Web Design Cool

Desktop wallpapers can serve as an excellent source of inspiration. However, if you use some specific wallpaper for a long period of time, it becomes harder to draw inspiration out of it. That’s why we have decided to supply you with smashing wallpapers over 12 months. And to make them a little bit more distinctive from the usual crowd, we’ve decided to embed calendars for the upcoming month. So if you need to look up some date, isn’t it better to show off a nice wallpaper with a nice calendar instead of launching some default time application?  Read more... (2668 words, 55 images, estimated 10:40 mins reading time)

It’s almost too easy to make fun of Jamba Juice, what with
the overpriced drinks, allegedly ripped-off ad campaign, and–no, this isn’t a
joke–recently launched clothing line, featuring neon-green hoodies emblazoned
with the phrase “official taste taster.” That said, it’s truly refreshing (ha)
to see the smoothie titan finally start dishing it out.  Read more... (253 words, 2 images, estimated 1:01 mins reading time)

The Gulf oil disaster has obliterated the BP brand name. It’s a deserved problem for the company, but what of all the BP gas station owners now faced with a tarnished reputation and declining sales? BP has tried sending them signage to encourage customers not to punish local owners for their mistake, but that mostly fell flat. Our own Jamey Boiter suggested last month that BP change its name back to Amoco. The company bought Amoco in the 1990s, but the name has remained dormant since. But according to the Associated Press, some BP gas station owners are considering a name switch.  Read more... (276 words, 2 images, estimated 1:06 mins reading time)

The Salton Sea is one of California’s most intriguing attractions. It’s one of the planet’s largest inland seas, the home of over 400 species of birds, the product of an irrigation project overflow, one of the planet’s lowest points and, perhaps most creepily, surrounding by a number of ghost towns. Now the ultra-salty body of water may be able to claim a new title: lithium production center of the U.S.  Read more... (279 words, 2 images, estimated 1:07 mins reading time)

“BlackLight: Tango Down” is a first-person shooter focused on multiplayer online skirmishes, in the vein of mega-hit “Modern Warfare.” The difference? “BlackLight” can only be downloaded and costs just $15, far less than a boxed game. Fast Company asked Marcus Beer, Director of Public Relations, and Shane Bettenhausen, Director of New Business, at Ignition Entertainment, about their strategy in releasing downloadable games, and whether digital titles are the industry’s destiny.  Read more... (1966 words, 3 images, estimated 7:52 mins reading time)

Ballmer’s eccentricity can be exemplified in one sentence, taken directly from Microsoft’s official transcript of the session: “Now, we’ve got some other competitive actions coming back, and we’ll talk about slates and tablets and blah, blah, blah, blah….” Yes, Steve actually said he was going to talk “blah.” And he did. Interestingly enough, this part of his speech was tackling the iPad, and how Apple had “done an interesting job of putting together a synthesis and putting a product out,” and completely owned a market that MS probably wished was theirs. In fact we know this to be true, since Ballmer noted “they sold certainly more than I’d like them to sell, let me just be clear about that.”

Anyway, check out the word cloud at the top there. It’s from Ballmer’s long introduction to the event, constituting some 13,000 words–quite enough to get a flavor of how Steve’s words came out.  Read more... (427 words, 2 images, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Not all ethical clothing lines are like American Apparel. Izzy Lane is one fine exemplar of wholesomeness.  Read more... (295 words, 3 images, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)

I love those Kia hamsters. The first commercial showed a trio of hammies tooling around in their Kia Soul while the rest of the world ran in stationary wheels; it was cute and clever and made a nice statement about the cool factor of the car.

[youtube kfJnqbudMzs]  Read more... (528 words, 2 images, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)

Do Something award winner Jessica Posner brings education to Kibera.  Read more... (844 words, 2 images, estimated 3:23 mins reading time)

Is News Corp head honcho Rupert Murdoch planning a game changing digital news outlet?

That’s what sources are telling CNBC, which today reported that “this new digital news venture could incorporate text, photo and video, tailored for the iTunes app format.”

Of course, with the iPad’s rapid success and many companies from Microsoft to Google to HP planning their own tablet devices, it’s not too surprising News Corp, which owns a slew of newspapers including the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, could want to corner the digital market sooner rather than later.  Read more... (189 words, 2 images, estimated 45 secs reading time)