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Barking dog or barking mad?

I was doing my usual eye skim over Daily Candy and had to read this particular email twice. Was I really reading about a frozen yoghurt for dogs? As described,

'A blend of totally organic ingredients (yogurt with live cultures, bananas, peanuts, and spring water) is packaged in biodegradable cups in their New Hampshire headquarters, so you won’t feel guilty about feeding it to her'

Well of course, this isn't really targeted at the dog. Yoghund is targeted at the 'barking mad' owner who'll pay S5.99 for a tub for their adorable pooch. It's to make the owner feel like a good owner. Organic and biodegradable - what more could one want?

Plastic still intact...

I'm moving to Singapore and my partner was doing some research online looking for some short term accommodation for us to stay in when we arrive. He came across this website with serviced apartments. The picture on the rates page intrigued me. A sofa with a plastic cover. It suggests to me either the photographer was in a hurry and didn't have time to rip the plastic off or someone is genuinely trying to convey the message that it's a new sofa.

Perhaps this is best explained as cultural difference?

Defining simplicity

I've been doing some mundane web page editing recently which leaves lots of time to semi-watch and fully listen to TED talks. This morning I watched John Maeda of MIT Media Lab talk about simplicity patterns.

This slide stood out to me:

Ask any child if they want the big or small cookie and they want the big one, even if the small one has Godiva flecks of chocolate.

Ask a child whether they want the large pile of laundry to fold or the small. You guessed it, they want the small.

In other words, more is related to what we consume, less is related to work. The point that John is making is that
simplicity is about living life with more enjoyment and less pain. These are words coming from a guy who's life is surrounded by complexity living at the intersection of technology and art...and being a father to five daughters!

Intrigued? It's a great TED talk to which. John is very amusing to listen to. Listen here.

Coffee stains and skylines

Thank you to Steve C for highlighting this to me. Apparently Virgin Atlantic wanted to design a series of logos to launch a 'beverage service' that would also act as logos for their beverage packs. As you might notice in the image below, there's a subtle skyline in the coffee mark.

A simple yet arguably highly effective design. My favourite thing about it is the imperfection of the design. It looks just like the coffee really has seeped into the napkin.

There's a series of logos to look at, the skyline of the city changes in each logo. The London skyline is my favourite with the big wheel. Take a look at this cached page with them on. It looks like Virgin asked for the images to be removed. Maybe they wanted it to be pre-launch secret. It's too cool to be kept secret in my opinion.

Starbucks reworked...

I recently watched Stefan Sagmeister talk about how design can make you happy. Part of his story encompassed a Korean artist he met in New York who plastered blank speech bubbles all over New York for people to fill in. I just loved this take on the Starbucks logo...

Weird things people eat...

Armano acknowledged about the new Dorito's chips - flavour X-13D - it sounds distinctly sci fi to me. That said I like the innovation behind the idea.

It got me thinking about the role culture has to play in what we're willing to eat when I saw this post about 'The Weird Things People Eat Around the World'. Cone pizza in Seoul, South Korea might be deemed acceptable - perhaps it was created especially for Western tourists.

Now what would you say to pickled snake head fish? Apparently spotted in an Asian supermarket in Vancouver.

What struck me was that the pickled snake head fish comes in a clear glass jar (and looks rather repulsive hence my reason for not posting a pic). To those Asians eating it I guess it's totally normal. Which brings me back to socialization - a process which starts at an early age. Can clever marketing communications and design concepts ever overcome what we're socialized into? Perhaps sometimes but I'm not so sure I'd ever be compelled to eat pickled snake head fish. The pickled cabbage in a pad thai recipe I recently made is my limit.

PC Guy is back...

Now I'm no tecchy but the opportunity to watch Steve Jobs unveil some of the new features of the new version of the Mac OS, 'Leopard', was something I wanted to see.

The first two minutes (well 1:58 minutes to be precise) are hilarious. I don't want to ruin the moment but what I will say is that I'm loving the banter between Apple and Microsoft. It's a gentle poke. There's nothing aggressive about it.

Once again, Jobs tells the story. He uses words like 'try' and 'maybe'. He's ambitious about gaining market share - but not aggressive. There's a difference.

The story of the coffee table computer

Microsoft is currently working on what's called the 'surface computer'. Think of a coffee table - or look at one. This is a coffee table with a difference. The surface i.e. where you put your coffee is a computer screen.

I've just watched a demo. The feature I like is the wireless capability. I can take a photo, put the camera on the table, watch the photo appear on the coffee table screen via the seamless wireless connection. Take it a step further. Put your phone on the table. Drag the photo, with your finger to the phone and now it's on your phone. Question. What happens if I spill my coffee?

When it comes to personalising my online ID I wish I could manage everything from one place without the hassle of managing settings for my phone, instant messenger, my MacBook. I'd like my profile picture to be the same on all my devices. And when I change it, I'd like it to sync across everything. Perhaps this is getting closer to being able to do that.

Is Microsoft getting cool again? If Popfly is anything to go by Microsoft might have their finger on the pulse. As my good friend the 'Geek in Disguise' says, it's the Ozzie factor. That is Ray Ozzie. They're no match to Apple on the 'cool' factor (yet) but perhaps they've turned a corner. I genuinely hope so. They just need to learn how to tell the story. And if you need to know about how to do that, Seth is your man.

Blown

Has this guy got too much time? Justin Callaway was recently so frustrated with Cingular he went to these lengths to express himself (watch the video - the pathos is hilarious and heightened by the violin). Gone are the days of writing a letter to a company to explain one's frustration. Now the whole world gets to know about it. I really admire Justin's creative expression.

I think the singing is probably a reflection of Justin's pain at having his speaker blow up. I find that noise my phone makes when near a speaker so utterly frustrating...even more so if it blew up the speaker. Thank goodness Justin did this...my phone is staying well away from speakers.