Cool ideas

Someone sent me a link to this site – Cool ideas

There’s some good stuff here – check it out!

Order hot tea in any Western-style restaurant, and it will be served to you in something with a handle, usually either or . Order the same cup of tea in any Eastern-style restaurant, and it will almost always be served in something without a handle, perhaps or . The Western mind thinks, “The handle is useful; it keeps me from burning my fingers.” The Eastern mind thinks, “The handle is dangerous; if the cup is too hot to pick up, it’s too hot to drink from.” These cups represent an interesting compromise; they have the aesthetic quality of Japanese tea cups, but the insulating utility of Western mugs.

This is the “Toro” tissue ring, designed by Scott Christensen, available through the Museum of Modern Art. It not only solves the tacky cardboard tissue-box problem, it does so substantially (unlike a tissue-box cover, which is only a superficial treatment) and minimally. The weight of the ring secures the stack of tissues in place, while the shape of the ring allows the tissues to be withdrawn from the stack one at a time.

This coffee-height table, designed by Keith Kaar Ckayton, features a large refillable pad of paper as the top surface. Draw, doodle, or eat on the thing; a clean surface is only one torn sheet away.

What’s your cool idea?