toy box

BugLabs - Video

I've tried to explain what "BugLabs" is about for a while.

Bug Labs is a new kind of technology company, enabling a new generation of engineers to tap their creativity and build any type of device they want, without having to solder, learn solid state electronics, or go to China. Bug Labs envisions a future where CE stands for Community Electronics, the term “mashups” applies equally to hardware as it does to Web services, and entrepreneurs can appeal to numerous markets by inventing “The Long Tail” of devices. - www.buglabs.com

When I saw this video on IDEO Labs, I felt so excited! What would I create if I had all these components...?

drop.io

I'm constantly looking for a way to streamline archiving/sharing system of information. This service drop.io caught my eyes. I think it has a potential. Check out their demo video. It's like a twitter meets basecamp.

Sand box (on screen)

When I'm at the beach, I can spend hours playing with white sand. This website thissand.com makes me feel as if I am letting the sand fall out of my hand to make random shapes. Kind of like a digital version of "office zen garden" people used to have on their office desk.

Compete for anything!

I came across this website ibeatyou.com on trendcentral. It's a website where you can have competition on anything you like from how to live more balanced life to why people should vote next month (Declare Yourself initiated by Jessica Alba) and you let audiences choose the winner of competition! It's like a mix of threadless & American idle.

Ready to schedule a meeting?

Have you encounter a dilemma of not being able to set up a meeting when more than two (very busy) attendees are involved? I've seen a couple online scheduling tools but I thought we will try using TimeBridge. It seems intuitive to use and clean interface to interact with. More review about this tool to come!

Future web browser scenario

"Aurora is a concept video presenting one possible future user experience for the Web, created by Adaptive Path as part of the Mozilla Labs concept browser series." We like concept prototype that shares just enough information to get us imagining what the future holds. This first concept Aurora seemed little bit complicated for me by viewing the video.  However, I am looking forward to their browser concept series to see some other concepts. Maybe there would be simpler more intuitive user experience? different settings for scenario?
 
Aurora (Part 1) from Adaptive Path on Vimeo.

meebo.com: if you could chat with people behind the blog...

Our friend sent us a link to meebo (Thanks Candice:) Idea is very simple. Website/blog author can embed chat windows on their site by creating an account with meebo.com. Now when visitors come to the website, they can engage the real-time conversation with the authors. It's an indication that the distance between authors and readers is getting shorter and shorter in the era of conversation.

now do this:

Another add to "favorite website" list. We came across now do this: website through Zen Habits. Its primary function is a to-do list but really love the simplicity of the website itself. No advertisement... no links. Just one thing you have to get done right now displayed on the screen... (I was going to add image of the website but it really wouldn't look like much. Just check it yourself and let me know if you like it as much as I do)

NIKE PHOTOiD

Nike always seems to know how to reinvent itself. From their NIKEiD to NIKE PHOTOiD. Now not only you can choose what color and types of customized details you want but also collect your own color palette from your environment. Check out the video here.

Deck of news

Current news/events can be shuffled as a deck of cards at Spectra Visual Newsreader. Reader can be surrounded by layers of information on screen (preselected by websites and then readers) and quickly flip through them just like you're dealing with deck of cards. The experience is interesting but so artificial and synthetic that I wonder it makes readers want to go back to old newspapers/magazines...