moma

My greatest literary love has always been for books that teach me something I don't know. At this point, most books that fit this description are the types of nonfiction books on the Times best seller lists, but some of my favorite all-time books came from the Klutz series.

The Klutz series of books consisted of instruction manuals that were attached to the fun toys the manuals described how to use. A cat's cradle picture book came with a set of fancy strings, a how-to yo-yo set came with a brand new yo-yo, and one of my personal … Read more

I grew up loving to take my toys apart to discover how they worked. I ended up later majoring in a field of study that put me in a machine shop several times a week, giving me a formal setting for undertaking this kind of hands-on work. Somewhere along the way, I developed a love for cooking and an appreciation for food, something that diverged from the hobbies in which several of my friends were involved (restoring cars, carpentry, computer rebuilding, you get the picture).

It's not very often that I come across a kitchen gadget that appeals to … Read more

It's back-to-school time, so we here at the CNET appliance blog are on a bit of a lunch-box jag. But who can blame us? The lunch box is one of the most ubiquitous education accessories; it's always been functional, but maybe now it can be awesome, too.

If no other lunch box has been able to satisfy your child's artistic interest, you might consider the one the Museum of Modern Art's is offering: the Modern Kids Lunch Tote. It's a soft, zippered lunch box, with lots of mesh compartments to hold drinks and snacks. It'… Read more

The legendary Museum of Modern Art in midtown Manhattan just got a bit more...modernized.

MoMA announced Monday that it has installed a museum-wide Wi-Fi network so that visitors can access a mobile Web site on handheld devices with HTML browsers, which basically means Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. They can then load up audio tours and commentary; content is available in eight languages as well as in specialized versions for children, teenagers, and the visually impaired.

It's not clear whether the museum Wi-Fi will also let visitors access the Web as a whole, or just the internal … Read more

LaCie is a tech company that understands design and marketing. Even though it's in the business of computer peripherals and components--products that don't exactly scream glamour on their own--it's never shy to apply its creative notions to items as diverse as speakers and USB hubs. But the company may have truly outdone itself with its latest effort, finding beauty in the most unlikely of subjects: an external hard drive.

The "Golden Disk" could easily be sitting in a modern art display somewhere, a "sleek, liquid-inspired device" in a reflective case created by French … Read more

There have been some decidedly ugly speakers created for portable devices, particularly by phone makers as they continue to evolve their handsets into music devices. But the winning form for speakers in all portable categories may eventually come from within their ranks: the clamshell.

Not unlike the hinged design seen in a pair of LG speakers made for Verizon recently, a version for MP3 players offered by the MoMA Store folds up neatly into what looks remarkably like--big surprise--a clamshell phone. The $28 speakers connect to the media player with a standard 3.5mm stereo plug, according to GeekAlerts, but … Read more

The wood look is definitely in. It's one thing to see sylvan casings for computers, TVs, cameras and even iPod cases, but it's officially a trend now that it's worked its way down to the lowly calculator. Like its recently featured wooden laptop tote, MoMA says the calculator is made from "ecologically thinned Japanese cedar," according to Uncrate. And if you environmentalists out there are concerned about felling trees, you can at least take some comfort in the fact that it's powered by solar energy.

It's only a matter of time before phones join the alternative-energy trend in earnest, and some companies are already trying to get out front with designs before the onslaught begins. ModeLabs, for one, has released three concept designs for mobile phones that use renewable and kinetic energy, according to Electronista: The wearable "YoYo" (kinetic energy from bouncing around the neck); the "U-Turn" (energy from opening and closing the keyboard, and the "Runaway" (to be worn on the wrist and recharge itself like a self-winding watch). We have only one question: Why wait for … Read more