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Article/Stationery/8/5/2026
The Pushpin That Leaves No Hole: Rethinking 'Piercing' as 'Holding'
The small hole a pushpin always leaves behind. A look at how mechanisms that hold paper without a needle rewrite that long-accepted assumption.
Product/Other/8/5/2026
One Simple Goal: Matching Colors. The Staircase Inside a Rubik's Cube
A goal understandable at a glance — match each face to one color — paired with a systematized method for solving it. A look at how the same cube becomes a different challenge for a beginner and an expert.
Article/Lifestyle/8/5/2026
Still, Yet Spinning: How One Axle Change Gave the Yo-Yo Its Depth
The shift from a fixed axle to a ball-bearing axle turned the yo-yo from a simple up-and-down toy into one capable of the 'sleep' — appearing still while still spinning. A look at the tricks that grew from it.
Article/Toy/8/2/2026
Questioning the Shape of the Cup: What Meteor, the Distorted Kendama, Teaches
A kendama with an asymmetric, distorted cup. What breaking the standard form reveals about the essence of kendama as play.
Article/Gadget/8/2/2026
Become a DJ with One Finger: The iPad App PlayGround
No instrumental experience required — just trace the pads. How PlayGround's design widens the entry point to making music.
Article/Lifestyle/8/2/2026
Press It, It Glows: The Simplicity of a Duck Night Lamp
No switch, no cord — just press the silicone duck and it lights up. Why the simplest possible interface can become a product's whole personality.
Article/Lifestyle/7/30/2026
Celebrating Without a Sound: The Twist-Open Confetti Cracker
No gunpowder, no bang. Just twist it open and watch the confetti fly, a party favor built for the photo-first era.
Article/Lifestyle/7/30/2026
The Glasses Straw: A Tool That Exists Purely to Make You Laugh
Almost no practical value, yet it never fails to get a laugh. A look at the glasses-shaped drinking straw.
Product/Lifestyle/7/30/2026
The Swiss Wooden Puzzle Sota Fujii Played With: cuboro
What you build with cuboro isn't a shape, it's a path. A look at the Swiss wooden marble-run puzzle that trains three-dimensional thinking.
Product/Lifestyle/7/30/2026
A Pocket-Sized Real Synthesizer: teenage engineering's Pocket Operator
An introduction to the Pocket Operator series — palm-sized synthesizers, drum machines, and samplers with exposed circuit boards and pixel LCD screens.
Article/Lifestyle/7/30/2026
Only the Person Holding the Pillow May Speak
A look at Breaking Bad's family meeting scene and the Indigenous talking-stick tradition, and the simple invention of routing the right to speak through one object.
Article/Toy/7/30/2026
The Second Skateboard That Lives on a Desk: Fingerboarding
A look at fingerboarding, the finger-sized skateboard that shares the exact structure of the real thing.