10 Google products you (probably) didn’t know existed.

A great round up from The Next Web including the incredibly useful and the incredibly bizarre Google products that you probably haven’t heard of - From Google Takeout (no, it’s not actually a food delivery service) to Google HotPot (food review and recommendation services that sits on top of Google places) and everything in between.

Startups, this is how design works.   A design guide for non-designers by Wells Riley. “Companies like Apple are making design impossible for startups to ignore. Startups like Path, Airbnb, Square and Massive Health have design at the core of their business and they’re doing phenomenal work… This hand guide will help you understand design and provide resources to help you find awesome design talent.” Did I mention the guide itself is pretty beautiful? High-res

Startups, this is how design works.  

A design guide for non-designers by Wells Riley. “Companies like Apple are making design impossible for startups to ignore. Startups like Path, Airbnb, Square and Massive Health have design at the core of their business and they’re doing phenomenal work… This hand guide will help you understand design and provide resources to help you find awesome design talent.” Did I mention the guide itself is pretty beautiful?

These contact lenses give you superhuman vision.


Forget Google goggles, these contacts have the potential to be much more awesome. Since you also have eyes, you probably know that you can only focus on one distance at a time. But these contacts let you view two distinct images at the same time. And The Pentagon has signed a contract with the creators, iOptik, reportedly to develop display screens on the lenses themselves.

In Japan, frozen foam helps keep Kirin beer cold. 

It’s exactly what it sounds like. Kirin’s new Ichiban Shibori Frozen Draft is served with a frozen beer foam on top to keep it cold for a full 30 minutes. With summer coming, we need other beer brands to take advantage of this innovation. 

Source springwise.com

Why airport security is broken - and how to fix it. A former head of the Transportation Security Administration acknowledges the flaws in the current TSA system, shows how we got into this, uh, mess -  but also sets out five specific ideas for reform: No banned items, allow all liquids, give TSA officers for more flexibility and rewards, eliminate baggage fees (I love his thoughts on this!), and finally, randomize security. It’s an interesting and frustrating read - It all makes logical sense, but I don’t see any of his suggestions happening any time soon.

Why airport security is broken - and how to fix it.

A former head of the Transportation Security Administration acknowledges the flaws in the current TSA system, shows how we got into this, uh, mess -  but also sets out five specific ideas for reform: No banned items, allow all liquids, give TSA officers for more flexibility and rewards, eliminate baggage fees (I love his thoughts on this!), and finally, randomize security. It’s an interesting and frustrating read - It all makes logical sense, but I don’t see any of his suggestions happening any time soon.

Source The Wall Street Journal

From 0 to $1 billion in two years: Instagram’s rose-tinted ride to glory. Surely you’ve heard that Facebook has bought Instagram for no less than $1 billion. But do you know Instagram’s success story? TechCrunch wrote this great piece letting us in on how Instagram came to life - and how it got so famous so quickly! [And if you want even more - “Innovation Isn’t Easy, Especially Midstream” from the NY Times “Bits” blog fills in why their success is so deserved.]

From 0 to $1 billion in two years: Instagram’s rose-tinted ride to glory.

Surely you’ve heard that Facebook has bought Instagram for no less than $1 billion. But do you know Instagram’s success story? TechCrunch wrote this great piece letting us in on how Instagram came to life - and how it got so famous so quickly! [And if you want even more - “Innovation Isn’t Easy, Especially Midstream” from the NY Times “Bits” blog fills in why their success is so deserved.]

Source TechCrunch

Mobile payments could hold the key to Apple’s next $100 billion.  Ramzi says, “Apple has a reputation for collecting their dues from businesses that make money from their platforms. 30% from iTunes and App store purchases, 30% from in-app subscriptions…” So why wouldn’t they begin to skim off the top of mobile payment systems like Square? [Disclosure: In addition to being a super smart digital strategist at TH_NK, Ramzi is also my boyfriend’s brother.] High-res

Mobile payments could hold the key to Apple’s next $100 billion. 

Ramzi says, “Apple has a reputation for collecting their dues from businesses that make money from their platforms. 30% from iTunes and App store purchases, 30% from in-app subscriptions…” So why wouldn’t they begin to skim off the top of mobile payment systems like Square? [Disclosure: In addition to being a super smart digital strategist at TH_NK, Ramzi is also my boyfriend’s brother.]

Source wired.co.uk

The Apple ebook price-fixing lawsuit has terrifying implications. Alison Flood argues that while it’s easy to see the positive side of the Department of Justice’s decision to file a lawsuit against publishers/Apple over ebook pricing, it also means that the government has essentially sanctioned an Amazon monopoly. Will we get cheaper ebooks or will we see the publishing industry devastated by its losses? 

The Apple ebook price-fixing lawsuit has terrifying implications.

Alison Flood argues that while it’s easy to see the positive side of the Department of Justice’s decision to file a lawsuit against publishers/Apple over ebook pricing, it also means that the government has essentially sanctioned an Amazon monopoly. Will we get cheaper ebooks or will we see the publishing industry devastated by its losses? 

Source Guardian