Creepy Mimic Robot

"What you’re looking at above is Actroid-F, Kokoro Co. Ltd. and ATR‘s latest iteration of the creepy humanoid robot that can mime the operator’s facial expressions and head movements with unbelievable (but not quite human) accuracy. Her current job is to act as “as an observer in hospitals to gauge patient reactions.” We guess that’s one way to get around euthanasia laws. See what we mean in the video after the break." - Engadget.com

Watch the full video here. Hat tip: Vinny

Halloween Cupcakes Pt. 2

More gruesome goodness... See Halloween Cupcake Pt. 1. Hat tip: Philip

Halloween Cupcakes

I used to have time to make costumes for Halloween... Not sure what I'm going to be this year. However, whoever makes halloween cupcakes is sure to be a winner in my book. Here are some great ideas. Hat tip: Philip





Ps. I just recently watched Carriers, which turned out to be a terrible zombie movie. Thumbs down.

Men Who Lack Supervision Pt. 2

This stuff never gets old... hah! See Men Who Lack Supervision Pt. 1. Hat tip: Mark

Tiny Apartment

While this apartment looks cool, I think it feels too cramped. I still prefer the hong kong apartment that converts into 24 rooms. Hat tip: aaron





Ps. I really love that Eames Aluminum Lounge Chair.

Optical Illusions

Here's a compilation of cool optical illusions. Watch the video here.

Impossible Puzzle

Can you figure this out? Watch the video here.

Men Who Lack Supervision

I thought this was pretty funny. Hat tip: Mark

Real Ironman Suit

Who else wants to try one of these things out? If you can see the video, click here.

Facetime Beta for Mac

I've been using Facetime more and more with Vinny. This should be fun. Hopefully they make Facetime for the iPad in the next generation.

Bboy battle, juniors.

These kids are insanely talented... their power moves, style, and timing is ridiculous. The only thing that's weird is seeing little kids throw cock signs at each other. I know it's competitive, but it's strange. Hat tip: Wingsone

Awkward Fam Photos

Got some awkward family photos? Check it out here. Hat tip: Will

Black Ops Wager Mode

This is so damn cool... I've got my copy on pre-order. Hat tip: Vinny

Grossest Drink Ever

You're probably wondering why this drink looks so nasty... that's because it is. And the worst part about it is that Jim took to big swigs just to gross me out. I didn't even have to dare him! Anyway, this goes down as one of the most impressive, yet disgusting things I've seen at work.



So what's inside this cup? Well, as you can see in the illustration on the left... it's Redbull, Diet Dr Pepper, and some Black Eye. The funny thing is, Jim drinks these three things every day... just not all at once. Huge props for taking on the challenge. He has my respect!

The Success of Web 1.0 Visual Design

There are a ton of new sites with that glossy 2.0 look. Big buttons, sexy styling, jquery, etc... but there's something about the old 1.0 look—you know, blue links. The 1.0 look isn't appropriate for everything, but it seems to be a common theme between sites that act more like utilities. For example, when you look at Google, Wikipedia, Craigslist, Reddit, or even Facebook, you don't think it was designed by anyone. You just think that it's the way the web works. There's something really appealing about it... it's fast, it's simple, and there's hardly an interaction learning curve. What do you think?

Tower Madness Domino

Okay, I've been stock on the Tower Madness Domino map for the last couple weeks. Level 50 is the furthest I can get... Anyone have a winning strategy they'd like to share?

Pop & Lock Kids

Wish I had moves like these kids.

BBQ

We had a post hackathon competition between Marty and Charlie. Here's a quick video I shot with my iPhone.

Tower Madness Endurance iPad

I can beat Tower Madness Endurance consistently. Here are a couple of screenshots that show different techniques I used for winning on the iPad.

AddThis for Chrome

We actually had another version of this extension, but this new version has some enhancements. The biggest enhancement is the ability to customize your services (choose from over 300 services).

Here's a screenshot of what it looks like to customize your menu. I'm currently using Safari as my browser, but I'll have to make the switch over to Chrome now. Huge kudos to Rahf and team for pulling this together.

This is what the customization screen looks like. We're going to make some additional enhancements to the page, but for now, this is a great way to select your favorite services.

New MySpace Identity

Here's a screen that shows the new MySpace logo concept. I'm not a fan of logos that have to be everything, and yet nothing. I think it makes a good campaign, but not a good visual identity. The design is not strong, and doesn't evoke any feeling. Watch the presentation that unveils the logo—the awkward silence at the end tells it all. Hat tip: Justin




Here are some other examples of visual identities that come to mind. It just feels like an executive committee designed this stuff.

Practical Aston Martin

The Cygnet is a luxury city car by Aston Martin... it's branded as "Elegant, distinctive, and practical". However, "urban mobility" has seen better days. This is by far one of the most ugly cars I've ever seen. Really, do we want to see James Bond drive this around? Okay, maybe you could add some machine guns, oil slicks, and high tech gadgets, but it's still just a terrible design.

Here is the Cygnet.


This is the Aston Martin Vantage... now this is what I think of when someone says "Aston Martin". This is a proper luxury sports car.

AddThis Hackathon

Ever so often, we have a hackathon. What is a hackathon? It's an event when programmers meet to do collaborative computer programming. These events are typically between several days and a week in length. A hackathon refers not simply to one time hacks, but to a specific time when many people come together to hack on what they want to, how they want to - with little to no restrictions on direction or goal of the programming. Here's a visual diagram I made of the hacking process.

Unfortunately I can't talk about the specifics of our projects, but I will say that you're going to see some awesome stuff come out of AddThis soon. Here are some photos...

Smooth. Even. Steady.

Love this video of Square. It's interesting how something so techy can be transformed into entertainment. Hat tip: Justin

New Twitter

I love it. They've made a sexy interface that feels more like an app. I like how Twitter is pushing things forward with CSS3 and JS. It inspires me to do the same. Kudos.

Facebook Movie

I went with my coworkers to watch Social Network last night, and I'm pumped. The two things I felt were, 1) I wish I thought of Facebook, and 2) What's the next big idea? It makes me want to go out there and design something special. I've been working on some stuff with AddThis and we're in the laboratory brewing some new things. While I can't talk about it all, I can say that I'm inspired and ready to hack.



There are big players sprouting up everywhere... I was telling my buddy Vinny about etsy.com last night, and he never heard of it. Etsy is a new york-based online store for handmade goods. They are now valued at $300 million, and they anticipate a billion dollar valuation by next year. They may not be a Facebook, but they are making hand over fist being super niche. Anyone else working on some big projects?

Right Where It Belongs

I'm usually not a fan of live songs... but I thought this was a strong one by NIN.



Also check out a live version of "Push It" by Tool. Again, this is a live version that I felt was just as strong, if not stronger than the album version.

Reznor & Fincher

I'm watching The Social Network with my coworkers tomorrow evening. The movie features some of my favorite creative people such as David Fincher and Trent Reznor. Fincher and Reznor have been featured together before in one of my all time favorite movies, Se7en. In Se7en's precuror, you'll hear a version of Closer originally written by Reznor. The movie uses a remixed version by Coil. The movie contained some of my favorite music, theme and story. In my opinion, Se7en was Fincher's best work. Not sure The Social Network will top it... but we'll see.

Here's the precursor from Se7en:

Hello Fall

Goodbye summer, hello fall. It's getting way too cold to wear shorts outside. I'm going to have to get some cold weather gear. With the rain, it's just miserable outside. How's the weather in your neck of the woods?