563. Quickie Web: Video: Megaminx December 20, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Plaything, Quickie Web.add a comment
The Bright Idea: the Megaminx, a Rubiks Cube on steriods. The video: some guy solving it in a minute and a half. Via Neatorama.
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562. Bright Idea: Sunny Person December 19, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Plaything, Product.1 comment so far
Here is a calming and whimsical little novelty toy from Japan: Hidari no Tami (Sunny People). Solar powered, for $30 (Buy it here); via PopGadget.
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…metapost… October 18, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Uncategorized.9 comments
I am coming up on one year of posting, but am quickly running out of steam. Lately, I have been debating retiring SparkBugg, but will continue, albeit with less frequent postings, for now.
I am still grateful to have any readers at all. Thank you.
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561. Bright Idea: the Binibottle October 18, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Food and Drink, Product.add a comment
Designed by a 15 y.o. Swede, this bottle has a side opening so you can fit it under you household faucets. It is sold in Sweden for $5. I doubt it will come to the US. Why? Because the tap water here sucks. Unless the Binibottle soon includes a little Brita filter, I am passing on this one. Via SciFiTech.
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560. Bright Idea: the Mamaponcho October 18, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Baby, Product.1 comment so far
Awww. What a cute and Bright Idea: snuggling with your baby like you’re both in a burrito. Not so Bright Idea: the gender-exclusionary name. Unless they also make the Papaponcho, I am a little irritated and hurt. Buy it HERE (€200+); via Babygadget.
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559. Bright Idea: the Insulated Ice Cream Bowl October 18, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Food and Drink, Product.1 comment so far
The inner stainless steel is insulated by a melamine shell. Bonus: it’s dishwasher safe. Store these in your freezer for even longer lasting cool for your frozen comfort food. Buy it HERE ($10); via Slashfood.
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558. Bright Idea: the Better Bicycle Stand October 18, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Product.add a comment
Space saving, and it automatically locks in the front wheel. Simple and genius. Via Epodic.
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557. Bright Idea: the Yamaha Tesseract October 10, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Art, Product, Transportation.2 comments
What a beautiful concept vehicle. This is what I call mechaporn. Via Gizmodo.
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556. Quickie Web: Video: Balloon Bowl October 10, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Quickie Web, Video.2 comments
Put 8,000 balloons in a swimming pool. Then videotape your buddy skating through it. Looks fun. Via Neatorama.
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555. Bright Idea: Kwik’N-E-Z Medicator October 10, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Baby, Product.add a comment
I wondered about this idea a few months ago with some friends who are new parents. They said I should invent it.
Too late. Of course it already exists. Buy it HERE ($4); via NerdApproved.
Meanwhile, I am fine-tuning my newest idea: cutting loaves of bread into slices and selling it that way.
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554. Bright Idea: Wastebasketball October 10, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Plaything, Product.1 comment so far
Catchy name, catchy idea. By Labexp; Via MoCoLoco.
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553. Bright Idea: Snowtone Wastebasket October 10, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Art, Product.1 comment so far
It was love at first sight, for me. I need this wastebasket right next to all my toilets. The only thing that would make this product even better? An integrated magazine rack on the side, of course.
In fact, this product is so beautiful to me, I am also tagging it as “Art.” By Snowtone; Via MoCoLoco.
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552. Bright Idea: the Hushamok October 4, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Baby, Product.add a comment
Pricey ($430), but, oh-so-stylish. Buy it HERE; via BabyGadget.
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551. Bright Idea (revisted): the Koku Cutting Board October 4, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Kitchen, Product, Video.13 comments
I mentioned the Koku cutting board in a previous post (HERE). Here is a new commercial that does a good job demonstrating it in 2 minutes. By the folks at Everyday Edisons.
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550. Bright Idea: the Workout 180 October 4, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Product, Video.3 comments
Here is another Everyday Edisons product: the Workout 180. This clip is a taste of the next best-selling workout apparatus, which you will likely see in a late-night infomercial. The inventor (read about her here) showed up with a foam step as a prototype (for instability), and the Everyday Edisons team helped it evolve into this multi-use device, the Workout 180. Even I, being one lazy and soft slug, am tempted to buy one. This clip is 4 minutes long.
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549. Quickie Web: Video: the Incredible Machine October 4, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Quickie Web, Video.add a comment
Here are some great Japanese Rube Goldbergs from some TV show. There are a bunch of them on this clip, which is about 9 minutes long (ok, so this clip is not so “quickie”). It has close to a million views on Youtube; Via HackedGadgets.
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548. Bright Idea: the Strolli Rider October 1, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Baby, Product, Transportation.1 comment so far
For your tired and whining older child, this Happy Stroller attachment will hold any kid up to 44 lbs. Buy it HERE
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547. Bright Idea: Arrow Shelves October 1, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Furniture, Product.add a comment
Colorful, modular, stackable, and they hold your books neatly, in an easy-to-read orientation, using gravity. Designer’s website HERE; via MoCoLoco.
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546. Bright Idea: the Tornado Potato September 28, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Food and Drink, Product.1 comment so far
From Korea: a potato, cut into a spiral, deep fried, on a stick. Though it may be awkward to eat (getting around the stick) and hard to dip in my favorite sauce, I just booked my ticket to Seoul. Via Neatorama.
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545. Bright Idea: in Watches September 28, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Product.1 comment so far
Here are a bunch of watches with novel time-presenting ideas:
1) Botta Uno Automatik: one-handed watch. By Botta (€230+); via CoolHunting.
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2) The Radar Watch: The outer arc is the minute hand, the inner arc, hours. Actually pretty similar to a regular analog watch, replacing the hands with arcs. Buy it HERE eventually (Novel Japanese watches); via Ubergizmo.
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3) Reveal Watches: These tell time as the separate discs independently rotate to reveal the underlying time digit via an opaque window. The dot in the middle indicates seconds. Buy it at their website HERE ($80); via Technabob.
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4) The Fusion Watch: basic and easy to read. The outer dot ring indicates the hour, the inner ring: minutes, the center rows: seconds. Buy it HERE ($150); via Technabob.
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544. Quickie Web: Video: Reflection September 28, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Quickie Web, Video.1 comment so far
Here is a funny 2:30 Rorschachish clip. Creative and simple. By JamesNintendoNerd.
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543. Bright Idea: Smart Chopsticks September 26, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Food and Drink, Product.2 comments
Both these chopsticks, though neither that essential, are smartly designed.
A) Restless Chopsticks.
Like the utensils I posted on recently (HERE), these chopsticks are designed to stay off of the table (When? Mostly between courses, especially at an Asian restaurant, I guess). Get them HERE ($12); via SwissMiss.
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B) Froggetmee Chopsticks.
MMM…ramen. Whimsical, these guys…but I tend to bring the bowl to my face to get at the soupy part, so I doubt I would use these. Buy them HERE ($8); via Smidgy.
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542. IdeaSpark*: Cellphones for pockets September 26, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in IdeaSpark*, Product.6 comments
Let’s face it: for guys, cell phones go in pockets (women have purses). Having them clipped to your belt looks and feels awkward. But most cell phones, while they look cool, aren’t designed for pockets.
IdeaSpark*: Design a cell phone specifically for the front pant pocket. This means:
- The phone body is slightly curved to hug the thigh and limit protruding edges and corners.
- Have curves all around the edges (like the pictured phone, called the Au Infobar, via Core77), also to limit pant bulge.
- Make the shell silicone or rubber, for softness, and for more friction to prevent sliding around in the pocket.
- The shape of the cellphone would be designed to fit in the pocket the same orientation everytime (i.e. with the top facing down, so when pulling it out of the pocket, it is ready to use).
- A small cord or tab on the bottom of the phone, which will be easy to grab when you reach into your pocket.
Yes, I am suggesting substance over style, here. RAZRs may look cool; I want my phone using experience to be cool.
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541. Bright Idea: Dripstiks September 26, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Food and Drink, Product.add a comment
No more messy hands and clothes when your kids eat ice cream and Popsicles. Invented by a mother of four, find the Dripstik website HERE; you can buy them HERE ($4.50)
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540. Bright Idea: Cool-Ups September 26, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Food and Drink, Product.1 comment so far
Here is the idea: Scoop up some ice cream with this Cool-Up, then eat the ice cream like an old-school push-up pop. It also comes with a cap to save uneaten ice cream for later.
If it really works (easy to scoop; no leaks and no mess) then I think this idea is pretty bright.
Buy it ($5) at their website HERE; via CoolBusinessIdeas.
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539. Bright Idea: Rotating Power Outlets September 24, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Product.7 comments
True Story: when I was in the airport last week, I was walking around the terminal looking for an outlet to charge my portable DVD player so I could watch Disc 2 of Heroes on the plane. I finally found one, obscured by the benches, at the same time a young lady came upon the same outlet, to charge her cell phone. I saw her charger adapter in her hand, and immediately knew we both couldn’t use the same outlet. So I moved on.
At that moment, we could have used this Bright Idea: Smarthome’s rotating power outlet. Only $10, buy it HERE; via Gizmodo.
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538. HumBugg: Non-working Bathroom stall locks September 24, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in HumBugg.2 comments
Don’t you hate it when you find a bathroom stall with a clean toilet (flushed, with no urine on the seat), but the door won’t lock? So you have to do your business holding the door closed with your foot or arm to prevent two people from being embarassed. Really…how hard is it to make a lock that works all the time, even if the door sags or the alignment is slightly off?
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537. Bright Idea: Pecha Kucha September 24, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Art, Marketing, Video.add a comment
The rules are simple: for your presentation on whatever, you can only show 20 PowerPoint slides, at 20 seconds each. This emerging competitive art from was the Bright Idea of two Tokyo-based architects who wanted a venue for their ideas. Wikipedia it HERE; Wired article HERE; via Don’s Brain Blog.
Below is a sample Pecha-Kucha, about Emotional Signage, by Dan Pink. Like all Pecha-Kuchas, it is 6:40 minutes long. It is long, for a clip, but it presents an interesting idea, and serves as an example of this new media format.
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536. Bright Idea: the Dia Chair September 24, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Furniture, Product.add a comment
This Dia Chair is made out of stainless steel and water-repellent fabric, making it perfect for indoors or outdoors. It is also stackable. And one simple tilt takes it from a high-seating position (for tableside) to a relaxing lounger. If you have money to burn, buy one HERE ($1,650).
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535. Bright Idea: the Tripp Trapp Chair September 24, 2007
Posted by Matt Fleming, PsyD in Baby, Furniture, Product.3 comments
Made by the Dutch company Stokke, this chair’s name in English doesn’t have good connotations. But, the chair brilliantly adjusts as your child grows, always keeping your child at the perfect height at the family table. You can also purchase cushions, baby rails, and harnesses. Use it for 12 years, or more, for the same child. Stokke’s website HERE; buy it HERE
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