White iPhone versus clear.

Foo asked me if I wanted to get the white iPhone 4 because I was a "designer". Typically I love white, but not for the iPhone. The white face looks terrible with the screen because you'll see a black border around the image. Personally, I like the black face better because it feels like a seamless surface—everything is black when you turn it off. When you turn the screen on, you get a beautiful image in the center.



Instead of a white iPhone 4, I think they should have gone with a completely clear, to show off the internal components. For all the geeks, they can see the beauty of engineering that goes into making the iPhone. The designer in me likes this, because it reminds me of some Ferrari's that show off their engine. Everyone looks at the exterior and goes wow... but the glass hood is just showing off how sexy the engineering is on the inside.

Which is sexier, a white iPhone or a clear one?

Decals for your boring power outlets.

"Power outlets are boring. Spruce yours up with these vinyl decals that incorporate the shape and function." See more on behanced.com.

A tiny apartment transforms into 24 rooms.

"In Hong Kong, because of the space, apartments are small and expensive. Gary Chang, an architect, decided to design a 344 sq. ft. apartment to be able to change into 24 different designs, all by just sliding panels and walls. He calls this the "Domestic Transformer.""

I have a lot of family in Hong Kong, and I know what it's like to live in a small space. I used to spend my summers there as a child, and space is tight. What's even more wild is that Hong Kong is becoming even more dense and expensive. Here is an impressive video of a designer who transforms his space into a versatile living area. I am really astonished by all the details he thought about.

Super expensive road kill beer.

Not only is this one of the most limited beer in the world, it's ridiculously strong. The animals used to create the packaging are taxidermied roadkill.

"And what a fitting name it is. The End of History Beer ($650-$900) is an ultra-limited — as in, it might already be sold out — 55% alcohol blond Belgian ale, brewed using crazy freezing techniques, and featuring hints of juniper berries, mead, and nettles. Of course, being the world's strongest and most expensive beer wasn't enough for these restless brewmasters, so they took things one step further, and packaged the beer inside taxidermied roadkill, creating the end game of premium beer. Seriously, just look at it." Read more about it here. Hat tip: Josh

Apple's iPhone Bumper Commercial.

"If you thought the reception issues with Apple's iPhone 4 were a problem, think again. They've spawned a revolutionary new product."

Heheh, funny video. For the record, I haven't had problems with the antenna yet. Hat tip: Josh

Create your own Follow Me or Stalk Me widget with AddThis.

If you look at my footer, you'll notice a "Stalk Me" widget that links out to my different web profiles. AddThis has just released a new Follow Me tool that's easy to create. Here's the interface for building your own (see image below). To create your own, visit addthis.com/labs/follow



The truth is, building a Follow Me tool isn't that hard—It's really just a bunch of links. Our goal was to try to make it a little easier and provide some analytics, for what it's worth. If you have a website or blog, give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Water Hyacinth in Bloom.

Another water hyacinth in bloom, shot on the new iPhone 4.

B-boy Toyz demonstrates Air Flare in slow-mo.

A local bboy, Toyz R Us (a friend of a friend), demonstrates air flares and windmills. The guy is super talented and entertaining to watch. I've watched him compete live a couple times and he's always a highlight.

This video is really well done, and I love the fact that it's in slow motion. It really gives you a chance to see his technique. Enjoy!

Osmos for iPad is beautiful.

I just purchased Osmos this weekend. I've read reviews that it was an awesome game for the ipad. It' definitely fun, and the music is great. The game is a little repetitive, but it certainly is relaxing and beautiful. I recommend it. Here's a video.

Apple's Antenna Test Labs

Apple's antenna design and test labs is ridiculously cool. I've seen some sound proofed rooms before, but I've never seen anything this advanced.

New doors at Clearspring.

We just got our new doors with windows this morning. We'll just have to paint them and the frame, and phase 0 will be complete. Check out some of the other pics of the interior refresh progress...

Painted walls
Original concept rendering

Domo + Trendy Sunglasses

Not a big fan of trendy sunglasses, unless Domo's rockin' them.

iPhone 4, at first glance.

I was debating about getting the iPhone 4 for the last month, and I finally got it yesterday. I've upgraded from a jailbroken 2g iphone (the original) the the iPhone 4, and I must say that it's a huge improvement. Kudos apple industrial designers. What a beautiful design and improvement. I like the fact that they moved away from the plastic, and went with glass and metal. The feeling is really nice, and is just simply stunning.

The things I noticed at first glance were:
• The screen is razor sharp... unlike anything I've ever seen
• The speed is just as fast as the iPad
• Tmobile seems to have better reception than AT&T around my home
• I haven't had any trouble with the infamous antenna issue yet

Favorite scene from Aliens (deleted scene).

I've been going back and watching some of my favorite movies recently through netflix, thanks to Sarah. This is one of my favorite scenes in Aliens (which was deleted). I'd love to make a tower defense game based on this.

Apple Facetime (dis)connects us in new ways.

I'll admit, I'm super excited for the new iPhone. I've finally reserved one. What's fascinating is how the new Apple commercials portray "real" moments in our lives. Some of them even pull on our emotional strings... I mean, it's hard not to see yourself in one of these scenarios.



While I love how the Apple commercials focus on how we can communicate and connect in new ways with Facetime, it's kind of sad to see how truly disconnected we are. While this new innovation in technology removes the barrier of physical distance, I can't help but to ask if I want to talk with everyone through video chat.

The reality is, it's not just Apple. It's everything—social networks, skype, instant messenger, etc. I feel like it's disconnecting me from the people and events that really matter.

For example, tomorrow is my birthday and I bet 95% of the people who wish me a happy birthday will be through Facebook. While it's awesome to hear from people I rarely see anymore, I'm not sure if I truly feel more connected with people.

Anyone else feel like they're caught in this spiral of (dis)connection? I'm excited for the new iPhone, but after seeing a reflection of myself in the commercials, I can't help but to be terrified of what we're becoming.

What the drizzle?

Maybe I'm agitated today because I feel like everyone thinks they're an expert, and they're really not. Or perhaps it's because I'm turning 31 tomorrow and I didn't do anything last year and I'm probably not doing anything this year. Most likely, I'm this way because it's been crappy outside for the last couple days, and won't stop raining. What the drizzle? Anyone else feelin' me?

AddThis is looking for sexy 32x32 icons, like PrintFriendly.

We just updated our 16x16 icons recently, and now it's time to look at a larger set of icons. If you're integrated with AddThis, send me your 32x32 icon, and we'll push it out in our next update. We recently released a 32x32 version of our toolbox, but it might not have every service.

I just got in touch with the team at PrintFriendly, and they sent me their updated 32x32 icon. As you can see in the image below, the icon from PrintFriendly sure beats the upscaled version. It also looks great on a dark background.



If you have a sexy 32x32 icon for your service, and you're integrated with AddThis, send me a link to a hi-res PNG. I'll make sure that it gets included in our next menu push.

Tower Madness, Endurance, Wave 327/327.

I've finally beat Tower Madness on endurance. Here's a screenshot of my setup, and I managed to save all 10 sheep. In my previous games, I played it on the iPhone, but the board is identical. The only difference is that I used a ton of flame throwers.



Here are screenshots of my previous attempts on the iPhone: wave 126/327 and wave 220/327

Water hyacinth in bloom.

Here's a video of my water hyacinth in bloom.

How to beat Tower Madness Infinity.

Here's a screenshot of how I beat Tower Madness Infinity, perfectly. The main strategy was to slow down the final bosses. They have so much HP, that the best thing to do is just try to stall them as much as possible and let the flame throwers do their business.

AddThis improves its mobile sharing experience.

I'm working with the team to make quick refinements to our current mobile experience on the iPhone. We made a couple small changes like increasing the font and button size—these trivial changes will make it much easier to scan and touch.

We'll be implementing the same interface we use for the iPhone on other touch screens such as Droid (which makes up over 30% of our mobile sharing), to make sharing easier and light weight. We'll also be looking at Symbian OS, Blackberry, and iPad. By implementing AddThis on your site, your sharing experience will always be optimized for desktop and mobile users.

Our design team is uber excited, and we look forward to the updates being released later this month.

July 4th in New York.

It was nice getting out of town and hanging out with my old roommate from college, Matt. We spent most of our time just hanging out and catching up with a couple of other people, like Sarah, Mike and Christina. Here's a view of Matt's house barge on July 4th. Unfortunately there was no funding for fireworks for Jones Beach... but surprisingly, everyone in his neighborhood lit the sky up. There were fireworks shooting from every direction, and you could actually experience it up close.



Here's a video.

2011 Tesla Roaster is fast, clean and sexy.

I'm loving where the electric powered sports cars are going. Anyone else want one of these babies? G'damn. Read more about the Tesla here. Hat Tip: Dave