Introducing: The Boomcase!

How cool is this briefcase from "maverick" design team Epidemik Coalition? I would love to bust this out in a meeting!

























They also have a great online store for their designs.. like this "I crunk Atlanta" t-shirt... hot!

A Message to You Rudy....

Found this classic performance from The Specials while surfing Heavy today. Check it out... You'll love it!

Rock Posters

Whether you're a music fan or just appreciate good design, check out this great collection of concert posters from Redbird Posters. Prices are reasonable and they ship to Canada. Find anything from The Tragically Hip to Bright Eyes. Very cool!

Facebook News...

Big facebook news today... The New York Times reports that facebook is set to launch a free classified service called "Marketplace". As if daily newspapers weren't in enough trouble! Read more here. I'm stoked!

Meet MusicPlus TV

After sitting through a day long IAB event about online video (more on this later), I came home to an e-mail from Bryan Kim of MusicPlusTV. I wasn't exactly in the mood for more online video but thought I would check it out because the topic was still so fresh in my mind. Much to my surprise (and relief!), MusicPlusTV is more than just another online video sharing site for prepubescent boys and middle aged men who still laugh at farts. I think this site would best be described as a combination of MTV, YouTube, Lastfm, and MySpace. Here are some cool features:

- nice mix of original and user-generated content
- lots of storage available for each user to upload audio, video, and images
- live feed of scheduled programming (for fans of the more passive and traditional TV model)
- real time interaction with show guests via AIM
- fully embeddable/sharable content (including live feed)
- cool blogging tool
- easy to navigate content channels
- social networking / music discovery component
- tons of great footage of live performances from emerging and indie artists

I really like the variety of ways you can consume and discover content on MusicPlusTV. It's an interesting approach that I haven't seen done before. The site delivers a unique user experience by combining the best features of most of your favourite sites. I'm not claiming that MusicPlusTV has done everything right but it's a fun site that actually managed to keep me entertained for longer than 15 minutes. It will probably never have the mass appeal of YouTube and MySpace but does have the potential to carve out a nice little spot in the niche market. I didn't really notice any advertising on the site so it will be interesting to see how they tackle that issue. If nothing else, it is a good way to kill some time... After all, tomorrow is Friday! I'll leave you with this great Pipettes performance from SXSW.

click here to see more videos like this

flickr find - Salome Sofia

Check out Salome Sofia's spectacular photostream here.

Dope Designs...

Apparently Kate Moss has taken up designing... The troubled model launched her spring/summer collection on May 1st and managed to crash Barneys site. Unfortunately, blow and Pete Doherty not included.

McHappy Day!

It's McHappy Day! Today, $1 from every McMuffin, Big Mac, and Happy Meal purchase will be donated to children's charity.... The remaining $4.95 will be used to fuel the obesity epidemic in North America.

8 Things Worth Remembering a New Password For...

OurFaves - Toronto
OurFaves is TorStar Digital's attempt to create a social network and is surprisingly good. Although still in its infancy with just over 400 members, the site has huge potential. The premise is simple... share your favourite Toronto "things" with other members through the use of tags. The interface is very simple yet open enough to allow for a little bit of creativity. You can share anything from your favourite burger joint to your favourite cheap date. Check it out!

StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon is the online equivalent of channel surfing... only much, much smarter. The program learns your surfing preferences and interests to help you discover new sites. There is also a nifty social networking component that links you to other users with similar interests. This is a great way to kill a couple of hours on a Wednesday afternoon.

Twitter
Twitter's premise is simple... Answer the question of "what are you doing" in 145 characters or less. Sounds pretty basic but it is surprisingly addictive. You'll soon find yourself updating 4,5,6 times a day and checking back every 10 minutes to see what your friends are up to. There has been a lot of talk about Twitter over the past months but still hasn't really extended beyond the tech community. Please! What are you non-geeks doing? We need to know!

I'm in Like with You
IILWY is still in beta and available by invitation only but if you can get a hold of an invite, it's like totally worth it! This site is nothing more than a new way to flirt with people you'll likely never actually meet but what the hell? It's fun! And completely unique.

Joost
Joost is also still in "by invitation only" beta but users have unlimited invites available to send so it shouldn't be hard to get yourself hooked up. In fact, just send me your e-mail address if you want to check it out. Joost is a super slick desktop app for viewing online video. It has the potential to change the way we watch television and is making new content deals all the time. This is definitely one start-up to watch (pun intended).

UpComing
Upcoming is one of the latest social networks to get snapped up by Yahoo! It's a well designed site to help you keep track of your events, your friend's events, and events happening in any city. Like most of these networks, it is populated mainly by the tech community but has the potential to be much bigger. Do us a favor and sign up now.

Last.fm
Last.fm is a wonderful music discovery, streaming radio, and social networking tool. This is a must for any music fan or anyone with functioning ear drums for that matter. This is the best of the best. You'll love it! I promise.

Facebook
If you haven't yet discovered Facebook, unplug your modem and consider living a life of solitude in the Himalayan Mountains... This is by far the fasting growing online network and is shaping our culture at an alarming rate. If you're not on Facebook, you basically do not exist.