Archive for March, 2010

Marty Markowitz Renames Bridges “WiFi” and “Broadband”

Proclamation

After I saw this, I wasn’t sure it was real, but checking it out, it appears to be true!  Marty Markowitz, in a bid to get Google’s attention and bring their 1-Gigabit/Second Fiber-to-the-home network to Brooklyn as their first test community!  Go Marty!

While I’m not exactly how long those names will stick, I hope people occasionally tell cabbies to “take the WiFi Bridge and exit at Broadway”.  Brilliant move, Marty, this might just get their attention so we can finally kick Time Warner and their crappy service to the curb!  If you haven’t heard about this yet, best thing for you to do would be to nominate our community (Brooklyn/Greenpoint), oh nevermind, it’s too late, deadline was yesterday!  Well, the next best thing would be to get down on your knees and pray, join the official facebook page, and only use google as a search engine so that they see we’re loyal!

Polaroid Update

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We will finally be receiving our long-awaited Polaroid film restock in about a week following the announcement from The Inpossible Project. we’ll have TZ-Artistic, 600, as well as the new PX-100 and PX-600 films fresh from the factory. More details with pricing and preorder links will be posted on Tuesday.

Traffic Sign Near Atlantic Yards Reads “Fuck Ratner”

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via FreeWilliamsburg

This is the kind of hardware hacking that is really exciting.  Can we hack the traffic lights over there as well to stop the construction vehicles?

The title says it all, but here’s the Post’s cheeky take on it:

An opponent of the Atlantic Yards hacked into a digital traffic sign on Flatbush Avenue near developer Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards mega-project on Tuesday, manipulating it to flash the message, “F—k Ratner.”Instead of warning motorists about traffic pattern changes from the construction of the Barclays Center a few blocks away, the sign, near the corner of St. Marks Avenue, flashed its obscenity from about 8 am until about 10 am, when it was disabled.

While they won’t show you the photo, we, of course, will! Major credit to duelin markers on Flickr for snapping this pic. And if you’re curious on how to do that to your very own street sign, here’s a step-by-step guide.

PHILIPPE STARCK @ Dijital Fix

Philippe Starck Parrot Zikmu skeleton_320

Philippe Starck has amassed a huge amount of design work in his lifetime, as one of the “rockstar” designers of our age.  Some of it we love, some of it we hate, but we’ve just received one of his more recent creations, the ZIKMU wireless speakers.  I saw them in Paris last year at a shop similar in purpose to Dijital Fix, and at first, I was a little skeptical of the price tag, but after first listening to them, and then playing around with the features and really giving them a spin, I now realize they are worth every penny.  These two speakers are deceiving.  They are so simple looking, one would not assume they are capable of so much.

Amazingly, these speakers have the capability to fill our entire 1200sq. ft. store without any strain whatsoever, and they do it with a quality of sound that is unlike anything else we’ve heard at this price point.  Utilizing NXT flat-panel speaker technology in addition to a finely-tuned 360-degree subwoofer cabinet, they manage to throw sound in all directions with almost zero directionality.  These speakers can truly be placed in the middle of a room with no negative effect on the listening angles.  They really must be heard to understand.  In addition to the great sound, they have a load of features that really complete the package.  Along with a built-in iPod/iPhone dock, they have built-in WiFi (which allows you to connect them wirelessly to your computer for music streaming), built-in Bluetooth (which allows you to connect either your computer, iPhone or iPod Touch 2G or other BT device and walk freely), and a standard line in for connecting a TV or other device.  The two speakers simply plug into the wall and go, connecting wirelessly and automatically to each other.  All of this, in gorgeous packaging as well ;-) .

We also carry some other items designed by Starck, including some great hard drives by Lacie, and watches.  Come check out the selection and test out these speakers, even if just to dream of owning them.

Spring for some Field Notes

Field Notes Spring

It’s that time of year again, the time when Field Notes releases their fresh colorpacks designed for the season at hand.  What do we have this time?  The coolest pack of Field Notes I’ve seen them put out yet.  For the same usual price of $9.95, you get a 3-pack of graph paper field notes.  That’s not all, folks.  This cheerful edition also contains not only the cheerful sunny yellow memo books, each printed with a different vibrant ink color, but they’re packed in a string-tied, top-loading kraft envelope that is inspired by vintage American seed packaging.  Well, actually it is a vintage American seed package, because aside from the three memo books, each packet of sunshine includes Marigold seeds of the “Crackerjack” variety direct from Bay City, Michigan along with notes on growing them!  Order now!

Joey Roth @ Dijital Fix

Joey Roth has made quite a name for himself.  First with the design for his gorgeous Sorapot, and then with the interesting way he went about presenting his company at the New York International Gift Fair.  He brought nothing but some tools and his products, and repurposed other people’s garbage at the show into a rather fantastic-looking booth (which I saw for myself).  He recently released his Ceramic Speakers, which were announced some time ago, but only available recently.  We decided to go ahead and stock his products, as we’ve always been admirers and followers of his designs, and are proud to have them all on display in the store.  Come by and give the Ceramic Speakers a listen, or feel up a Sorapot, because we know you’ve seen them on a million blogs, but not in person.  For a good audiophile review on the speakers, check this out.

Rube Goldberg

Coming across this amazing music video from OK GO, it makes me think that this would be a great winter activity for Brooklynites who don’t want to spent time outside freezing.  Rube Goldberg Contest, winter 2011, anybody?  We’ll sponsor it.  P.S. This video is unbelievable.  How they got the timing so perfect in one take, blows my mind.