360 DEGREES Weblog

For October 2011, Converse Japan presents the All Star Hunting Collection. Heavily inspired by the outdoors, they once again manage to re-invent the classic All Star Chuck Taylor in all sorts of different ways.

From heavy canvas and leather lace options, to hunting camouflage versions, hunting jacket inspiration, full fur uppers and hybrid high top/low top boots, the Japanese get very creative with the sneaker. The Hunting Print Chuck Taylor, Heavy Canvas versions and of course the Hunting Camo version are our personal favorites in the line-up.

You may never get the chance to join Ferrari’s Formula 1 team, but indulging your imagination is about to get a lot easier, now that Thrustmaster has unveiled its new Ferrari F1 Wheel Add-On — a life-sized replica of the wheel you’d find within the 150° Italia. Announced yesterday, this rubber-textured wheel features a full slate of professional-grade rotary knobs, switches and action buttons — including two rotary encoder switches, eight push-buttons and a set of “push and pull” sequential shifters that, true to form, are attached directly to the wheel face. Designed to seamlessly attach to your T500 RS, the accessory will be available in two models: a PC- and PS3-compatible mode, with 13 action buttons and three D-Pads, or an advanced PC-compatible mode, with 25 action buttons and one D-Pad. No mention, however, of that elusive boost button. The Add-On is slated to start shipping in early October for $200, so buckle up and steer past the break for more details, in the full PR.

Ok  some more pet news for you dog lovers!

When your lovable turd factory needs to go out, sometimes it’s a dire situation in which every second counts. And if your leash never seems to be where you left it, the Super Collar ($50) will be your new best friend. This collar-and-leash hybrid has a retractable 36-inch leash built right in that’s made up of two coated steel cables with over 100lbs of break strength each. It’s got waterproof polypro webbing and 3M Scotchlite reflective accents for those nighttime sessions.

Oh Paris Hilton, eat your heart out!

The Mommy Bus is a fashion pet carrier designed for small dogs and cats up to 15 pounds, 15″ in length, and 13″ tall.  It’s a top-entry carrier with screened side panels and an open/close windshield for peeking out.  Each wheel contains a zippered compartment for onboard storage of waste bags, leash, car keys, etc with an additional side-panel zippered pocket for larger items like mom’s wallet or iPhone.  Inside is a washable bottom pad and leash attachment to secure the pup.  The bus itself can be used with a seatbelt to prevent it from shifting in a car.  Additionally there are two handle straps as well as an adjustable shoulder strap.  While maybe not being the most practical solution for transporting your pet, it does seem to be more fun than the standard cage–and will definitely start a few conversations!

Mommy Bus is available directly through the site in two different packages– the celebrity package (replica of the set given out at the Emmys to Betty White, Miley Cyrus, etc) runs $125 and includes the carrier, t-shirt, leash and collar, and stuffed companion pet or the basic carrier itself for $99.

This undated old Grad Rapids Milk ad features a bit of dialogue from Minnie and Mickey Mouse that either contains a rude double-entendre or is a relic of an era of unbelievable naiveté. Either way: snigger snigger snigger.

Thanks boingboing

The automatic garage door opener is one of those under-appreciated gadgets that—as far as I can tell—hasn’t gotten a serious upgrade since the mid 70s. Seriously. You show me a cellphone, I can give you a rough idea of how old it is. You show me a garage door opener, and I’d have a hard time knowing if you installed it yesterday, or 30 years ago. So it’s nice to see Craftsman bringing their AssureLink Garage Door Opener into the 21st century, allowing you to open and close it from an app on your smartphone. Instead of a giant, clunky remote that looks like it predates even the VCR.

From what I can glean from the Craftsman website, the AssureLink opener connects to your home’s wireless network using their “MyQ Technology” which appears to provide similar connectivity to other devices around your home. So not only can you use your smartphone to open or close the door, but you can remotely monitor its status, and close or open it while away. If a friend was stopping by to borrow a ladder, you could even program it to open and close the door for a set amount of time. Handy! It’s also got the requisite safety sensors so it won’t come down on something or someone when being closed from afar. So as a tool for tomfoolery, it seems limited. The Craftsman Garage Door app is of course free, while the actual opener is slightly less free, at $275.49.

When it comes to shopping, the opulent class goes for a few selected brands to choose its expensive items of liking from. One such brand is Louis Vuitton which is one-stop destination for the rich shopaholics. Now, the French fashion house has inaugurated its latest flagship store in Singapore. This store is not like any other store in a shopping mall, but is in the form of an island at the Marina Bay Sands.
Louis Vuitton Island Maison had a grand opening with a red carpet event. Celebrities from across the world were invited for this. This LV store is a one-of-a-kind store as it sits amid the Marina Bay Sands with breathtaking landscape. The interior of the Louis Vuitton Island Maison is nautical-inspired which is completely designed by globally admired architect Peter Marino. Apart from being a shopping spot, customers can also indulge in the art and cultural elements in the retail space. The Maison is made of crystal pavilion that looks amazing at night with special lighting and natural reflection of water.

Louis Vuitton has 459 stores in 63 countries and Louis Vuitton Island Maison is the 1st Maison in Southeast Asia

Wacom has finally released a new set of Bamboo-badged tablets. The latest entry-range of the tried-and-trusted Wacom tablets consists of the Bamboo Connect, Bamboo Capture and Bamboo Create, of which the first is a pen-only solution meant to support your daily business with pressure-sensitive digital ink. The later are for the ambitious creative inclusively wireless connectivity and an enhanced multi-touch experienced, which is meant to bring the pinch-zoom to an efficient use.

The tablet market is about to get really interesting. And a lot more affordable. The Kindle Fire ($200) is Amazon’s answer to the iPad, featuring a one-handable 14.6 ounce design and a 7-inch color touchscreen that’s chemically-strengthened (20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic). It’s based around a cloud-accelerated Silk web browser, and features free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, and a dual-core processor. The Fire has access to over 100,000 movies and TV shows from Amazon Instant Video, over 17,000,000 songs from Amazon MP3, over 1,000,000 Kindle books, and offers compatibility with popular Android apps and games. It ships on November 15.

There’s something about gigantic indoor ski resorts that bring out the best in architects. Then again, a structure large enough to house a mountain steep enough for skiing is never going to be inconspicuous. So I guess you need to make them presentable. Or at the least, striking. Which Denmark-based firm C. F. Møller Architects has certainly done with Sweden’s new Skipark 360. When completed in a few years (construction starts in late 2013) the $220+ million structure will be the largest indoor ski resort on the planet. And with an almost 2,300 foot run that drops over 500 feet, it will actually be large enough to stage World Cup caliber ski events.

But you don’t build a structure this massive for just one purpose. In addition to the downhill course, the SkiPark 360 will also feature 2.2 miles of cross-country skiing tunnels, dedicated slopes for those no-goodnik snowboarders, ice rinks, spas, and conference facilities. And because it’s being built in Bålsta, a small town located about 40 minutes outside of Stockholm, it’s also got a few hotel rooms because I’m suspecting most of the clientele won’t be local.

Besides tourism, the Skipark 360 is being built as a response to climate change which has been detrimental to the area’s ski industry. So not only will it provide the perfect ski conditions to visitors and professional athletes all year round, but it will do so in a manner that’s environmentally friendly. Ideally the resort will be completely self sufficient using renewable energy sources like solar, wind & hydro power, as well as geothermal for heating.