The New York Daily Newsreports that Stephen Turbek's interactive pop-one-a-day bubble wall calendars are a hit. People love to pop the bubbles on bubble wrap and the bubble calendars work on the same concept. The Daily News says Turbek has already sold thousands of his bubble wall calendars.
Turbek, of Fort Greene, fashioned the pop-a-day calendar using a long sheet of paper with the month and dates printed in columns, then covering the whole thing with a sheet of bubble wrap.
He's selling them online for $30 to $50 a pop, and has already sold thousands, he said.
The calendar does require a degree of restraint on the part of the popper - you're only able to burst one per day - but Turbek said he has found a way to incorporate people's love of popping bubble wrap into a daily activity.
"Like many people, I really enjoy popping bubbles. I thought it would be fun to put it to some purpose," Turbek said.
This was a clever idea. Owners of the bubble calendars will have to use restraint to keep from busting bubbles ahead of time. The calendars can be purchased online at bubblecalendar.com.
Bloomberg reports that Office Depot plans to close 112 underperforming stores and six distribution centers as it struggles in this weak economy. Office Depot will also cut 2,200 jobs,
The world's second-largest office-supplies retailer said today in a filing that it will shutter 112 underperforming stores and six distribution centers in the next three months. The closings will reduce Office Depot's North American stores to 1,163 from 1,275. Fourteen more stores will close next year when their leases expire.
Planned new store openings for next year will be slashed in half to 20, reducing capital spending to less than $200 million in 2009, the company said. In October, Delray Beach, Florida- based Office Depot projected that it would spend $225 million in 2009. The moves will boost cash flow next year by $70 million.
The WSJ says office supply rival OfficeMax is also closing stores but not as many as Office Depot. Retailers closing stores has become an unfortunate theme during this last quarter of 2008.
This is an interesting gadget and unique idea. It's a bit of a do-nothing but it might come in useful for someone who sits at a desk all day and needs more circulation then they are currently getting. The product is called the Webble Active Footrest. It looks like a surfboard that slides under your desk. You can move the Webble around with your feet. You can read a detailed review of the product here on Yanko Design.
At the core of the idea is the concept of wellness. Webble bases much of its inspiration from decades of research into the physiological benefits of increased leg activity while seated. I work hours on end seated, sometimes without moving my legs. The Webble strangly encourages me to constantly shift them around. To clarify, we're not talking about restless leg syndrome nor is this a treatment for it. This is about giving your legs something to do. The Webble sits on four wheels allowing smooth movement from almost any direction, given the limitations of the human hip. There are also springs inside to let your feet bounce up and down. The cushion is made of a dense foam or cellulose material, covered in mesh netting.
It won't help the inactive desk user more than getting up and doing jumping jacks or going for a walk would but it is better than nothing. It currently comes in three colors (black, red and silver) and can be purchased here from Webble for $199.99. You can see some more photos of the device here on Flickr. (via Boing Boing)
This is the war cubicle-bound geeks have long dreamed of waging at the office - an all out Nerf war! It's totally on in this video. A lot of nerf weapons are used including the Nerf N-Strike Longshot CS-6. CrunchGear notes that also used in the video is the long awaited Nerf Vulcan, a "fully automatic, chain fed Nerf gun." It sounds dangerous but it's not because it is Nerf. Here's the hilarious viral video.
We've seen stories on three different tv channels this past week about the Great Pantyhose Debate. Now, if you're under 30 you've probably never worn pantyhose in your life. But women over thirty in conservative professions -- law, accounting and finance -- have been forced into pantyhose by the business culture.
But after Anna Wintour scrapped her pantyhose -- even in winter -- people noticed. And now you see bare legs in offices, at least in Manhattan and Los Angeles. On television, pantyhose are generally out. Diane Sawyer, who has great legs, does not wear pantyhose with skirts. And neither does Michelle Obama. Hillary Clinton cleverly wore pantsuits, thereby leaving us in the dark about her pantyhose preferences. In the Midwest, pantyhose still reign supreme. But even there, times are a changin'.
We believe that whether you wear pantyhose to work or not depends on a) where you work and b) how ambitious you are. If you're in an uptight, conservative firm which require conservative dress to get ahead, you need to channel Condoleeza Rice or Nancy Pelosi when you get dressed. If you're in New York, L.A. or work in an arts-related industry, you need to dress like the top women in your firm. If what she wears is very expensive, just copy the style in a less-expensive brand. Follow the leader, if you want to get ahead.
If it's a summer job that you couldn't care less about, well, pull out the flip flops if they're allowed. Just don't expect a glowing reference about how dedicated and professional you are. And if you work from home, please feel free to express yourself sartorially in any way you see fit -- even if that means it's bunny slippers and bare legs till noon.
In this video The Wall Street Journal asks Manhattan residents whether women should wear pantyhose to the office or not. One guy says women need to wear pantyhose because he finds bare legs too distracting.
So true -- in fact, why not cover women with a full burka? That would be even less distracting.
Tax time is just around the corner and if you don't use an accountant to do your returns, you can always do it yourself with TurboTax. It's easy to use: you just get all your information together and start entering. It connects to the Internet to check for updates, and has a nice override feature if you need to enter an unusual deduction that you need to enter directly on the return.
If you use TurboTax every year, it will import last year's return so you don't have to enter much of the same information from year to year. The software does a great job for returns that aren't so complex that they require a tax professional. TurboTax Deluxe Federal and State 2007 edition is available for just under $40 at Amazon.com and at just about any office store. Note: the Deluxe version includes free e-filing.
This year, TurboTax is offering some great free stuff for taxpayers:
Tax Rebate Calculator
130 million Americans will begin receiving tax rebates in May as a result
of the economic stimulus package passed by Congress. So, how much of a rebate will you get? The new, free online Tax Rebate calculator lets you
see how much money the economic
stimulus plan will put into their pockets. You can use this calculator by
visiting TurboTax.com and clicking on the icon in the lower right hand
corner of the main page or by going directly here.
Free Filing
If you earned $30,000 or less or were active military duty or qualify for the
Earned Income Credit, you can use the resources at TaxFreedom.com to fill
out your forms and e-file.
As the Bush presidency winds down, the Bush Out of Office Countdown 2008 desk calendar ($11.99) is winding up as the No. 2 humor calendar (behind The Far Side Scared Silly 2008 Wall Calendar) for the new year, according to Calendars.com, the largest purveyor of calendars online and at retail kiosks.
"They're edgy and a way to mark the days, so it's a perfect tie-in," says Hillel Levin, general manager at Calendars.com. "The intensity of dislike (for Bush) is driving these sales."
These poking-fun-at-the-prez calendars were popular last year, but they're even bigger for 2008 - and there are more of them than ever.
"It's become a category unto itself," Levin says. There were no such calendars for other recent presidents - say, Bill Clinton or Bush's father, George H.W. Bush. "This is a new phenomenon."
Other hot calendars according to USA Today include Mom organizer calendars, The Office calendars, Halo calendars, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit calendars, World of Warcraft calendars and a Hannah Montana calendar. Calendars with cute kittens and puppies are also always popular. A couple good online resources for buying calendars including Amazon.com's Calendar section and Calendars.com.
Swedish design has been associated with minimalism for so long that by now you might expect their native designers to go in a totally different direction, perhaps in a kind of post-modern, neo-baroque kind of way. But apparently the temptations of more are lost on the Swedes. Flooring manufacturer Bolon makes floors for high-end hotels and designer boutiques, such as Armani. The company recently introduced its latest collection, which is called Eight.
To allow the customer to get a better appreciation of how the environment should be designed to properly show off a Bolon floor, the company provided sketches. The flooring is a high-tech woven vinyl that can take a lot of foot traffic and cleans up easily.
Bolon, manufacturer of woven vinyl flooring, has expanded their wide assortment. Marie Eklund, chief designer and head of marketing says:
"Our products are usually appreciated for their trendy, tasteful design and we have noticed that the new collection Eight has already gotten a warm reception. More than anything else, I think that its high quality characteristics are what have made it popular so quickly. Our goals were set quite high and we managed to reach our grandest ambitions. As far as I know, there is no other flooring in the field that has all the characteristics that Eight has. Swedish, modern design and an attractive appearance are important qualities in all of our flooring lines, all of which also maintain a very high standard of durability and function."
Is this the future of design? It's so cold. So unwelcoming. So....hmmm...easy to clean. You could do your entire house like this and just hose it down every week or so. In fact, it's actually the perfect environment in which to raise toddlers who spill and teens who refuse to clean. Sure, it's sterile and unloving, but think of all the time and money you'll save! The savings on fabric alone could fund years of therapy.
Oh, and you really need to look good in a catsuit and some smokin' hot astronaut booties to make this work. Because schlepping around your Jetsons-style home in a dirndl skirt and Birkenstocks just isn't going to cut it.
We're always up for some cool new refrigerator magnets and these new Tetrius magnets are just the thing to brighten up a dull refrigerator or any metal surface at your office. The word Tetrius is of Greek origin meaning "four" and will remind you of the arcade game classis, Tetris. Or, if you're not a gamer, they just look cool.
The magnet set retails for $10 at www.artlebedev.com. The magnets are available for pre-order now, and will ship on September 1st.
Reuters reports on a ghastly new trend: wearing
flip flops to the office.
Lauren Cardinale, 25, who works at West Glen Communications, wears beaded or other fancy flip flops to the office -- when she can get away with it.
"Occasionally I wear flip flops to work," she said. "I wear nicer shoes if I'm meeting with clients or if I know there will be someone in the office who doesn't approve of flip flops."
Cardinale is one of thousands of young women in New York who consider flip-flops an essential part of their summer wardrobe.
An online survey conducted for retailers Old Navy and Gap found flip-flops topped the list of wardrobe items that college and high school students planned to wear to work this summer.
More than 31 percent of women said flip-flops were the single "must have" item for work this summer.
But many companies disagree.
"The dress code says no beach wear and flip-flops are considered beach wear," said a spokeswoman for BNP Paribas.
But flip-flops took on a new life among the young and trendy a few years ago. They have surged in popularity with shops now selling them in every conceivable color, with sequins, flowers, and even bridal flip-flops with over 300 Swarovski crystals on the straps for about $140 a pair.
*****
Last June the Northwestern University's champion women's lacrosse team was widely criticized for wearing flip-flops when they visited the White House and met President George W. Bush.
Ellen Campuzano, president of the Committee of Color and Trends, a New York-based forecasting service specializing in footwear and accessories, thinks flip-flops' popularity will wane.
"Usually these trends come and go in about five years," she said. "I think we've reached the peak, they can't be any more widespread, so maybe next summer something will replace them."
The very thought is horrifying to us. What would Miranda Priestly say? And stop looking at those Havaianas under our desk. They're certainly not ours...we think the plant lady left them there. Ours are the 4" stilettos next to them.
We'd heard about the world's thinnest ball point pen -- the Uni Signo Bit from Japan, but we'd never seen them in stores. The point of the pen is so tiny, you can write on a grain of rice (not that we've tried it, but that's the claim).
One of our sharp readers alerted us to the fact that the pens are only sold in the U.S. at JetPens.com. They're out of the black version, but they do have
the set which comes with 8 groovy colors (orange, light blue, violet, pink, red, black, emerald, and blue) in a carrying case. The set retails for $25. OK, that's expensive, but the tip of the pen is a mind-blowing 0.18mm. Yes, that's .18mm, not 18mm. Don't you just love those super fine point pens?
Whenever we're feeling disorganized, we head over to the Container Store to see what's new. This Bisley 5-Drawer Cabinet is perfect for a home office or a dorm room. It has five deep drawers, and it takes those Container Store Deep Drawer Inserts so you can organize all that makeup, paperclips and other stuff that's rattling around in your desk drawer now. It's also great if you do a lot of desktop publishing or informal invitations: you can keep the different kinds of paper in each drawer (We hate it when the photo paper gets mixed in with the laser paper or the inkjet paper.)
Best of all, it comes in a bunch of bright colors and retails for $99 at ContainerStore.com. We feel more organized just looking at it.
The Desk Apprentice
from Staples has sold, but the office supply chain promises that more are on the way. The Desk Apprentice became popular on Donald Trump's hit show, The Apprentice. Designed by Team Magna consisting of Craig, Kendra and Tana, Donald Trump praised The Desk Apprentice model during the show for its
"efficient consolidation of school and office supply storage." With
a 360-degree swivel base, The Desk Apprentice has custom-made
storage areas for many different kinds of office supplies. Hanging
file folders, scissors, staplers and notepads are among the
office supply items that can be stored in the organizer's compartments.
The one major downside of the organizer is that like many desk organizer products it is not attractive. But if the look of this desk organizer doesn't bother you then it might just come in handy.
Ties are making a comeback as a fashion item for men. Some of the
highest quality neckties can cost as much as $200. Jean Patteson
of the Orlando Sentinel reports that, "neckwear fell out of favor
during the dress-down 1990s, he says. That's when Casual Friday
morphed into Casual Everyday. Now the tide is turning."
The right tie is also essential in politics. Over the course of
the 2004 campaigns for president we saw George Bush and John Kerry
wearing red, blue and green ties. Ties are important in the
workplace too and you can no longer get away without wearing one.
The slacker days are over. You will not win any fashion points
but there are some good clip-on ties out there as well in stores
like JCPenney, Sears and Big & Tall Men's Wear according to The
Sentinel.
Office workers flocked online to make Memorial Day travel plans according to Nielsen//NetRatings. More than 19 million unique visitors, or 41 percent of active online office workers, visited an online travel site at work last week. Hotel site Marriott jumped 76 percent to more than 1.2 million unique visitors, as compared to 698,000 visitors during the previous week. Hilton surged 56 percent to 718,000 visitors. Yahoo! Travel drew 1.1 million office workers, growing 50 percent. Travelocity spiked 49 percent, attracting three million visitors. AOL Travel rose 41 percent to 911,000 visitors. Nearly 2.8 million visitors visited Orbitz.com, increasing 39 percent. TripAdvisor saw 798,000 unique visitors, rising 24 percent week-over-week. Rounding out the top ten fastest growing travel sites last week were American Airlines, MSN Maps & Directions, and Expedia.
The New York Daily News 
Bloomberg 
This is an interesting gadget and unique idea. It's a bit of a do-nothing but it might come in useful for someone who sits at a desk all day and needs more circulation then they are currently getting. The product is called the 
Tax time is just around the corner and if you don't use an accountant to do your returns, you can always do it yourself with TurboTax. It's easy to use: you just get all your information together and start entering. It connects to the Internet to check for updates, and has a nice override feature if you need to enter an unusual deduction that you need to enter directly on the return.
Calendars are hot items as the new year draws closer. This year one of the bestselling calendars is the 
To allow the customer to get a better appreciation of how the environment should be designed to properly show off a Bolon floor, the company provided sketches. The flooring is a high-tech woven vinyl that can take a lot of foot traffic and cleans up easily.
We're always up for some cool new refrigerator magnets and these new Tetrius magnets are just the thing to brighten up a dull refrigerator or any metal surface at your office. The word Tetrius is of Greek origin meaning "four" and will remind you of the arcade game classis, Tetris. Or, if you're not a gamer, they just look cool.
We'd heard about the world's thinnest ball point pen -- the Uni Signo Bit from Japan, but we'd never seen them in stores. The point of the pen is so tiny, you can write on a grain of rice (not that we've tried it, but that's the claim).
Whenever we're feeling disorganized, we head over to the Container Store to see what's new. This Bisley 5-Drawer Cabinet is perfect for a home office or a dorm room. It has five deep drawers, and it takes those Container Store Deep Drawer Inserts so you can organize all that makeup, paperclips and other stuff that's rattling around in your desk drawer now. It's also great if you do a lot of desktop publishing or informal invitations: you can keep the different kinds of paper in each drawer (We hate it when the photo paper gets mixed in with the laser paper or the inkjet paper.)
