Prettocraig

Like buttons, you probably don't think of scissors as something that needs an upgrade. However, Fiskars Softouch Spring Action Scissors manage to solve a number of problems you've likely ignored over the years and just make your cutting needs a lot easier. More »

It seems like fodder for a science fiction movie, but George Church is dead serious: he needs a surrogate mother for a Neanderthal baby. Church, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School, says he's close to cloning a Neanderthal baby — the first in more than 30,000 years. Speaking to Der Spiegel, Church said that once such cloning technology has matured, all he would need is an "adventurous female human" to act as a surrogate.

Reviving an extinct human ancestor may seem like a ludicrous premise, but it's not as farfetched as it may seem. Church says he's already extracted enough fossil DNA to reconstruct the DNA of a Neanderthal child, and he's been very outspoken about the feasibility of bringing one to term. There's even a precedent...

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Last year, Enrico Dini used his D-Shape 3D printer to create rather stunning stone buildings out of sand. Now, the Italian inventor is taking his initiative one step further, collaborating with Dutch architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars to build the "Landscape House" — a beautiful, one-piece building to be constructed entirely from 3D printing.

Ruijssenaars, of Universe Architecture in Amsterdam, told 3ders.org that he and artist Rinus Roelofs designed the house as "one surface folded in an endless Möbius band." The architect plans to construct the house from 6 x 9 meter fragments printed from the D-Shape. Ruijssenaars acknowledged having concerns over whether the D-Shape's sand-based layers would be strong enough to support an entire...

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The leadership of Atari Inc., what’s left of the gaming legend behind Pong and the Atari 2600, is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to free the company from French parent Atari SA, formerly Infogrames, reports the Los Angeles Times. An unnamed "knowledgeable person" says that the plan is to develop Atari, Inc. into a "modest" business based on "digital and mobile platforms," presumably along with licensed merchandise, which CEO Jim Wilson says brings in about 17 percent of the company's revenues.

The report notes that Atari Inc.’s fortunes have been improving lately, thanks in part to the success of mobile titles like Atari Greatest Hits. And according to the Times, the company has several offers on the table...

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Windows: Most people only have one internet connection at home, but what if you could merge your connection with the free Wi-Fi from the coffee shop down the street with your phone's 4G connection to create a super-pipe with tons of additional bandwidth? That's what Connectify Dispatch does, perfectly. More »

Outsourcing has been a reality in the American workplace for years now, but we haven't heard of an employee outsourcing his entire job — until now. According to the BBC, a software engineer was apparently outsourcing his entire job to China by paying a fifth of his six-figure salary to a local firm in Shenyang who handled his job for him. The employee reportedly did this through a "fairly standard" VPN connection that was set up to allow employees to work from home. The man actually mailed his RSA security token to China so that workers there could log in to his account, and on the surface it seemed as if he was performing a normal day's work. However, further scrutiny revealed the connection to China, which at first was believed to be...

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If you've seen a piece of furniture in your lifetime, you've probably seen something touched by the iconic design of Charles and Ray Eames. The couple made a number of significant contributions to modern architecture, furniture design, and even to graphic design and film — for instance, the classic Powers of Ten was produced by the Eames, who worked with IBM on the film. Be sure to check out the full, stylishly designed Eames timeline to see the couple's body of remarkable work, much of which now belongs to the Library of Congress.

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A Vancouver time travelogue brought to you by Past Tense.

Stanley Park zoo staff noticed something was up with the ducks in Lost Lagoon back in the swingin’ seventies. “Something has to be done,” zoo curator Larry Lesage told the press. “It’s a real problem. We’ve taken up the issue with the [Canadian] Wildlife Service and I would like to see them program the ducks to create a balance.”

What was the problem? Not only were the ducks mostly male for some unknown reason, but they were also having sex with each other. And it was spreading, according to Lesage: “I first noticed the mallards were gay about three years ago but now the wood ducks have picked it up.”

A technician with the Canadian Wildlife Service explained that the phenomenon couldn’t be interpreted in human terms: “If they are gay, it’s not because ducks are becoming decadent. Ducks have aggressive tendencies and a lack of females could make them turn to each other … This sort of thing is not unusual among waterfowl [or humans in prison, for that matter] — particularly when they are densely populated.”

I don’t know what, if any, remedies were tried to cure the gay duck phenomenon, but hopefully the government eventually learned it has no business in the watery bedrooms of the nation’s ducks.

I wanted to keep this post family friendly, so instead of a duck sex pic, I found this 1973 installation of a duck that was the other-kind-of-queer by contemporary artist Max Dean. It was a ten-foot long rubber ducky-style yellow duck that the Parks Board gave permission to float in Lost Lagoon. Apparently the other birds weren’t too impressed by it, so it’s unlikely that Dean’s duck influenced the behaviour of the others.

Source: Max Dean, Large Yellow Duck, via the Centre for Canadian Contemporary Art  

Spanning four floors, House Patrocinio is located in Lisbon, Portugal and it’s a house like no other, with its lush vertical garden exterior and its rooftop lap pool. Underneath all of the green is a rectangular tower of a building but the facade, and the approximately 4,500 plants that cover it, make it a standout.

Designed by Rebelo de Andrade, the plant-covered exterior contains about 25 different Iberian and Mediterranean varieties of plants, giving it loads of textures and aromas.

The street level floor houses the garage and the mechanics of the home, while the first floor is the family’s private level. The third floor has the social spaces, which is appropriate since the open top floor is the deck with a truly awesome lap pool.

I have one question though – how in the world do they water and weed the walls?

Oh hey, rooftop deck and your mirrored cube. It gives you great views of the city from every angle!

I’m not sure if he’s floating or swimming…

Notice the circles on the bottom of the pool?

Here’s the other side. You can spy on people in the room below or catch a glimpse of whomever is swimming laps up above.

Creeper…

The narrow structure’s four levels are connected by a really long staircase.

The glass panels on the ceiling and the front of the house make the staircase so light-filled and airy. It also helps flood the house with natural light.

Photos by FG+SG.

Share This: Twitter | Facebook | Discover more great design by following Design Milk on Twitter and Facebook. © 2013 Design Milk | Posted by Caroline in Architecture | Permalink | 2 comments

If you grew up in the 80s, chances are you have a soft spot in your heart for Top Gun. The 1986 film is a generation-defining and also catapulted Tom Cruise to full 'movie star' status — and who can forget that soundtrack? If you've been waiting to upgrade your worn-out VHS copy, now is the time: Top Gun will be released on 3D Blu-ray on February 19th, and you can put in your pre-order now. The disc will contain both 3D and standard versions of the film, along with a wide variety of extras including a commentary track, a six-part "making of" documentary, and a handful of music videos. This long-awaited release will come on the heels of a six-day theatrical re-release of Top Gun in IMAX 3D — the movie's fans have a big month ahead of...

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Rowan Atkinson and Christian Bale, 1985 

Photo: Andrea Woo

Remember a few weeks back when we REPORTED on someone changing the sign at Guelph Park in Mt Pleasant to “Dude Chilling Park”, and the subsequent online PETITION that garnered 1,692 signatures? Well it seems that either Google was listening or someone else has a great sense of humour as it is now officially listed on Google Maps as Dude Chilling Park! HERE!

Thanks to Matthew Lazin-Ryder for finding this through Todd Coyne.

If you put on a tie every day or the dress code at work is formal enough that you could use help keeping your wardrobe fresh, FreshNeck can help. It's a subscription service that lets you select up to three ties, cufflinks, pocket squares or other items and have them shipped to you to wear. When you're tired of them, send them back to have the next three on your queue shipped out. More »

This neglected church, once part of the Sant Francesc Convent, was renovated by Catalan architect David Closes. Located in the town of Santpedor, Spain, it was the last building standing from the convent and was badly in need of repair. The project turned the former church into an auditorium and multifunctional space for cultural events.

The exterior was left with its original rough facade, with moments of the modern renovation mixed in. Overall, Closes managed to preserve the historical value of the building while also combining new elements for the update.

The added volumes on the exterior, like this staircase, were added in order to keep the interior’s spaces intact.

Another added volume hides electrical equipment that runs the building.

Photos © Jordi Surroca.

Share This: Twitter | Facebook | Discover more great design by following Design Milk on Twitter and Facebook. © 2013 Design Milk | Posted by Caroline in Architecture | Permalink | 2 comments

Like a parent washing out their child's mouth with soap, IBM was forced to cleanse its supercomputer Watson's memory after it learned a thing or two from the Urban Dictionary. According to CNN, the Jeopardy champion began memorizing entries from the slang-filled site when the supercomputer was in development years ago, but sadly, Watson was unable to separate polite and proper language from the crude phrases found in the Urban Dictionary. So while terms like "LOL" and "cool story, bro" likely caused no issues for IBM research scientist Eric Brown, Watson's vocabulary also extended into the vulgar, with Brown recalling a time when the computer responded to a query by saying "bullshit." Ultimately, the entries were removed from Watson's...

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© 2004-2013 Rebecca Bollwitt - Miss604.

Vancouver has a wide selection of public art that is supported by various city or government branches, organizations, or private supporters. A few pieces that were installed around town during the Vancouver Biennale art campaign have since stayed on as legacy works. One of which is 217.5 Arc x 13′ by Bernar Venet of France, which is most commonly known as the “metal ribs at the beach”.

With its rusty metal arcs placed on the beach with soft ocean, mountain, and sunset-painted backgrounds the piece is frequently photographed — making it today’s Vancouver Icon photo feature:

Photo credit: colink. on Flickr

Photo credit: chris.huggins & vjm. on Flickr

Photo credit: Roland on Flickr

From Vancouver Biennale: “Venet illustrates the beauty, balance and plasticity of raw steel in his artistically mathematical manipulations of this industrial material. Nature, the universe, and life are all interconnected and explainable mathematically according to Venet. 217.5 X 13′ was acquired by the Vancouver Biennale as a Legacy work at the conclusion of the 2005-2007 Biennale.”

Photo credit: Cam in Van on Flickr

Photo credit: Tom Wiebe & popejon2 on Flickr

Photo credit: colink. on Flickr

Photo credit: popejon2 on Flickr

Photo credit: Hub☺ & SqueakyMarmot on Flickr

Photo credit: popejon2 on Flickr

Other Vancouver Icons posts include: Canoe Bridge, Vancouver Block, Bloedel Conservatory, Centennial Rocket, Canada Place, Old Courthouse/Vancouver Art Gallery, Dominion Building, Science World, Gastown Steam Clock, SFU Burnaby, Commodore Lanes, Siwash Rock, Kitsilano Pool, White Rock Pier, Main Post Office, Planetarium Building, Lord Stanley Statue, Vancouver Library Central Branch, Victory Square, Digital Orca, The Crab Sculpture, Girl in Wetsuit, The Sun Tower, The Hotel Vancouver, The Gassy Jack Statue, The Marine Building, and The Angel of Victory. Should you have a suggestion for the Vancouver Icons series please feel free to leave a note in the comments. It should be a thing, statue, or place that is very visible and recognizable to the public.

© 2004-2012 Rebecca Bollwitt - Miss604.com. If you are not reading this via official Miss604 channels, this content is being reproduced without permission.

The idea that President Obama could evade the debt limit by ordering the Treasury Department to mint a $1 trillion platinum coin started off as a joke, or a quasi-joke, but now, thanks in part to Paul Krugman as well as to many other influential commentators (even the former head of the U.S. Mint), is being taken seriously. And if serious people take it seriously, then the coin loses its fairy-tale quality, and why not go through with it? The answer is that the legal case for the platinum coin is not as strong as people think, and if the president gets this wrong, the consequences could be severe.

At Samsung's CES keynote today, Microsoft showed a video of Illumiroom, a technology that the company says will "expand interaction to any surface in your home." In other words, it projects imagery beyond your TV screen for a more immersive gaming experience. Bullets fly out of the display, an in-game fire makes it look like your living room is going up in flames, and a first-person shooter plays out on an entire wall.

It works by mapping the room with Kinect to create interactive illusions in real-time; this is something we'd love to see for ourselves, but unfortunately Microsoft won't show it off fully until April. In the meantime, watch this video to get a glimpse of where Microsoft sees the living room going.

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BEST OF TRAVEL 2012: Our favorite hotels, restaurants, bars and visitor attractions of the year

Let’s be real, there are two things that you’re never too old for – playing with your food and dinosaurs. Add baking cookies to the mix and you have your inner child’s fantasy. Am I right? You have Suck UK to thank for this trifecta of fun in the form of their 3D Dinosaur Cookie Cutters.

Each pack contains the shapes to craft one of four 3D dinosaurs including: Brachiosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, or Stegosaurus. Roll out your dough, cut out the shapes, bake, and then assemble your extinct little creatures into a tasty snack.

Brachiosaurus

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Triceratops

Stegosaurus

Share This: Twitter | Facebook | Discover more great design by following Design Milk on Twitter and Facebook. © 2013 Design Milk | Posted by Caroline in Home Furnishings, Style + Fashion | Permalink | 4 comments

Brad Ascalon just announced the launch of his new table collection called Atlas, designed for Design Within Reach.

Atlas consists of two walnut tables – a coffee and side table – available with a white or black marble or travertine top. Marble was a big trend in 2012 and I don’t think we’re anywhere close to being done with it moving into 2013. Perhaps travertine (or other natural stone) will be the next big thing?

The collection was inspired by the Greek mythological character of the same name, condemned for eternity to carry the heavens on his shoulders. Or, in this case, heavy stone. This looks to be a new classic in the making.

Share This: Twitter | Facebook | Discover more great design by following Design Milk on Twitter and Facebook. © 2013 Design Milk | Posted by Jaime Derringer in Home Furnishings | Permalink | 2 comments

Chris McCaw has no trouble photographing directly into the sun, overexposing images to such an extreme degree that the paper literally burns.

Above: Chris McCaw, Sunburned GSP#541 (Galapagos), 2012

Detail of Sunburned GSP#541 (Galapagos)

On a large custom-built camera loaded with vintage photographic paper instead of film, Chris breaks every rule of sane photography by leaving the shutter open for hours during the day. The result is two-fold. First, the path of the sun is scorched into the paper over the length of the exposure, recording its movement and transforming the camera lens into something like a magnifying glass on a hot summer day. Second, the rest of the image overexposes to a point of “solarization,” or an inversion of tonal value. Normally solarization creates something that looks like a “negative” where white appears black. However, because he is using photographic paper directly in the camera instead of film, that paper ALSO behaves like a “negative.”  This double negative results in a positive image!!!

Chris McCaw, Sunburned GSP#607 (Pacific Ocean), 2012

Detail of Sunburned GSP#607 (Pacific Ocean)

Though he uses black and white photo paper, the extreme heat reacts with the chemicals to produce brilliant reds and yellows at the edges of the burns.

Chris McCaw, Sunburned GSP#510, 2011

Detail of Sunburned GSP#510

These photographs are both images and objects and must be seen in person at Yossi Milo Gallery in New York. I love the framing that floats the paper off the backing to allow you to see through the hole.

Chris McCaw, Sunburned GSP#552 (Mojave/ Expanding), 2012

Detail of Sunburned GSP#552 (Mojave/ Expanding)

Learn more about the process on McCaw’s website.

Disclaimer: Design Milk takes no responsibility for destroyed cameras resulting from readers attempting this process at home.

What: Chris McCaw’s sunburned photographs
When: November 29,2012 – January 19, 2013
Where: Yossi Milo Gallery, 245 Tenth Avenue, New York, NY

All images © Chris McCaw, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.

Share This: Twitter | Facebook | Discover more great design by following Design Milk on Twitter and Facebook. © 2012 Design Milk | Posted by David in Art | Permalink | No comments

(It’s only 5 degrees.)

(514): It's a drunk scavenger hunt.
(514): Everything on the list counts for double points if done naked.

THE OCEAN HAS HER SECRETS. THE FORESTS ARE FULL OF MYSTERY. British Columbia’s temperate rainforest, which runs along our stunning coastline, is full of magic, wonder and beauty. It’s not something you can describe. It’s something you feel. A group of local surfers and paddle boarders has decided to create a documentary about our threatened coastline and are currently running an Indiegogo campaign to raise money for the post production of the film. This is their story.

From Bella Bella to Haida Gwaii and into the Great Bear Rainforest, STAND film has captured the energy and mystique of one of  the most beautiful areas in the world. The Great Bear Rainforest was even recently rated as one of the must see places for 2013 by National Geographic Traveller.

But, the entire region is under threat by the proposed Enbridge pipeline and subsequent oil tanker project. STAND raises the profile of the area by focusing on the wildlife, incredibly beautiful coastline, and amazing First Nations people.

Instagram Photo: Norm Hann

Norm Hann, a stand up paddleboarder who has done expeditions, guiding and conservation work in the Great Bear Rain Forest for many years, completed a 350-kilometer stand up paddleboard trip to raise awareness about the cultural and natural treasures that will be drastically affected by the proposed Enbridge pipeline.

STAND film also spent time with a group of First Nations youth in Bella Bella, who are building their own paddleboards in order to venture out and explore their own traditional territory. There are many heritage areas that are important to the First Nations peoples of this region, who have called the area home for more than 10,000 years.

The third storyline focuses on Tofino-based pro surfer, Raph Bruhwiler, who has spent his life out on the ocean. The STAND team follows Raph on a surfing journey along the Northern coast of British Columbia, where he is introduced to the rich culture and diverse wildlife of the area.

Instagram Photo: Norm Hann

B4Apres is a production team behind the film project. Comprised of Sea to Sky photographer and storyteller Anthony Bonello and action sports photographer Nicolas Teichrob, the team is a powerhouse of visual storytelling, with many accolades and award-winning works under their belts.

“The entire coast from Haida Gwaii to South Vancouver Island is so incredibly amazing,” Teichrob explained via email from a tiny patch of reception on a Vancouver Island beach during filming on a new project. “Getting a chance to visit the North Coast was great, as it has always seemed slightly out of reach. I’m always blown away by what BC’s coast delivers: so much diversity and always beautiful.”

STAND is due to debut in Spring 2013 and the crew is keen to enter it into global film festivals. The Indiegogo campaign runs through to December 24 – the perfect Christmas present for your environmentally conscious friends. Learn more about the project and donate by visiting them at indiegogo.com/standfilm.

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I love the occasional Chipotle burrito, but if for some crazy reason you find your nearby location a little stingy on the beans and meat, or if you like a little variety in your burrito, the folks at Thought Catalog have a great guide to hacking the Chipotle assembly line so you get both types of beans, more meat, and free burritos. More »

Presented last week at Design Miami, Front Design’s new Surface Tension Lamp designed for Booo is pretty darn awesome. Essentially it’s a light that constantly blows bubbles.

The bubbles catch and reflect the light, just like a regular lightbulb, except each of these is temporary with flecks of color. Made with an LED light source that will last for 50,000 hours, by the time the bulb burns out, the light will have blown about 3 million bubbles.

I want one. Or I at least want to witness this in person. Check out this video of the lamp blowing bubbles:

Technical development by Loligo.

Share This: Twitter | Facebook | Discover more great design by following Design Milk on Twitter and Facebook. © 2012 Design Milk | Posted by Jaime Derringer in Art, Home Furnishings | Permalink | 3 comments

At first:

And then:

There’s no doubt you’ve seen the Mystery Machine rolling around town the last couple of years. My son is a pretty big fan of Scooby Doo (ahem, as am I) and every time it rolls by he lets me know, with great enthusiasm. I’m happy to report today that this vehicle is currently for sale! HERE! (and please don’t tell my son).

(Apologies if any other blogs already found this posting on Craigslist and want to claim ownership over it. If you have already published this link please email us and let us know if you’re super adamant about being credited as the first person who spotted this Craiglist listing. Please don’t do what @NBAVancouver DID earlier this week and spread hate speech over it. Things go viral on the internet.)