遭NBA禁用的球鞋─Load’N Launch

遭NBA禁用的球鞋─Load’N Launch:

怎麼樣的球鞋才會遭到NBA(美國職籃)禁用的命運？在NBA史上，由籃球大帝喬丹(Michael
Jordan)所代言，讓Nike從此崛起的首代Air
Jordan，是第一款遭NBA下令「嘗試」禁用的籃球鞋，理由則是「顏色太過鮮豔」，然而喬丹與Nike還是決定，每場比賽繳交5000美元的罰款繼續上場。事實證明，這筆「宣傳費」花得很值得，Air
Jordan成了延續超過20代的「傳奇」，甚至到喬丹本人退休了，Air Jordan卻還是繼續為Nike賺進大把的銀子。

Load’N Launch則是第二雙獲此NBA「殊榮」的球鞋。和其前輩不同，Load’N
Launch被禁用的原因要合理的多─不正當的競爭優勢(undue competitive
advantage)。不像現存的運動鞋商都是在「腳跟」上下工夫，Load’N Launch的開發者Athletic Propulsion
Labs，其24歲的雙胞胎創辦人Adam與Ryan
Goldston認為，腳掌才是「彈力」的關鍵，於是他們的球鞋便朝這個方向設計。當穿著Load’N
Launch起跳，在腳掌的「彈簧」設計部分施力後，能量會均勻分布至貫穿整雙鞋的柄狀橡膠系統，將著鞋者向上「推進」，最後的成果就是─Load’N
Launch平均幫穿著者，較一般籃球鞋提高了3英吋(約8公分)左右的彈跳高度。

的確是相當「不正當的競爭優勢」。不過，之後發生的事，Load’N Launch倒跟Air
Jordan有異曲同工之處─NBA的禁令都變相成為兩者最佳的行銷手法，在NBA當局宣布這個消息後，接下來7天的每一天，Load’N
Launch的銷售量都較上個月整月的銷售量還多。

Adam與Ryan
Goldston價值195美金的籃球鞋，只不過是兩兄弟的開始，明年年初，他們預計要推出以類似技術研發的跑鞋，目標當然是從「高度」改成「速度」─不知道美國田徑(USA
Track & Field)對此作何感想？

來源：Bloomberg
Businessweek

第二屆Mobile ArtCon即將在紐約舉辦！

第二屆Mobile ArtCon即將在紐約舉辦！:

David Scott Leibowitz, USA

iAMDA（國際移動數位藝術家組織）在去年第一屆Mobile ArtCon之後，現在又準備在紐約舉行第二屆Mobile ArtCon了。

Mobile ArtCon去年有超過兩百個國家的藝術家參加，而今年也會有更多贊助商，例如Brushes、Autodesk、Art Rage等。而在第一天iAMDA也舉辦了「ArtCrawl」活動，讓大家在紐約的三個站點接受繪畫、攝影、電影等各方面的啟發。

目前第二屆Mobile ArtCon預計在9月30日到10月2日間舉辦，到時大家根本不用去猜會有多少台iPhone & iPad出現⋯⋯

via ARTCRAWL NYC and iAMDA and MobileArtCon

相關文章：

Google將以125億美金收購Motorola Mobility，並瞬間擁有17,000項專利。

AT&T將以390億美金收購T-Mobile USA。

中國移動將在今年9月發售iPhone 5？

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Check Out This Creepy Han Solo Carbonite Case

Check Out This Creepy Han Solo Carbonite Case:

In the vast universe of Star Wars merchandise, there exists a sizable subgenre called Han Solo Carbonite. Another variation is Han Solo Encased in Carbonite. The point is there’s an endless line of both official and fan-made merch depicting dear old Han in his carbonite prison. In our opinion, it’s one of the worst pieces of movie memorabilia, an awful sculpture whose details have gone awry. But it’s hyper-popular in many places.

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Original Story Check Out This Creepy Han Solo Carbonite Case

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Parasound Zphono USB Preamplifier Helps Turn Old Vinyl and More into Digital Tracks

Parasound Zphono USB Preamplifier Helps Turn Old Vinyl and More into Digital Tracks:

If you have a big collection of music on vinyl records, cassette tapes, or CDs that you want to get onto your digital audio player easily, but with great quality the Zphono USB is the product. This thing is a preamplifier that has been designed to connect to your PC via USB and allow for analog to digital music conversion. The device has an A-D converter and will work with Mac and PC computers.

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Original Story Parasound Zphono USB Preamplifier Helps Turn Old Vinyl and More into Digital Tracks

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Sleep On the Moon With Moon Shaped Floor Pillow

Sleep On the Moon With Moon Shaped Floor Pillow:

Since pillows and mattresses are just boring, it falls upon designers to reinvent the medium, so to speak. Seen bellow is a full moon being slept on by a model. It’s not a camera trick or some artist’s fevered vision. It’s a collaborative project between Lili Suh and Chin Wei Loon. The latter is an astrophotographer and multiple frames of the moon surface that he photogrpahed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were used to piece together the giant pillow.

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Original Story Sleep On the Moon With Moon Shaped Floor Pillow

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13 Year Old Uses Fibonacci Sequence To Increase Solar Panel Efficiency By 50 Percent

13 Year Old Uses Fibonacci Sequence To Increase Solar Panel Efficiency By 50 Percent:

Aidan Dwyer is just 13 years of age, but has been able to use the Fibonacci Sequence to increase the efficiency of solar panels yielding 50 percent more with his new design than a standard flat solar panel.

Aidan had a eureka moment while hiking in the Catskills and was intrigued by the patterns tree branches produce. After a more in-depth look he discovered that the branches of the trees were created using the Fibonacci sequence 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, …**

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Original Story 13 Year Old Uses Fibonacci Sequence To Increase Solar Panel Efficiency By 50 Percent

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Chinese Geniuses Have An Idea For Deflecting Scary Apophis Asteroid

Chinese Geniuses Have An Idea For Deflecting Scary Apophis Asteroid:

What a team of physicists from Tsinghua University plan to do is launch a small solar-sail powered spacecraft to intercept the asteroid and smash it off course. The tiny details involving such a hair-raising operation are still vague, which is understandable. For starters, who’ll build the spaceship?

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Original Story Chinese Geniuses Have An Idea For Deflecting Scary Apophis Asteroid

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