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Street Style for Sale: Like.com and Weardrobe Sell Blogger's Looks

A quiet revolution is taking place in the world's blogs. Munjal Shah, CEO of shopping network Like.com, explains, "Fashion used to be about a monarchy. Then it was about the elite, but today, the action is much more grassroots and the street style culture is on the front line." Street style, for those who aren't a part of the community, rejects glossy mag aesthetics and expensive, top-brand fetishism for the idea that the coolest and most fashionable individuals are on the street. Photographers and bloggers snap smart-looking passersby, then write about what they like about their respective looks. Some, like Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist or pre-teen prodigy Tavi Williams' of Style Rookie, have made a lucrative career out of it.

So when Like.com, a visual search engine that has generated over $100 million in sales, wanted to transform itself into a more organic, user-friendly community, Shah went right to the source. Today, Like.com announced its acquisition of Weardrobe, a street-style community that connects novice and popular bloggers, allowing burgeoning fashionistas to post and comment on each others' looks. Now, thanks to the partnership, Like.com's search capability (titled 'Likesense,' a la Google's AdSense) aesthetically identifies items in street images, and then offers browsers the opportunity to buy online.

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Web

Robolamps Offer Creepy, Artsy Alternative to Nightlights


Croatian artist Robert Matysiak loves robots and design. So much so, for the past two years, he has been working on a series he calls Robolamps, and he's now trying to bring his creations to a wider audience.

Made from plumbing parts, the lamps look both quirky and menacing, and -- to us, at least -- seem like a bit of a throwback to some of those broken droids hawked by the Jawas in 'A New Hope.' To add to that sense of individuality, Matysiak has given each of the designs names like "Augusta" and "Dunk." Check out pictures of all the little bots on Matysiak's Facebook page.

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Web

Switched Asks: Do Personal E-Shoppers Get It Right?

Netflix figures out what movies you might like to see, Pandora offers up new tunes you might like to rock, and Facebook even senses who you might like to know. That being the case, it shouldn't be a feat of sartorial strength for a matrix to suggest a nice outfit to wear. So, when we got an invite to sample the e-shopper service on Covet, being the member on the Switched team most picky about what goes on my person, I volunteered to give it a try. (Also, I'm the only girl on staff, and while boys will soon be invited, this is currently a ladies-only club.)

After I signed up, Covet gave me a series of questions asking me to select which of two celebrities' styles I most liked: Rachel Bilson vs. Kelly Osbourne; Vanessa Hudgens vs., well, anyone not Vanessa Hudgens. After a while, Covet presented my style profile: Edgy Modern/Edgy Boho. While I despise the term "Boho," and would only classify a triangle as edgy, the examples they gave were actually pretty appropriate. I do like edgier clothing, but with a soft, cosmopolitan touch.

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Computers

Chips N'Kicks: Artist Immortalizes Nike With Circuit Board Sculpture


Everybody knows Nike sneakers will never go out of style. So when artist Gabriel Dishaw decided to embark on a series of sneaker sculptures, the Swoosh was the obvious place to start. The result, sure to please both Kanye West and Bill Gates, are called the "Blazer Pentium 1.0" (Dishaw apparently has talent and wit). Made from an old circuit board and weighing about 15-pounds, these chip-heavy kicks (they come in a suitcase tricked out in circuit boards) are available on Dishaw's site, along with some of his other work.

While any good geek (and probably some art-school kids, too) would obviously drool over Dishaw's sneakers, we still don't think they hold a candle to Nike's Marty McFly throwbacks. Face it, there's no way you could zip around on a hoverboard with these clunky things on your feet. [From: Gabriel Dishaw, via: Engadget]

Video Games

'Street Fighter' Tattoo Takes 'Chic' Out of Geek Chic, Maybe 'Geek,' Too

We've seen a lot of geeky tattoos: a flaming 20-sided die, a Pac-Man maze on the rear, and, of course, the mind-boggling Born Oppenheimer Approximation. Still, if we had to choose, the award for "worst tattoo ever" would go to the above 'Shoryuken' brand.

For 'Street Fighter' newbies, the Shoryuken, or 'Dragon Punch,' is an easily executed trademark move used by two characters in the game. To pull it off, all you need to do is hit forward, down, down-forward, and then tap the punch button on the controller. But if you look closely, that's not exactly the directions this unfortunate fellow got on his forearm.

Call us crazy, but we predict a trip to the dermatologist in the near future. [From: Geekologie]

Video Games, Web

The Geekiest, Most (Adorable) Retro Wedding Invitation Ever

As soon as we saw this 8-bit piece of love, we had to pause our regular reportage of laser-etched fruit and robot fish to simply stop and gush like the Cute-Overload-reading, pre-teen, Japanese girls that we all carry inside of us. Really, how freakin' adorable is this?

Illustrator Carla Berrocal designed the wedding invitation for the Chilean computer scientist couple of Luis Diaz Santis and Magaly Guerrero Ramirez. Berrocal mixed freehand drawing and Photoshop to create a cute throwback to the glorious Atari-fueled '80s. We're especially in love with the little design quirks: "Insert Coin?" Check out the inside of the card after the break.

¡Felicidades, Luis y Magaly! [From: Carla Berrocal, via BuzzFeed]

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iPhone

Human-Size iPhones Guaranteed to Be Halloween Hit

Halloween's just days away. If you still haven't found the creative yet snarky costume of your dreams, then you'd better get busy, because the witching hour is fast approaching. If you're completely stumped, you'll either be inspired or totally devastated by a few guys whose iPhone costumes have upped the ante on ridiculous get-ups.

Four geeks from Tampa -- John Savio, John Matthews, Reko Rivera, and Bobby Hartman -- recently teamed up to create human-sized and, most impressively, functional iPhone costumes. Each costume weighs around 85 pounds, and is powered by a car battery worn, we're told, between the trick-or-treater's legs. Hooking up an iPhone 3GS to a 42-inch LCD screen effectively turns your average Halloweener into a bona fide human iPhone (see video, above). The two costumes took about three weeks to assemble, and cost the guys a handsome sum of $2,000. Still, they claim to have absolutely "no regrets."

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Cell Phones

Company Makes iPhone Wallpaper From Your DNA

Chromosomal artwork has steadily become more common over the past few years, and French company Helys is now offering customized DNA wallpaper for the iPhone. For a whopping $147, you'll receive a DNA sample kit in the mail, take a swab to your gums, and send the specimens back to the lab. Within three to five weeks, an email will arrive containing your 320-by-480-pixel DNA portrait at the low-res of 160 dpi, much to the jealous cooing of your fellow nerds.

As the geekiest of vanity items, will DNA portraits soon supplant the shopping mall glamor shot? There's something peculiar and slightly egocentric about wanting to display your genetic material for all to see. But then again, most DNA pretty much looks the same to those of us who are not biologists, and some glamor shots are more open to ridicule than others.

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Web

Geeks Bring Vehicular Dorkery to License Plates


Computer geeks aren't too often regarded as vain. In fact, it has been scientifically proven that most bloggers, for instance, every morning, squeeze their disheveled, unshorn heads through the necks of their coffee-stained T-shirts, drape themselves in their unwashed, ill fitting sweat pants, plop down on the couch, and proceed to dust their keyboards with the remains of white powdered donuts.

Apparently, though, geeks' lack of private, physical vanity does not cross over into the public, automotive realm. Nerds who are into technology, it seems, are just as likely to festoon their cars with vanity tags as nerds who aren't into technology. (Because, really, if you have a vanity tag, aren't you really just a nerd?) Behold the vehicular dorkery at Interbent's 'Cool License Plates for Internet Geeks.' At the very least, they'll make you feel better about yourself. [From: Interbent]

Computers

Classic Tech Ads Memorialize Obsolescence


BuzzFeed, by way of Everything is Terrible, recently unearthed the above classic tutorial, intended for the computer noobs of old who needed help learning about DOS. That's Disk Operating System for all you youngins not old enough to experience the computer dark ages (or salad days, depending on your mindset) of the 1980s. Replete with hilarious and quotable lines ("Files have first and last names just like people do!"), the ad even includes a completely random disk-eating dragon.

To continue the trip down obsolescent lane, BoingBoing has five more humorously out-dated ads, all from 1996, that were recently re-discovered by Kim Moser. The selections include a Sony ad about how to pick up chicks with your futuristic Mini Disk Walkman, and a Packard Bell spot about how the Net can help you avoid the perils of venturing into what appears to be a Tim Burton-esque Gotham City. The best lines, though, come from AOL ("Conversations through your computer?!?") and the Internet World Magazine promo proclaiming that the mag will help you boost "Cyber Sales" by teaching you how to "Master the Internet."

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Audio/Video, TV

Universal Remote Looks Like 'Harry Potter' Wand

Role-playing geeks and Renaissance-faire nerds are often equipped with a variety of fantastical weapons and costumes. Rarely, though, do their dork devices have any modern application. To make a formerly mythical armament a modern reality, the wanna-be wizards at the Wand Company have engineered the universal Kymera Magic Wand remote control.

The vibrating television wand incorporates accelerometer technology similar to that of Nintendo Wii remotes, allowing users to change channels, control volume, and even fast-forward and rewind using circular, up-and-down, and back-and-forth gestures. There are a total of 13 programmable commands.

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Video Games

'Super Mario' Manicure Sure to Attract Multiplayer Partners

When it comes to selecting a mate, animals typically pick the partner with the brightest, loudest, and most outlandish natural ornaments. The process definitely applies to humans, as well, and one sexy gamer (who goes by the PhotoBucket handle 'nailchick27') has created a decorative symbol of gaming prowess just for Nintendo nerds, Neatorama reports.

Although it may impede actual gaming sessions, the 'Super Mario Bros.' manicure, which festoons fingernails with depictions of scenes from the video game franchise, should certainly prove irresistible to Mario junkies. If the fancy nails alone don't adequately attract dorks of the opposite gender, there's a closet full of other Nintendo fashion accessories certain to arouse the interest of a potential multiplayer partner. But, take notice. Before you begin drooling over the Nintendo couture, be aware that there's a picture of a fat, pale guy in his Mario unmentionables. Although, who knows. That may actually be highly stimulatory for members of the species Dorkus Marius. [From: PhotoBucket user nailchick27, via Neatorama]

Video Games

Gamer Builds Ultimate 'Bioshock' Costume


It's not uncommon for gamers to dress up like characters from their favorite video games. For the less ambitious (or more sane) of us, these declarations of loyalty are tough to understand, although plenty of fun to watch. If you think you've seen it all, think again, folks. Harrison Krix, a prop builder from Atlanta, Georgia, has created one of the most detailed and impressive video game costumes we have yet to, and probably ever will, see.

On his blog, the self-proclaimed dork Krix proudly chronicles the seven-week-long process ("a solid pain in the ass," he says) of building a costume based on the Big Daddy character from the game 'Bioshock.' A Big Daddy looks a lot like a huge, misshapen man wearing one of those old diving suits, except with a giant drill for an arm. Krix drew the blueprints for the costume, which weighs between 50 and 60 pounds, and started constructing the body. Then, he moved on to constructing the head, drill arm (it actually spins!), and dome cage. Finally, he turned to other details like painting.

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Computers

Man Gets 'Blue Screen of Death' Tattoo

Sometimes, a picture says it all. This one, though, might need some explaining. According to the Next Web, the words inked on the man's arm are what appear on a Windows machine's monitor when it crashes. For geeks the world over, the 'Blue Screen of Death' is a terrifying sight to behold, and this unnamed young man decided he would like to have it permanently displayed -- slightly off-center (check out the full size image after the break) -- on his body.

Look, we love computers and spend most of our waking lives plugged in, but is it really necessary to permanently ink yourself with Microsoft's failure? We can only wish that the death of this man's PC were instead the death of his brand of decades-old hipster irony. [From: The Next Web, via urlesque]

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Cell Phones

'Social Knitworking' Turns Sweet Texts to Cozy Textiles


Feeling a need to literally show your love, as opposed to just texting sweet nothings to a special someone? What if you could turn your kind words into a warm blanket of affection in which a cherished person could wrap themselves? Sounds like romantic talk, but this is actually the notion behind Distance Lab's newest experiment in communications.

Earlier this summer, the Scotland-based research firm presented the Mustugoto, which let long-distance lovers 'draw' on each other with light. Now the company is experimenting with 'Social Knitworking,' which uses software to scan electronic messages for certain words and phrases, and then to translate the text into patterns. The patterns are transferred to a knitting machine, which then creates a scarf, a tee, or a simple piece of fabric with an abstract pattern embroidered on its surface.

Distance Lab is working in conjunction with researcher Hilary Grant, who studied textile design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee, Scotland. Grant became fascinated with the idea of turning ephemeral digital conversations into concrete objects, and with her background in textiles, immediately thought of a knitted keepsake. Whether her notion will turn into a trend remains to be seen, but a scarf made of 'I love yous' might just catch on. [From: BBC.co.uk]
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Top 11 Geek T-Shirts
According to none other than Wired magazine, T-shirts have come into their own as a form of media, one that uniquely documents messages and stories, not to mention emergent technologies and companies changing the way we use the Internet. Here at Switched, we write a lot about these next-gen, "Web 2.0" companies and technologies, which include everyone from MySpace and Facebook to Twitter and even Google.

Given that we're partial to t-shirts with nerdy, tech-infused jokes and terminology, we figured it was high time to find the best geek t-shirts specifically related to Web 2.0 speak (like the "Your Podcast is Lame" t-shirt, flickr user ericskiff, pictured above). So here, dear readers is our humble survey of the wild, cotton-meets-code world of Web 2.0 t-shirts. If anything, it'll give you something cool to talk about during your podcast.
Getty Images

Top 11 Geek T-Shirts

    According to none other than Wired magazine, T-shirts have come into their own as a form of media, one that uniquely documents messages and stories, not to mention emergent technologies and companies changing the way we use the Internet. Here at Switched, we write a lot about these next-gen, "Web 2.0" companies and technologies, which include everyone from MySpace and Facebook to Twitter and even Google.

    Given that we're partial to t-shirts with nerdy, tech-infused jokes and terminology, we figured it was high time to find the best geek t-shirts specifically related to Web 2.0 speak (like the "Your Podcast is Lame" t-shirt, flickr user ericskiff, pictured above). So here, dear readers is our humble survey of the wild, cotton-meets-code world of Web 2.0 t-shirts. If anything, it'll give you something cool to talk about during your podcast.

    From Facebook and MySpace on down to countless start-ups, social networking sites are Web 2.0 bread and butter. Unfortunately, the facts and pictures on someone's profile don't always match the real, offline version. If you enjoy racking up virtual friends, but worry about the real world rendezvous, you'll be prepared for the worst with this straight-shooting t-shirt.
    From CafePress

    For all of its entrepreneurial, spare-garage innovation, Web 2.0 has bred some sprawling companies. Google's certainly risen to the top, but a $600 share price has incited a fair amount of jealousy and worry from outsiders as the company continues to buy startups and expand its information empire. Only time will tell what the men of the "Don't Be Evil" mantra hath wrought, but for now you can preserve the madness across your pecs.
    From Scary Go Round

    Success has a strange currency on the social news site Digg, where links rated positively by users (given a 'digg,' in other words) can drive Web sites, blog posts, and all kinds of stories to new heights of popularity. Isn't this the kind of validation we yearn for offline? And what will this shirt do to the 'Kiss me I'm Irish' industry?
    From NerdyShirts

    Michael Scott's classic catch phrase might be a tad different if he had been written as a Web entrepreneur instead of a regional manager at Dunder Mifflin (from 'The Office,' for those of you who don't watch TV). Twitter traffics in brief update messages that its users can send from any Internet-connected device, making it ripe for compulsive friend-monitoring as well as double-entendre hunters. "Come Twitter on my sensitive iPhone touchscreen?" The possibilities are endless.
    From Cottyn

    While the lolcat phenomenon started on Internet message boards, sites such as I Can Has Cheezburger? brought goofy cat pictures and idiosyncratic captions to the Web masses. It might not fit the strictest definition of Web 2.0, but ICHS is a vast social network with some very cool features (it also mints ad money, which always helps in Web 2.0 circles). This shirt allows for easy, dry-erase marker customization of a classic lolcat caption meme. Prepare to be the life of the party. Im in ur Switched bloggin ur tshirts!
    From ThinkGeek

    This might be what she Twittered if she thought your bookmarks were del.icio.us. Or if she really wanted to StumbleUpon your toolbar discoveries. Or... never mind. Fact is, tagging links, images, and other pieces of information online are the hot way to organize things in Web 2.0, and this shirt means its wearer is in the know. Just remember to stop staring and make eye contact occasionally.
    From CafePress

    'Don't drink the Kool-Aid' is a warning adopted by those skeptical of Web 2.0 optimism and wary of a second dotcom bubble. Mule Design's Feed Store describes this shirt as an "image of Tim O'Reilly (acknowledged as the coiner of 'Web 2.0') busting out of his lawyers office." Indeed.
    From Mule Design

    Events like the 'Snakes on a Plane' phenomenon suggest that Samuel L. Jackson is down with Web 2.0, but as 'Pulp Fiction' fans know, there are some words that he'd rather not hear repeated. Despite your awesome Technorati ranking, friends and relatives might feel the same way. Tread carefully.
    From coolestshop.com

    The nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation has been fighting for digital rights since its founding in 1990. The importance of its work grows with the ever-expanding reach of the Internet, a place where things like free speech, intellectual property, and privacy are still being defined and contested. Wear your support for digital freedom and the EFF on your sleeve with this shirt. We hear that the Internet finds it irresistible.
    From Electronic Frontier Foundation

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