Hotel offers cultural 'night school' for guests - Springwise

Hotel offers cultural 'night school' for guests - Springwise

The global recession has made things tougher in virtually every industry, but it comes as a particularly sharp blow to those that were already highly competitive. Hotels, for example, have had to keep innovating to survive, whether by implementing the latest technologies or hiring a roving reader in residence for entertainment. The latest spotting? An in-hotel program of ongoing cultural events designed to enrich guests' stay.

If It's Hip, It's Here: If You're Looking For Me, I'll be Out Back In My Polyhedron.

If You're Looking For Me, I'll be Out Back In My Polyhedron.

This cool 7.5 square meter garden or office pod was designed and built in 2009 by architect Manuel Villa with the help of architect Alberto González, as a project and resides in the backyard of a family home in Bogota, Columbia.

Mac Coffee Table

Apple has yet to introduce the long speculated MacBook Tablet, but ask any angry engineering or graphic art student,and they'll tell you the release of one would change their life. Well, a few revolting geeks of Switzerland's Cosm!k' Art Deco Team couldn't wait any longer and decided to make their own. By fitting a flat screen and an Apple iBook G4 laptop into a coffee table, they've created a coffee table jukebox with synched visualizers. It can also play DVDs in the side, or you can pull out the wireless keyboard and mouse and use it as a (somewhat) normal computer. Okay, so it's not quite the touch tablet, but who knew it was so much fun to watch movies on a coffee table?

taken from trendcentral.com

Cats fucking suck

Are you like me and do you think there is no such thing as a good pussy? If so, you'll love FUCK YOU CAT; another online ranting blog targeting those freaky felines. The writer protests "Cats think they're so damn smart. They don't fool me. I'm a human and I'm smarter than any cat."

On the site, you find a collection of photos and videos depicting cats (and the people who love them) in seemingly unnatural environments accompanied by witty commentary. Check out this video as an example...

Watching your magazine...

The world's first video advert in a paper magazine will been published in the September editino of the American magazine, Entertainment Weekly. The slim-line screen, only 0.1inch thick, with built-in speakers has been slipped inside a cardboard insert in thousands of selected copies. It holds 25 minutes of video including an advert for Pepsi Max and trailers for the US TV network CBS, which activate in a similar way to a musical greeting card.

Personally - I do not see this going anywhere, but thought I'd share it as a conversation starter.

See a consumer's response...

I Tattoo You

New York has seen a rise in specialty stores that pique a niche interest: cocktail dens that employ tailors, art galleries that double as playpens, shops that hawk motorcycles and workwear, and a general store that is also a cafe and tattoo parlor (and the subject of this post).

"The Smile is sort of like an old-timey country general store, except modern and perfectly suited for the city. Set in an 1831 building with a history of multi-tasking (the previous tenant was that classic combination, antique store/massage parlor), the cafe/shop is just how you'd picture it: old wood everywhere, Edison bulbs and plenty of exposed brick.

They've focused on partnering with local purveyors, brands and artists they love. Best of all, they're carving out an American-made wall to sell White's custom boots (they actually trace your foot in-store), Moscot glasses and Field Notes notebooks."

And for Mother's Day; think about a kick-ass gift that doesn't involve 1800-flowers or Vermont Teddy Bears. For one day only, The Smile is introducing legendary tattoo artist Scott Campbell's Mother's Day Tattoos, a set of unimpeachable manly insignia specially designed to express your devotion to the woman who brought you into the world.

There are five designs, ranging from elaborately Victorian cursive script to the classic heart, but they're all sweet enough to impress your mother, and rough enough to get you cred the next time the Hell's Angels pass through town.

Geo-tagging through mobile phones

Now that GPS is becoming standard on mobile phones, more and more applications are taking advantage of the big-brother-like feature. Here are two examples:

Loopt – Loopt is a cool app that can show you where your friends are located and what they are doing via detailed, interactive, Google-like maps on your mobile phones. Users can also share location updates, geo-tagged photos and comments with friends in their mobile address book or on online social networks (like Twitter & Facebook), communities and blogs.

Foursquare – the new kid on the block, Foursquare is putting Google’s Dodgeball on the antique road show. Similar to Dodgeball, Foursquare will tell your friends where you are whenever you “check-in” to a venue in any of 12 US cities. Plus, for every “check-in”, you earn points which in turn earn you badges, like the “Bender Badge” for going out 4 nights in a row, or the “Local Badge” once you’ve been to the same place three times in one week. Keep an eye on this one – I predict it’s going to become very popular, very quickly.