TORTURE CLASSICS is a collection of music that has been used as instruments of torture by US government interrogators.

It includes Top 40 hits, Metal, Hard Rock, Country and Western, TV theme-songs and commercial jingles, as well as original “mash-ups” created by CIA agents, prison administrators, guards and interrogators.

According to the publishers: "Torture Music is the kind of music that’s perfect for sitting in the Afghan or Iraqi Desert, sharing a prisoner for a night, or relaxing in a military barrack or a CIA black site in some godforsaken country on a lazy afternoon. It's music thats just makes you feel free and drives others crazy. '

TORTURE CLASSICS is seemingly released by Time Life, one the world's largest entertainment companies. However, if you take a closer look, you will find that it is a project by notorious e-activists/artists UBERMORGEN feat. James Powderly.

• www.tortureclassics.com

"It is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works" - Steve Jobs, Apple.

The quote by Steve Jobs is the essence, and partially the title, of a new book by former BusinesWeek reporter Jay Greene.

In a first-person narrative style Jay Greene tells the story of 8 design-led companies and how they have managed to create successful and iconic products by integrating 'Design Thinking' in their DNA. The book is based on case-studies of giants such as Nike and LEGO as well newish start-ups CLIF bar and Ace Hotel.

The concept of Design Thinking is, roughly, the art of understanding your users/customers and to translate their needs into new meaningful and desirable solutions, be it a product, a service or a system. It is a problem-solving and human-centered approach and two Danish companies Bang & Olufsen and LEGO are used as examples of the trouble established companies can run into if they lose sight of their customers in a constantly changing global market. While LEGO has since managed to re-emerge by reevaluating its design process, Bang & Olufsen have been slow to react and is still struggling. Jay Greene argues that in today's competitive market brand may be 'important' but design is 'crucial'.

If you are already familiar with the basic concepts of 'Design Thinking', DESIGN IS HOW IT WORKS may not offer any new perspectives, but if you think design is a field only concerned with style and form, this book will be an eye opener. For further reading, don't miss Tim Brown's recent book Change by Design

• www.jaygreene.com | Design is How it Works

Hip fashion designer Henrik Vibskov has introduced a new knitwear brand in his store in central Copenhagen.

The brand is called Kaffeslabberas and it is produced by a group of grannies with a passion for knitting.

The grannies are based at senior activity centre 'Sløjfen' in Copenhagen and all proceeds from the sales are channeled back to the community center.

Kaffeslabberas is produced in collaboration with Susanne Hoffmann, a Vibskov associate. Their focus is on creating as organic-as-possible, unique knitwear, primarily for kids but also grown-ups.

As if to certify the brand's authenticity, the products are labeled with a portrait of the granny who made it.

Related: Reknit + Net Granny

• Kaffeslabberas on Facebook

Pavements in some areas of Copenhagen have recently been marked with mysterious cartoon-like labels.

The street artist behind the labels turn out the be the City of Copenhagen, and the aim is to make the streets safer for school kids.

By following the labels, kids are able to find the safest route between destinations in school districts.

The system is personified by a cartoon character named 'Max'. Footprints are used to visualize a route and when there is a crossing or turn to make, Max will show up and point in the direction.

Related: Hans Christian Andersen footstep hack

• www.kk.dk (The City of Copenhagen - in Danish)

The SMS slingshot is a device designed to create digital augmented realities in urban space.

The device is shaped as a wooden slingshot with a build-in mobile phone display, a keypad and a laser. Users can type a text message and shoot it straight at a large facade. A projector pointed at the facade will show the message as a colour splash with the message written within.  

The project is designed by VR/URBAN, a group of digital intervention-activists based in Berlin. They will demonstrate the device at various media-festival in the next couple of months. Check their website for dates and technical specs.

Related:

The Image Fulgurator + SMS Guerrilla Projector + Facade Printer + Graffiti Analysis

• www.vrurban.org/smslingshot.html + a demonstration on YouTube

SMK, The National Gallery of Denmark, is participating in this year's music event Roskilde Festival 2010 with a series of action-based art works, under the title PingOut with SMK.

SMK invites festivalgoers to play ping-pong on unique tables decorated by young contemporary artists. Furthermore, the first 1000 players will receive a work of art shaped as a sweatband to help them wipe their sweat and tears.

The sweatbands, embroidered with the mysterious text 'I Miss Sol LeWitt', are produced by SMK in limited numbers in collaboration with the artist Nikolaj Recke.

In case you cannot make it to the festival, you can enter an on-line competition for 50 extra sweatbands by joining the project's Facebook page.

• www.smk.dk/pingout-with-smk

Copenhagen Poverty Walks is a new alternative walking tour giving locals as well as visitors a unique opportunity to experience the city from the perspective of homeless people.

The tours are guided by homeless themselves and during the walk, participants will hear about the guide's personal street experiences and universe.

Poverty Walks is organized by the NGO project Udenfor (Outdoor). You can read more about the walks on Copenhagen's official tourist website Visit Copenhagen.

Related: The Other Tour

• www.visiticopenhagen.com

Traditionally we don't get to hear or see much about a museum exhibition until it is actually open to the public. However, MoMa is doing things differently with their future exhibition Talk to Me.

Talk to Me - an exhibition on the communication between people and objects - will not be opening before July 24 2011, but already now they've launched an exhibition website, or as they call it, an "online journal".

The idea of the website is to document the curatorial process by sharing findings, considerations, and explorations. At the site, you can see which projects are being evaluated by the curatorial team, and you are also invited to give feedback and even come up with suggestions for the exhibition.

• http://wp.moma.org/talk_to_me

Kunsthal Nikolaj in Copenhagen has kicked-off the upcoming football World Cup with an exhibition of works that in different ways are linked to the world of football.

In the spirit of the game most of the works are pretty playful. Team-shirts are remixed in Floor Wesseling's Blood in Blood out and the very template of the game is challenged in Asger Jorn's Three Sided Football (pictured). Asger Jorn developed the concept in the sixties and today the game is still occasionally played.

Other more political works in the exhibition include www.0100101110101101.orgs legendary culture hack Nike Ground.

The exhibition runs from April 22 through August 8 2010.

• www.kunsthallennikolaj.dk

If you live in Chicago you may be able to get yourself a Frank Gehry building for free. Or more precisely, a copy of Frank Gehry's Venice Beach House (pictured).

Behind the gift is an architect/artist called Nick and in exchange for the building, you need to document your experience with the structure, periodically recording how it has effected your life.

The purpose of the project is to question the benefits of contemporary 'starchitecture' and its effects on the human condition. If interested, you can contact Nick via Craigslist.

• chicago.craigslist.org

NIKE78 is a project that challenge the function of a pair of NIKE shoes.

78 creatives have received a brand new pair of NIKE shoes and have be asked to challenge their function using 'sport' as an inspiration. After the shoes have been collected, an exhibition showcase is planned for the
London Design Festival 2010 but already now you can see some of the in-progress outcomes at the website's news section.

Nike78 is a project of Paul Jenkins, a final year graphic design student at the London College of Communication.

• http://www.nike78.co.uk

The Facadeprinter is a software controled robot, slightly similar to a paintball-gun mounted on the ground.

It can print large images on a surface by shooting small balls of paint on it. It works from a distance of 12 meters and each dot in a print is about 5-10 cm, which is the size of a splashed paint-ball.

The Facadeprinter is created by three young product designers based in Berlin. The machine is not for sale but you can order a print at the website - that is, if you have legal access to a big wall. Check the website for more information and images.

• www.facadeprinter.org

Have you ever wondered just how *hetero* your twitter stream is?

Probably not, but here's a tool that can help you find out.

Howhetero is a web application that can analyze and rate your level of 'heteronormativity' based on words in your tweets. To prove a point, the application is very judgmental and words like "shopping" and "design" will decrease your hetero rating (if you're a boy).

The application was created for the Stockholm Pride event last summer and it has just been nominated for a Webby Award in the Interactive Advertising Category.

• http://www.stockholmpride.org/howhetero

It is time for the Webby Awards again and no matter what you think of events like this, it is a great way of getting updated on new and interesting websites, trends etc. Just visit the site and browse through the different categories and nominees for inspiration.

And if you don't already know it, be sure not to miss - and vote for - POKE's Bakertweet! An intriguing way of using twitter to blend the physical and virtual world.

• http://webby.aol.com

Just came across a video at PopTech with Kacie Kinzer presenting her fascinating project TweenBots.

TweenBots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city with the help of the people they meet. The bots themselves are relatively 'dumb', but equipped with cuteness, they manage to get strangers to interact and collaborate.

• www.poptech.org