What is the perfect addition to a day walking around South Kensington feeling very posh with fancy restaurants and art museums at your disposal? A good frozen snog! No I'm not talking about kissing (snog is British English for making out), I'm talking about frozen yogurt. Aside from the obvious jokes that fly around the restaurant, “fancy a snog?”, “give me a snog please?”, or the always popular “wanna have a snog?” the frozen yogurt is really good and good for you. The yogurt is made with hardly any fat and no added sugar, so your dessert (or pudding if you prefer British English) is basically calorie free. The branding and store were designed with Cinimod Studios, a group mostly know for their public art works and they delivered a really fun and fresh approach to a tasty treat.

No one’s going to believe you’re a master magician with a deck of plain old Bicycles. Your amateurish act might benefit from the addition of a little Smoke & MIrrors — which just so happens to be the name two new sets of cards from Dan & Dave, devotees to the art of card magic and flourishes. In their attempt to add a little style to sleight of hand, they’ve enlisted the assistance of reknowned artist Si Scott to put his design stamp on their classy card stock. All of the artwork on each deck has been illustrated by hand in pen and ink with the cards marked “Smoke” layed out on white and the “Mirror” cards done up in black. Each also comes with a specially designed pack. You’re sure to look like a pro with either pair of these Aces in the Hole, but in order to perform like one, you’re going to have to brush up on your skills.

There are certain things we just expect to work, and never ask if they can better or improved. They are what they are. That was indeed the case for flashlights until about five years ago when a company in Silicon Valley started making solid-state lighting LEDs. Recently, other firms have propped up in Korea and the East Coast. These LED’s are surface mounted, and though they share a name with a product you are familiar with, the similarities end there. They are brighter and more efficient and inspired a whole community or tinkerers, machinists, and electrical engineers to improve the modern flashlight for the first time in a century.

Recently, 4sevens (a member on CPF) and NiteCore Tactical teamed up to create an incredible flashlight — the EX10. A single CR123 (AA version also available) lithium cell powers a Cree LED which provides a whopping 130 lumens of light. To put that in perspective: this 55 gram flashlight puts out more light than a Mag 4D 20 times the weight. Unlike traditional flashlights which work on an all or nothing system, the EX10 allows you to switch between the dimmest and brightest, and 100 levels in between. It comes with an orange peel reflector for a smooth beam without the visible rings associated with optics. Priced under $60, the NiteCore SmartPD EX10 has been a worthy addition to my gearbox.

Some like it hot. Some like it a little raw. Others are attracted to the fatty ones. When firing up that grill on a Sunday afternoon with all your friends, and all their individual preferences are at play, things can get confusing. The heat is on and you’re responsible for grilling a rack full of steaks to five different temperatures. That’s where Grill Charms come in. These clever stainless-steel steak markers come printed with initials (to keep the medium rare ones from just medium) and symbols (so your sirloin steak isn’t confused with someone else’s blazingly spiced one), and look like screws you insert into your steak, burger, pork chop or chicken. With these handy accessories, you’re one step closer to becoming grill champion on the block — or at least running your line as efficiently as a Chili’s.

The Beijing skyline will be the subject of many establishing shots during this summer’s Olympics, but in the years to come all eyes might shift towards Tianjin. BoHai Bay in China’s third largest urban area will be the future home of the 1,174 foot tall SinoSteel International Plaza. Slated to be completed in 2011, it will become the city’s most dominating architectural feature. The towering hexagonal honeycomb structure was designed using an innovative and energy efficient form of climate modeling. It helps to regulate both the temperature and daylight thanks to the variations in the size of each cell’s window. Not content just to scrape the clouds, the complex designed by Beijing’s MAD architects will also feature an adjacent hotel that will have similar eco friendly design.

Via Inhabitat

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