Los! Floating lamps...

The announcement on LOS!

In January I wrote about the very remarkable Levatating lamps designed by Angela Jansen. She used the technology from Crealev for a lamp called LOS! On Los! Concepts it is announced that something will happen in July. One can only hope they will go on sale!

Halo

I love Dutch Design. It's so hip and happening. A while back I spotted this great blog called Minirobot. It has all sorts of great, crazy items. Like the very funny and thankfully only visualy offending (your nose is safe) 'fart pants'. Yes! I know and I'm not joking either...


Odor free!! (thankfully)

But what I really liked was a lamp made by a Dutch designer named Wieland Vogel. I wrote him to ask the price, but he wouldn't say. The lamp is called Halo (Aureool in Dutch) and it's a fantastic concept. When you hang it in a room you can concentrate the light by leaving it small (great for dining) or pull it out which makes the light spread wide (great for lounging/parties). If you are interested you might like to inquire, although I'm not sure you would get an answers. I believe they might plan actual production or something of the lamp, however so far (and I've waited a few months for this post) I've not seen any evidence. However it's great for inspiration! I wouldn't mind a less industrial (more elegant) looking lamp that works in a similar manner.



Images from Minirobot

My new baby...

This month as a celebration of my better financial situation I decided to buy myself this tinsy tiny little laptop called an Asus EEE. It's really small, so small even that my boyfriend calls it my calculator.

The operating system is Linux (very easy to use!!), but you could install a low spec Windows on it. It has 512 MB memory and a 4 gig hard drive, build in speakers, microphone and webcam. Battery is small and lasts circa 2.8 hours (I find this shorter).


A cutie small little laptop.. aka my calculator!

It has build in wifi so connecting to the internet is a breeze. The Linux operating system is very easy to use. I bought this little gem at PC World for £249.99 (circa $500) which is a whole lot cheaper than most laptops. This is because of the size, and it's spec. The EEE is a notebook that falls into a catagory of it's own.

Initially developed for children to use for school and developting countries Asus is finding that here in the richer west the demand for this little beauties is quite high. I had a lot of trouble finding one. This also because I wanted a green one, which seemed to be sold out everywhere, and I didn't want to pay more than £250.


Pretty colours

I choose this tiny simple laptop in favour of a more posh powerfull one because of practicallity. This mini baby fits in my handbag (no one knowing i'm carring a laptop) and is great for travel. And so later this week I will test it out as I'll be visiting family and friends back in Holland. :)

I might review it properly at a later date when I've spend more time using it. Verdict so far is a big fat: SUPER DUPER!

YNZzzzzzzz

Spotted on the net! This funny gadget you can use in your bedroom to communicate silently. After a short explaination I'm sure you can guess the use (don't scroll down, just read on, unless you don't want to guess).


What is this mystery object used for...

Clue:

Y stands for Yes!
N stands for No!
Z stands for Zzzzz (I'm sleeping/need sleep)

There is a forth side (an upsidedown Y) which you could use to represent indecision. An unspoken 'Maybe' if you like... so you guessed it yet?

One more guess?

Alright I'll tell you. It's to indicate ones willing to make love. You can display this item in the bedroom and based on it's facing communicate silently what your mood is. Other than that it just looks like an oranament. Funny eh!



The YNZ is a design made by Tomohiko Sato.

Picnic gadgets

Okay the London weather isn't quite sure yet if winter is over. After snow at Easter and snow last weekend it's hard to believe it's April, but it is any sometimes it's quite nice out. Plus how long can it be.. it will be spring soon. And then out come all the picnic blankets. It seems that here in the UK people go for picnics more often than in The Netherlands. I have no idea why, but I think it's true.


Maybe I should knit the olive a coat...

A few years back I was in Scotland and visited a performance of Macbeth at Scone Palace. It was performed on Moot Hill. The place where the Kings of Scotland where crowned of old and there at the end of the afternoon people sat down unpacked their hampers and enjoyed the play, nice food and a good glass of wine. In short Happy Living to the max.


The stylish way to dine on grass!

So hoping for a better summer than last year I was scouting about and found these two smart beauties found on The Style Files. First off a Picnic rug and bag in one... with quite a posh look to it. I like the idea that the whole picnic experience is contained in one easily portable and very stylish bag.



First aid kit? Oh no great picnic set...

Also quite stylish, although for some reason it makes me think of a first aid kit, is the second picnic portable. It's this compact dinnerset in one that has 2 plates, cutlery and a corkscrew (v. important). I don't think it would be much use for a full picnic, but this would be very nice for touristy visits. I'm just thinking of my parents visiting London a while back. They had a blast of a time and liked the Southbank area loads. There are tons of nice place to sit and have a nice bite there. And if you go on Friday or Saturday there is tons of the best food in the world available at Borough Market. Then take that yummie stuff get your all in one picnic pack and go to:

1. The Major's building so you can have a bit while viewing Tower Bridge and The Tower.
2. The lawn (if allowed) of Southwark Cathedral. A very nice tranquil place, except during lunch hour when it can get busy.
3. The grounds in front of the Tate Modern. This old building has such a nice vibe and with the Thames so close.. you can't go wrong.

Cheers!

Magical Wallpaper

There are people inventing all sort of strange and wonderfull things. I'm not sure how usefull some are, but I must admit I like the idea behind them. Two examples are to do with wallpaper.


Flowers appear out of nowhere...

First there is this heat sensitive wallpaper designed by Shiyuan that I spotted on The Style Files blog. This normal looking leafy wallpaper starts 'growing' flowers when you turn on the radiator. Not at all functional, but very magical. Especially in childrens bedrooms or so.


Wallpaper that lights up a room...

Also very remarkable and rather more usefull is Wallpaper that emits light. Yes it's a lamp! I spotted it in a video about new design, it's in Dutch but the effect doens't need explaining. The wallpaper part start at 2:23 min and is quite short. It's designed by Jonas Samson.

Levatating Lamp

I spotted this picture of a floating buddha somewhere and liked it a lot, but thought it a photoshop trick. I was wrong it's actually floating like the lamp made with the same technique next to it. After some investigation I found out that both make use of a technology that is developed by Crealev.


The floating buddha and lamp

The lamp was first seen during the Dutch Design Week in 2007. The levatating technology has been used in lamps by Angela Jansen. These lamps are known under the name LOS (loose). And it is rumored that they might go for sale in 2008.


See how it works...

I like the lamps but am not wild about them. I think the base just doesn't appeal to me. The Buddha has my vote. I think it looks great floating somewhere in the livingroom. hehe. :) I couldn't find any info on the Buddha unfortunately. If I ever do, I'll post it on my blog.


Another film about the floating lamp & disc..

Face Training

I'm very much into my DS and I can't wait for Nintendo to release their face training here in Europe. Face Training on a DS? Isn't that a kiddies handheld computer console you ask. Well, yes and no. Nintendo are releasing more and more 'games' that are targeted to the aldult market. Things like Brain Training, Suduko and a new release Sight Training. This last 'game' helps you improve your eyesight (or so I'm told).


Train your face...

And now you can train your face, well if you're Japanese. They get all the super cool new stuff. The idea is that you insert the camera that comes with the 'game' into the DS and switch it on. You can then rest it on it's stand (also in the 'game' pack) and start making funny faces that get displayed on the screen. This should make your face less wrinkly and more fresh looking. I'm all for silly gadgets and crazy new (non operative) beauty tricks, so I can't wait till it's available here. I know, I know... why spend money on such things but I like them and I can't help it. I'm a gadget freak. :D

Have a look at the Japanese Face Training site.