I enjoyed the floor numbering signage at the new Boston ICA. Note that Braille lettering is integrated into the actual numeral displayed. It reminded me of a bar of soap I wrote about a while back. Such combinations of possibilities strike me as odd because they are two-in-ones and are essentially more but they feel like less. I guess it’s about how they are organize-ed.

My new limited edition shoe collaboration with Reebok will be launched on March 31, 2008. The new emoretion is my take on a Reebok classic Freestyle based upon the 7th law emotion: More emotions are better than less. To develop the emoretion I worked with Reebok to come up with 67 words that became the “style DNA” for these shoes — words like confident, genius, and fearless. FYI The first shoe I did with Reebok called “timetanium” was based upon the 3rd law time and sold out in 14 hours.

Whenever I travel, I am always on the lookout for the right kind of chocolate-as-a-gift. This is often a difficult choice as although the taste of the chocolate is certainly important, the packaging is often an important constraint as well. Tourist-focused chocolates might have a landmark imprinted on the package — say the Eiffel tower or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Finding the right degree of authenticity is one thing I seek.

For the above chocolate bar series I was drawn to the simplicity of the packaging style. The chocolate is clearly visible and a sticker is slapped onto the transparent sleeve. I felt it was an open approach first of all because the candy was not hidden behind gold foil or what-not. And in addition I sensed that the packaging process itself was one that took very little time either to conceive or execute. My takeaway was that freshness is supported by the illusion that thoughtful haste has been applied in presentation of an object.

On my recent visit to CEBit in Germany, I expected my hotel room to have the usual European sentiment of a chocolate candy on the pillow. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to see a USB thumbdrive in a bright pink box! I quickly wondered how many mega- or gigabytes were in this odd freebie, only to discover that it was a chocolate in disguise. Kilocals instead of kilobytes. Oh well.

If you are ever in Los Angeles and are looking for an omakase experience as I mention in LOS, I suggest you visit Sasabune’s in Los Angeles. Just say how much you have in your pocket, and the rest is left up to the Master. Trust me!

Recently I had the opportunity to engage in a public debate on the Economist.com with the brilliant Richard Szafranski on the topic “If the promise of technology is to simplify our lives, it is failing.” In my defense of innovation and technology I found a renewed optimism that I haven’t felt in quite a while. Mr. Szafranski pointed to some of the key issues of technology that we quite conveniently forget, and I was heartened to engage in his ideas. I do sincerely believe that the next phases of technology development will be for the better because we have no other choice really. Failure cannot be the accepted state for the future.