JC Swift, Your Style Cultivator

It’s the wave–or maybe the cycle– of the future. Although these ‘bike trees’ have been in use for almost two years now in Japan, they are just beginning to gain popularity in the US. The idea is similar to a coat check for bikes. After signing up for a spot at one of the machines (in Japan it costs ¥ 1,800, or $20 USD), your bike is outfitted with an electronic tag used to easily identify it.

To store the bike, the user simply needs to roll it up to the machine, and the swipe of a card has it back to the owner in a matter of seconds. You can see a video demonstration of the system here. The storage machines can be placedabove or below ground, they save space and offer a highly secure area for bicyclists to store their modes of transportation.

JFE Engineering Corporation is the group that came up with the idea of and created the bicycle storage system. The company has three sites in Tokyo that can hold 756 bikes, 1,476 bikes and 6,480 bikes respectively, with other sites scattered across Japan. You can see a full list of their facilities here.

There are currently no plans to install such systems in the United States and there are still a number of factors to contemplate when considering putting them in place. For example, will security and tidiness be equal in value to the $20 monthly fee? Also, will there be enough users to be worth the while of the company? All in all, it is a very innovative plan and one that can sure improve the lives and living space of many fit urbanites.

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Additional Links:

crunchgear.com

jfe-eng.co.jp/

guardian.co.ukblog

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Monogramming adds a personalized touch to any gift you’ll give this season. And thanks to the Internet, backpacks and pens are no longer the only items that can be personalized.

Iomoi offers personalized coasters that offer far more than the traditional 3-letter monogram. With hundreds of styles to choose from, these are great gifts to give to a family, new-home owner or anyone else that has a surface they would like to preserve from the ravages of moist cups. The designs themselves are not highly customizable, but there are plenty of options and you may enter up to 32 characters.

Image credit: elenis.com

For a more delicious gift, head over to Eleni’s, a New York based cookie and cupcake maker. Their website offers monogrammed and personalized cookies in all styles, including holiday-geared themes, advent calendars and cookies for Chanukah. Many of the cookies can be personalized with names of multiple family members on different cookies.

It can be hard to shop for the person who’s seen it all. If you are looking for a gift for the well traveled, I recommend T. Anthony LTD. The sophisticated luggage can all be personalized. The company also offers wallets, handbags and desk sets.

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If you already feel like our lives are becoming more and more like a science fiction movie each day, this will really blow your mind:  MIT’s Media Lab has recently been working on an augmented reality device– a computer that allows people to interact in a digital manner with ordinary objects.

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SixthSense is made up of a projector, a camera and a mirror which can be worn around the neck; colored caps which you wear on your fingers; and a phone carried in the user’s pocket. The entire device can currently be created for $350 and has heavy implications for the future of information technologies.

Using this device can turn literally any object into a digital interface that a person can interact with. It can be used to watch videos on newspapers bought at a news stand, dial a phone call on your palm, check a flight’s status on the printed ticket and even check the time on your wrist without a watch. A video demonstration can be watch on TED.com. Though the group does not currently have plans to make a commercial product or create a company, they say they are excited about the potential.

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Motorola busts back onto the scene with their newest phone, featuring noteworthy improvements and using an open source operating system called Android 2.0. But how does it fare in the era of the iPhone?

The phone itself has a 5 megapixel camera, versus iPhone’s 3 megapixels, and offers users a lot more control over camera settings like white balance and focal length. The video camera offers shake-free recordings and crystal clear audio.

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It’s alliance with Google allows for conveniences like the automatic import of your Facebook and free access to Google-powered Maps. Besides a physical keyboard, the device is, overall, similar to iPhone 3GS– but hot ticket is the potential of the new operating system.

The real buzz surrounding the DROID phone is that it should allow for more applications and creative functionality changes that just aren’t possible with the iPhone (Apple’s OS is completely locks out developers). Android 2.0 is part of a series that will allow for more possibilities in the future.

Engadget.com provides a glowing review that breaks down the new device to the nitty gritty.

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Tina Lutz & Marcia Patmos are designers whose style and ingenuity match their commitment to environmental responsibility. These artists specialize in knit fibers and work on the principles of integrity and purity with hopes of creating products that work towards a fusion of modernity and tradition.

Lutz and Patmos have recently designed a set of pillow covers for West Elm, which creates and commissions custom furnishings specifically designed for small urban spaces. and Their products are increasingly certified organic, responsibly produced, rapidly renewed and non-toxic.

The textural masterpieces created by Tina Lutz & Marcia Patmos  are bound to bring a sense of warmth and tradition to any home. Created with a soft acrylic/wool blend, the bas relief of the cover creates a wonderfully noticeable pattern while the thread still allows for comfort while sitting. Available in heather gray or ivory, these covers are currently on sale. Visit the West Elm site for a great gift or a a fine accent for your own home.

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Pashmak is Turkey’s delicious alternative to classic cotton candy. Meaning ‘little wool’ in Persian, Pashmak is made from sesame and sugar and accompanies fruit, cake and ice cream.

With a variety of flavors to choose from, pashmak lends itself well to most desserts, and its whimsical appearance is perfect for Holiday entertaining. Gourmet Traveler has an excellent pashmak recipe that involves labne (strained yogurt), milk pudding and apricot. It’s delicious with fresh fruit, cookies… or on its own!

Purchase pashmak at Pariya.com, a Persian produce website. Based in Australia, the company sources all of their food from Iran and features a wealth of traditional Persian food including raahat and pistachio, rose petal and citron Turkish delights.

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Choosing a perfume mean making a big commitment to scent and is not a decision that should be taken lightly! Amidst the big names like Estee Lauder and Chanel there are quite a few lesser, yet equally enticing brands.

For starters, there is Saffron James Parfums, a company started by Hawaii native and former Elle magazine editor Katherine Growney. Named for the creator’s

nickname as well as her father, the company offers 3 exotic scents that hail from TheAloha State. Le’a uses a combination of Pink and Yellow Plumeria to create a scent that comes on strong, yet lingers. ‘Ume is a more earthy scent created from white ginger and is described on the website as “the Jimmy Choo of stilettos. Until you experience it, you really don’t know what you’re missing.” The last is pūnono, made from the essence  of Puakenikeni flowers and incense for a spicy scent that softens away to a more mellow vanilla.

Le Labo is  a fragrance company on a mission. The group works in New York City with a very interesting store concept. Self described as a ‘perfumery lab,’ the store serves as a laboratory for creating new scents as well as selling their current line. Each new scent made on-demand by an individual worker in the store is meant to create a “sensory shock.”  Le Labo boutiques have sprung up across the country, and has recently created a unique scent for each city in which they’ve set up shop.

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The Christmas tree is often the focal point of Holiday decor, but that doesn’t mean it should get all the attention this season. There are plenty of Creative ways of using colorful ornaments to create unique decor indoors and out.

Wreathes are a wonderful standard, yet holiday baubles can be a much more colorful and exciting way to greet holiday guests. Cluster them and hang above door or on your door handle for a cheerful welcome. Look no further than Target to get your hands on some of these festive embellishments.

HGTV has an interesting spin on grouping ornaments, and gives us great DIY instructions on creating festive focal points. Those familiar glass orbs are a great way to put a new spin on old standards.

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