy and tired start picking up and gaining some color... then they suddenly go to alert, just like your eyes!

Remember, the day hasn't started till the first cup has been consumed! Made from genuine porcelain. Not microwave or dishwasher safe. Measures 3.5 inches tall x 3 inches wide.

(thanks Cora)

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Gargoyles - Glorious Gruesome Grotesques

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In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between.

They're also strange, bizarre, unpleasant or just plain ugly. They have been hovering around our towns and cities for centuries, for so long that it can be forgotten that they have meaning and purpose. Take a tour of the weird world of the gargoyle.

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Baby's First Butcher Shop

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This grisly 1840 doll-sized butcher shop with miniature animal carcasses and a floor covered in sawdust and blood would be shockingly graphic to our modern sensibilities. After all, here in the 21st century, we like to remain cheerfully oblivious about where our meat products come from.

But in Victorian times, such detailed model butcher shops were not uncommon, says Sarah Louise Wood, a curator at the Museum of Childhood at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The real question is: Why exactly do such things exist?

(thanks Lisa)

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Havaianas 50 Years - Turning Point

Who knew a simple flip-flop could have such a rich history? Havaianas - Brazil's choice of flip-flops - is celebrating its 50th birthday, and to mark the incredible impact the accessory has had on Brazilian culture (and beyond), AlmapBBDO launched this gorgeous animated short that melds together fantasy and reality brilliantly.



Vimeo link

(thanks Cora)

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IKEA Germany Provides 'Dog Parking' Area For Customers

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While most of us have seen bike lots outside most IKEA stores, IKEA Germany has come up with another type of parking for its customers - 'dog parking.' Set up in the front of its store is a series of astro-turf lawns where owners can 'park' their dogs while they go shopping - IKEA even provides water bowls in case your canine companion gets thirsty.

Instead of dog owners having to leave their pets at home, IKEA Germany has developed a creative strategy that not only keeps its store clean, but also keeps dogs and their owners happy.

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3 In 1 Breakfast Station

Save space, but never skip breakfast. It's three breakfast-making contraptions in one. Make toast, eggs, and hot coffee at the same time. Perfect for students, cramped offices, or minimalist living. Looks a lot like this one.

(thanks Cora)

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Insane Volkswagen Glass Car Silos In Germany

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The Autostadt is a visitor attraction adjacent to the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany, with a prime focus on automobiles. It features a museum, pavilions for the principal automobile brands in the Volkswagen Group, and a customer centre where customers can pick up new cars.

There are two 60 meter (200 feet) tall glass silos used as storage for new Volkswagens. The two towers are connected to the Volkswagen factory by an underground tunnel. When cars arrive at the towers they are carried up at a speed of 1.5 meter (5 feet) per second.

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Sliding With Sharks

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This is possibly not for the faint hearted. The swimming pool of the Golden Nugget hotel in Las Vegas has a water slide. So what, you might ask, before you realize that the slide runs directly through the hotel's giant tank aquarium, which is full of tuna not to mention sharks. It's one way to get up close without getting bitten.

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Where Do Airplane Safety Signs Come From?

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So many visual elements go into creating the sterile and unpleasant design of airplanes. But none is more important than those neutral-looking safety graphics that feature people who look like upside-down exclamation points.

These little guys get into all kinds of mischief. Sometimes they're trying to open the emergency exits. Sometimes they're strolling around the airplane bathroom, even when they're not supposed to be.

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The Bicycle Rearview Camera

This is the camera system that mounts to a bicycle for providing a clear view of the road behind. The camera mounts to a bicycle's seat post, provides a rear-facing 75º field of view ideal for seeing approaching vehicles or other cyclists.

A circular pattern of red LEDs flash when the camera's built-in sensor detects low-light conditions for visibility to traffic. The camera system's rechargeable battery provides up to 10 hours of operation from a two-hour charge using the included AC adapter.

(thanks Cora)

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6 Incredible Safe Rooms

Safe rooms have been growing in popularity ever since the film Panic Room demonstrated how dramatic and exciting having one in your home could be. Or it could also be down to the fact that they're an effective home security measure, providing home owners with a fortified location to retreat to in the event of an imminent threat, such as a break-in or a tornado.

Of course, the problem with finding out about the most incredible incarnations of a security feature is that the people who have invested in said feature want them to remain secure. As such, they don't tend to indulge in a lot of online promotion. Nevertheless, here are some of the most incredible safe rooms.

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Dynapac Red Carpet

The Dynapac Red Carpet is an environmentally conscious solution for road maintenance in future megacities, where street traffic is predicted to become increasingly dense and unstoppable. This futuristic road-recycling paver allows inner city traffic to continue its flow without interruptions by letting vehicles drive over it while paving.

The Dynapac Red Carpet utilizes an existing process known as Hot-In-Place Recycling, in which the old road surface is re-heated using microwaves. The reclaimed asphalt is lifted into the machine, mixed with a small amount of fresh binder and paved back onto the road.

(thanks Cora)

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The Hello Kitty Dolls Of Your Dreams

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One of the ways Hello Kitty stays relevant is to turn itself into a feline billboard to promote other things. Recently, that's meant the birth of an array of interesting Kitty-chan collaborations.

Artist Joseph Senior goes one step further. Senior, who is an illustrator at a New Zealand ad agency, creates dream Kitty-chan collaborations, such as putting the famed cartoon kitten carbonite or an Ultraman suit or a Daft Punk outfit.

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