Mediamatic’s Ikpod for the Joods Historisch Museum has been nominated for a Spin Award in both the “Best Mobile Concept” and “Best Crossmedia Concept” categories, which means my first crack at designing an iPhone app isn’t totally pot!

The ikPod itself lives at the Hollandsche Schouwburg where it is an interactive part of the Wall of Names:

At the Hollandsche Schouwburg there is a wall of names, with all 6,700 family names of the Jews from the Netherlands who were murdered during the German occupation. The ikPod, an iPod specially adapted by Mediamatic, links the names on the wall to all the available information about all family members on the Digital Monument website. Visitors can read the names on the wall with the ikPod to learn the individual histories behind them. Visitors to the wall of names can now see information about family situations, addresses, and occupations, supplemented with personal stories and more than 10,000 photographs and documents. This makes the monument interactive and meets the growing need for individual commemoration, in a fitting, dignified manner.

- Hollandsche Schouwburg

It’s the end of the first month of 2011 and it’s time to get some of resolutions out of the way. On the top of the list — getting rid of all the excess plastic puffs littering the kitchen drawers by finding more uses for them than just as a nondescript carryall.

Use them as packaging

I first got this idea when I realized most of my online purchases were coming in these glorified zip-lock packs. Store bags that are typically made out of a thicker plastic and have sturdier seams (or have been kept purely for their looks) make an attractive alternative for your typical run of boxes, puffy packs, envelopes, and brown paper. As long as you keep a bit of tape around the house, you’ll always have the right materials to send something off at a moment’s notice.

Try a paper bag instead of a paper towel

This tip comes from my friend, Nadege, who swears up and down that brown paper bags soak up more oil than paper towels, making them the perfect fry-up companion. Having used them now several times for this purpose, I have to agree with her, adding that food doesn’t seem to stick as much to the paper than a paper towel. Bonus!

Donate the bags you don’t like

Here in the Netherlands plastic bags aren’t every consumer’s right. People are expected to bring their own grocery bags or pay 20¢ for the emotionally-damaging task of carrying around a promotionally-printed, store-branded sack of shit. These odd-shaped bags have no real use except as the means of suffocation for anyone who brings one into the house.

I have yet to find a way to recycle them except to give them away every chance I get. At a store called the Natuurwinkel, there is a bin that welcomes the communal reuse of grocery bags. I’m surprised more stores don’t have a similar scheme, especially when all it seems to take is a bucket and a sign.

• NEON, ZIG-ZAG, AND VARIOUS COLORED TEXTILE ELECTRICAL CABLES FOR DO-IT-YOURSELF LIGHTING — Find the Nud Collection in Amsterdam at the De Kinderfeestwinkel, or go to Frozen Fountain for slightly less attractive, but cheaper cord at €2.50 per meter.
• JUST BECAUSE THEY DON’T LIKE HUMBLE PIE DOESN’T MEAN WE CAN SHARE A SLICE RAINBOW CAKE — With Glenn Beck, Pastor Jones, and Geert Wilders all being complete dickheads at the moment, I thought it would be nice if we all took a moment to bake a cake.
• MAKE CORN TORTILLAS JUST LIKE THE ONES YOU USED TO GET AT THAT LIQUOR STORE ON VENICE BOULEVARD — ‘t is zo makkelijk! Mix a little Masa Harina (Tjin’s €5.50) with water, flatten with a tortilla press (Duikelman €30), and heat with a flat iron skillet!
• TURN YOUR DEFUNCT IPOD INTO A BABY MOBILE — Since I can’t find a mobile with decent lullaby music, I’m using my Elecom Soundblock speaker I bought from my last trip to Japan to play the soothing tracks of Animal Crossing Wild World. Tip: 1) Using a later version ipod will allow you to put the iPod to sleep with a timer which is helpful if you plan to loop short songs; 2) More video game soundtracks here.
• CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL — Watch ex-Party Downers Meghan Mullally and Ken Marino try their hand surgery. Is that Adam Scott I see making a cameo?
• HEIDI KLUM ON BENELUX’S NEXT TOP MODEL — De Auf! meisje spreekt Engels in een programma uit Nederlands? Waaroom geen Duits?!
• VANILLA ICE PICKS UP AN MC HAMMER — And renovates a house on the DIY Network.
• WOOD CARVING CLASSES AT TORTOISE — Only 10 spaces available per class. 10/23 (Sat) 1-4pm @ TGS, 1208 Abbot Kinney Blvd. 10/31 (Sun) 1-4pm @ Ananda, 1354 Abbot Kinney Blvd. 11/14 (Sun) 1-4pm @ TGS 1208, Abbot Kinney Blvd. 11/21 (Sun) 1-4pm @ Ananda 1354, Abbot Kinney Blvd. The class is $25 and he provides everything! Each class is limited for 10 people, so call quickly to save a spot! 310-314-8448

• PARTY DOWN WITH THE GÜT! — Newbies to the show skip right to Season 2, Episode 5. It’s got everything you’re looking for: Steve Guttenberg, art, sci-fi, fine wines, and (of course) a photo of a guy trying to fuck porcupine.
• ELIZABETH SHUE KILLS ON LAST WEEK’S “DOUG LOVES MOVIES” — The ex-Karate Kid star talks side boob and other movie magic secrets, so much so that some of them get bleeped. This week’s podcast should be available later today.
• DUTCH JERSEY SHORE! — Hey, you can understand douchebag in any language! Watch it on RTL5, Thursdays @ 22.00
• COLORFUL SLEEPING TERRORIST COSTUME NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRIVATE USE! — Finally, the Snazzy Napper covers all of your travel needs including looking like a weirdo and making children cry.

I love you Google. Thanks for even showing the word “Free!” while I was making my call from Amsterdam to California.

Hey Skype — fuck you.

via Engadget

One of the things I had been thinking about the last couple of months is how to create more privacy for our guest bedroom whose windows are located on the street level. Even though I frosted the top halves so people outside couldn’t see in without getting on their hands and knees, any guest that came to stay would still feel overlooked since the bottom halves of the windows are still exposed.

At some point, I had this half-joking idea of making a desk out of Legos, but since then I have seriously considered using Lego as a building material for a privacy wall. This mosiac, plastic wall with the exact measurements of the exposed glass could sit on the window ledge quite easily and be removed by just simply picking it up. If we didn’t like the way it looked, we could always change it, and if we decided it just didn’t work, we could take it apart and at least have buckets and buckets of Legos to play with. It seemed like a win-win situation!

And it was… until the first wall fell. The Legos, although meticulously stacked together four wide for extra support, were actually still malleable and as the months wore on, the top started to lean inward until finally, one day, while sitting at the dinner table, Zach and I watched the bricks slowly fall to the ground and break into a million sadness pieces.

The cleaner vacuumed around the carnage for several months while I tried to think up solutions to make the wall more structurally sound. I decided on recreating the wall with supports to keep the top from leaning and so far that’s worked. It’s not perfect, but in the greater scheme of things, we never had to put one hole in the walls, it looks awesome from the outside and people always stop to stare it. Plus it’s nice that the neighbors can’t see me getting the laundry out of the dryer in my underwear anymore.

The Automatiek exhibit at the Amsterdam Historical Museum features these classic, self-serve vending machines dispensing historical Dutch objects instead of the old, odd, fried piece of frikadel as teaser for the upcoming new National Historical Museum.

There are a variety of objects to choose from ranging from the obvious Dutch cheese knife to the more obscure Dutch (?!) cassette tape. With each object only costing one or two euros, it’s easy to walk away from the exhibit with a whole lot of new Dutch stuff in your hands as well as in your head. Unless you are one of these people…

The Oma-Hackers

There’s always some one out there looking to beat the system, I just never thought it would be a pair of outlaw grandmas. These two gal pals showed up one day to the exhibit with their own previously made RFID cards. Many people who come to exhibit tend to recharge their card during their first visit to buy more objects, but to come back for seconds, it was unprecedented. Of course, more shocking was the fact that they just refilled their cards, bought their objects and tried to leave without even watching the movie (which I, personally, think is the best part of the whole exhibit). As some one who worked on the project, I had to stop them and ask them why.

Turns out the Automatiek was the best deal on quality tea towels this side of Amsterdam. What normally costs a whopping €6.95 in the stores was only €2 here at the exhibit and everyone on the granny grapevine was trying to get in while the getting was good. Hey, it’s classier than going to the 99¢ Store, right?

So come on down to the Automatiek exhibit before August 29th, 2010 at the Amsterdam Historisch Museum and get your tea towel today, while supplies last!

More info:

• “Trek in geschiedenis?”, Amsterdam Historisch Museum blog
• “Bij historisch denken mensen aan oude meuk”, Volkskrant
• “Writing history with objects”, Mediamatic Lab