Surprises Ahead With TED

Guess what?!

We’ll be attending the TEDx event in Abu Dhabi this Tuesday, May 21st! We’re very excited to be invited to be part of an international platform for education, diversity and inspiration. This TEDx is being hosted by WWF (World Wild Fund for Nature) with a focus on environmental issues such as, sustainable energy, climate change, and reconnecting with nature. We’ll be live tweeting from the event, so make sure to follow us on Twitter.

If you’d like to be part of the action, the lectures will be live streaming here. Stay tuned!

Haven’t heard of TED? Here’s a brief overview of its awesomeness:

Started as a 4-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives.

The annual TED Conference invites the world’s leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com.

TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani,Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and ex-UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California, with simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each year in Oxford, UK.

TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide.

TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world, and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

-Courtesy of TEDxWWF

Sunny Days Ahead

We’ve got some exciting plans for next week, so we’re resting up this weekend and enjoying the sunshine. Hope you all have fun/relaxing/interesting plans these next few days! What are you up to? Let us know!

In the mean time, here are this weeks 10 bits and pieces from around the web:

106 years old & finally accomplished his goal! See what it is here.

An electric scooter that folds? What?! This looks crazy cool.

“Spooky action at a distance”

Six people who own (almost) nothing. Talk about minimalism!

Everyone should store cables like this.

Love in Paris 1955.

A nightmare trip to Mars?

Lightening around a volcano looks scary!

Japanese air-conditioned shoes. Really?

The birds and the bees.

Have a spectacular weekend folks!

Gummy People?!

Gummy Bears are cute, but Gummy People are awesome! Fabcafe, a Japanese company, is offering the opportunity to create custom gummy molds of yourself.

Using a 3D body scanner and digital clay modeller, images of the person are captured and then rendered. Using a 3D printer the captured images are recreated using gelatin.

You are able to make faces and stand in any position (though the boring ol’ hands by your side seems to work best). However, the full body gummies are not life-size but they’re still very cool. For $65 or (6,000Yen), you can have a sweet treat created to your likeness. Would you eat a candy that looks just like your or someone you know? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Whispering New Lands

The world is whispering to you — go explore.

Whether it be to a new city…

A new countryside…

New waters…

Or a new culture…

Expand your horizons! There’s no better time than the present to plan, seek and create adventures. Make the most out of this year. Go somewhere completely out of the ordinary. See what amazing things are our there if you just take the time to look. Happy Hunting, Adventurers!

PS. Our list of top 7 places to start exploring.

Springing Forward

It’s Friday! It’s been a wonderful and hectic week for us and we’re ecstatic about our travel plans this weekend. Last minute prep and dinner party then –away we go! What are your plans this weekend? Any awesome events going on? Keep us in the loop!

In the mean time, here our this week’s 10 bits an pieces from around the web:

True story.

A coffee table for the computer nerd.

US of A divided into 50 imaginary states of equal population.

Red Bull’s ‘drive thru‘ elevator.

Oddly Hair.

Luxury item of Shanghai: License Plates??

Glassware music.

A new sense of love.

Coolest vein finder we’ve ever seen!

Temporary tattoos that can make telepathy possible. (An actual science article! Crazy, right?)

Have a spectacular weekend!

A Secret Lullaby Factory

The Lullaby Factory is located in the back courtyard of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in London. Architecture firm Studio Weave created the melodious construct out of pipes and drainage in an awkward space between the new building and the old. The beautiful lullabies ‘secretly’ echo throughout the hospital to calm and uplift the young patients. To listen to the tunes composed by Jessica Curry, patients and staff place an ear over a listening pipe or tune into a radio frequency inside.

“We have designed a fantasy landscape reaching 10 storeys in height and 32 metres in length, which can engage the imagination of everyone, from patients and parents to hospital staff, by providing an interesting and curious world to peer out onto.” -Architects Je Ahn and Maria Smith.

A wonderful land of imagination for these young children to recover in, don’t you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

March-ing Into the Weekend

Happy Weekend! March is officially upon us, can you believe how fast this year seems to be going? We’re hoping to breathe in some fresh air, enjoy the simple things and have a fun outdoor brunch on Sunday. Do you have any interesting plans? Keep us in the loop! We hope you have a lovely and relaxing weekend.

If you’re in the web browsing mood, here are this weeks 10 bits and pieces from around the web:

The Hipster Cure

You’ll never guess what’s for breakfast at McDonald’s in Turkey!

Have you seen the world’s first 3D printing pen? It’s pretty rad.

Tea we look forward to trying

Speed painting! An awesome portrait created in less than 90 seconds.

An arcade game the dispenses something quite unique to its winner.

Galaxy’s youngest black hole is a mere 1,000 years old! Vibrant image here.

Corny joke of the week!

Solitude.

Exactly where we’d love to be this weekend — on top of the world.

Biggest Vintage Lunchbox Collection EVER

The auction for the biggest known vintage lunchbox collection in the world is going on right now on Ebay! The seller, “The Lunchbox Kid“, has spent over 20 years tracking down every lunchbox in America that was ever produced. With the exception of two prototypes and a few one-of-a-kind single mockups they’re ALL there.

“Thad Reece has taken the lunchbox hobby to a whole other level. Little did he know that a simple mission’s trip to Mexico would lead him to the promised land of lunch boxes! His amazing insight in collecting metal lunch boxes is above and beyond our wildest dreams.”

…Reads the tagline to his book, which is the most extensive pictorial price guide for metal lunch boxes ever published.

The collection on Ebay, consists of over 675 rare, collectible lunch boxes! The price tag a mere $1,727,275 –chump change.

To check out more photos of his collection check out his Ebay site here. If you happen to be the lucky winning bidder, PLEASE let us know! We’d love to interview you.

What do you think of his collection? Would you go to great lengths to track down items you loved? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. (*all photos from his collection, except top photo)

Laughing Leaders

A Laughing Theodore Roosevelt

Happy President’s Day!

In honor of our President’s and Smile-Worthy Monday’s, we’ve rounded up a few candid photos of our leaders in the midst of laughter.

Harry Truman shares a laugh with Vice President Alben Barkley during his inaugural dinner.

John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy in a photobooth, 1953.

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, left, and George Meany, president of AFL-CIO, laugh at a speaker’s remark during an awards dinner in New York, 1967.

President-elect Wilson and President Taft standing side by side, laughing, at the White House, prior to Wilson’s inauguration ceremonies, March 4, 1913.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower (re-elected) and his wife, Mamie, greet crowds along the inaugural parade route, 1957.

President Ronald Reagan shares a laugh with singer Ray Charles at the conclusion of the Republican National Convention on Thursday, August 23, 1984 in Dallas.

These leaders definitely know how to have a good time! We hope you all have a wonderful start to your week.

PS. Are you making time for laughter in your life? Read our post on the benefits of laughter here.

Long-Weekend, Here We Come!

It’s Friday! Finally. We hope you all enjoyed your week and had an awesome Valentine’s (or Anti-Valentine’s) Day. The long weekend awaits us and we can’t wait! Are you going away for a few days? Planning some outdoor festivities (BBQ? We want in!)? Let us know, we love hearing from you.

In the mean time, here are this week’s 10 bits and pieces from around the web:

We must admit the NFL has some rad fans!

Your next kiss could taste a like a cold, fresh — BEER.

Hilarious things said in court.
(It must be hard to keep a straight face as a court reporter.)

Would you buy a bulletproof bikini?!

The root of wrong.

Have you ever seen two animals tongue kiss?

The robotic polar bear who helps you stop snoring.

Camera Sutra.

Take a break. (Would you enjoy seeing more of these around?)

Crazy and spectacular snow domes!