Tiny toothpick Golden Gate Bridge replica (Image courtesy of Steven Backman)

Steven is famed for his toothpick sculptures; his famous works include a Golden Gate Bridge replica which used 30,000 toothpicks … contrary to the miniature replica above which used just one toothpick.

Both sculptures seem great to me.

Heat sensitive toilet seat… orange = cool… yellow = hot [Hat tip to CDR and Boingboing]

“Being able to identify a public toilet seat that has just been sat upon (and is thus still warm) is of particular concern to a significant number of the population. Without warning, one can easily sit upon a seat and be instantly repulsed by the trace evidence of a previous user. Conversely, if one is looking for intimate contact with an anonymous stranger without the associated awkwardness of verbal discourse, one could seek out the warm toilet seat. The decision to sit or not to sit is facilitated by the colour change of the seat: orange=cool, yellow=hot. The object retains the heat memory of a previous user and displays it as a visual marker for the next user to assess. [Plusminus]

I thought Japanese are the only people coming out with abnormal toilet stuff… I was wrong.

Coffee mug reacting to the heat (hot beverage)

In its dormant state, the mug offers a black “OFF” display, but once your hot coffee or tea hits the inside, it gradually transforms to read “ON”. A heat sensitive pigment changes the color of the mug from black to white. [Technabob]

The colour-changing is nice, but the “On-off” word doesn’t really appeal to me. Perhaps they should try some other words or patterns instead.

The project arose from a chance encounter.

“Storefront director Joseph Grima was travelling in Asia on business and saw a model of the dome in my office,” recalls project architect Minsuk Cho, a founding member of Mass Studies.

Grima wanted a dome three times larger than the one in Cho’s design, but for roughly the same cost, so Cho used hula hoops and zip ties, and it was assembled by volunteers. [Iconeye, via Neatorama]

Hula hoops dome (Image courtesy of Alan R Tansey)

The dome reminds me of the Louvre Pyramid in Paris at first glance.

The bright magenta “Hanging Heart,” considered one of Koons’ most important works, set records for any living artist at auction, Sotheby’s spokeswoman Lauren Gioia said, breaking the previous record set by Damien Hirst’s “Lullaby Spring,” which sold for $19.5 million at Sotheby’s in London in June. [IHT]

Jeff Koons’ Hanging Heart (Image courtesy of Xinhuanet)

It is a lovely piece of art, but $23.6 million? I just can’t understand how artworks are priced.

CowParade is the world’s largest public art event; while it is not meant to be high art, it is first and foremost a public art exhibit that is accessible to everyone.

Most important, CowParade ultimately benefits charity, raising over millions dollars of charity funds since it started in 1999. [Official website]

Moooo… (Image courtesy of Xinhuanet)

Each year, Gull Meadow Farms near Richland cuts a maze in its corn fields. A company that specializes in corn maze design drew up the plans for the Ford portrait, which says PRESIDENT FORD across the top and THANKS below.

“Instead of just creating a path for people to travel through, we decided to make it a tribute to the late President Ford,” said Justin Wendzel, a spokesman for the farm.

Ford was 93 when he died Dec. 26 at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He grew up in Grand Rapids, about 42 miles north of Gull Meadow Farms, and represented the area in Congress for years before becoming president in 1974.

Web Trend Map 2007 Version 2.0 (Larger maps: 1024×768 l 1600×1024)

When Information Architects Japan (iA) released their Web Trend Map in early 2007, it created lots of buzz around the net. Based on the Tokyo Metro Map (pdf), iA has arranged popular websites according to their functionality and influence.

The Web Trend Map is not really precise and useful, but it’s cool nonetheless.

Update Feb 2, 2008 – Web Trend Map 2008 Beta has been released.

Jarrett and his sand castle

Jarrett completed the world-record 31.7-foot-high sand castle on Saturday (September 1) at the Point Sebago Resort in Casco, Maine. His castle broke his own record set in Falmouth, Maine, in 2003 with a castle that was 29 feet, 3 inches high.

Jarrett spent about two months building the 32-foot tall castle with the help of 1,500 volunteers to raise money for his cause. It’s reported that Jarrett’s effort has raised around $100,000 thus far.

There are some dispute on the new official word record though; in June a 43-foot castle was built (by others) in Myrtle Beach… but according to Jarrett, the Myrtle Beach castle failed to follow Guinness World Records guidelines that ban using machinery and require the structure to be taller than it is wide.

However, Myrtle Beach officials claimed to have permission from Guinness to stray from the guidelines. The Guinness organization hasn’t yet decided whether the Myrtle Beach castle should be considered an official record. At the moment, Jarrett’s 2003 record is still intact.

Regardless, this is one amazing feat by Jarrett.

This ‘tractor’ is actually a digital-created image, made by CG4TV animation studio. Below is a short video clip of the ‘tractor’ in action…