internet cool?!

Is your kid more like more like Paul Teutul than Bob the Builder? Then peep this.

From Today and Tomorrow: The Japanese retail brand MUJI and LEGO teamed up to develop a set of 4 different boxes. Inside those boxes you’ll find the classic LEGO bricks but also a few sheets of paper. No big deal. But when you also have the right punch hole tool, you can combine both to create something new. I really like this concept. You can order a set here (when you speak sone Japanese).

Flippin’ sweet.

Well, the lights are up, the nog has been drunk (most of it), the hot toddies were a hit, and it’s time for me to hang up the wreath for the rest of the season. I’m signing off until January.

2009 was an interesting year. In some ways the hardest year, and in others, the most incredible on every personal and professional level imaginable.

I’m thankful for my kick ass bidnas partners, my amazing team, my silly pups and all our health. Most importantly, I’m so thankful for my wonderful family. I will be with them until 1/4, thanking them for everything they’ve done for me this year so that I can be here for you, too.

See you in January.  And, as always - Don’t Give Up.

/ Tom

I got a bit tired of my Apple TV last year and decided to hack the Boxee Beta onto it (among other things). The promise of a Boxee set-top box was amazing. I had played with the app on my computer for some time, and it worked fairly well when I installed it on my laptop. I figured the jump to Apple TV would be just as good an experience. Nope. Well, maybe that’s too harsh. It worked pretty well at first. But over time it became sluggish, unresponsive, and would crash more than actually do what it was supposed to. Par for the course for Beta stuff, I suppose.

All in all, though it was a great conversation piece in the home, and really demonstrated for me how close we really are to completely transitioning from clips on your ‘puter to clips wherever you want them. Then YESTERDAY I got fed up enough with it crashing, etc I decided to reset my Apple TV and updated it to the latest Apple firmware. I gotta say - I love it all over again. It’s not quite Boxee, but I seriously love my Apple TV. Good news!

better news

Holy shit balls, look at this little gift from our friends at Boxee. A clever, handsome, useful piece of hardware that promises to work just like the Boxee app (and then some).

Getting the awesome web-to-TV software, set up in your living room used to be a headache if not disfunctional. Not anymore thanks to the Boxee Box (around $200; Q1 2010). This angled wonder lets you consume all the free movies, TV shows and music from the internet, all from your couch — and hooks it up to your system with just a single HDMI cable. Like the standard Boxee software, it also sucks in your own videos, music and photos, playing just about any media format that still resides on your broken down laptop. I’m in. Santa, you listening?

This made me feel like I was in Kindergarten all over again. It’s simply incredible how a familiar sight, sound, or even smell can throw you back to a place you haven’t been for 30 years.

The infamous original PBS logo (circa October 1971 - June 1984) could be one of the scariest logo/bumpers in the history of television. This was one of the major symbols of my childhood. I remember its startlingly primitive animation and frightening moog synthesizer tones slightly unnerving me whenever I saw it. I can recall wanting to “hang on” and force myslef to last all of 5-10 seconds longer because something great like 3-2-1 Contact / “The Bloodhound Gang” or “The Great Space Coaster” was just around the corner. Even now I still have a visceral reaction to it. Those sounds stimulate brain cells that have been dormant for many years. Amazing.

(For those of you guys who ran to the closet whenever this logo came on as a child, please watch at your own risk.) Enjoi. :D

Fifty People, One Question: New Orleans from Benjamin Reece on Vimeo.

Touching. Creative. Inspiring. Real.  

Enjoi.

Dear Nerds,

I haves treat for you: Mac Jewelry. Srsly!

My favorite? iphone button earrings - a must for every Macshionista on your list this year.

Get yours here:

This guy has FREE, FREE stickers for anyone interested in taking part in an upcoming exhibition, Printeresting: One Every Day, at the EFA Project Space in New York City next week.

Instructions are simple…. email your mailing address to stickers[at]evan-roth.com When the stickers arrive in the mail put them up in a location that you find appropriate, take a picture and email him back the photo to the same email address. All photos will be added to a loop on display in the gallery for the length of the exhibition. If you are in NYC you can pick up free stickers at the gallery after Nov. 5th (location listed below), or you can make your own with any of the the following files ( .pdf | .png | .eps | .ai ).

email - stickers[at]evan-roth.com

The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts
323 West 39th St., 2nd Floor
NY, New York 10018

November 5 - December 19
Opening Reception:
Saturday, November 7
6-9 PM

:)

I just found a great explanation of it online. It’s everything you need to know about “the cloud” but were afraid to ask. And now I’m posting it here for you. Go ahead. Print it out. Take it with you. Whatever you want. Just uh, next time ASK when you don’t understand something, OK? Geez.

(Thanks to the folks at the Mozy Blog for this one.)