In the conference room at the place where I work there’s this really cool old mouse pad. Very retro.
The other day I got the idea that it could make a good desktop background for the computer. If you like the worn out look, then this might be for you.
Right click and save — 1440 x 900
(If you ask nicely I might make some other sizes too)
Just over a week ago, some dude in our building burned something on his stove because he forgot it while gettng high. The pot melted and set off the fire alarm causing all the tenants to be evacuated. I was at work at this time, so I didn’t have to stand outside and freeze my butt off while the firemen tried to get the dude to let them in — yes, he refused to let the firemen inside.
After about an hour all the tenants were let back inside.
Now, something similar happened two floors down. The fire alarm went off and we all had to get out. Right in the middle of having dinner. This time the emergency was over in about 15 minutes and we were all let back in rather quickly.
This is how our fire alarm sounds. It’s great.
My buddy Fredrik, who runs Theshape.se and digs a lot at his backyard trails, has summed up the events from his summer in Sweden like this:
Another video by Badjo. From the Simple team’s recent trip in Sweden.
Previously: Roskilde Demos
Today, we are going to discuss exactly what makes a new product just that — a new product. And by “discuss”, I mean that I will write a (semi) long rant about it and maybe even get a comment or two.
I’m taking on this subject inspired by my current Facebook status that reads: “Jimmy Röstlund still amused and amazed that new colorways for BMX parts are considered “new products” for some companies…”
A few hours after posting that status I started to think a little about what actually constitutes a new product. Is it really enough to change a color or two and then you magically, with minimum to no effort, have a “new” product to offer? In my opinion — no!
To me, a new product is preceeded by some considerable time of development and design rather than just randomly flipping through your set of Pantone swatches picking some pretty colors. This old thing you want to sell can’t just be dipped in a different bucket of paint and instantly be considered completely new when really, the only thing that has changed is how the spectrum of light is dispersed and/or absorbed by the surface of the item — by means of applying a coat of a color compound developed and sold by someone else. Undoubtedly, this must be enough to count as a full time job, right?
Technically, from the view of handling stock, a new color could be considered a new product since it has to take up a new stock code I can hear some people say to this. Although a color option is something that would be more likely to be defined by a sub-category in a stock handling system and therefore not a product on its own, just as left or right hand drive specific hubs or cranks are different versions of the same product.
I don’t see, for example, car manufacturers referring to their different color options as separate products. Hell, not even the different options for engine/extras/interior are said to make it a separate product. You have a make, a model and options within the model category. Easy as that.
So what about t-shirt companies? Are all their tees “old products” since the concept of a t-shirt has already been around for so long? Not really. For a t-shirt it is the print that matters. Which means that every new print can be called a new product. If the same print is offered in different colors or printed on different color tees — that is the definition of a variation. The same goes for bike parts — if the color changes, it is a colorway, not a new product in itself.
I think I’ve made my point, but here’s the conclusion:
Offer as many different colors of your products as you like. But don’t flatter yourself and call the most recent colorway “a new product” — not even when this new colorway is offered mid-season or in limited numbers.
This BMX video is one of my all time favorites, along with UGP’s “Face Value”, Ride US Magazine’s “Thunder” and the Little Devil videos and many others that are too many to mention. “Home of the Brave” however is the one that really stands out and gives off that great vibe that BMX can give you.
Now it’s been posted on Vimeo, found the link on Fit Bike Co’s blog and it’s probably been posted all over the place alredy. But here you go. Anthem — “Home of the Brave”:
Embedded vimeo clip
Nevermind this. The video has been taken down.
Related: Anthem 2
Made another rendering of the tricycle posted a couple of days ago. On this one you can see the “Simple Bike Co” text more clearly and the nice wood grain shows up better.
… for Simple that is.
As seen on TheComeUp, the gossip rag of the BMX sponsorship world:
Dan Foley On Premium.
Someone hit me up about this the other day but now it’s confirmed. Here’s Allan Cooke’s explanation. LOL @ the bold part:“Premium is stoked to announce the newest member of the team is none other than Dan Foley. If you have never heard of him you are dumb. He has style that can’t be taught and is envied by all. I was talking with a few guys on the team and Dan’s name came up, it was a no brainer to me because not only is Dan a Magician on a bike he is one of the nicest dudes ever. The team is looking so good, I can’t wait to get everyone on the road together this fall.”
Oh and of course this means he’s no longer riding for Simple.
A few weeks ago my good friend Niels @ Simple Bike Co. had his first child with his wife Nadia. It’s a healthy boy named Malte and these news have already been posted on the net before.
I had this idea for a bit of an unconventional gift and I started drawing. It was a little more than halfway done when I had that interview over on BMX-tec, so a preview of the finished image was posted there.
Now it’s 100% finished and I wanted to take the opportunity to post it here, along with my warmest congratulations to Niels, Nadia and Malte. Here you go, a brand new tricked out tricycle. Click for bigger.
The official results from the park contest that was held at the Skogås Bikepark in Sweden this weekend are in. Well known names top the Senior Park results, not-so-known names top the Junior Park and Dirt results.
Senior Park (16 and over):
1 — Adrian Malmberg, Stockholm (Hedemora). Simple Bikes, Rockstar, Carhartt, Childstore.
2 — Stefan Lantschner, Bolzano Italien. FlyBikes, Carhartt, Nike 6.0, Eastpak, Frontocean BMX, Fakie shop.
3 — Javier Ortega, Malaga Spanien. FlyBikes, Etnies, VinylBMX, Golden days tattoo studio.
Junior Park (15 and under):
1 — Jacob Nedler, Uppsala.
2 — Victor Helmersson, Sandviken.
3 — Jesper “Jeppa” Larsson, Söderköping.
Dirt :
1 — Filip Gustavsson, Märsta.
2 — Johan “Surfarn” Thorhard, Stockholm.
3 — Victor Helmersson, Sandviken.