Here are some of the best. (A few are classics, like Kevin Mitnick’s; others are new to me.)

Also, you might have a look at this great card — ready to assemble into a working Blue Box! If you don’t know what a Blue Box is, yet, then your adventure has just begun.

When I see a truly great business card, I always feel the urge to redesign my own. Hah. The shoemaker’s children go barefoot; the graphic designer never gets their own card printed. I’m always planning great cards… Good thing I got out of design, or I’d never have gotten some of my own.

From a consistently fascinating blog, Arthur Shapiro’s Illusion Sciences. Illusion Sciences isn’t in the class of trick pictures you looked at in a 6th-grade science unit; it explores what makes the mind interpret (and mis-interpret) images. Take a look at the site. You’ll be surprised.

Click on the image to go to the Illusion Sciences site, where the image is active:

Ischia. The newest Motorola handset to clear FCC certification. Good grief, who thought of “Ischia”? How do they plan to pronounce it?

Being medically-minded, I look at that brand name and think instantly: Ischemia.

(Ischemia: A decrease in the blood supply — and therefore oxygen flow — to an organ, tissue, or body part. Ischemia is often associated with tissue destruction or death.)

An ischemic limb might be blue or black… you get the point. “Ischia” is not evoking pretty pictures in my mind.

The only other word that comes to mind is eschar (eschar: a necrotic mass of tissue).

Ew.

[via Crave]

The LG Electronics’ Viewty phone (a.k.a. KU990) is looking very, very sweet. Is it a perfect mobile device? Well, I haven’t met one yet. But I am looking forward to playing around with Viewty. (Note to LGE marketing department: consider new product name.)

Here’s a nice mini-site dedicated to the Viewty. Be prepared for up to a minute of loading time on a DSL connection. Someone at LG has a sense of humor: where the internet browser’s panning function is demonstrated (”Full Internet Browsing”), the screen pauses briefly over a bright red link that reads: “iPhone owner sues Apple for $1 million”. LOL.

(Screen-shot image sharpened for clarity.) 

Might the Viewty actually convince me to transfer my cell phone love from Nokia? Despite the name, I’m seriously thinking that this may be my next daily-use phone, and I’m not the only one. The test will be to see how it is as a phone per se phone, given the lack of tactile buttons (the touch screen does provide haptic feedback). I’ll be telling those who ask that I’m carrying a KU990, though. “Viewty”? You must be kidding.

Whoddathunk?

(left, sign imitating the Bar Ilan trademark; right, an authorized Bar Ilan taxi sign) 

Taxis in Israel are required to be registered with the Ministry of Transportation, but they are essentially individual operators. Taxi “companies” are made up of independent drivers who pay a monthly fee in exchange for being included in the dispatch system of that company, plus the right to display the company sign in the front windshield.

In the last 15 years, that company sign has become more important, imparting a sense of trust and accountability. Many Israelis — and even more tourists — avoid non-affiliated taxis, for fear of inadvertently hailing an unregistered or unsafe taxi.

It’s not unusual for drivers unassociated with a company to have a one-off sign printed for themselves, with their name (or “company” name, like “Shema Yisrael Taxis”) and phone number on them. The theory is that the person hailing a taxi is likely to see only that there is a sign, not will not see what is written on the sign until after the taxi has gotten quite close, and the implicit agreement to take the fare is made. For the most part, that is quite true.

This is not especially about Arab vs. Israeli drivers, since many reputable taxi companies include both Arab and Israeli drivers (examples include Davidka Taxis and Rehavia Taxis).

One of the two largest taxi groups in Jerusalem is Bar Ilan taxis (they enroll Israeli drivers only). They are easily distinguished by a trapezoidal orange sign reading “Bar Ilan”, under which is the taxi call number, then the office phone number. Recently, they have also added flags on their roofs.

I have a couple of times seen a taxi using the sign of a defunct but reputable company. Today, though, I rode in a truly “counterfeit” taxi (click on image above for greater detail). The yellow trapezoidal sign reads:

Bar Alon Taxi

01

[cell phone number]

The sign clearly is meant to imply membership in the Bar Ilan group. Also, despite the imitative “BS”D” on his sign (an acronym for “with the help of Heaven”, common on documents of religious Jews), he was clearly an Arab. The driver also did not have the taxi owner’s and driver’s ID information posted in the car’s interior — a violation of the law.

Update:

According to Bar Ilan Taxis, the matter has been previously reported, and is under investigation by the police.

Seen in Jerusalem:

Seen in Newark Liberty Airport