Needs a bigger screen! ;)

This is a classic!

Welcome to IKEA Beijing, where the atmosphere is more theme park than store.

When the Swedish furniture giant first opened here in 1999, it hoped locals would embrace its European brand of minimalism. A decade later, Beijingers have done just that. Perhaps too much.

Every weekend, thousands of looky-loos pour into the massive showroom to use the displays. Some hop into bed, slide under the covers and sneak a nap; others bring cameras and pose with the decor. Families while away the afternoon in the store for no other reason than to enjoy the air conditioning.

Visitors can't seem to resist novelties most Americans take for granted, such as free soda refills and ample seating. They also like the laid-back staffers who don't mind when a child jumps on a couch.

Purchasing anything at Yi Jia, as the store is called here, can seem like an afterthought.

"It's the only big store in Beijing where a security guard doesn't stop you from taking a picture," said Jing Bo, 30, who was looking for promising backdrops for a photograph of his girlfriend.

The store's success can be traced, in part, to how grounded it is in the capital's zeitgeist. At a time when home ownership is more within reach and incomes are rising, IKEA offers affordable, modern furniture to an emerging middle class clamoring to be bai ling, or white collar.

Cool working concept prototype that allows people to managing intangible digital media tangibly.

Patent pending.

NEW iPhone 4 antenna booster! Just $29.99. Really works!*

* As tested compared to licking your hands and squeezing really hard in a weird way that most people are unlikely to do accidentally at the same time that their hands are wet and they’re transferring a lot of data. Results not guaranteed.

InstaLoad is a new battery technology from Microsoft that gives devices power, regardless of how users insert the batteries. It doesn’t matter which side is positive or negative; the device will simply work.

The technology is in the mechanical battery contact design. Each side of the metal contacts in a device have positive and negative points, rather than just a positive or negative point. The technology works with most barrel-type batteries, so your AA, AAA, C and D batteries are all compatible. It also doesn’t matter whether the batteries are rechargeable or not.

This will be HUGE!

I really love this! It is about time some one created something like this. It only costs $299!

That being said, look how has the iPhone as a platform has transformed!

9 simple ways you can bring yourself into flow

1. Pick a enjoyable, challenging activity. The easiest way to enter flow is by doing something you love. The activity also needs to challenge you, one you are extremely passionate about, that you enjoy doing, and that causes you to grow. If the activity is boring to tedious you won’t enjoy it, and so there is no way you can engage in flow.
2. Eliminate distractions. Turn off your phone, log out of twitter, switch off gmail. If you’re constantly flipping back and forth between different tasks you’ll never be able to achieve flow. A foreign distraction will quickly bring you out of the flow mindset.
3. Think before you do. Do any research or preparation before you engage in the activity you wish to flow in. If you stop and do research while writing, or have to grab a bite to eat in the middle of a run, you’ll throw yourself out of the grove. Preparation is the only way to avoid that.
4. Isolate yourself. The best way to achieve flow is alone. If you’re in a room full of people, your mind will constantly be drawn away from what you’re doing. Shut the door, put on headphones, or find another way to isolate yourself.
5. Let go. Give up any expectations that you have for yourself. If you enter a flow situation with preconceptions about the results that you’ll get from the practice, you’ll inevitably disappoint yourself. You also run the risk of narrowing your focus to a point where you can’t change coarse naturally if your flow takes you down a road less traveled.
6. Give yourself a time limit. Like Bradbury, set a timer on your activity. Give yourself 30 minutes of uninterrupted flow time and just go at it with everything you’ve got. Forget about how much time you’ve been doing the activity, and how much time you have left, just flow. You may just find that you lose track of time completely.
7. Keep moving. Continuous motion is key to flow, don’t give your mind a chance to start second guessing what you’re doing. Keep moving with the activity you’re flowing in. Go at a pace that’s challenging for you, but not overwhelming. You want to be calm and collected, but also have forward momentum.
8. Don’t think. Switch off the part of your brain that observes what you’re doing. This is your self-consciousness, your ego, your sabotage. Why flow is so important is that it circumvents the necessity to constantly critique yourself. This can be hard, if you’re used to constantly second-guessing everything you do, but it is so important to successfully entering flow.
9. Practice. Like any useful skill, flow takes time to master. Don’t stress if you can’t do it right away. If you’re interested in achieving a state of flow, you need to practice regularly. Set a time every day that will be dedicated flow time. Eventually you’ll start to recognize when you’re flowing, and when you’re not. After many hours of practice, you’ll eventually become a flow master.

A nice piece, but not entirely design creation focused. I will do my own research and share that at www.designsojourn.com so stay tuned!

Curves like these inspire poetry.  The 1948 Buick Streamliner by Norman E. Timbs is a muse in the world of classic cars, an automobile from a time when curvy was most desirable in the eyes of men.  Looking at a car like this makes one lament the slim, simple direction human attraction has gone, when the cars and cover girls leave plenty to be desired in the most important aesthetic quality– shape.  This classic Buick Streamliner is in pristine condition, restored by Dave Crouse for the 2010 Concours d’Elegance.  Its original construction took over two years, built with an aluminum body around a steel chassis.  Not only is it unlikely you’ll ever see this beauty on the road, it’s likely that you’ll never see it on the auction block.  A car like this is far too rare, too beautiful that any owner could ever want to pass it up– no matter the price.  [via supercars.net]

Gosh, they don't make cars like this anymore.