Classickicks Reversible Hoodies

by Josh Rubin

Featuring New York-based textile designer Liora Manné's pattern commissioned by Classickicks, this new Reine et Roi hoodie (Classickicks' private label) reverses for a more subdued grey look. The other colorway in the style is a black-and-white pattern that plays on the Classkicks logo. Both will set you back $150 and are available at the Classickicks store in NYC. Or call (212 979 9514) for mailorders.

Popular Science's Best of What's New 2006: Skystream 3.7

by Ami Kealoha

Following last week's exhibit of Popular Science's Best of What's New 2006, CH's latest pick from the annual round-up of new innovations is the Skystream 3.7. The first all-inclusive wind generator engineered for residential use, the Skystream provides clean, quiet electricity, reducing or eliminating energy costs (from 40-100%) for homes and small businesses. The Skystream works in average winds as low as 10 MPH and in high wind conditions, Skystream can actually produce extra electricty, offsetting your bill with a credit (depending on your utility company).

Installable in any location with zoning laws that allow 42-foot structures, tower heights start at about 35-feet tall and can be installed on lots that are at least a half acre at an average cost of $9,000-$12,000 and for an average yearly savings of $672. An optional two-way remote can control the Skystream from up to 1,000 feet away and can monitor performance on your computer via a USB cable. Also designed with aesthetics in mind, the Skystream adds futuristic, guilt-relieving good looks to suburbanite homes.

Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album

by Wendy Dembo

During its heyday in the 80's, Factory Records worked with some of the most brilliant graphic artists around, including Peter Saville, Den Kelly, Mark Farrow, 8VO and Barbara Kruger. Their stylish design is almost as iconic as the era-defining bands (Joy Division, New Order, etc.) that are synonymous with the Manchester-based label. The upcoming new book, Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album,is the first to document the graphic legacy with every single piece of their graphic output, such as reproductions of flyers, rare record sleeves and posters organized according to the famous Factory catalogue system. Due out at the end of this month, pre-order it from Amazon.

Happy 100th Birthday Eva Zeisel

by Evan Orensten

Eva Zeisel turns 100 today and to celebrate we're giving one lucky reader a numbered limited edition of her newest design, the Eva Kettle for Chantal.

Eva is still working. Her life, as well as her contributions to the world of design, are still inspiring. To learn more about her life and work visit the Eva Zeisel Forum. If you live in or are coming to New York City this week don't miss Eva Zeisel at 100: A Lifetime of Masterwork in Design at the Pratt Gallery, which closes Saturday, 18 November 2006.

Now for the contest: Eva Zeisel has earned many honors in her life, including having a street named after her. Tell us the name of the street, the city and country that it is in.

To submit an entry answer the question above using the "Contact" form at the bottom of the page. Make sure you select the "Eva Kettle Giveaway" from the purpose drop down menu. The winner will be selected at random from the group of correct entries. Please enter by midnight EST on Friday, 17 November 2006. The winner will be announced on Monday, 20 November 2006.

Thanks to everyone who entered. The winner was announced here.

Radar Now Supports Video

by Josh Rubin

Radar, the web service for friends to keep in touch through text and pictures via their mobile phones, today added a video feature. Sharing mobile videos is just like sharing pictures—you add a message and email them from your phone to Radar. Your friends can see and comment on your pictures, videos and messages from a computer or phone's mobile browser.

The addition of video is a natural extension of Radar's service which is tuned for sharing with friends, unlike Flickr or YouTube where your content is out there for the whole world to see. Even within your invited group there are controls for who can see what. Thank goodness wireless data is getting a little faster.

Redesign Number Four

by Josh Rubin

If you're reading this on the site (as opposed to in your RSS reader or email) you've surely already noticed our redesign. Version four of CH is new from the bottom up: New publishing system, new server, new design. We wanted to clean things up a bit, add some new features and help you more easily use CH to get inspired.

Check out the video section, which is now integrated as it always should have been. Viewing the nearly 3,000 entries in our archive is now much easier with keyword or image browsing. There's a new navigation tool that lets you choose recent, common or random keywords to browse by. While we got a lot done in time for launch, there are still more improvements coming in the next few weeks. We're working on an improved version of reader contributions, new content areas, and deploying ThinkMap to better browse our archive. We're also tuning the server to get stuff like search to move a bit faster.

For those of you who prefer to have the site delivered to your inbox we now give you the choice of daily and weekly updates. We've also updated our newsletters to reflect our new design. To subscribe to the daily or weekly newsletters pull down the subscribe form just below the search box, top-left.

Some things haven't changed. The Showcase, our gallery of artist contributions, is still located at the top of the page. If you're interested in submitting your work for consideration, drop us a note from the contact link at the bottom of the page. We are also staying true to our editorial policy, which is to write about stuff we like. Editorial coverage from our global team is never "sponsored."

Special thanks to Travis Rogers for design, Russell Morgan and Joel Niedfeldt for development. And to the CH team—especially Evan Orensten and Ami Kealoha—for their ongoing contributions.

Lastly, a huge thanks to Adobe for not only sponsoring the redesign but also giving us a much needed deadline.

If memory serves we got a lot of feedback on the two previous redesigns, so let us know what you think about the redesign—be it good, bad or a bug. We appreciate your feedback. Just use the new contact link at the bottom of the page.

Thanks,

Josh