TUKAANI is Finnish for the toucan bird species. The sterling silver TUKAANI is a hand made eating device for Asian food consumers in the West. It may be held as traditional chopsticks. But unlike the disposable wooden chopsticks, TUKAANI is both machine and hand washable and much easier to set on – and use at table. The matt surface and taut movement allow steady grip in the hand. The curl at the end of the TUKAANI provides eased food picking and delivery to the mouth. The loop also allows easier hanging, storage and display. The Toucan's bill provided inspiration for this cutlery project.

TechCrunch: BuzzHubb is best summarized as bringing the utility of next-gen Yahoo Groups to the mobile college student, but done in a creative, lightweight manner. The first fundamental element of BuzzHubb is that it establishes boundaries around the university campus - you can only join a school’s BuzzHubb community if you are part of the school (a great concept that Facebook championed). Once you have joined, you can join existing Hubbs, or quickly establish your own.

College students have complex, sometimes overlapping social group relationships. BuzzHubb makes communicating with those groups simple and engaging. A Hubb is a group of individuals who can share group messages quickly and easily from their phone, the web, or their social network. There are several types of Hubbs: Broadcast Hubbs, where you join, but there is a single author (e.g, the campus sports blog), Invitation-only Hubbs, where an existing member needs to invite you to join (a study group, a team, a special interest group) and all can contribute, and Open Hubbs, where anyone on campus can join and contribute (e.g., Obama 2008).

BuzzHubb: A Better College Social Network [TechCrunch]

Alaska Journal of Commerce: Alaskan shippers will have a new way to keep goods fresh with a container called the TEDSBOX that is being manufactured in Anchorage by an Alaskan based company.

Designed and built at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport by Tednologies, Inc. the TEDSBOX container's trademarked name stands for Tracking, Environmental, and Deviation System.

The developer, Don Harman, president and CEO of Tednologies, Inc. spent two years and $400,000 designing, and building the container that he hopes will save money by offering the cool/hot container that will cut down on spoilage while perishables are being shipped.

Harman's idea was to provide a better container for shipping foods, flowers, fish and pharmaceuticals. The company slogan covers its uses “from boat to throat and from farm to fork.”

“We shipped perishables like eggs, yogurt and produce over to Emmonak, and on the return trip we brought back a load of king salmon shipped by KwikPak,” Harman added. The test shipment used dry ice for cooling and performed well, as expected according to previous tests, said Harman.

Anchorage entrepreneur offers new cool/hot container [Alaska Journal of Commerce]

Kevin Kelly - Cool Tools: For anyone requiring reading glasses intermittently, these specs are heaven sent! The frame breaks in the front and clicks together once resting on your nose by way of two magnets. When not in use, they stay out of the way -- the glasses have a hard frame 'loop' that slips around your neck. As soon as you need them, you reach down and pull them up into place. I've tried lanyards -- they get caught on your seat belt strap and tangeled around your collar. I've tried my pocket -- they fall out. Nothing seemed to work, so I ended up buying eight or ten pair of cheap glasses and leaving them all over: habitat, car, at work, etc. CliCs are a wonderful way to avoid all that clutter.

-Dennis Brittain

CliC Readers (manufactured by CliC) costs $29 and are available from Amazon.

CliC Readers [Kevin Kelly - Cool Tools]

A new medical trend with the potential for huge impact is the brilliant innovation by Chris Holden, which can completely alter the drug administration procedures worldwide. The medidome has all of the essential parameters needed to eliminate all the fears, discomforts, complications and contamination dangers of the standard medical injections.

The medidome comes in two variations, both of which are disposable and beautifully designed.

The first one, Needle medidome, is a disposable needle based injection, which can reduce injuries and human errors, as well as speed up the injection process so that more people can be treated in less time. It is far less intimidating than a regular needle and can be used for pediatric purposes. Also, it is most useful for self-injections, first-aid kits and military and army field based injections. Probably the greatest advantage is the potential for mass immunization required in developing countries where the possibility of contracting the HIV virus can be easily obliterated.

The second one, Absorption medidome, administers absorption-based drugs by using a unique slow release design. This too, has a great many advantages. There is absolutely no syringe sharing which eliminates the contraction of HIV. It also particularly facilitates the administration of slow-release painkillers and children's antibiotics.

The incredibly long list of medidome benefits can only indicate that it will soon become the most prominent drug-administration aid worldwide. We sure do hope.

TrendsSpotting.com is a trends agency focused on developing exciting tools for Trend Spotting. We follow current trends and are constantly looking for new ones. We specialize in trends research and the social media. Dr. Taly Weiss, TrendsSpotting CEO, is a Social Psychologist, with extensive experience in branding strategy and marketing research. Feel free to explore our trend spotting tools on www.trendoScope.com.

The Canberra Times: The frocks are made from pinstriped jackets and floral bed linen. There are trenchcoats patchworked out of safari suits, jackets from vintage corduroy and the panelled denim skirts are sewn from at least three pairs of jeans. These mixed-up designer clothes are known as "refashioned originals" - which is a polite way of saying they are made from landfill.

The rise of fashion with a conscience has led to designers hunting for solutions in organic and sustainable fabrics, but this trendy gear is cut from a different cloth - of the type found in charity bins. More than 60,000 jumpers and many more T-shirts, coats, windcheaters and old sheets were rescued to make the latest collection from Canada, where the label Preloved was established a decade ago by a retired catwalk model as a creative twist on op-shop hunting.

Julia Grieve's motivation was fashion first, but her unwitting success at emancipating landfill has made her a poster girl for green design across the United States, Britain and Japan.

The market is competitive, with the bigger charities given the first opportunity to buy clothes by the kilo. In the past, the remainder was sent to landfill. But enter the fashionistas, who pick over the last of the treasure, which they lug back to the workshop, cut into pieces, then assemble - navy stripes beside purple polka dots beside plaid - into a groovy new outfit.

Cut from a different cloth [The Canberra Times]

Luxist: The new Monticello Motor Club is a members-only club with a private track located 90 miles northwest of Manhattan. Members pay $125,000 for access to the , 4.1-mile loop plus $7,500 in annual dues. Membership is by invitation only and enrollment will be capped at 500. In this exlcusive club, members' net worth averages almost $20 million. It cost about $50 million to build the facility, which is on the site of a former airport near the village of Monticello. The clubhouse is a 30,000 square foot facility that includes a fitness center, restaurant, bar, lounge and business center. Cars can be stored in temperature-controlled garages. Future plans include a hotel, spa, cafe, stores, and a helipad for quicker transportation from Manhattan.

Monticello Driving Club [Luxist]

TrendCentral: Grown high up in the Andes, the roots of the Yacon plant are just now making their way into farmers markets and natural food stores around the US. Similar in texture to water chestnuts or jicama, the taste of yacon is often described as a cross between an apple and a watermelon. A high concentration of oligofructose (a sugar that cannot be broken down by the body and therefore cannot be absorbed) makes yacon naturally low in calories and good for diabetics because its sugar does not raise blood glucose levels. In addition, oligofructose promotes beneficial bacteria in the colon, making it a natural prebiotic.

The latest healthy, tasty treat: Yaco [TrendCentral]

Crave: Called the Innov8, the new Samsung 8-megapixels phone promises a full set of camera features to keep shutterbugs happy. Inside you'll find an auto-panorama mode; a bright flash; smile, blink, and face detection; wide dynamic range capturing abilities; and a video recorder that captures clips at 30 frames per second.

Beyond snapping shots, it also has an FM radio, Wi-Fi, a large display with an accelerometer, and an optical mouse (we're not sure how the latter works). It has a 3.5mm headset jack, stereo Bluetooth, 16GB of internal memory, a microSD card slot, a music player, and A-GPS. And of course, it makes calls as well.

Samsung unveils 8-megapixel camera phone [Crave]

TrendBird: The Drake Landing Solar Community is the first solar powered community of North America. Located in the town of Okotoks, Alberta, Canada, the project sets a wonderful example of how every household can lead a sustainable lifestyle. There are 800 solar panels located throughout the community on garage roofs, and they produce 1.5 mega-watts of thermal power during a summer day and supply heat to the district heating system. The whole system meets 90% of the annual heating and hot water needs of the homes.

The homes are moderately sized, ranging from 1,492 to 1,664 square feet, and have low energy demands, suitable to work with the system. The homes are located close to one another, which provides a walkable neighborhood, and reduces the lengths that the fluid for the solar heating system needs to travel. Water conservation has been made mandatory in the homes.

A Unique Solar Powered Community [TrendBird]

BrandChannel: Ask 10-year-old kids about their favorite movie or cartoon character—be it the Incredible Hulk or Bratz—and they can identify every brand extension leveraging the character’s likeness. However, as both the toy and branding industries expand into virtual worlds, new dimensions of entertainment and branding are emerging—realms that are full of both pitfalls and profits.

While the press has focused much of its attention on the adult versions of virtual worlds such as Second Life and There.com, a boom time has been quietly brewing for virtual worlds with a retail twist aimed at kids and tweens—and they are making money amid stagnant and, in many segments, declining toy sales.

Virtual worlds—colorful, 3-D interactive landscapes experienced via the eyes and ears of an avatar—offer a cross between gaming and social interaction with plenty of customization to suit the user’s/avatar’s tastes.

Toy Brands Don’t Play Around in Virtual Worlds [BrandChannel]

techshout.com: Thanko, a company known for its innovative products has rolled out a new keyboard. According to FarEastGizmos, the computer peripheral has a built-in fan to keep users’ hands cool.

Many times users’ hands sweat due to the prolonged usage of the keyboard, especially in the humid conditions. In such cases Thanko keyboard users can simply turn on the fan switch and continue working in comfortable environment.

The built-in fan blows strong cool air, so that it is convenient for users to work. The keyboard measures 51×22x3.5 cm.

As of now the Thanko keyboard with integrated fan is only available in Japan. The Thanko fan keyboard is available for 6,650 yen.

Thanko Keyboard with Built-in Fan Introduced [techshout.com]

TrendCentral: Even though going sockless is usually protocol during summer, we've been noticing plenty of fashionistas keeping their feet covered up, pairing decorative anklets, knee highs, and thigh highs with flats, pumps, wedges, and heeled sandals. A fun execution of the trend, these Minisocks are available in a rainbow of lace-up styles that not only let the wearers' feet breathe but also add a feminine touch with Grecian or bow details.

Cool Socks [TrendCentral]

Engadget: Directly rewarding efforts with results, now that's the way to get someone moving. As we've seen time and time again, providing a clear, undiluted motivator is a perfect way to make fitness a top priority in life, and that's exactly what Takara Tomy is hoping to achieve with its pocket-friendly Jinsei Game of Life pedometer. Essentially, this device is a portable version of the famed Game of Life board game, but users are purportedly not allowed to take a turn unless they take 300 steps first. Additionally, two players can take on one another via the "communication mode," but there's a good chance the most chiseled among you will take home the gold regardless of luck. Out this month in Japan for ¥3,675.

Jinsei Game of Life pedometer makes you exercise to play [Engadget]