I’ll admit, that one of the methods I use to determine my liquor choices is packaging.  If a bottle is well-designed, be it scotch, gin or rum, then I’m more apt to plunk down $20-$30 for a bottle. 

The Dieline examines 50 such bottles that would get my business whether or not the product is any good.  Despite the overabundance of Absolut Vodka bottles, it’s nice to see to Portland spirits make the list.  That both 12 Bridges Gin and Lovejoy Vodka (both are crafted by Integrity Spirits, whose Trillium Absinthe also made the list but I haven’t partaken yet) are excellent tasting spirits in their own right is an added bonus.

If you’re wondering that’s the Hawthorne Bridge on the bottle.

You can download the free virtual appliance of Chrome OS here. The tarball is containing vmdk and vmx files, so you’ll need a free VMware Player or VirtualBox in order to run this appliance. 

Not sure if this is on the up and up but Google did hold a press conference today with details of their much bally-whooed OS and it sounds impressive. 

It won’t be officially launched until first or second quarter 2010 and it really will be a browser-based interface.

Excess and Lamborghini go hand and hand.  Though I still prefer the classic and sophisticated lines of the Ferrari, the other Italian automaker still creates an intimidating beast of a car.  There is something primal about a Lamborghini — it is a swirling mess of super-ego and id raging on two axels. 

The V-12 supercar looks like an attack vehicle from the future. ”The 6.5 liter, 12-cylinder mill puts out 662 horsepower. The car does 0 to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds. It tops out at 205 mph,” according to Wired Magazine.  “But the most important number is 20. As in that’s precisely how many Lamborghini will build.”   

Which means you probably have to know a few people and have $1.6 million dollars to shell out for it.

The design of this coffee table to mimic the wooden sleds of yore is nice, but it’s the details of the ice blue rug, with two deep grooves cut out to mimic the compressed snow from the sleds that makes this worth having.  It’s possible to move the sled back and forth from one side of the rug to the other.  A nice feature if you move your coffee table around often like I do.  [via]

Sometimes, something so simple can be strikingly beautiful.  As is the case with these wooden bathtubs.  The sharp lines and rich grain create a modern and sleek look that feels soothing.  An inviting experience. 

All I want to do is to slide down into one of these tubs with the hot water running.  Everything a bathtub should be. The company also makes washbasins and oval-shaped soaking tubs, even though Unique Wood Designs began in 1979 as a boating company. [via]

CNN.com redesign. Nice evolution.  The layout is breathable, but they still manage to pack a lot into the main page, including a feature called NewsPulse and a better method for using inline video.

All other dresses can go home. You have lost the competition. Would I start rocking dresses if I owned this garment?  Yes, yes I think I would.  [via]

“Notice how all the elements in the interior create the overall feeling of out-of-space:. The bathtub resembles an oval spaceship connected to the ground by futuristic elements and is also enriched by modern faucets. The light spot on the ceiling emits a blue, out-of-this-world light that is directed to the tub just like  in the UFO movies. Same goes for the washbasin, which has a unique shape, fitting perfectly in this thematic Sci-Fi scenario.”

Yup, it looks more like a science lab than a bathroom, but that’s what I’m drawn to.  I suppose if I had the money, I’d want something a bit more serene, but this is pretty cool nonetheless.

Just the very thought of Firefox supporting the Web Open Font Format, or WOFF, has me excited for the possibilities of future typeface designs on this site.  It’s pretty frustrating having to stick to four or five fonts.  “But WOFF has two key advantages over TrueType and OpenType: WOFF fonts are compressed, so they download faster, and they include support for tags and other unencrypted metadata. This is a significant step forward not only for the emerging open format, but also for type on the web in general, which is still stuck in a state of mild turmoil.”

Mr. and Mrs. Eaves here I come.

Mars missions from 1960 to present by Bryan Christie Design for IEEE Spectrum’s special report “Why Mars? Why Now?” You can check out a larger version at the IEEE site.  Totally worth it.

[via]

Well this is neat.  The medals for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver will be designed by Corrine Hunt, made from melted down electronic parts, are undulated to reflect the region’s topography and have an Orca-theme to them. 

“The Vancouver Olympics made a smart choice in deciding to use precious metals from old electronics. By salvaging medal materials from old products, the Olympic committee is saving perfectly good gold, silver, and bronze from ending up in landfills,” writes Ariel Schwartz. “ Because it makes no sense to mine for new gold when a single junked PC has more of the stuff in it than 17 tons of ore. And if the medals are promoted well, they could bring awareness to the cause of recycled scrap. With the entire world watching what happens at the Olympic games, there is no better venue to promote such an important–and easy-to-implement–solution to electronics recycling.” 

Word.  It makes for a good story, except that, according to the Ottawa Citizen, less than 1% of the metal used to make the medals came from recycled materials.

One of the problems of any kitchen, especially small ones, is how to store spices.  Sure you could throw them in draw or get one of those rotating carousels, but honestly, those aren’t particularly good solutions.  Right now, I’ve got these small magnetic tins attached to the side of my fridge.  The problem with that is they aren’t particularly attractive and they always get knocked off into the vortex between the fridge and counter.  You know, that nefarious space where things go to disappear and die.

Anyway, for $44 Yanko Design has created this cool Zero Gravity Spice Race.  It comes with 12 custom spice canisters and a magnetic base that half of them will stick to, making use of vacant wall space. So you can get your spices to hang above the stove or where ever, but definitely out of the way.

Oh, hello.  I didn’t see you standing there.  Are you having a good morning?  If you begin to wonder where I am all day, just know that I’m cruising through Extreme Pumpkin and getting baffled/amazed by the creativity people show when carving Halloween pumpkins.  These aren’t your standard jack-o-lanterns, no siree.  Which is to say that the name of the site is apropos to the pictures they post.  A few of my favorites to get you started: there’s the radioactive pumpkin, the strapped to a board pumpkin, the p-section pumpkin seen above (personal fave), the baby eating pumpkin and last but certainly not least, the pumpkin monster burning a city down.  So look, we know you’re going to dress up as the slutty (fill in the blank) this year (guys that applies to you too), but do us a favor and spend some quality time on your pumpkin.