Seed-Spewing, Biodegradable shoes?

In The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, our hero comes up with what he thinks is a revolutionary, category-busting new idea. Inspired by a passing bird, he decides that his company should make shoes with seeds embedded in them. As the shoe wears out, the seeds are distributed wherever the owner happens to walk. And when the shoes wear completely out, people can plant them.
Careful readers will remember that this idea becomes turns out to be a colossal flop. But now Johnny just might get the last laugh.

Springwise reports that this month OAT Shoes will be debuting a new line ofbiodegradable sneakers: “Bury them in the garden, woods or compost, water regularly and flowers will bloom from your old kicks!”
Yes, life imitates manga.

How amazing is that?? Looks like more people need to imitate comic books :)

Credit: Daniel Pink Blog

Visual Budget - an interactive guide to the federal budget

I recently stumbled upon this video by Visual Budget, a data-visualization web site that explains all the complicated ins and outs of the US Federal Budget using interactive charts and motion graphics. It is a tool that lets citizens understand this important issue, armed with the latest most comprehensive facts and figures. It brings a new breadth of knowledge to our political discourse and helps us share our opinions with artistic power.

Definitely worth supporting. Back it over on Kickstarter.

I only wish someone with an animation background and someone with a statistical background come together to do the same for India. 

Sarah Kay: If i should have a daughter...

“If I should have a daughter, instead of Mom, she’s gonna call me Point B … ” began spoken word poet Sarah Kay, in a talk that inspired two standing ovations at TED2011. She tells the story of her metamorphosis — from a wide-eyed teenager soaking in verse at New York’s Bowery Poetry Club to a teacher connecting kids with the power of self-expression through Project V.O.I.C.E. — and gives two breathtaking performances of “B” and “Hiroshima.”

The below video made me tear up:



Sarah Kay has been a performing poet since she was 14 years old. She is the founder of Project V.O.I.C.E, teaching poetry and self-expression at schools across the United States. Full bio and more links.

Life is too short for the wrong job

Emotionally intelligent advertisements, seen on the Little Chief Honeybee blog. The ads are for jobsintown.de, a German job site.

Plant Based Bottle

PepsiCo unveiled a breakthrough in bottle technology earlier today: It announced the world’s first petroleum-free plastic bottle. Read more over on PSFK: Pepsi Reveals World’s First 100% Plant-Based Bottle

LookTel Money Reader

LookTel Money Reader – amazing optical recognition iPhone app allows the blind to identify and count currency





What a brilliant Invention!

I wish this room were mine

Naoto Mitsumoto and Naoko Hamana of MihaDesign were asked to renovate an old 770 sq apartment that was constructed in 1957. The designers were asked to propose a solution for the owners – a husband and wife with 4 kids – who desperately needed to come up with a creative use of the limited space. Who would think of putting boxes into this small apartment that not only serves as cozy bed-nucks but also offer a desk space above the beds. The kids can quietly read or study while comfortably dangling their feet above their beds. This is brilliant! Unbelievably brilliant! Read more.

(via spoon and tamago / via bb)

The Wind Knitting Machine

There’s certain inventions that just make you smile and there’s no deeper reason for them to exist. But the fact that it made me smile in the first place, was worth it being created. This Wind Knitting Machine is a perfect example: With the power of the wind, a knitting machine knits from the outside towards the inside of a building. The knitted material is harvested from time to time and rounded-off in individually packaged scarves. Each scarf has its own label which tells you in how much time it has been knitted and on which date.

(via tweeting Justus Bruns)

Happy Women's day!

Do you know who Melitta Bentz was? Or Ida Forbes? Or Ruth Wakefield? No? Then watch and learn.





This four and a half minute video is the third in an ongoing series by XPLANE andKronos. View the first two at the links below and learn more about today’s International Women’s day here.

The loneliest whale in the world

I read something sad a friend (Sabino) of mine wrote on his tumblr the other day

i (sabino) just read a comment from a 2004 article by the ny times about the loneliest whale in the world. scientists have been tracking her since 1992 and they discovered the problem:

she isn’t like any other baleen whale. unlike all whales, she doesn’t have friends. she doesn’t have a family. she doesn’t belong to any tribe, pack or gang. she doesn’t have a lover. she never had one. her songs come in groups of two to six calls, lasting for five to six seconds each. but her voice is unlike any other baleen whale. it is unique—while the rest of her kind communicate between 12 and 25hz, she sings at 51.75hz. you see, that’s precisely the problem. no other whales can hear her. every one of her desperate calls to communicate remains unanswered. each cry ignored. and with every lonely song, she becomes sadder and more frustrated, her notes going deeper in despair as the years go by.
source: whi.

Crazy eh?? How many times have you felt like the loneliest whale in the world, only to realise  later you've been communicating in a different decibel altogether?? 

The happiness truck!

What a brilliant idea!! Here's hoping we all discover something awesome this week!