Posted by Catherine Faas

When U.S. president Barack Obama decided to give the oval office a new beige makeover (including a new presidential rug that pays homage to Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.), he probably wasn’t planning on the revamped design causing an uproar of sorts.

The rug features a quote, woven into the fabric, that Obama chose to represent Martin Luther King Jr. But the problem is, it’s not really a Martin Luther King Jr. quote.

"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

Those words actually belong to Theodore Parker, a long-gone Bostoniam champion of social progress. King would often paraphrase Parker, and frequently referred to him as a kindred spirit.

Whoops.

Full story at The Washington Post.

All the top political news.

Photo credit: Fotolia

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  Posted by Catherine Faas

According to the 5000 people polled for this year’s MT/Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) Index of Leadership Trust survey, forty-seven percent of people think their chief executive officer handled the impact of last year's recession either ‘very well’ or ‘quite well’. However, the most interesting finding the study yielded is that overall trust in female CEOs remains significantly higher than trust in male CEOs. CEOs were ranked by their employees’ confidence levels in their bosses’ ability to do their job, be honest, and act on principle.

Full story at Management Today.

More on leadership.

Photo credit: Fotolia

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  Posted by Annie Colbert

Looking for home decor that screams “grrrr” without the hassle of taxidermy and PETA activists? Consider two bear-friendly bear skin rug options that spice up your living room floor without shedding any blood.

The first comes from artist Lise Lefebvre who created “Bear Hunter,” a Persian rug molded to the shape of a fierce grizzly. The second option uses bags and bags of gummi bears pieced together into the bear skin rug shape to produce a deliciously unique look. Artist YaYa Chou created the sugary floor showpiece that should probably be avoided by people with an uncontrollable sweet tooth and anyone who lives in an area ripe with ants.

Via Neatorama and The Frisky.

Tons of cool design inspiration.

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  Posted by Catherine Faas

They say life imitates art, but since when do turtles imitate emoticons?

:D

O_O

’^’

See them all at BuzzFeed.

Love animals? So do we .

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  Posted by Annie Colbert

Pixar spends years developing its two-thumbs-up-quality animated feature films, so it surprised many movie insiders when the studio announced the cancellation of Newt, a flick already two years into development. The story of Earth's last two blue-footed newts was announced in 2008 with an expected release date of 2012, but Pixar has cancelled the film without much explanation. Rather than brush the entire project under the rug, the studio has posted artwork from the axed film on its Facebook page.

Full collection of images at Disney Pixar's Facebook page.

All the latest movie news.

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  Posted by Annie Colbert

Via Online Schools

More on religion.

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  Posted by Annie Colbert

Long before claiming a place as one of the most popular and bankable movie stars in the world, Harrison Ford worked as a carpenter and sometimes actor. In 1977, Ford sat down with longtime KXAS-TV reporter Bobbie Wygant to discuss an exciting new film called Star Wars. Maybe you’ve heard of it?

Via TDW.

More on Star Wars, lightsaber included.

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  Posted by Annie Colbert

Button overload! NASA offers a glimpse at the Space Shuttle Atlantis cockpit that, believe it or not, is the simplified redesign of an earlier dashboard. Hmm, where’s the brake?

Via Neatorama.

Blast off to the top space news.

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  Posted by Kate Rinsema

State troopers say, “No!” yet many Nevadans might not mind taking a gamble on safety for a small price. Gubernatorial candidate, Eugene “Gino” DeSimone, is proposing a twenty-five dollar fee that will allow drivers a twenty-four hour speeding pass. The vehicles of drivers would first have to pass a safety inspection then be fitted with a transponder before being able to purchase the right to speed up to ninety miles an hour. Why not just follow Pennsylvania’s lead and make everyone to get a yearly inspection in order to fill the state coffers?

Full story at Huliq.

More news from Nevada.

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  Posted by Kate Rinsema

If kicking back for a leisurely read of the paper was the way you kicked off this Labor Day, count yourself lucky; the person who delivered that paper and more than half of American workers have relegated enjoyment of a nine-to-five workday and perks like weekends and holidays to distant memory.

A study by the School of Social Service Administration (SSA) at the University of Chicago found that the new army of “involuntary part-time workers” – those who can not find full-time jobs or have had hours reduced due to drops in demand – are those most likely to fall through the cracks thanks to the few safety nets available to them. The trend is not solely the result of the recession, though, says Susan Lambert, associate professor at SSA: “”The recession is just highlighting changes in employment that have been going on for 30 years…Employers have found other ways to temp jobs without hiring temp workers.”

So, throw a “Have a good day,” to the grocery clerk ringing up your hot dog buns today and salt those sidewalks for the paper person this winter since, now more than ever, work is no picnic for many.

Full story at Live Science.

More on the recession.

Photo credit: Fotolia

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  Posted by Kate Rinsema

When Marisa Lynch faced the unemployment line last year, she decided to use her angst to turn frumpy to fabulous with the goal of renewing 365 dresses for just $1. Always a fan of the thrift shop and garage sale scene, she’s putting her seventh-grade home ec class and childhood of watching mom man the sewing machine to good use.

Inspired by the film Julie & Julia, her thrifty adventure has been documented at her website “New Dress a Day,” which features before and after shots, DIY instructions, and reactions to the debuts of her makeovers. The project will run until November 26th of this year at the very least, so feel free to drop in and follow the action as muumuus morph into mini-dresses and nighties are made fit for the night-life.

Full story at Yahoo! Green.

Tons of stylish news and views.

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  Posted by BBC Earth Life Is

See and download the full gallery on posterous

The extraordinary “common” basilisk lizard is known as the Jesus Christ Lizard for its astounding ability to literally run on water.

Amazingly, they run upright, on their hind legs at a speed of around five feet per second, almost as fast as they travel on four legs on land.

Read the full story at the BBC Earth Blog.

There’s more fantastic nature stories, videos and images at BBC Earth—Life Is.

And check out BBC Earth on Facebook and Twitter.

Love animals? So do we.

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  Posted by Noelle Chun

Meet some of the latest in plant technology: pots. These useful plant containers featured in a Dwell slideshow can fight root rot, enhance drainage, and even glow at night. See above, the stunning Design Night from Portland, a flower and herb pot that provides several outlets for small plants to sprout all over the planter. Did we mention that the pots are also pretty as they are functional?

Full slideshow at Dwell.

More tips and tricks for gardening.

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  Posted by Noelle Chun

Rebranding is not a simple affair. In graphic design alone, costs can include the logo and stationary design, package and label design, website design, and marketing campaign design, according to Graphic Design Blog. For some companies, this has meant exorbitant costs. Graphic Design Blog has rounded up eight famous brand makeovers which dug deep into pockets. They include:

Full story at Graphic Design Blog.

Stay on top of the latest in design.

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  Posted by Noelle Chun

This house in Shimane, Japan, uses an innovative take on how roofs are designed: the roof is made of a climbable staircase. Looking close to a section of a stadium, the house is known as Kaidannoie—that is, Stairs House.

Full story at Hometone.com.

More inspiring architecture.

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  Posted by Annie Colbert

Looking to avoid junk in the trunk, spare tires, and muffintops during the first year of college shenanigans? Either take a couple minutes to watch an informative clip from HowCast or just follow the simple, three-word rule: Don’t Eat Crap.

Via BuzzFeed.

More on nutrition.

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  Posted by Noelle Chun

Talk about cutting edge. Web Urbanist rounded up 25 examples of intense hairstyles.

Check out all 25 at Web Urbanist.

All sorts of web oddities.

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  Posted by Kate Rinsema

When Victor Peraza left behind his two little girls forty-one years ago, the last thing he expected was a deathbed reunion. That is exactly what happened, though, when his estranged daughter, Wanda Rodriguez, turned up as his hospice nurse in a Bronx hospital. Instead of recriminations and regrets, they are enjoying their first and last memories together simultaneously.

Full story at MSNBC.

Only good news.

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  Posted by Noelle Chun

A good logo can send your brand a long way. Learn about what makes an effective logo design by recognizing 12 design pitfalls outlined by graphic design blogger Jacob Cass. Here are just two:

• Too complex, too abstract: Simple logos are more memorable as they allow for easier recognition; however, for a logo to be memorable and stand apart from the crowd, it must have something unique about it, without being too overdrawn. Not only does simplicity make a logo more memorable, but it also makes the logo more versatile, meaning it can work over more mediums. For example, a logo should work on something the size of a postage stamp and on something as large as a billboard. Don’t make your logo too abstract either.
• Relying on special effects or color: If a logo requires color or special effects to make it a strong logo, it’s not a strong logo. To get around this, work in black and white first and then add the special effects or color later. This allows you to focus on the shape and concept rather than the special effects. Don’t use drop shadows, embossing, or other layer styles to gloss up logos—a good logo will stand on its own. You can also make different variations of a logo to ensure it works in colour or grey scale.

Full story at Just Creative Design.

More design tips and tricks.

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  Posted by Annie Colbert

Straight from the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film collections, one of the earliest samples of color motion picture film. This four-and-a-half-minute clip was shot in 1922 at the Paragon Studios in Fort Lee, New Jersey and features perfectly pale actress Mae Murray along with fellow performing divas Hope Hampton and Mary Eaton. To put this amazing footage in perspective, take note that the first full length feature film didn’t hit theaters until thirteen years after this footage was shot.

Full story at Kodak.

More on filmmaking.

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