Awesome Stuff: Unconventional Christmas

from the tis-the-season dept

Sat, Dec 13th 2014 9:00am — Leigh Beadon

The holidays are almost here, so for this week's awesome stuff, we're looking at some innovative or just plain unconventional Christmas crowdfunding campaigns.

AURA: Wireless Christmas Lights

Wireless power could change the word, but it's still nowhere near that point — so for now, you'll have to settle for it changing your Christmas tree. The AURA system consists of a transmitter ring that hides near the base of the tree, and a set of wirelessly-powered LED baubles to hang on the rest of it. In a cool design choice, the ornaments showcase their internal circuitry rather than hiding it away. And, of course, the whole thing is controllable via smartphone.

The Krampus Beer Stein

Krampus — the Germanic folk monster that traditionally accompanies St. Nick, doling out punishment where gifts are undeserved — has been undergoing something of a cultural renaissance online, with a new generation latching on to the dark side of Christmas mythology. The Krampus Beer Stein is just one of several Krampus items I've seen around this season, but it's one of the coolest, featuring detailed original artwork by legendary illustrator Mitch O'Connell.

Minimal Nativity Scene

While the rebirth of the Krampus is a new trend in Christmas decor, the nativity scene is one of the oldest. This minimalist take on the classic might appear to be some sort of snide religious critique (and might raise more money from the online community if it were), but in fact it's a design experiment inspired by the artist's lifelong fascination with popular depictions of Biblical figures in ornaments and consumer products. Why, she wondered, is Mary's dress always blue? Why is the baby Jesus always blonde? Why do the staple design choices change from country to country? Who makes these decisions, and how? Her response: an ultra-simplified nativity scene consisting of ten labelled blocks of beech wood.

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Filed Under: awesome stuff, christmas, crowdfunding, holiday

8 Comments

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Nigel, 13 Dec 2014 @ 10:20am

TIL
There is such as thing as evil Santa.
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- Thrudd, 13 Dec 2014 @ 10:38am
  
  Re: TIL
  Not Evilllllll - Just the guy who doles out the punishment to those who are deserving. We really need one for adults though. He would thin the ranks quite a bit if not wiping out whole professions and industries.
  One can dream. XD
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  - Nigel, 13 Dec 2014 @ 11:25am
    
    Re: Re: TIL
    Indeed but where do you start? You would think big pharma would spiritually live at the top of that list but entertainment trade orgs are fighting the good fight to stay on top of my shit list.
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- John Fenderson (profile), 15 Dec 2014 @ 8:32am
  
  Re: TIL
  Even as a kid, I thought our normal non-Krampus Santa seemed pretty evil.
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Jimmy (profile), 13 Dec 2014 @ 10:37am

Why did he make his choices?
"Why, he wondered, is Mary's dress always blue? Why is the baby Jesus always blonde? Why do the staple design choices change from country to country? Who makes these decisions, and how? His response: an ultra-simplified nativity scene consisting of ten labelled blocks of beech wood."

Why did he choose beech wood and that color / style of lettering? Why did he choose English letters over Hebrew?
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Dec 2014 @ 2:02pm

The best quote from the Apple story is from one of the comments
The long-term bad decision was when Steve Jobs, driven by his ego, killed the Newton. The embedded OS for consumers is where future sales will be, and Jobs has made sure that Apple will be playing catch-up.

So right about the future, even if it wasn't Apple playing catch-up.
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- Leigh Beadon (profile), 13 Dec 2014 @ 2:16pm
  
  Re: The best quote from the Apple story is from one of the comments
  Wrong post, but good catch!
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Paul Renault (profile), 16 Dec 2014 @ 5:08am

Wireless Christmas Tree lights?
Aren't these called 'candles'?

/ironically enough, these old-style lights are only safe-ish on new-style, metal trees.
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