For all of you Outlook users out there– and I’m guessing there are quite a few of you– you should have a look at TripSync, an exciting new Web 2.0 app that allows you to book, change, and manage travel plans directly from your calendar. Once you use the easy drag and drop interface to book your flight, rental car, and hotel accommodations through an automatic search of leading global distribution systems, your travel data is uploaded to your calendar in Outlook. From that point, you can click into components of your itinerary on your calendar and review/modify your plans– essentially, it’s a live data itinerary. Even more, the app allows you to keep others (your boss, your co-workers, your nagging wife) abreast of changes you make to your travel plans. TripSync was developed by veteran business travelers who understand how smaller businesses work, so I’m hoping that this tool will be of use to a lot of you. I didn’t fully understand its functionality until I viewed their demo– so that’s a good starting point.
If I took a poll and asked all of you what your biggest qualm is with “stay hot, stay cold” travel mugs, what you tell me? Probably that they (1) don’t insulate well, (2) don’t fit in your cup holder in your car, (3) leak, or (4) any combination of those reasons, right? I’m optimistic that Ignite has come up with a good solution with its Contigo West Loop container. The innovation behind West Loop comes from their Autoseal technology, which allows users to push a trigger when they want to drink and release the trigger to re-seal the container when they don’t. It’s sleek appearance also bodes well from a design perspective (for all of you design snobs out there). You can get it at Target for $20.
“Music. Sex. Clothing. Party. Art. Some of the most important reasons for living. The reason for Renegade Magazine… Always down, so we know what’s up.” I don’t know what else I need to tell you about Renegade Magazine– I think their mission statement says it all. They’re an online lifestyle magazine covering the unique “Cascadian” culture in their region (BTW, by “Cascadian,” they mean the area between Victoria BC and Eugene Oregon). I am liking what I’m seeing on Renegade– probably because they are so in tune with what they care about: music, clothing, sex, parties, and art in their (Cascadian) region. Look for them at events, functions, corporate retreats, and baptisms… and take a look-see at their slideshow from the Hecklewood Toxic Show last weekend.
As many of you know, Spear Collective member Jason Thielke was the centerpiece of last weekend’s Toxic Show at Hecklewood in Portland. The guys at Hecklewood did a great job capturing some of what went on via video footage and photos. This video is a little long, but is well worth a watch if you want a little insight into the mind of Thielke– I’m not so sure I’d consider these trade secrets, because only Jason can do what Jason does, but he gets pretty in depth in the Q&A with the inspiration behind his work as well as the specific methods he uses to create his art. Hecklewood’s ‘Art‘ page has some more photos from the show, and I’ve included a few after the jump (including the new Hecklewood/Thielke t-shirt collab, available for purchase here– the thing is sick!) READ MORE…
If I took a poll and asked all of you what your biggest qualm is with “stay hot, stay cold” travel mugs, what you tell me? Probably that they (1) don’t insulate well, (2) don’t fit in your cup holder in your car, (3) leak, or (4) any combination of those reasons, right? I’m optimistic that 
“Music. Sex. Clothing. Party. Art. Some of the most important reasons for living. The reason for 
