When I used to say alarm clocks were the bane of my existence.

The best alarm clock ever. Brilliant. Great design. Period.

Out of a project named Strangely Familiar, a collection of domestic devices redesigned to provide simpler, more meaningful and poetic interactions.

Great ideas seem to always come out of those people who went to Savannah College of Art and Design.

In the evening, after you\’ve set the alarm, the glowing Sfera gradually dims and the music fades as you drift off to sleep. When the alarm chimes in the morning, you must reach up and tap the Sfera to silence it. Which triggers the snooze function and makes the alarm rise higher. As it slowly rises away from your reach, you must stretch higher each time to gain another ten minutes of snooze.

My originality has been in the decline lately. So when I came across 5ives.com, I was inspired to make my own of…feez.com, since my life often revolves around the number three (ever seen me buy apples or tomatoes? ever seen me take a scoop of anything? ever seen me choose a row to sit in? usually in multiples of three.)

Then I realized that was totally unoriginal. 5ives.com is a collection of 5 items. Every single entry, at its core funny and true. And most likely very relevant the people in Merlin\’s life. And obviously, he stole it from Letterman. Right?

Three Ways I Waste Time Every Day

  1. staring at myself in the mirror
  2. clicking on itunes and playing the same song over and over again even though I have it on shuffle
  3. Facebook

Three Reasons to be in the CMU Mhci program

  1. Go to CHI. For Free. Almost.
  2. Think-aloud videos in Methods. I guarantee it.
  3. Because it\’s CMU, duh! And you get to work with all these wonderful people!

Three People That I Can Leech For a Ride Because I Don\’t Own a Car in Pittsburgh

  1. Ray
  2. Sam
  3. Andy

I feel like someone is missing for some reason…

Three Careers That I Was Seriously Thinking of Pursuing At One Point In My Life In College

  1. flight attendant
  2. meter maid
  3. bum sucking money out of my parent\’s pockets

Something Jason sent awhile to the mac geeks he knows in the mhci program: Cool Mac Apps. I am always looking for a way to show off OSX. I mean, seriously does Windows have anything as great as SubEthaEdit (a collaborative editing tool)?

mp3 blogs, the next wave.

I have the entire SWSX file, over 1000+ songs from the music artists that played at SWSX this year. Yes it\’s all legal. And yet.

Music lifts my mood. Nowadays, I bury myself in music to drive away the stress. To block noise. I trip over myself on the street. Listen to Keane. Feeling a little angsty? Listen to Piebald. Feeling very reflective and introspective? A dash of Howard Shore and Hans Zimmer. Boy rejects me. Endochine will clean that right up.

It\’s hard for me to find new music nowadays. Back in the day, I knew people who would share their music taste. Then as a result, I would discover at least 5 new groups per month. But now it has dwindled. I get bored of my latest favorites (The Arcade Fire, The Wedding Present). I want to hear more of Parker House and Theory. I want more of Scissor Sisters. More of Muse. More of Stereophonics. More of something good. My ipod, aptly named Nyx the goddness of night, wants some loving. Recommend me music!