Apparently Koreans are using sausages to control their iPhones instead of taking off their gloves in the winter. There are even reports that the sausage manufacturer has to ramp up production due to an alleged surge in demand. We hope this isn’t an “Asians are so wacky!” thing. So are people really using sausages as stylus pens? You can get all kinds of meaty things at Korean 7-11 — see the video tour below. Or as a commentator pointed out are they just using processed cheese sticks? We are somewhat skeptical about the sausage as pen because there’s only 1 photo circulating. And the source article (in Korean) reads like an ad for food made by South Korea’s CJ Corporation. What do you guys think?

It’s come all the way around and stops at this: Bonusroom Books, which is like Netflix for readers. For a reasonable fee, you get Chinese language books by mail (maybe more language will be added later). Send them back and get more. It’s still in Beta test mode, so be on your toesies. We’re lucky enough to have many excellent libraries with free books of many languages, but this would be useful for people without that access. Paying for books can give them an extrinsic value and remind us how precious the printed word is. Example: we went to the Library of Congress and they have many signs reminding people that the LOC library card is not a souvenir but its use is to actually read some books!

Project Runway stomps into its 7th season, finally living the dream of brand extension via video game. Women’s Wear Daily sees the rise of video games targeted at fashionistas. Ubisoft’s Imagine, for little girls, lets them try on professions with games like Fashion Designer, Figure Skater, and Doctor — though I wish they had scientist and computer programmer in there too. Nintendo’s Style Savvy puts you in control as a trendy boutique owner. Jezebel thinks the Project Runway video game can lift up the fashion industry in the way that Rockband and Guitar Hero did for the music industry – “provide an interesting experience for players and a profitable outcome for those holding the licenses.” The problem with that is music has a well-defined bundle of rights that ensure the copyright holder gets paid licensing fees. But fashion is generally not protected under copyright, so the designer would not be compensated.

My lust for music far exceeds my musicality. That’s why I’m eagerly awaiting the plastic orange TNR-O tenori-on, the electro-instrument created by Yamaha and artist Toshio Iwai. The tenori-on looks like a hybrid of Battleship, Connect Four, Tetris and Simon and “lets you enjoy playing without any knowledge of music or musical performance techniques.” Sounds in tune with my sensibilities! Little Boots rocks the tenori-on in this video for Remedy:

It’s only the 5th, but 2010 already has wonderful neolgisms like terror-prone and environmental refugee. May we humbly introduce another one? Atomicpunk. Not to be confused with the Van Halen album or the tribute band, atomicpunk describes the literature, art, design, pop culture and subculture happening now that references the Atomic Age, with all of its technological progress, paranoia, destruction, and optimism. Why should all ye new-olde tech be lumped into steampunk (which we love on its own way) that references the Victorian era? Atomic-era designs need to have their own classification. Examples of atomicpunk include the Brionvega tv and the Philco PC redesign by California-based SchultzeWORKS. There are even comments debating whether this is or isn’t steampunk. This isn’t, but it is atomicpunk.