Adventures in Candyland

We read a lot. Its part of our job. But we also really like to read, and we really liked it long before it was part of our job. The avarage day has us reading (if not scanning) newspapers, several magazines, multiple blog postings, headlines and newsfeeds, digital newsletters, resource lists and more (children’s books come to mind). Ironically, with all this reading…it takes us weeks and weeks to finish a book. In fact, I think Lauren and I have been discussing the two books we’re currently reading for about a month (for those of you wondering, I’m reading Starbucked and Lauren is reading Straight Up and Dirty).

So why don’t we read more books? Well, for starters we’re so busy reading all the aforementioned other things, in addition to which we’re also listening to radios and iPods, watching TV and responding to email. In our media-obsessed, snack-sized culture, it can be challenging to find the time to sit down with a good book.

That’s why I’m now obsessed with DailyLit! This site offers over 500 titles that get emailed directly to you in bite-sized installments. Many of the classics are free of charge - you just sign up and start receiving email installments instantly. There’s a fee for some of the copyrighted titles, but its minimal and much less than you’d pay for the book (and this is an eco-alternative anyway!). You can even decide when you want to receive your installments - every day, just on weekdays or three times a week…in time to read with your morning coffee or right before you hit your pillow. And the installments can even be viewed on your PDA.

I’m reading my first installments now - The Three-Martini Playdate, but I guess I’ve run out of excuses for not having read War and Peace…

Innovation never stops and never ceases to amaze. Last Sunday, Danielle and I ventured downtown to the LA Convention Center to experience Wired Nextfest, one of the coolest “tradeshows” I’ve ever attended. As we browsed the booths, we were continously awed by the creativity and cool factor of the products and technologies shaping the future of our world. We were reminded that we’re living during an amazing period of time, where interactivity is the sign of the times as well as the proliferation of communities continually being by reshaped by the technology and inspiration featured at this show. The shape of things to come is about customization, collaboration and innovation tied into entertainment and culture tied into creating a more sustainable and empathetic world.

Honestly, I could write chapters on the innovations we saw Sunday, but instead, I’ll just hightlight a few of of my favorites.

Light Harp
This is the first interactive art you experience upon entering the show. The sound coming from this thing was really beautiful.

Brainball
Are you calm enough to win a game of brain ball. I know I’m not, but it might be a good challenge for me. Brainball is a game where you compete by relaxing your brain and move a little ball across a table into a little circle using your brainwaves. The person who is calmer will get the ball in first. Seriously, who needs mediation when you can just play this game. Everyone was circled around these two players sitting their with their eyes closed while their brain waves were being charted on screen behing them. It was fascinating!

Desktop Factory 3D Printer
This is so cool and so inexpensive when you compare it to the past cost of creating some kind of prototype. The machine looks like a microwave oven and basically layers what sort of looks like sand to create a 3D model of the digital data you feed it and only for $4995.

Jukebots
People DJs may soon be extinct with the introduction of Jukebots, industrial robots who scratch, spin and mix records. They kind of dance as the decise which record they’re going to pick. Ridiculously cool!

LifeStraw
It’s difficult to imagine living somewhere without access to a clean water source. It’s painful to realize children still die from contaminated water — soooo these LifeStraws, which are shockingly inexpensive and simple( $3 )will save many, many lives.

Obviously I could chronicle every experience that seemed significant or fabulous, but I don’t want to bore you. So I’m going end this entry by illustrating the use of technology and art.

Today, text messaging is taking the place of calling, emailing and yes, talking. So I think we can all expect to see many iterations of this technology in the future. Here are two we learned about and took advantage of many times that day. So many times in fact, the guy from Nanikawa who was running the Wind and Swimming Messagesystem was either thinking we were really crazy or really annoying. The other is TXTual Healing, SMS Enabled Interactive Street Performance. Both very cool and the wave of the future. Below are a few samples of what I’m talking about, but please don’t judge me for my camera work, which is absolutely painful and pretty much unbearable - I truly apologize, but I want to illustrate what I’m talking about. Today, we actually bought a really cool handheld video camera by PURE DIGITAL, that we learned about at a PSFK conference. We’ll blog on how that benefits my awful filming ability later.

Both of the below technologies allow you to call a number they provide, enter your message which is immediately rendered into these two artistic forms.

TXTual Healing - Text Message Customizable Graffiti Art

Wind and Swimming MessageSystem - The wind blows your text from screen to screen in front of a beautiful background

Which unique technologies and products do you think will make an impact in the future?

My brain wasn’t really melted by the heat. Yes - I know it’s only September 7th, but I got your attention! The funny thing is some people love Halloween so much, they actually start their seasonal buying binge in MAY. They want the newest stuff, they want it first and they don’t care about the cost. Sort of like women and their bags - well, not the woman writing this unfortunately.

Halloween is a holiday people feel passionate about. Can you blame them? It’s really the only holiday that is truly and only about having fun! Who doesn’t like to dress up to be someone else for a day. That’s why our client, HalloweenMart , is so successful. So, if you are sick of being yourself or maybe, someone else is sick of you, I have the solution! Just go to the site and choose someone different to be. You could be another someone different 365 days a year and then some. Believe me, I’ve spent some time in the company warehouse, and I’ve done a millions costume changes - they never get old. Par example, Elton John, you ain’t got nuthin on Lauren Tarne! If you look around the site, you might even find a few more of these gems (sense the sarcasm).

But, for those who need a little more inspiration, there is HalloweenMart’s new blog, Trick-or-Treat, where people can follow the stories of a bunch of fictional (or are they?) characters whose lives are engulfed by Halloween and all the holiday encompasses. You can even follow the characters as they twitter their way to the big day. So check out Candy, Nick, Jinx and others to get yourself revved up for the season.

Remember , Halloween is only 53 days away. That’s nothing. It takes time to develop the perfect costume. And although I have a plethora of ideas on the ensemble I plan on donning this year, I’m am perfectly willing to take suggestions. And that goes for Danielle and Limor as well. Don’t dissapoint us!