Over the course of three years, designer
Christien Meindertsma tracked the products that had been made from the remains of a single pig. In doing so,
she discovered that the skin, bones, meat, organs, blood, fat, brains, hoofs, hair and tail of a single pig might be used in more than 180 very diverse products, from shampoo, medicine, tattoo ink, munitions, cardiac valves, matches, desserts and bubblegum, beer and lemonade, car paint and brake discs to pills and bread.
TED Talk. TED
Bio. Vimeo video:
Reading through the pages of Pig 05049.
Exhibition (in Dutch). Design Observer:
Pig 05049. Amazon:
Pig 05049 [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Sep 20, 2010 -
24 comments
So here's a
spray bottle that will replace every cleaner in your home. The
Ionator.
"You charge it, fill it with tap water (and only tap water), which takes on an electric charge, transforming it into negative and positive nano-bubbles that attract dirt. Then you spray and use a clean cloth to wipe away the dirt from your floors, windows, mirrors, cars, bird cages, dishes, coffee makers, refrigerators, tile and clothes..."
Really? Sounds like a crakpot scam. Well,
Bill Nye The Science Guy himself
explains the science. And
Bill's my man.
posted by cross_impact
on Feb 18, 2010 -
86 comments
The
US Food and Drug Administration started regulating the labeling of food, beverages, and medicines after the passage of the 1906
Pure Food and Drug Act, and added food coloring and cosmetics with the 1938
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. They have just released a new website, the
FDA Notices of Judgment Collection, 1906-1963, containing data from thousands of cases of mislabeled or misadvertised products and drugs, available in multiple forms (text, PDF, metadata XML, .TIF image, etc.), with searchable archives. Poking around in the data will yield information on cases ranging from
misbranding methamphetamine tablets, to quack
"Film-O-Sonic" devices, to
bacteria-laden unproven abortifacients sold over the counter, to
purported "4-way" cures for baldness, to
hunks of radium sold for putting in your drinking water to "stimulate the sex organs" (judged against for stating an unproven use, not for actual danger of product). Organized by
the FDA's history office, the new database is a fascinating resource for historians, public safety advocates, researchers, and librarians.
posted by Asparagirl
on Apr 6, 2009 -
28 comments
On Sunday, April 1, ThinkGeek.com jokingly introduced the 8-bit Tie, and due to customer demand, claims that now it'll be
a real product.
On Friday, April 13, apparently due to customer demand, hard drive manufacturer WiebeTech has now introduced the
MouseJiggler, and claims it's not a joke.
posted by Fofer
on Apr 14, 2007 -
28 comments
"Drove my Chevy to the levee..."? That's a lawsuit. "Pass the Courvoisier"? Yup. Lawsuit too. Artwork using Barbie Dolls? Lawsuit again... It's all part of the
Trademark Dilution Revision Act, which would eliminate the non-commercial "fair use" protections of trademarks in art, literature, and speech--
To amend the Trademark Act of 1946 with respect to dilution by blurring or tarnishment. It goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee on the 16th, and there's a large roster of groups fighting it, including the American Library Association, EFF, and more, saying that consumers as well as artists would be preventing from exercising their free speech rights unless it's amended.
posted by amberglow
on Feb 3, 2006 -
35 comments
Ever spent your precious morning minutes in bed turning your pillow over repeatedly, seeking in vain for the coveted cool spot?
Search no more.
posted by allkindsoftime
on Nov 29, 2005 -
27 comments
Thudguard: proudly creating a generation of children who randomly slam their heads into the ground after not learning the do-not-hurt-head part of growing up.
posted by pivotal
on Aug 23, 2005 -
35 comments
Spray-on Mud - So you own a big 4x4, and you feel a bit stupid that you only use it to take the children to school. You want people to think you're a bit country - that you need 6 tonnes of car to get you from A to B because you like to take it off-road every so often. You need
Spray-on Mud apparently.
posted by The Ultimate Olympian
on Jun 14, 2005 -
101 comments
Introducing eMac, a new version of the iMac aimed solely at the education market. Rather than getting all slashdotty, let's discuss the looks of it, rather than the guts, and debate the wiseness of this new strategy.
Oh, Apple also released a
new 800MHz TiBook.
posted by me3dia
on Apr 29, 2002 -
59 comments
Niches of Trust is an Online Journalism Review article about three 'consumer journalism' sites run by individuals who come from journalism backgrounds. They do something now rare in corporate media - provide honest information separate from advertiser influence and, when necessary, are critical of the business or product being reviewed. The sites are
The Car Place,
Theme Park Insider and
Consumer World. What are your favorite run-by-one-person sites that provide critical analysis of products?
posted by fleener
on Jan 27, 2002 -
5 comments
Time's 2001 inventions of the year awards. Why do all of these have that cheesy "Sharper Image" feel to them? Aren't there inventions out there slightly more important than a potato masher or a remote control smoke alarm? Naww, everything else would go over the heads of the readers. Keep that gravy comin' ma!
posted by skallas
on Nov 21, 2001 -
24 comments
The Economics of Aesthetics Warning, free registration is required
This article points out an interesting problem with calculating how much a product is worth... How much is aesthetics worth to the consumer? How do you even calculate that? (via
Signal vs. Noise.)
posted by chason
on Jul 12, 2001 -
1 comment
A new feature from Deja.com "will automatically link mentions of product names in discussion threads to a commerce area on its site." Is it really useful, as Deja claims, or does it imply endorsements for the linked products by the authors of the posts?
posted by phichens
on Jul 26, 2000 -
7 comments
