As for that fishy, squid taste? It's actually desirable among certain sake drinkers, as it makes the taste "smoother and milder," sort of like aging Scotch in a particular type of wood cask; but unlike the casks, the Ika Tokkuri are edible after use, producing a sort of sake-infused squid jerky that should taste familiar to Japanese bar-goers.

cleveland dot comCleveland Institute of Art students propose biomimetic designs to fix local river

If you were a production designer outfitting a movie-set office, using a ping pong surface as a conference table would serve as visual shorthand for a hip, irreverent workplace. Ryan Vanderbilt, the Creative Lead at Google Creative Lab, has taken that one step further with Table&Tennis, a ping-pong-spec conference/dining table that easily transitions from one to the other, and is constructed with materials a damn sight nicer than green slate and foldaway legs:

Esquire's got a piece up on J Mays, Ford's chief designer and the man behind the retrofuturistic Thunderbird, as well as the concepts that led to VW's new Beetle and the Audi TT. The article isn't a profile so much as a Sun-Tzu-like summation of Mays' philosophies, like the following:

Temperature-sensitive glass is currently being used in architectural design ranging from small glass tiles to large architectural pieces. For example, when guests in the Mickey Mouse Penthouse at the Disneyland Hotel take a shower, the tiles bloom into color when the warm water hits the glass. As the glass tiles change color, silhouettes of Mickey Mouse appear around the perimeter of the shower....

Despite hiccups earlier this year concerning the privacy of its users and their ownership of digital material, the Kindle pulled through, becoming the most gifted item ever in the history of Amazon. Though we don't have an exact figure, think of the most popular item you could imagine being gifted from Amazon (iPod Touches, Garmin Nuvis, Twilight) and Kindle has sold more.

A Garmin user human interface designer is a passionate designer who understands fundamental usability and aesthetic principals to guide software user interface development for various products with different specifications. The designer will work closely with software engineers, graphics artists, and product managers of the assigned project.

Henrik Amberla presents "Pilcrow", an electronic instrument concept combining elements of both string and percussion apparatus. Pilcrow's intriguing form is dictated by a natural human seating position, with just a touch of futuristic styling for good measure. Although not a musician himself, Henrik kindly demonstrates the potential of his creation in his demo video below.

In the south of Thailand, in the small town of Surathani, there is a public library directly on the pier which I have 'discovered' while waiting for the night boat to an island. It is run voluntarily by a couple (with the help of their daughter) and despite the fact that it exists already since five years and is under high demand by the locals (since there is no other library in town), it still doesn't get any governmental support. I was really thrilled by the welcoming atmosphere of the place a

Fiona Drenttel has begun a tasty set of dispatches, starting in Hong Kong, with a great series on candy packaging, language, and meaning. Our favorite so far is "Candy Packaging No. 2" above—a kind of BlueMan-meets-Ursula—but the copy is the best: "Yippee! I'm on a candy product!" exclaimed the man. "Now I'm famous!"

In Bangkok I have visited the Raffles Design Institute - an international design school offering various design and design related (business and management) disciplines. I have met Jett Virangkabutra, the program director of the product design department. The broad-based, diagnostic curriculum grasps from investigational and analytical to problem-solving skills through a project based, modular system, which is supposed to encourage the investigation and understanding of various specializations i

As an industrial designer traveling to a foreign land, you're less likely to be interested in the big differences, like what side of the road they drive on, and more likely to be fascinated by the little things; you'll unconsciously blurt things like "Hey, check out this light switch!" "Did you see those hinges?" and "Weird--there's no parting line on this handle!" et. al., much to the annoyance of your non-ID traveling companions.

The design press is finally beginning to realize the importance of the design brief, and how critical it is in an era of manufacturing freedom to have constraints. However important the constraints required for the latest gadget seem to be, they pale in comparison with the criticality of details like fit and comfort in prostheses or function and ease of use in communication tools for individuals with cerebral palsy. What ties together these projects, along with things like Charles and Ray Eames'

1. A sketchbook that highlights the work and not itself 2. Well constructed and affordable 3. No spines getting in the way of cross page sketching 4. Just the right size but with enough space or room to play with 5. "Boundary-less" pages 6. Flexible enough to do what you will 7. Decent quality paper that takes all non-wet mediums like ink, pencil or markers. 8. Appeals to everyone, not just designers

For over a millennium, mankind has dreamed of the ability to control objects with the power of thought. Today that dream has become reality! Now you can experience the fantasy of having supernatural powers and controlling the world with your mind. The Emotiv EPOC is designed for the PC and is bundled with a demo game, some demo apps and emokey [utility software that maps thoughts to keystrokes]. You can extend download/purchase additional applications from our online application store.