Google Maps has just added a feature to allow users to make, save, and share their own maps. Just go to Google Maps and click on the My Maps tab. You can add markers with embedded text, pictures or video, as well as direction lines or shapes. Each saved map gets its own web address so that you can easily reference it. All published maps are added to the Google Maps search database. For a couple examples check out Olympic Host Cities, or The Googleplex.
This is a collection of 391 drawings done at last year's Victoria and Albert Museum Village Fete. Each artist was challenged to draw a portrait of Queen Victoria in one minute without taking their hand off the paper. The results cover an amusing range of images from slightly unflattering (to the poor queen) to downright insulting. It is amazing to see how few visual cues you need to recognize Queen Victoria. Check out the full set here. (Found through 30gms)
So this should teach you not to ask Google Maps dumb driving directions (such as New York, NY to London, UK). Google's directions for such a trip include the instructions "Swim across the Atlantic Ocean, 3462 miles". This seems to work for many cross Atlantic direction requests. Awesome!
I was reminded recently of these Guardian Angel bags designed by Carolien Vlieger of Vlieger and Vandamp . I first saw them last year at the MoMA Safe exhibit. The front of the bags are made of woolfelt with an embossed gun or knife shape. This is an interesting application of how the fear or threat of something is often an effective enough deterrent.
My favorite thing about traveling is that it broadens your perspective of the world. Your perception of the world evolves from your immediate surroundings (your town, state, whatever) to include all of the places that you have been. This ad for Century Travel captures these thoughts exactly. (Found through Ads of the World)
I can't imagine anything to stress you out about aging better than seeing your life in pie charts. This brilliant pie chart bio was created by Craig Robinson of Filp Flop Flyin'. Other topics of his life charts include percentage of life with a beard, percentage of EU nations visited, and percentage of neighbors I've been friends with. Sigh... one more good reason for me to reconsider my aversion to charts and graphs. (Found through Information Aesthetics)
What - a cat scratching post that is not an ugly cardboard or carpeted eyesore? Where can I buy one? Well apparently at Design Within Reach although I couldn't find it on their site. That is probably a good thing because I don't think I could afford it. Not only would this look good in any home, but the rocking motion makes me think that my cat would actually want to use this.
The Leo scratching post was designed by James Owen. It is constructed of beautifully sculpted zebrawood with a large polished aluminum base. Zebrawood was apparently chosen because its grain is pliable enough for a cat to sharpen its claws on but sturdy enough to keep its shape. The post is also available in Maple or White Cedar, with two different base options (rocking or stable), and in three different heights. The simple two piece assembly allows you to swap out parts or disassemble for recycling.
We have all heard that an afternoon power nap can do wonders for your productivity and mental alertness, but napping at work is still not socially acceptable in North America, even if you hide away under your desk. What is the solution? Well if you live in New York City the solution is Yelo. They have room especially designed for power napping with low lighting and a chair that raises your feet above your heart to speed up the relaxation process. You can choose between 20-40 minute naps costing $12-24 and if that isn't enough relaxation for you, try some of their reflexology treatments for feet, hands and ears. This is an intriguing development in the world of wellness. I'm tempted to try it out. (Thanks Heckman)
This is a great example of how simple advertising can be very effective. These coasters were put out by the Mumbai Traffic Police to help prevent drinking and driving (drunken driving as they call it). The coasters have a layer of invisible red ink that is activated by liquid. When you pick up your glass the ring of moisture on the coaster turns red, creating the illusion of blood over the image. (Found through Houtlust)
The Lace Fence is a product from Dutch design house Demakersvan. It is a chain link fence where a section had been replaced with embroidered wire. Designed for both indoor and outdoor use, this is a great example of bringing beauty to something which is primarily functional. The creators describe the Lace Fence as 'hostility versus kindness' and 'industrial versus craft'.
Henry Needle and Sons Hand Tailored Great Pockets Clothing is some pretty funny advertising on the part of Nokia. It is an elaborate choose-your-own-adventure style video site about a tailor who is making special clothes with huge pockets to put all your crap in. Of course the other solution is to just buy the Nokia N95 (small and all in one, apparently)... or just wait for the iPhone (oops did that slip out). (Found through Josh Spear)
Universcale is a captivating Flash site done by Nikon to illustrate the extremes to which we can see using microscopes and telescopes. The scale shows silhouettes of objects that are measured using common units, such as meter, kilometer and light year. It captures measurements from the Extremities of Space (a hundred billion light years) down to the Great Primordial (one quadrillionth of a meter). If you click on an object it gives you information about that object and shows it next to something that is comparatively small and something which is comparatively large. This is a really fascinating way of experiencing size and the meaning of measurements.
This is a pretty entertaining April Fools joke from Google. There was a link to this new service from Google's homepage today. It is the TiSP (Toilet Internet Service Provider), which provides free in-home wireless broadband service through the sewage system. If you sign up for this service you receive an installation kit complete with rubber gloves and a spindle of fiber optic cable. Install instructions include 'Attach the sinker to the loose end of the cable, take one safe step backward and drop this weighted end into your toilet.' and 'Grasp both ends of the spindle firmly while a friend or loved one flushes, thus activating the patented GFlush system, which sends the weighted cable surfing through the plumbing system to one of the thousands of TiSP Access Nodes.' Read the full install instructions here. I like it when large companies are able to keep their sense of humor.
Need some help subtly encouraging someone to stop smoking? How about buying them this beautiful white porcelain ashtray? Designed by Finding Cheska, the ashtray is shaped like a set of lungs. As you ash in the tray the lungs turn from this lovely soft white to an ash heaped gray mess. You can't help but appreciate the simple but strong message.
Has anyone been to the US Postal Service website lately? It has been totally invaded by Star Wars, in celebration of the movie's 30th Anniversary. They have re-skinned the main site and added Star Wars content, including the Star Wars Challenge and downloadable Star Wars Wallpaper for your desktop. As of May 25th USPS will also be releasing Star Wars stamps. All 15 stamps, which are viewable on their website, will be available together as a stamp pane. You can vote for your favorite stamp and the one that gets the most votes will be made available for purchase independently of the others. I tried to vote but I couldn't decide on my favorite... I'm torn between the Millennium Falcon, the Stormtroopers, C-3PO, or Princess Leia and R2-D2.
Have you also seen the images of the mail boxes done up as R2-D2? I can't wait to see one of these on the street. I'm not sure if I would want to put my mail in them because they are so getting stolen!
Readers meet my pandas, pandas meet the One Floor Up readers. Ok, ok, so they are not my exactly my pandas, but close enough. I can watch them 24 hours on my Panada Cam Widget thanks to the web cams at the San Diego Zoo. You can also watch live feeds of polar bears, elephants and apes. The panda feed is the most exciting because the zoo is a panda research center so they have multiple cameras which are constantly being aimed at one panada or another. This image is an old, but very cute, screenshot from my panda cam. This widget can be downloaded from Apple.com or you can view the web cams directly from the San Diego Zoo site.
This post is for my dad because he always has such an amusing give-me-a-break approach to these types of medical claims. I'm sure he will be glad to know he is not the only sane person around, apparently Popular Science agrees with him. The latest issue of Pop Sci features an article on how to tell balanced science from mindless hype. Some featured headlines include: 'Chocolate's Better Than Broccoli', 'The Pub Is Better for You Than the Gym' and 'Cheers! Scientists Say Red Wine Stops You Growing Old'. (Happy Birthday Dad!)
These double walled glasses from Bodum are designed to keep hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold. Hot drinks hold their heat and don't burn your hands. Cold drinks stay cool and don't sweat on your table. They are made out of Borosilicate glass that is stronger and lighter than typical drinkware glass. Bodum makes about 6 different styles of the double walled glasses. All the drinks look so beautiful hovering inside of them.
They Rule was created by Josh On back in 2004. The information is a bit out of date but the idea behind it is still very relevant. The site is designed to provide a glimpse into the connections between the American ruling class. It allows you to create maps using the board members of the top 500 companies in the US. You can see who sits (sat) on what board and which other companies they are board members for. The more boards a person sits on the fatter their little icon is. You can create you own connection maps or view some of the saved maps (Apple vs Microsoft, Within 2 Phone Calls to Bush, If Women Ruled the World, and more).
So we have experienced Google Earth (love it), but have you been to Google Moon or Google Mars yet?
Google Moon is from a couple years ago. It is a map of the moon's surface made up of images provided by NASA. The map shows the landing sites of Apollo Missions 11-17. Be sure to zoom in all the way (clearly someone has a good sense of humor).
Google Mars was launched about a year ago. It is a bit more sophisticated than Google Moon. Maps of Mars are viewable in Elevation, Visible, and Infrared modes. The map is annotated with information about physical features and regions, as well as spacecraft landings and images. There are some plug-ins available to overlay the map of Mars onto Google Earth so that you can spin it but they require some fussing around with your Google Earth settings. Google says that they are planning to incorporate Mars into future versions of Google Earth.
