Cake Decoration is America's New National Pastime: What Does That Say About Us?

in case you hadn't noticed, there is a lot of frosting on TV these days. Should we be concerned?

Over at Design Observer, Jessica Helfand observes a sub-theme to the nightly onslaught of reality TV: "nearly half a dozen programs devoted to extreme displays of, well, frosting."

Between the Food Network's Ace of Cakes and Cupcake Wars, TLC's Cake Boss, Ultimate Cake-Off, and DC Cupcakes, and WE-TV's Amazing Wedding Cakes and Wedding Cake Wars, we are undoubtedly living in what Current TV calls, with only a tinge of sarcasm, "the golden age of cake television."

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Turning Disposable Nespresso Capsules into Batteries

"Nespresso Battery" places disposed espresso capsules, coffee grounds, salt water, and copper strips in little pots-and uses them to power clocks.

Human convenience and environmental conservation often find themselves at odds with each other. Consider the volume of garbage in our landfills, and the ease with which we tear through products whose names follow the word "disposable." That's what makes Mischer'Traxler's contribution to Vienna Design Week 2010, which they installed in the window of Nespresso Austria, so interesting.

The "Nespresso Battery" places disposed espresso capsules, coffee grounds, salt water, and copper strips in little pots, and turns them into batteries. Each collection of six pots powers a small clock. The entire installation runs a small stereo.