Near-instantaneous downloads will soon be possible in Japan thanks to a speedy new, widely available, fiber-optic service from ISP KDDI. The service will offer upload and download speeds (each way) of up to one gigabit per second. The service goes online October 1 for single family homes and low-rise apartment buildings for about $56 a month, and will be considerably higher than the current 100 megabits per second norm most Japanese citizens already enjoy today.

.: via Gizmodo

The BIC® phone is ready to go! It comes with 60 free minutes, the battery charged, and the SIM card already in place.
With the BIC® phone, you pay as you go, with a prepaid “mobicarte” refill card.
The BIC® phone is easy to use since it focuses on cell phone basics: sending and receiving calls and SMS.
The BIC® phone pack will be easy to find. It will be sold over the counter, in major supermarkets and local convenience stores (tobacco shops, newsstands, train stations, airports…), and will be available on 7 August 2008, at a suggested retail price of €49 including tax. The BIC® phone will be sold in Metropolitan France only.
Available in citrus orange and lime green, with innovative packaging, the BIC® phone will appeal to consumers who like easy-to-use and pay as you go products.

Multi-millionaire artist Damien Hirst wildly exceeded expectations on Tuesday with a record-breaking sale of 218 items for 111 million pounds, underscoring the resilience of the high-end art market.
A further two items were sold privately on Monday and three remained unsold on Tuesday after the unprecedented sale that bypassed the traditional dealer network and instead went direct to the auction rooms of Sotheby’s in London.
“It is iconic; inherently British,” said one bidder at the Sotheby’s auction who asked to remain anonymous. “His work challenges people, and visually it is stunning.”
Despite a global economic downturn, the auction put paid to fears Hirst’s mammoth clear-out sale could flood the art market and hit prices. After taking 70.55 million pounds on Monday night, a morning and an afternoon sale on Tuesday brought in a further 41 million pounds.
Auction houses have been appealing to “recession-proof” buyers in the Middle East and Russia, where record oil prices have boosted already massive fortunes, along with the super-rich in emerging economies such as India.
By auctioning his work, Hirst can expect a far greater share of the money raised.
The two-day sale set a record for an auction dedicated to one artist. Sotheby’s said it was 10 times the previous record set in 1993 for 88 works by Picasso.

We believe that design should stem from good ideas no matter how big or small. We create work that excites, inspires and most importantly answers the brief. Our work is not a style that you buy into; it’s a service that we provide to meet the needs of the client.

Human Mirror

Interactive artist daniel rozin works in a very particular artistic milieu, making mirrors from unreflective surfaces. One of his creations, ‘the wooden mirror’ is a testament to his skill in this area. the mirror uses 830 square pieces of wood which are hooked up to an equal number of small motors which move the wooden blocks according to a built in camera. the camera picks up movement in light and somehow transfers the signal to the wood. the result is an eerie representation of reality depicted in tiny wooden pixels. since building ‘the wooden mirror’ rozin has experimented with a number of other materials. works in a very particular artistic milieu, making mirrors from unreflective surfaces.

Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb.

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.