Kids toys need to be two things to pass muster, durable and quiet. These blocks look mighty quite unless there is a hidden compartment for batteries I’m missing, and they also fulfill the hidden third category of an educational plus. The only real question i would have is about durability. can the water compartments take a three year old with a good arm?

I love the simplicity of the design and the classic shapes. they hit all of the right buzz words of the day. Made from sustainable rubberwood, in Thailand. Its not so much that Thailand is an advantageous place t do business but its not china, which has a whole ton of bad press about kids toys and disregard for product safety.

I’m almost tempted to buy them for school as they perfectly illustrate additive color theory. However at $39.99 I think they will be a wonderful example from afar. 6 blocks for 40 dollars breaks down to just over $6.67 per block, and that’s might pricey.

Via OhGizmo!

Tags: blocks, color theory, fun, geek toys, tech, Toys

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Today’s Show:  Lego, Design, Color Theory, Adopt a Newb Day, Jobs, robots, photoshop, Mario, nesting dolls, energy drinks, sugar

Tonight’s show is shortened because I’m pretty sure everyone was outside enjoying the weekend. At least were the CaffiNation makes its lair, in Sunny Philadelphia. The family unplugged as a whole and took the city by storm, so everyone here is just plain plumb tuckered out. Tonight’s show takes only the best content and the funniest links from my travels the past couple of days online.

Consider this a small sampling of the awesomeness available. But we do have a ton of great little design tips and applications. We are taking this opportunity to announce Adopt a Newb Day 2009, a day dedicated to the idea of giving a little tech love to those less all knowing than you.  More to come in the next couple of days about this holiday and as always check back for some interesting articles on tap this week as well.

As always Enjoy the show and Stay Caffeinated!

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visit www.gotomeeting.com/techpodcasts

• Store now open, CaffiNation Outpost
• Back Channel: All the Cruft, non of the Chaff
  
• Web Presence Index www.paulrjmuller.com

Follow Along with us as we talk about…

• Blog Design Guide: Part 1 the Colors
• Adopt a Newb Day 2009 is coming! 4th Annual
• Last years Adopt a Newb was quite fun
• LaidOff Camp? Interesting Idea, not one in Philly yet

Geek Cruft

• I ain’t afraid of no Retro, T shirt
• Old School looking Robot, flash drive
• Robot Stacking Toy, is awesome fun
• Robots to teach our young? and they can get freaky angry
• Legos build Themselves a Millennium Falcon
• Incredibly expensive Photoshop and Illustrator menu Magnets
• Free and Awesome Periodic Table of Shortcuts CS3, found via
• Mario Nesting Dolls

Consumable & Caffeinated Bits

• Pepsi throwback, sugar is back
• DIY Booze Creation, possibly
• Anti Energy Drink?  Sounds pretty interesting
• My take on energy drinks, revisited

Thanks and Stay Caffeinated People

Tags: adopt a newb day, color theory, cs3, Design, Energy Drinks, illustrator, Jobs, Lego, Mario, nesting dolls, photoshop, robot, robot teacher, robot toys, sugar

So now you have  a blog with a great new theme, you even managed to change the header color to something you really like you are at a bit of a loss from there. Some graphic designers out there might try to kill me for writing this article but it has to be done. Not everyone has the budget for a professional graphic designer, not everyone even knows someone who is good with web design. But that doesn’t mean your content should suffer being ignored because of it.

Part 1 the Basics:

Color Choices:

When you start your blog or a redesign you might want to spend a couple of minutes considering what colors you would like to have included in the overall design of your site. Do you have a favorite color? how do you want your site perceived? Better men and women than I have spent years studying color and its affects on the human brain, but that doesn’t mean you need to. Bright active hues can make the site friendly, cool calm hues can make your site invoke a relaxed feel. With the CaffiNation I tried to pick colors that both relaxed, and gave a gentle reminder of coffee / tea with milk in it. Even though I prefer my beverages black the color of cup of coffee with cream in it is a subtle way of connecting to people via the design of the site. A cup of dark, rich black coffee is very hard to differentiate from black and is a bit too bold for how I wanted the site to appear. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: blod design guidelines, blog design, blog design guide, blog design help, Caffination, color pallete, color theory, graphic design