Written by Smashing Magazine

Notice:Please copy the wallpaper’s url and open it from the address bar when you see forbidden access.

Desktop wallpapers can serve as an excellent source of inspiration. However, if you use some specific wallpaper for a
long period of time, it becomes harder to draw inspiration out of it. That’s why we have decided to supply you with smashing
wallpapers over 12 months.

And to make them a little bit more distinctive from the usual crowd, we’ve decided to embed calendars for the
upcoming month. So if you need to look up some date, isn’t it better to show off a nice wallpaper with a nice calendar instead of
launching some default time application?

This post features 14 free desktop wallpapers, designed by 14 designers across the globe. Both versions with a calendar
and without a calendar can be downloaded for free.

Please notice:

• all images can be clicked and lead to the preview of the wallpaper;
• you can feature your work in our
  magazine by taking part in our desktop wallpaper calendar series. We are regularly looking for creative designers and artists to be
  featured on Smashing Magazine. Are you one of them?

So what wallpapers have we received for May?

Whale

Available in 12 desktop resolutions – both widescreen and fullscreen. Designed by Vlad
Gerasimov from Irkutsk, Russia.

• preview (0.1 Mb, jpg)
• with calendar:
  
  800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×1024 , 1280×800, 1280×960 , 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
• without calendar:
  
  800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×1024 , 1280×800, 1280×960 , 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600

Stay Creative

"The wallpaper is an illustration based on this Picasso quote: "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an
artist once he grows up". In the illustration, the adult is looking through the wall at his creativity from childhood trying to get
it back." Designed by Tim Newton from USA.

• preview (0.1 Mb, jpg)
• with calendar: 1280×960, 1680×1050, 1600×1200, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×960, 1680×1050, 1600×1200, 1920×1200

Tribute

"This design is a personal interpretation of June in Macedonia: beautiful sunny days, red poppy fields and Nikola Madzirov’s poetry. A personal tribute to all the beauty in
this world. Girl image inspired by Banksy." Designed by Meri Donevska-Kosturanova from
Macedonia.

• preview (0.5 Mb, jpg)
• with calendar: 1280×960, 1680×1050, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Eternal Sunshine

"Designed completely in Photoshop. My idea to this timetable was based on the prophecy and Maya, all that power and magic secret
that there are only in the pyramids in Mexico." Designed by Miguel Angel
Lozada from Mexico.

• preview (0.2 Mb, jpg)
• with calendar: 1200×900,
  1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

You Slag

"Looking forward to another hectic summer in Brighton…" Designed by Mark Hurrell.

• preview (0.1 Mb, jpg)
• with calendar: 1200×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Rhino

"I suppose that I got influenced by the works of Scott Hansen. I just love the retro feel in his designs.
Furthermore I used brushes which were meant to emulate the effects of James White. I wanted to have these different sections which form
an entity, sort of like when you look through a window and the frame is hiding parts of what is behind. The origami rhinoceros was the
last element I inserted and finally gave rise to the title.

The final design is not what I had sketched out but it never is for me. I need a basic idea and then just play around until I’m
happy with it." Designed by Franz Jeitz from Luxembourg.

• preview (0.2 Mb, jpg)
• with calendar: 1280×960, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×960, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Nec scire fas est omnia

"It is impossible to know everything" horaz – well true, but not to worry as I learned in life and business, it is
better to know a lot of educated people from different disciplines, then you’ll know a lot yourself. And in the end, there is always
Google and Wikipedia." Designed by Dirk Worring from Krefeld, Germany.

• preview (0.2 Mb, jpg)
• with calendar: 1280×960, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×960, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Daydream

"I love daydream, when I fall in the daydream,everything is strange, it’s a surrealistic world. Everything has their own soul
and live in the unique way, no pain, no goal, just enjoy the imagination." Designed by Dan Chetao.

• preview (0.1 Mb, jpg)
• with calendar: 1280×960, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×960, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Umbrella

"Umbrella, sky, lights…..and the girl is so pretty!" Designed by Cléo Morgause
from Brazil.

• preview (0.15 Mb, jpg)
• with calendar: 1280×960, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×960, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Retro Summer

"Well, June it is the month where the summer starts, and when i think in Summer, i think about California and the Beach Boys, and
when i think in that, i start to think about retro stuff, and then retro design!" Designed by Bleed from Mexico.

• preview (0.4 Mb, jpg)
• with calendar: 1280×960, 1680×1050, 1600×1200, 1920×1200

The DJ

"The wallpaper isn’t created only for DJ-fans or people who’ve seen DJ’s at work. The wallpaper can really give a warm
feeling to everyones desktop. And after all, aren’t we all DJ’s of our lives?" Designed by Vincent Vander Cruyssen from Belgium.

• with calendar: 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

June Feelings

"Tried to catch the feeling of getting "wings" in the starting of the summer." Designed by Olariu Alex from Romania.

• preview (0.2 Mb, jpg)
• with calendar: 1280×960, 1680×1050, 1600×1200, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1600×1200

June Bug

"This inspiration came when we heard that the Cicadas are coming again this summer. And although not of the cicada family, Junebugs
can be nearly as annoyingly creepy. The design incorporate a visual pun on the back of the ‘creature’, as well as a near
subliminal ghoul face up above within the darkness." Designed by Michael Langham.

• preview (0.26 Mb, jpg)
• with calendar: 1200×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1900×1200
• without calendar: 1200×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1900×1200

Date and Time

Designed by Grikshmi Manandhar from Nepal.

• preview (0.1 Mb, jpg)
• with calendar: 1280×960, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
• without calendar: 1280×960, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200

Join in next month!

Please notice that we respect the ideas and motivation behind artists’ work which is why we’ve given artists full
freedom to explore their creativity and express emotions and experience through their works. And this is also why the themes of
the wallpapers weren’t anyhow influenced by us, but designed from scratch by the artists themselves.

Thanks to all designers for participation. Hopefully, in June we’ll receive as many entries as in May. Join in next month and
smashing June, folks!

Written by Whaledawg

Do you hear that? A vortex of suck that hungers for your soul. It can only be one thing, the new Sex and The City movie is coming and your girlfriend is already making plans for the two of you to go in spite of your pleas that you don’t like it, don’t want to see it and want to keep your last shred of dignity. But let’s not be so close-minded about the whole thing.

Of course, it’s going to be a terrible movie; it’s based on the awful TV show. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t get anything from the experience. Look at it like this: this show is beloved by millions of women. It appeals to their basest nature in a way even they don’t understand. If you’ve ever watched a group of drunk, 20-something year old women falling down in the street screaming at each other ‘no, I’m the Carrie,’ you know what I’m talking about.

So think of this movie not as 2 hours of material porn for women, but something you can use. A window into a woman’s mind they wouldn’t dare say out loud to us. With that in mind, I present the primer 5 Things You Could Learn About Women from Sex And The City:

1) NYC is a fantasy land for women. It’s like the Playboy Mansion for us. New York is a magical place filled with shopping, art galleries and copious amounts of flavored vodka. A place where women who hate trees and driving, can live in peace.

If you don’t believe me, watch every episode in which they left NY. They go to the Hamptons and one of their friend’s husbands tries to start an affair. They go to the beach and drunks invade their house. Hell, when they go to the woods they’re assaulted by the overwhelming quiet.

But what’s so great about NY? Why does the show demonize life outside it so much? Because the SATC girls are all about name brands and NY is the biggest name in cities. Living in a 1-room box in Brooklyn still has caché. It’s like having a cast off $1000 Prada bag; it’s still a Prada.

2) Women Love Money. Every chick on that show was banking and every guy they dated had even more money. Carrie’s relationships in which the guy didn’t own whole buildings in NY, a place where an apartment is 700-grand, were doomed to failure. Why did these women need so much money? They weren’t taking care of children or saving for retirement.

Because if they saw something they liked, they bought it with the justification “you deserve it.” Alternately, if they couldn’t afford something, they must not deserve it. That means if your boyfriend can’t afford to buy you thousands of dollars in jewelry or fly you to Paris on a whim, you must not deserve it. Scary when you think about it.

Even scarier, which one of them didn’t get a guy with money? The bitch. Men accept that if they don’t go to college and get a good job they’ll end up with a less attractive woman, but how about having to spend the rest of your life strapped to the biggest bitch in the group? If that doesn’t scare high school males into studying, nothing will. Put that message on an SAT prep book cover and you’ll raise scores instantly.

3) Women don’t do stuff together. They talk and they shop, but they don’t do anything. This is why they get so mad when we want to do something with the guys. To women, couples do things and friends talk. Time we spend doing stuff with the guys is time they spend doing nothing – unless they can find a friend to talk with, although, they’re still really doing nothing.

This is also why single women are so blindingly unhappy. It’s not that being alone is so awful. It’s that they’re bored out of their skulls because they need a guy to do something with.

4) Women talk about everything. EVERYTHING! They talk in so much detail that her friends may spend 5 years referring to you by your anatomical distinctions instead of your proper name. If you’re lucky, it’s “Mr. Big.” What’s scary is they talk about more than sex; if you’re mother gives you a bath her friends will hear about it. Yeah, think about that for a second.

How much do you want her friends to know about you? Illegal activities? Money problems? Personal issues? You have to control the flow of information to your girlfriend to control the flow of information to them. All things considered, her friends knowing that you cry when you have an orgasm is relatively minor.

5) Women be crazy. Again this is a no brainer to us, but they actually did a whole lesbian storyline on SATC just to illustrate how crazy women are. That means they know it too.

Use that to your advantage. She knows she’s being irrational, so be the rational one. When she’s freaking out over something small, sit there calmly until she’s done. Tip: Don’t tell her she’s being irrational. That’s not being rational; it’s being superior. Wait for her to let it all out. Women like it when you keep your head in the face of their meltdown. If you’re lucky, anger turns to tears and tears turn to post-traumatic crazy sex. See, you can learn some useful stuff from SATC.

So there you have it. Not reason enough to go see the Sex and the City movie on your own, but reason enough to tolerate it if you’re forced to go. View it all as an experiment, a sacrifice for science, if you will. You can make the best of a bad situation. And man, is that movie going to be a bad situation.

Written by Anthony Balderrama

When you’re job hunting, you can go mad if you think about the amount of factors beyond your control that affect your chances of getting hired.

The economy, your location, industry trends — even the hiring manager’s mood — can influence whether or not you get a job.

Still, as nice as it would be to blame your lack of offers on external factors, you can’t forget that common denominator in your job hunt — from the résumé to the interview — is you.

Here are 25 ways you might be unknowingly sabotaging your own job search:

The first steps

1. Not keeping track of your accomplishments

When you’re happy with your job, it’s easy to forget about possible future job hunts. You never know when you’ll end up looking for new work, and if you don’t keep a running list of awards, promotions and accomplishments, you might not remember them when it’s time to update your résumé.

2. Leaving on a bad note

As much fun as it is to fantasize about telling off a bad boss, don’t actually do it. Leaving a trail of angry bosses or co-workers will come back to haunt you when you need references.

3. Not networking

If you’re silent about your job search, your friends, family and colleagues won’t think of you when they hear about job opportunities.

4. Only using the Internet

Online job boards are fantastic resources, but you need to do some footwork if you want to increase your chances of finding a job. Contact companies whom you’d like to work for, even if there are no job listings. Not all companies advertise openings online.

5. Only searching for the perfect job

Yes, your job search should be focused. After all, applying to every job posting that comes your way is a good way to waste time but not an effective way to find a job you want. However, if you approach your job hunt unwilling to accept anything less than the precise job title, pay, vacation time and hours you want, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.

The résumé and cover letter

6. Writing a generic cover letter

If your cover letter looks like it could have come from a word processor template, right down to the “To Whom It May Concern,” don’t bother sending it. Hiring managers look for a candidate who wants that specific position, not someone who sends out applications en masse. Write a new cover letter for each job application and include details specific to that company.

7. Typos

Sending a cover letter or résumé filled with grammatical mistakes and typographical errors shows hiring managers you don’t care about the quality of your work and probably not about the job, either.

8. Including your current work info as the best place to contact you

Making sure employers can get in touch with you is important, but they shouldn’t be contacting you at work. “Potential employers are going to question if these people will search for a new job on their time,” says Kathy Sweeney, résumé writer for the Write Résumé.

9. Focusing on yourself and not on the company in the cover letter

“When ‘I’ is the predominant subject — and there are times when it is the only subject of all the sentences in the cover letter — it indicates to me that they don’t understand my organization and its needs, and, in fact, says they don’t care to know,” says Dion McInnis, associate vice president for university advancement at University of Houston-Clear Lake. “And therefore, I don’t care to know them.”

10. Not targeting your résumé to the position

Just like the cover letter, your résumé should build a case for you to be hired for a specific position. If you’re applying for a financial analyst position, don’t waste space including your teenage stint as a lifeguard.

The interview

11. Showing up late

Nobody likes to be kept waiting, especially hiring managers evaluating whether or not you would make a good employee.

12. Dressing for the wrong job

Your interview attire should match the dress code of the company, or be one step up. If the office dress code is business casual, wearing jeans and a t-shirt won’t work in your favor. On the other hand, if you’re told dress is casual, you’ll stick out if you show up wearing a double-breasted suit.

13. Not asking questions

When the interview comes to a close, the hiring manager will undoubtedly ask if you have any questions for him or her. Not asking anything is the equivalent of saying, “I don’t care all that much about the job.”

14. Badmouthing a former boss

When you talk to hiring managers about a previous employer, you’re also talking about them. The way you talk about a previous employer is how interviewers think you’ll talk about them in the future, so keep it civil.

15. Not paying attention

Another way to show you don’t care much about the job is to get distracted. Answering your phone, sending texts or digging through your bag tells the interviewer that your focus is anywhere except on the interview.

16. Not researching the position

Your chief objective in an interview is convincing the hiring manager you’re the best candidate for the job. How can you prove your qualifications if you don’t have an idea of what skills you’re expected to have and what your responsibilities will be?

17. Not researching the company

Employers want to know that your motivation for work is more than a paycheck. If you demonstrate that you know something about the company’s history, its goals and its culture, you prove you want to be a part of the company.

18. Forgetting common etiquette

Don’t cuss, chew gum, burp, take off your shoes, forget to shower or do anything else that’s not appropriate in a business setting. Don’t give the interviewer a reason not to hire you.

19. Forgetting you’re being interviewed from the moment you walk in

Just because you’re not sitting down at a desk across from the hiring manager, don’t think you’re not being evaluated. For example, employers will often ask their receptionists if you were nice them. Even if your interview involves lunch or dinner, you’re trying to get a job, not show off your ability to down tequila shots.

20. Bringing up salary too soon

A rule of thumb is that you should never bring up pay; let the hiring manager do it. Of course employers are aware that you want to know about the salary, so they will bring it up when the time is right. Appearing too concerned with money suggests you aren’t passionate about the position or the company.

After the interview

21. Not sending a thank-you note

Interview etiquette extends beyond the goodbye hand-shake. Follow up with the interviewer by sending a thank-you note, either by e-mail or in the mail. Not only is it standard business practice, it’s also common courtesy.

22. Being over-aggressive in follow-up

Thanking the hiring manager for the interview is acceptable. You can even check in to see if a candidate’s been hired if you were given a deadline for the decision. However, calling, e-mail or stopping by the office repeatedly is not persistent; it’s annoying.

23. Not learning from your mistakes

Not every interview goes off without a hitch, so don’t beat yourself up if you flubbed an answer or two. However, if you don’t take the time to review each interview you go on, you’re bound to repeat the same mistakes again and again.

24. Forgetting where you’ve applied and interviewed

After a few weeks, you’ve applied at more than dozen places and probably interviewed with a few companies. Eventually it’s harder to remember where you’ve sent a résumé or interviewed, and applying to the same place makes you look like an applicant who applies to any posting that pops up, not the best fit.

25. Stopping your job search while you wait for a response

Even if your interview for the job of a lifetime went well, don’t freeze your job hunt while you wait to hear back. For a variety of reasons you might not get the job, or you might stumble upon an even better opportunity. You don’t have anything to lose by continuing the hunt.

Written by Toxel

Check out these creative and unique advertisements from around the world:

3M Security Glass Advertisement

3M was so sure their Security Glass was unbreakable, they put a large stack of cash behind it and shoved it in a bus stop. [gizmodo]

Radiant Gym “Running” Advertisement

Obesity finds it hardest to catch up with those who are running. [lemonflip]

YKM Bag Advertisement

Where’s your child?

Canon Bus Advertisement

Premiere “Spiderman” Advertisement

Your TV program takes a break when you do.
Personal digital TV with delayed viewing. [adsoftheworld]

Creative Adidas Advertisement

Funeral Services Advertisement

Stop’n Grow Bag Advertisement

German product that stops nail biting. [flickr]

Denver Water Advertisement

Use Only What You Need.

Sharpie Permanent Markers Advertisement

Samsung “Express Yourself” Advertisement

“Reserved for Drunk Drivers” Advertisement

Dettol Instant Hand Sanitizer Advertisement

Written by Smashing Magazine

Successful product design manages to reveal useful functionality beyond its appealing form. No matter how excellent a design looks like, most customers aren’t likely to spend money on something they won’t be able to use. On the other hand, most people are likely to buy something useful despite the design it has.

Yet the key to a truly successful product design lies in designer’s ability to combine both beautiful design and functionality making it obvious to the customers how the product can be used and which benefits it delivers. However, one can combine the beauty of design with the utility it is supposed to provide.

Most products fail to pass this test and never reach the production stage; some products do manage to get to the stores. In the overview below you’ll find an overview of some beautiful and original product designs which will hopefully make the cut and will be available in the next years. Some of them are already available today.

Way Out Fridge Magnet

Way Out Fridge Magnet
Way Out magnet is an original imitation of the standard exit sign illustrating a run to the fridge for a midnight snack. We, however, are not sure why this sign should actually be placed on the fridge.

Bracelet Watch

Bracelet Watch
The idea for this watch is classic plastic bracelet, with incorporated lines inside the watch that show the current time. Those three lines are rotating around the watch and show the time, while the seconds line is going around all the time. It is a simple concept, atractive and eye-catching. Adjusting the clock is easy as the watch is the touchscreen. All you have to do is to touche the line, click the adjust icon and slide current time line to correct time. Design by Djordje Zivanovic.

Made in China

Made in China
This product targets the entire 1.3 billion Chinese population. Each aspect of the hardware derives from an oriental inspiration which improves the PC experience for the targeted market. The hardware features a “No CPU, No Hard drive, No Graphics Card and No Sound Card” concept. These PC components are stored in a Service Provider of the new infrastructure.

Thus, subscribing to a plan of the Service Provider will allow the use of these components. The data from the components is then wirelessly transmitted to the user’s hardware. Thus, all PCs are administered by the Service Provider. MADE stands for Massively Administered Digital Entities.

MARRO computer system

MARRO computer system
This computer system analyzes, organizes, and customizes daily media activities. It is comprised of a stationary central unit and a separate mobile satellite unit. The central unit contains components such as the media card, CPU, drives and network card. The satellite unit houses the built-in Life OS, CPU, and flash memory.

Compared to the typical OS, which are limited to the resources and hardware of their physical location, the Life OS operates digital files and electronic devices that we use day to day. The MARRO ring records users’ daily media activities within the life system, constantly learning life patterns and making suggested improvements.

External Touch Screen Concept

External Touch Screen Concept
Wouldn’t it be nice if you had an external touch screen that works as a keyboard, macbook cover and a photo/movie stand?

DDM PC

DDM PC
This concept is supposed to be “integrated device for all” that is easy to use. The “DDM” is normally used as a typical LCD display for a powerful desktop CPU yet can be detached from the main body. In this detached form, the DDM acts much like the desktop PC yet supports portability. In this way, multiple DDM’s can be taken away from the main CPU and used separately. When placed back in the CPU cradle, each unit automatically syncs the its data with the local machine’s database offering one-step, seemless back-up and sharability.

Concrete Art

Concrete Art
“Concrete Art” is a beautiful way to enhance any room with pretty much any design you can think of. Contrasting the cold austerity of concrete, these floral designs are a great way to enhance any room. This design concept allows for the application of any pattern to the surface, either when pouring or afterwards when the concrete has set.

Action Method

Action Method
The “Action Runner” includes standard 3? x 5? sheet (when ripped), and keeps you focused on Action Steps with the elegance of the silky and sexy covers and blended paper. This ultra matt finish is spiced up with an ultra glossy UV varnish.

Slice Computing System

Slice Computing System
The ‘Slice’ concept is an organically inspired computing system which envisions a new approach to accessing, organizing and interacting with information and data stored on the PC. Current file management systems force users to store and manage files in a hierarchy of folders. The files are buried deep within folders providing no visual indication of where files are located, further adding to the confusion.

Slice brings the information out of the computer putting it into the users hand. By physically interacting with the slice, users can organize and place files accordingly. Each of the slices visually represent different folders seen in current operating software such as My Documents, My Music, My Videos, etc. The visual and touch based experience associated with slice provides the user with a tangible connection to their information stored on the computer reassuring the safety and placement of their files.

Concept Cell Phone

Concept Cell Phone
In times wenn all-rounder-phones dominate the market, more subtle, intuitive and minimalistic designs provide a sound alternative. This is just a cell phone to provide communication. No mp3, no video or camera etc. Designed by Tamer Koseli.

Rocking Chair

Rocking Wheel Chair
A concept and a modern interpretation of a rocking chair. The near circular form seen from the side is what makes the design unique. It allows for the rocking motion without being an attachment, but instead flowing into the rest of the chair. The upper part features a light source, which can be used as a reading light.

Airtrav

Airtrav
Airtrav is an electronic boarding pass concept. The touch screen interface allows for users to access airport information. Travelers can know anything and everything about their flight, dual headphones are available for multiple users and the deaf or hearing impaired can stay alert to important changes. The system has a stackable charging system (charged by an alternative power source).

Peanut Butter

Peanut Butter Jar
This is a design we’ve all been waiting for a loooong time now. The Easy PB&J Jar is a jar with two lids that allows you to access all of your peanut butter easily without having to resort to breaking open the jar. As you near the end on one side, simply flip the jar over to get the rest. The straight and smooth internal walls also ensure that no peanut butter is ever left behind a nook or cranny like existing jars.

Carry On Luggage

Carry On Luggage
A carry-on luggage to articulate the lost romance of air travel. The design also pulls from the golden age of ocean liners: the black lacquered finish will become beautifully scraped and chipped as the suitcase travels with you, revealing the bamboo plywood beneath. The patina will develop with each trip you take. Designed by Joey Roth.

Nokia 888

Nokia 888
In Nokia 888 form follows you: it is a light personal mobile communication device. You can change its form according to your needs during the day. You dont have to carry it in your pocket or on your wrist. You can carry it anywhere, in any form. You can roll it, bend it, put on your clothes like a clip.

It also makes some form changes that makes it more ergonomical: i.e. when you want to talk on the phone, the body form turns into the form of the good old telephone. You can personalize these forms and record them. Communication takes place via electronical motions that 888 has. E.g. you can send a heart shape to your girlfriend, so her telephone turns into an icon of heart.

Zeed+

Zeed+
Zeed+ is a computer which maximizes the mobility of its hardware components. All the hardware, such as the video card, sound card, CPU and network card are no longer located inside the box. Instead, each of the stem-shaped devices are well packaged standard units that sit on the vase base.

Zeed+ has the meaning of when you need something, you seed something. Each stem, or “zeed”, can be easily upgraded or changed, since they are located outside of the vase base. This also offers the benefit of trading or recylcing old “zeeds” to different market segments. Under the “zeed++” project, the older, but still usable zeeds, can be collected and reused in other Zeed+ computers for special groups, charities, education.

The overall design concept of the form is inspired by “Ikebana”, the Japanese traditional art of formal flower arrangement with special regard shown to balance, harmony, and form.

Virtual Ideas Watch

Virtual Ideas Watch
Slick, compact, beautiful and elegant watch design by Julien Soret.

Bello Concept PMP

Bello Concept PMP
Ryan Han has developed a concept with an interesting conceptual feature. The standard finger clicks, swipes and flicks are all incorporated, but the most interesting features involve utilizing shaking and pouring motions.

Printer Table

Printer Table
For those of us cursed with limited space, this is the answer. It’s a combination printer and table that blends in well with small offices as furniture. The faux drawers are actually paper loading trays and the slit is where your prints come out. Now nobody will scold you for setting your drink on top of the printer. Designer: Lukas Koh.

Onyx Concept

Onyx Concept
A next-generation phone concept, Onyx. Enabled through Synaptics clear, capacitive sensing technology, Onyx illustrates the future of mobile communications by combining an intelligent and adaptive user interface with sleek industrial design and next-generation user interaction design. The Onyx concept does not base its experience on treating applications as separate windows or entities that work in isolation. Rather, the Onyx concept seamlessly integrates functions into activity based experiences.

Aquarium Sink

Moody Aquarium Sink
Moody is not only a simple washbasin, but also an aquarium for goldfish, a Zen garden or a simple pebble river bed or whatever you would like it to be. It is completely watertight with a sand bed for fish, and provides the necessary lighting for maintaining your fish in healthy conditions. Price: $4,700.00.

Pixel Perfect Hour Glass

Pixel Perfect Hour Glass
Designer Pavel Balykin believes that retro timepiece is on schedule for a comeback. It’s fittingly called the Sand+Time Watch and has the distinct feature of a digital hour glass screen saver mode. It’s a “screen saver” mode, because this particular feature does not actually count time for you.

If you want to know the real time, click a button and a more modern interpretation of time, we like to call “numbers”, will appear. Add a motion sensor, like the one used in Apple’s iPhone, and this screen saver mode might get that extra little cool factor to push it into production.

Swiss Desk Station Model

Swiss Desk Station Model
Reconditioned phone based on a vintage Bundespost design. It is a beautiful and original product design. Which is why it is in this overview. Price: £ 215.00.

Circle Sofa

Circle Sofa
The Circle sofa unit is made up of four parts, two of which make up a semicircle; all of which together create a round sculpture. The outline and contour looks highly sculptural and vigorous – and it is left open how one arranges these sofas in a room. Due to the “segmentation” of the circle, the sofas facilitate a great diversity of options and multifunctional solutions as well as interesting sculptural forms and lines. Designed by UN Studio, Amsterdam (Ben van Berkel).

The Bulbdial Clock

The Bulbdial Clock
The Bulbdial Clock has no hands – just one pole in the center of the clock, and three light sources of varying heights which revolve around the pole casting shadows. In the model illustrated above, the light sources are each attached to a ring which rotates around the pole. The innermost ring rotates once per minute, casting a “second hand” shadow. The middle ring rotates once per hour, and casts the “minute hand” shadow. And the outer ring rotates once every 12 hours, casting the “little hand” shadow.

Keyboard Shortcut Skins

Keyboard Skins
Models available for notebook computers and desktop keyboards. Molded exactly to fit your keyboard like a glove. Quick to remove and reapply as often as you wish.

Barbouille Blackboard

Barbouille Blackboard
The Barbapapa transform themselves at will since 30 years. Marie Leblon, very inspired by their universe imagined and created all a series of objects, such these blackboard. Isn’t it just perfect for brainstorming sessions? Price: £19.86.

Written by MoiN

Source | Email from a Friend – Credit: Original Poster (Still finding the designer)

Written by Jerry Dawson

1. Turn off your engine if you are going to be idling for more than 30 seconds. Millions of gallons of fuel are wasted each day from idling. Your starter and battery system can handle the increased activity.

2. Change your air filter every 10,000 miles. Just like a marathon runner, your car needs to suck in air without restriction.

3. Install a real-time fuel consumption meter if your car does not have one already. This way, you can see what you are doing while you are driving and make the needed adjustments to save fuel.

4. Pump up those tires. Higher tire pressures result in lower rolling resistance, so your mileage will improve. Not too high, mind you, but a tad over the “recommended” from your car and tire manufacturer. Remember, they don’t want you to get good mileage.

5. Turn off your air conditioning, but only at lights or in slow traffic. When you really get going, the open windows produce drag that will offset any savings you might imagine from having the AC off.

6. Reduce the weight of your car. Remove all non-essential items from the trunk and the interior of your car. Weight takes energy to move, so the lighter your car the less energy you will lose. Keep the spare tire and the jack, but almost everything else can go. If you don’t have a family, take out the back seat. Invest in custom wheels if they are significantly lighter than the stock wheels. Carbon fiber parts (like the hood or trunk) are great, too, although they may be a bit expensive.

7. Don’t keep your gas tank full all the time. Remember, fuel equals weight and you must do everything you can to make your vehicle lighter. Keeping about a half tank or less all the time should allow for emergencies but also keep your weight down.

8. Wax your car and keep it clean and waxed. Drag (friction with the air) greatly reduces fuel economy. A clean and waxed vehicle will have reduced aerodynamic drag, thus providing better mileage. If you have a luggage rack, take it off. If you have a moon roof, keep it closed. Smooth is what you want.

9. Don’t drive a lot with a cold engine. Cold engines do not run efficiently. Use a block heater to pre-heat your engine if you are taking many short trips. If you can combine your short trips it will help, as driving further will allow your engine more operating time at higher temperatures.

10. Use cruise control whenever possible. The car’s ability to maintain a constant speed is better than your ability to do so. Small, more precise, and constant adjustments made by the car’s cruise control system will save you fuel.

Ultimately, there are other, more drastic steps you can take to save on fuel. For instance, you could ride light rail instead of driving, car pool, ride your bike, buy a high mileage car like a MINI or a Toyota Corolla, or even move closer to where you work. One other thing to consider – invest in an oil company like Exxon-Mobil or BP. As the high cost of oil swells the profits of Big Oil, you will get a share of that ill-gotten wealth as an owner of the company.

Written by muchmusic

When compiling a list of the Most Powerful Musicians, one must take into account not just album sales, but also clothing lines, fragrances, sold-out tours, charities, endorsement deals and, of course, relevancy. When you throw all of these important ingredients together and bake for more than 15 minutes of fame, you get the following 12 entertainers.

12. 50 Cent The King of Drama

At the age of 12, Curtis James Jackson III (aka 50 Cent) started dealing drugs. He was then arrested, served 6 months, and got his GED. Then, in 2000, he was shot nine times – DRAMA! – only to come back stronger than ever, breaking into the music industry and being one of today’s most successful rappers. It’s a compelling story, hence the making of Get Rich or Die Tryin’, the semi-autobiographical movie in which he also starred. And then, even though he didn’t retire like he said he would after Kanye West sold more albums than he did, 50 Cent is proving he’s still a fighter: he has 6 – yes, SIX – movies in the works and a new album (most likely) coming out later this year – which is aptly titled Before I Self Destruct. Duly noted.

11. Christina Aguilera The Chameleon

Christina Aguilera is one of the most successful female recording artists of the decade. She has had 18 Grammy nominations, 5 Wins, and has sold over 37 million albums worldwide. Although she just gave birth to her first son in January, she shows no signs of slowing down. She doesn’t have a new album coming out in the near future, but she has 2 best-selling European perfumes with a 3rd on the way. She also has made her mark by avidly supporting such charities and organizations as Missing Kids, Women’s Cancer Research Fund, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. She also donated all of her wedding gifts in support of Hurricane Katrina victims. Christina Aguilera wears many hats – a singer, a songwriter, a philanthropist – and she looks great in all of them.

10. Miley Cyrus The Teen Queen

At first glance, 15-year-old Miley Cyrus might just look like your typical well-to-do teenager: a bubbly, happy-go-lucky girl, making silly YouTube videos with her best friend, Mandy. But oh yeah – she is also the star of that hugely-popular Hannah Montana TV show; has a Hannah Montana clothing line; toured extensively with those Jonas Brothers, selling-out tickets in record speed; has had a number 1 album and is about to release another one that will most likely shoot to the top; and, according to Forbes magazine, is earning $3.5 million+ per year. She is a Disney dream come true, but a consumer’s nightmare since she is the sole reason that mom’s everywhere are breaking the bank – and that’s pretty damn powerful.

9. Bono The Global Ambassador

If there is one person who fully demonstrates that activism and celebrity can go hand-in-hand, it is Bono. By day he is merely the lead singer of U2, one of the greatest rock bands of all time, but by night, he is healing the world. To wit: he was the founder of the multinational non-government organization DATA (Debt, Aids, Trade in Africa), was the co-founder of Product Red and the ONE Campaign, was named a Person of the Year by TIME magazine, was an organizer of the Live 8 concerts, was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, and was even granted an honorary knighthood by the UK. The only logical next-step: Sainthood.

8. Kanye West The Loudmouth

Kanye West is kind of like that little kid at the grocery store who throws a fit when no one buys him that KitKat bar in the check-out aisle. You see, he will complain when he doesn’t win the Best Album Grammy and will storm the stage in outrage when he doesn’t win the Best Video Award at the MTV Europe Music Awards. But in the end, he still manages to sell a shitload of albums, sell-out concert after concert and wrangle fellow powerhouse performers to go on tour with him, such as Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco and N.E.R.D. So no matter how much kicking and screaming he does, the man’s got clout and talent – and in the end, he will always get that KitKat bar.

7. Beyonce The Bootylicious Businesswoman

Her body may be Bootylicious, but both Beyonce’s vocal talent and business-savvy are what have propelled her to the top of her game. She no longer is the lead singer of some passe girl group, but rather a solo artist/brand who has won 5 Grammy Awards for her chart-topping albums, been nominated for 2 Golden Globe Awards for her hit movie Dreamgirls, has launched a fashion line with her mom called House of Dereon, and is the face of Pepsi and L’Oreal. She’s got piles of personality and charm to boot and it also doesn’t hurt that she recently married R&B rapper/producer/ultimate-moneymaker Jay-Z. With so much going for her, Beyonce has proven that she truly is Irreplaceable.

6. Timbaland The Music Maestro

Timbaland is the man with the Midas touch. He has produced chart-topping beats for all the musical heavy-hitters and is the man responsible for putting OneRepublic on the map with that little ditty Apologize. You may have heard of it. His latest endeavour was Madonna‘s Hard Candy which recently debuted at number one in 27 countries, proving once again that Timbaland knows how to spin dance-able gold and that’s simply The Way He Are.

5. Hilary Duff The Mini Mogul

Once upon a time, Hilary Duff was the star of a little Disney TV show called Lizzie McGuire. What followed was a career explosion which included a successful solo career (selling over 13 million albums worldwide), an affordable personal clothing line (Stuff by Hilary Duff), lucrative endorsements (namely with Elizabeth Arden), and now a blossoming film career (War, Inc.), all while avoiding the controversies of sex-tapes and DUIs. This 20-year-old “good girl” reigns supreme; however she better watch out – Miley Cyrus is taking notes and is set on dethroning Queen Duff. Let the war of the Disney Darlings begin…

4. Diddy The Unstoppable Entrepreneur

P. Diddy, Puff Daddy, Sean Combs, call him whatever you want – the man has proven that he is more than just a name. In a career speckled with controversy (such as being held partly responsible for trampled audience members at a charity concert, charges of assault, and an arrest for weapons violations), there is no denying that the man is a marketing juggernaut. Along with his successful rap career, he has his own extremely lucrative clothing line Sean John, re-invented the Making The Band TV show, and has even appeared on Broadway – but perhaps his biggest contribution to the music industry has been his founding of Bad Boy Records which houses the likes of Yung Joc, Keyshia Cole and Danity Kane. Oh yeah – his butler, Farnsworth Bentley, has even become famous simply for being Diddy’s butler. You know when that happens that you’re dealing with Hollywood royalty.

3. Madonna The Living Legend

There is a reason Madonna “Madge” Ciccone has been nicknamed Her Madgesty; she truly is the Queen of Pop, ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America as the “Best Selling Female Rock Artist of the Twentieth Century.” She has an estimated net worth of over $400 million, her last 4 albums have debuted at number one, her new buddy Justin Timberlake just inducted her into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, and she recently signed a 10-year contract with concert promoters Live Nation for $120 million! Showing no signs of fatigue, 49-year-old Madonna is as fit, healthy and savvy as ever, proving that she’ll be around for more than just 4 Minutes.

2. Jay-Z The Franchise

It takes a lot of guts to retire from the music industry, only to come back a few years later, bigger than ever – but that’s exactly what Jay-Z did. And it takes a lot of guts to head up a successful record company, only to eventually leave it for an even better deal – but (again) that’s exactly what Jay-Z did. In 2004, he was appointed as president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings, where he signed such major newcomers as Ne-Yo and Rihanna, but when Live Nation came a’callin’ with a $150 million deal, Jay-Z was quick to take it. With 25 Grammy nominations and 7 wins, he is allowed to take risks – but for Jay-Z, it has all just been a walk in the park.

1. Justin Timberlake The New King of Pop

Back in 1991, the “King of Pop” Michael Jackson released an album entitled Dangerous, which launched 6 Top 20 hits. Flash forward 15 years and Justin Timberlake releases his second solo album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, which goes on to launch 6 Top 20 hits. The only difference here is that when Michael Jackson accomplished said feat, he was nearing the end of his musical career – Justin Timberlake is only just beginning. Girls love him, guys want to be him, and parents think he’s the perfect boy to have over for Christmas dinner. He inducts Madonna into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he dates respectable women, and he loves getting Punk’d. He sings, he dances, he plays piano and guitar, he beatboxes, and now he acts. It seems the man can do no wrong, and thus he ends up at number 1. The New King of Pop, indeed.

Photographs Courtesy Getty Images

Written by fabulously40

And Lastly…

WHEN YOU FIND OUT YOUR FRIEND IS PREGNANT YOU CONGRATULATE THEM INSTEAD OF ASKIN “OH SHIT, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?”

Photo Source: features.cgsociety.org

Written by Lifehacker

The newest version of our favorite open source web browser, Mozilla Firefox 3, offers dozens of new features and fixes, but only a handful will make the most dramatic difference in your everyday browsing. After 17 months of alphas and betas, Mozilla’s finally made a feature-complete release candidate available, so it’s time to spotlight the biggest improvements that will make “Gran Paradiso” the browser to beat. Nearly everything in the open-source app has gotten a second look from the minds at Mozilla, from back buttons to bookmarks, address bars to add-ons, passwords to performance, and the changes will make Firefox 3 worth the upgrade come its official release date, slated for sometime next month. Let’s take a look at the 10 best upgrades in Firefox 3, and how they’ll bolster your browsing, after the jump.

Note: Firefox 3 hasn’t been officially released yet-a public preview release is available and intended for testers only. While it’s a very stable preview, only use it if you’re willing to deal with bugs and instability as the Mozilla teams ready the official release.

That said, our favorite Firefox 3 features include:

10. Souped-up Add-ons manager

A big part of what makes Firefox so special to power users is its extensibility with extensions, add-ons, plug-ins and themes, and Firefox 3’s Add-ons dialog got the attention it deserved. The Fox’s Add-Ons menu is more robust and intuitive on at least two fronts. You can search and install extensions and themes right from the pop-up box, no browsing required. Also, a new plug-in manager lets you enable and disable third-party helpers like Flash, QuickTime, and anything else that makes content work (and causes you grief).

9. More intuitive interface overall

Mozilla tweaked and updated a whole lot of little things here and there throughout Firefox 3, which amounts to a big overall boost in usability. Most noticeably when you first switch, the Back button only appears on the address bar if there is a page to go back to, and when it does, it’s bigger and easier to click. Users who want to make sites with small text more readable permanently are in luck; Firefox 3 can increase the size of images and text, or just the text, on hard-to-read sites. In addition, Firefox 3 applies favicons more consistently to bookmarks, you can click a site’s favicon to get extended site identification information, you can resize the search box to hold more than two words, and the find-on-page search box automatically grabs the currently selected word, just to name a few new UI improvements.

In the long term, once webapps catch up, Firefox 3 will let you do really neat stuff in your browser, like register your favorite webapps to open certain file types, and access your online data even when you’re not connected to the ‘net. To get a taste, see how you can configure Firefox 3 to launch Gmail for mailto links.

8. Stronger phishing and malware protection

Firefox 3 has stronger filters and protection against malware, phishing sites, cookies, and other tools that compromise privacy and security. A malware warning shows up when you visit sites known to install malicious software, Firefox 3 doesn’t show the content of knock-off sites (like PayPal “Update Your Account” phishing scams) by default, and Firefox 3 checks against Google’s ever-growing blacklist of phishing sites. Now you can feel even better switching your less tech-aware relatives over to the open-source browser.

7. Improved download manager

Never wonder where a download came from, or went to, again. Gran Paradiso’s download manager lets you search through recent files, resume big downloads after a crash or restart, and lets you keep an eye on your transfers in the status bar.

6. Native looks for every system

Your browser is a serious part of your computer time, so having it look like nothing else on your system can be seriously annoying. Firefox’s designers made system integration a priority with this release, and it shows-even Windows XP’s and Vista’s button layouts have subtle differences in color and shading. There’s differences at deeper levels, too, with Cover Flow-type styling in the add-ons manager for OS X, transparencies in key places in Vista and OS X, and other tweaks that make your browser feel like a natural extension of your system.

5. Streamlined “Remember password” handling

No more guessing whether you’re saving the right password or clicking “Cancel” on unnecessary pop-up requests. Gran Paradiso only asks you to utilize its password-saving function once you’re already in and sure everything worked, and it won’t block you from seeing the logged-out version of a page if you don’t want to sign in.

4. Smart bookmarks

Much like iTunes’ Smart Playlists, Firefox 3’s new Smart Bookmarks function can analyze your browsing habits and create lists of links based on it. The default bookmark toolbar only comes with three standards, “Most Visited,” “Recently Bookmarked,” and “Recent Tags” (more on that later), but it’s none too hard to make your own.

3. Places Organizer replaces the Bookmark Manager

Previous versions of Firefox’s bookmark organizer have been pretty utilitarian affairs that make you drag and drop your links around nested folders. With Firefox 3’s new Places Organizer, those with reams of URLs can find them using boolean rule searches and multi-column results, as well as keep them better organized with a tagging system. Better still, you can save those smart searches for when you next need them.

2. Smart Location Bar learns how you browse

Like a personal assistant who telepathically knows when you’re going to need just the right phone number (or Starbucks fix), Firefox 3’s address bar, now dubbed the Smart Location Bar, helps you get to your frequently visited, or recently discovered, sites in super-quick fashion. That application you just read about on Lifehacker, but can’t remember the name? Type “li” into your address bar, and Firefox instantly pulls the relevant sites from your history. The bar also learns through repetition, so the next time you start searching with “li,” it knows you’re looking for Lifehacker, not Linux.

1. Insanely improved performance

It’s not flashy, and it doesn’t have any social networking features, but Firefox 3’s actual performance is the best reason anyone should consider upgrading, or making the switch to the ‘fox. Firefox’s engineers claim that their third major release is 9.3 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 in JavaScript performance, and 2.7 times faster than Firefox 2. This means snappier browser performance when you’re using webapps like Gmail, Remember the Milk, and more. Even more important, especially for Mac users, is the improved memory usage and more than 15,000 improvements that make for a less crash-prone browser. I’ve seen noticeable speed-ups in page loading in Linux, XP, and Vista, but the real reason I’ve switched over to using Release Candidate 1 is that I haven’t had to cross my fingers every time a Flash-based video loads. Graphed comparison of memory use amongst browsers in Vista courtesy of John Resig.

What features or changes have made you a true believer in Firefox 3? What upgrades are you still waiting to see added to the mix? Let’s hear your take in the comments.