Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Smart surgeon gloves, indoor camping, a custom iPhone collodion and more in our weekly look at the web
This Week’s LAB is Sponsored by Dos Equis
1. Custom IPhone Collodion
Using an antiquated method that’s as technical as it is creative, photographer Jake Potts ingeniously turned the glass back of his iPhone into a ambrotype photo. The wet plate collodion process calls for some real camera nerdery, but the diligence is clearly worth it.
2. Camargue’s Bright Red Lake
Russian photographer Sam Dobson recently captured a lake in Camargue, France that has naturally turned bright red due to a high salt concentration. “Every small branch is covered with crystals. With the red water as a background it looks like something extra-terrestrial,” he comments.
3. #CHPsignals
Inspired by vintage seafaring signal lamps, the Copenhagen installation #CHPsignals connected two neighborhoods separated by a harbor. Citizens on each side of the water were able to send messages via each lamp’s twitter account, which were broadcast using morse code, decoded by the receiving side and displayed online.
4. WWF Legends
Designing down the stylistic nightmares of early WWF legends, this nostalgia inducing poster series presents key characteristics of all the big names, from The Undertaker to The Ultimate Warrior, in perfectly minimal form. Designed by illustrator Bernie Gross, each poster centers on a defining element and signature move, bringing back memories of The Hulkster and his brilliant yellow mustache and unstoppable Atomic Leg Drop.
5. Fast Forward Car Charge
The first of its kind to land in downtown LA, the new Blink DC fast charge station surges 500 volts of direct current into your electric car to recharge its battery in roughly thirty minuets, as apposed to the six to eight hours generally required by standard 220-volt level 2 stations. While the innovation is huge for convenience, like most things in LA, you’ll still need a reservation.
6. Sous Chef
The new online emporium Sous Chef aims to inspire more creative cooking at home by offering a vast amount of ingredients and kitchen gadgets typically only available to professional chefs. From Japanese soybean flour to an excalibur dehydrator, Sous Chef has the essentials for any curious cook.
7. Indoor Camping
One of the more creative offerings on Airbnb welcomes renters to a night of camping inside a retail space on Sydney’s famous Oxford Steet. Amenities include a dome tent, a double air mattress, sleeping bags, nature recordings and even cooking wares. While running water and restrooms are lacking, the owner ensures vacationers access to the 24/7 kebob shop next door.
8. Discovering Columbus
Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi has big plans for NYC’s Columbus Circle this fall. In one of the city’s main intersections, the artist is erecting scaffolding around the statue of Christopher Columbus complete with a fully-furnished living room at the top. Public visitors will be able to ascend by stairs or an internal elevator for a cozy meet-and-greet with the 13-foot-tall icon.
9. This Is Now
A real-time feed of Instagram shots, This Is Now is a voyeuristically entertaining look at what’s happening in cities around the world collected through geo-tagged photos. The streams offer a glimpse at cities spanning Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Sydney, NYC and more.
10. Dog Caller
Concerns about overheating dogs are put to rest with Dog Caller, a device that uses a thermistor and SIM card to read the temperature and text owners when their pets are in danger of heat exhaustion.
11. Spinlister
Feeling the best way to see the sights of a new city is on two wheels, bike share program Spinlister allows users to easily rent a ride by the hour, day or week. Choose from a wide variety of bike styles and rent from individuals or bike shops in NYC and San Francisco.
12. Smart Surgeon Gloves
Advances in flexible semiconductors have scientists buzzing about the possibility of electronic “socks” for medical ends. The developing technology could potentially be used by surgeons as thin nanomembrane gloves to give data feedback from the tips of their fingers.
