Pimped out in pumps, men from across all of LA walked "a mile in her shoes". While the sight was definitely supposed to cause a scene, the gawking was for a good cause. The 6th annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes Men's March took place Saturday in Sherman Oaks. What was once a one-off, has now turned into 35 marches around the nation. With cramped toes and chants of "stop rape now", men took to the streets to raise money for the elimination of sexual and interpersonal violence. More photos to be found at LAist.

"Dandelight is a battery-powered LED delicately adorned with a phosphorus-bronze stem and dandelion seeds. It looks exactly like an illuminated fuzzy dandelion that stays alive thanks to "batteryfood.""

[via]

Powering up the one-piece, solar swimsuits are sure to hit the market. The company Triumph wants to place the swimsuits on shelves soon, having already showcased them in Valencia. While the solar panels may be used to attract attention to glittery girls, they're meant to charge up iPods and phones at the beach. For the ladies, this is a sure way to get noticed, as you'll be more popular than an airport plug on a delayed flight. Unless, of course, you're in Boston, in which case the shiny lights and electric cord coming out of your butt may pose a threat.

While texting and driving can often be a fatal mix, texting and airlines may be teaming up soon. JetBlue founder, David Neeleman, announced that "text communications could prove attractive but agrees with the misgivings of many U.S. airline executives about the onboard use of cell phones for voice calls." In other words, silence is golden in confined spaces, but that doesn't have to kill off conversation altogether. JetBlue will explore options in no-voice messaging soon. While it may be reminiscent of using a "5 inch voice" in grade school, any added freedom in a cramped coach seat is welcome.

Update: Looks like Qantas is doing the same.

Connecting distances at a push of a button, a new outdoor campaign aims to bring unfamiliar sounds to familiar sidewalks. Solo Mobile, a Canadian competitor to Virgin Mobile, placed a series of bus stop walkie talkie billboards in the public for sampling. The displays act as a real-time walkie talkies to other cities, connecting commuters across the country. Though talking to strangers is a common occurrence online, it'll be interesting to see the behaviors behind an offline conversational platform like this.

Camping caters to condom conservation. Apparently, with a bit of elbow grease and DIY-action, condoms make great fire-starters. What, you thought that camping out with sleeping bags was going to secretly help you score? Pay a visit to your pocket and rip off that rear-warmed wrapper. Between safe sex and cooking Ramen, condoms really do help protect you from the elements, at least until your fire goes flacid.

As if embarking on a journey in adolescence, pixels may be sprouting hair in unusual places. Philips recently filed a patent for a screen panel of "furry pixels". Not referring to the unusual animal avatars you come across in virtual communities, these "furries" involve an intricate design of fabric that responds to electrostatic charges. The interaction allows for perceived changes in color across the fabricated pixels.

Online communities set to surpass porn? Is porn losing popularity or has the internet finally reached pressure equalization? A recent article in the Economist examines the trends in adult entertainment and online communities.

"In America, the proportion of site visits that are pornographic is falling and people are flocking to sites categorised “net communities and chat”—chiefly social-networking sites such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook. Traffic to such sites is poised to overtake traffic to sex sites in America any day now (see chart)."

Perhaps less about a popularity contest, porn has in fact penetrated online communities since their conception. Charts like these fail to recognize that the interweb can't be compartmentalized by just sex or information. The lack of recognition for an ongoing intimate interaction slightly skews the data, especially with the induction of communities like Second Life. To quote Kyle Machulis of Linden Labs, "if you put two people together in a game, they're going to find a way to fuck".

To celebrate the 10th anniversary for Playtex's Moonwalk Charity, they skipped the MJ references and went straight for the not-so-subtle. Playtex is set to launch a line of glow-in-the-dark lingerie to the tune of Tron. While the blatant happy trail is hard to miss for the inexperienced (and unfortunate), the only bees this honey can expect to attract might come in the form of Jay Maynard. As if under-wires were hard enough to get past airport security. While the Moonwalk Charity raises money for breast cancer research, the sight of 15,000 women with glowing crotches makes the issue blindingly apparent.

Lubed up for lingerie, model and ex-Paris Hilton accessory, Kimberly Stewart wants her focus to shift from fringe to face with a new contract in advertising. Stewart recently signed off on a deal with British-based Specsavers Opticians, perhaps in hopes of frame-fetishes everywhere. While Styledash claims that men hardly make passes at girls wearing glasses, lens-lovers don't make exceptions to the ladies. Earlier, Stewart inked a deal with lingerie company Ultimo before realizing anything but her face would be framed.

Pac-Man patterns for some DIY Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde.

Christina Ricci points out her lack of presence as a porn star. Apparently the Black Snake Moan actress is tired of sex.

"The 27-year-old was completely drained after filming the intimate scenes with Justin Timberlake in Black Snake Moan. Ricci says, "I've had enough sex for the next two years of my career with this movie."

The news comes as a blow (or lack thereof) to Christina crushes and speculating sex fantasies. While you wait those two years out, twiddle your thumbs to the sights and sounds of Scarlett Johansson and Bjork this weekend.

Not quite your Polly Pocket or Cabbage Patch Kid, be sure to keep this one away from the kids like a fork to a power outlet. The Hotdoll is a sex toy designed for doggies (and their respective "style"). The passion puppy comes equipped with the necessary glory hole to cater to more than just humping. Here's hoping it's dishwasher safe.

With visions of sugarplums and sex fantasies dancing in their heads, there was something quite abnormal positioned around their beds. Bloody and bizarre, the Blood Puddle Pillow is the perfect companion for a sleepover or late April Fools. While lacking in slumber party pillow-fight fantasy feathers, the crimson counterpart definitely makes up for it in photo-fun. Currently the pillows seem unavailable for purchase, but somehow the DIY task shouldn't be too daunting.

Virtual breathes vitality back into art. Based out of Italy, OrganisMuseum is a three dimensional art gallery online that allows users to "walk" through a gallery and focus on pieces of artwork. Like any other museum, it features exhibitions of work spanning periods of time. Supposedly the first of its kind, don't be surprised if virtual art galleries become more popular over time as artists attempt to build up their global microbrands. At the very least, no avatar is required for access.

Sexoteric points to a recent article by the BBC that proves chocolate to be more worthwhile than a kiss. Through heart rates and brain activity, couples licked respective lips in the name of science. With mouths monitored and tongues tested, the results were in:

"Chocolate caused a more intense and longer lasting "buzz" than kissing, and doubled volunteers' heart rates. Dr Lewis said: "There is no doubt that chocolate beats kissing hands down when it comes to providing a long-lasting body and brain buzz. "A buzz that, in many cases, lasted four times as long as the most passionate kiss." He said substances in chocolate were already known to have a psychoactive effect, but that allowing it to melt on your tongue could be the secret to maximising the buzz."

Perhaps passionate, but the petri dish didn't test against the buzz of a "first kiss". Either way, women everywhere who stand by the "chocolate over sex" opinion could send their boyfriends an "I told you so" email, if they hadn't already scared off any erection in sight.

[image via]

While most viral videos entertain in 30 seconds or less, there are a few that only get better with each minute that passes. This meaty-multi-minute clip features a show on Atlanta Public Access TV, aptly titled Vagina Power (though Pussy Power may have a bit more of a ring to it). For fair warning, the audio on this is NSFW. Watch it before we jump up all in your clitor-whatnot like a jack rabbit.

[via Kent via Kevin]

Levi's launched a new site for their Spring/Summer line with a striptease. Sexvertising seemingly blends together lately, as sites like these lack the cojones to stand out and erect. Awkwardly animated and a bit of lackluster lagging, the Levi's site attempts to walk through a new line of denim with smirking models who ever so slowly striptease in the most yawn-garnering fashion. The only thing impressive about the tiresome tease is a man who manages to kick off shoes without the slightest clumsy step. Shocker, the only thing advertising strips off is our stimulation.

Out with the old, you can now eat in with the new. Looking for new spins on spindles, Slashfood features a recycling tip for old formats:

"transport your bagel sandwich! Using the CD spindle helps keep all the layers in place, and the hard case keeps the bagel sandwich from getting squashed in your bag upon transport. Of course, this means you have to account for that hole in the middle when you're making the sandwich, but that's just a minor technicality."

You may also have to account for your coworkers rolling their eyes at the sight of your geekery.

A photo exploration in hand rubbing.

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While sex sells, lawsuits linger. Taking note of America's fancy for feuding, European lingerie boutique, Sloggi, approaches advertising in an off-kilter fashion. By purposefully targeting treacherous territory (Fleshbot points out mosques) with banned billboards, Sloggi aims for shock over seduction. Now with an interactive website, the French fanny line allows you to make your own politically incorrect content, just in time to piss off more conservative-commenters at Adrants. Wah, a LINGERIE line is using sexual imagery of women for advertising. How shocking.

Violet Blue (who, like me, came down with a bad cold this week - get better!) managed to point to a very insightful article by Scientific American, recapping the New York Times observation of female sexual orientation, or lack there of:

"Presumably the masculinization of the brain shapes some neural circuit that makes women desirable. If so, this circuitry is wired differently in gay men. In experiments in which subjects are shown photographs of desirable men or women, straight men are aroused by women, gay men by men.

Such experiments do not show the same clear divide with women. Whether women describe themselves as straight or lesbian, "Their sexual arousal seems to be relatively indiscriminate - they get aroused by both male and female images," Dr. Bailey said. "I'm not even sure females have a sexual orientation. But they have sexual preferences. Women are very picky, and most choose to have sex with men."

Though the thought may lend a great deal of potential for scientific observation, the assumptions around it seem far from scientific. It is intriguing to gain insight into what imagery the female brain responds to (advertisers need as much help as they can get these days), but "disorienting" ourselves from society seems a bit extreme. Violet, of course, came ranting to the rescue:

"Besides my personal reactions, the NYT piece gave me a big knee-jerk rejection of the gender assumptions about women being "picky", or some construct of a biological imperative in regards to our pursuit of sexual pleasure. I will never take these hack job articles seriously until they present both sides of the argument for sex -- one that includes evaluation and discussion of the factors of sexual pleasure, not just making babies. Hysteria, which classified female arousal, desire and pleasure as a disease was a valid medical diagnosis on the books until the 1950s -- does science and medicine still see female pleasure as a disorder so as not to allow fucking for fucking's sake into the calculations? Or, is that when we're "picky"? ... You can't tell me that women choose men to make babies, but choose women because they're "picky" and that we have no sexual orientation. I mean shit, do these people know *any* lesbians?"

Decked out in anime, a new airline caters to children and f-ed up fantasies with a Sanrio sensation. Eva Air, a Taiwanese airline, created Eva Kitty, an airline entirely in ode to Hello Kitty. With pink patterns and precious Hello Kitty outfits for flight attendants, Eva Kitty proves to be playful. Despite catering to the kids, does the fantasy of flying with anime-infatuated Japanese women play out to the pervs? Perhaps it's best that this sub-airline only takes tickets between Taipei, Fukuoka and Tokyo, leaving our American anime appetites untroubled.

Drawn out and documented, Opera has created the Ev-Wii-where Challenge that tasks Nintendo fans to take found-art-esque photos of the word Wii. With the obligatory cheesy contest name, it's no surprise that the challenge asks for the photos to be from public places, making sure to call you out as the advertising whore you are to passersby. The Ev-Wii-where Challenge is to celebrate the final Wii Opera browser, due to come out sometime in April.

"Everywhere you turn, there's a commercial or store display. Every magazine cover is plastered with Wii news. Every store is trying to get you to trade in for Wii games. Every website's got a Wii news story almost daily. Wii is more than a success, it is a cultural phenomenon. Wii is everywhere. Well... almost. Let's have a little fun with the general public!"

Is the contest Wiilly cute, or has the Wii worn out its consumer-generated welcome by now?

Presenting a prude and perverse perspective of porn, a new book pushes the boundaries of stimulation. Porn for Women, by the Cambridge Women's Pornography Cooperative is 98-pages of nonsense and nausea. Glossed with photos of men in khakis and Kmart sweaterrs, the non-porn "porn" is about as attractive as a screenplay for Stiff Sluts IV featuring Anna Nicole. Surprisingly not doting their i's with hearts, the curvaceous calligraphy and pastel patterns offer such lines as "Breakfast is on the table. I'll have your outfit ready in five minutes" and “Ooh, look, the NFL playoffs are today. I bet we'll have no trouble parking at the crafts fair", it's a surprise that they don't tack on "It's okay, I totally understand why you only want to have sex twice a year". Wishing the book was a cute joke, the sex-less soccer moms behind the book are apparently serious and believe that this is what straight women fantasize about. For the rest of women, this may be the only thing we find hard to swallow.

[via]

Stains aren't the only marks made in the production of porn. While you can try blaming it on a hardcore face to crotch scene, explaining the bump on your head to your friends may prove to be far less provocative. Dare we admit that there's something about the sound of skull cracking and a proceeding moan upon collapse that arouses our attention among other things. Though the video [no nudity - work safe] was posted last summer, it has an addictive quality that makes you want to press "play again" while you wear out the L's and the O's on your keyboard.

Thanks, Mike!

Proposing to join the real world with the "www" to create a psycho-geographic experience, Ideas On Air wants to rename streets with Net-Art web addresses. Equipped with paper and glue, the high-tech experiment would paste street plates with web addresses.

"It’d be better to cover the streets (maybe, comfortably by the taxi) with a pc equipped of wireless device to watch the websites. Anyway, you’d also walk on the streets watching at the Net-Art web address and subsequently to see the relative websites."

Solar-powered and ready for snow, researchers in Antarctica took their robots out for a spin. A group of researchers from the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College are responsible for creating a death squad of scalable, solar-powered, scientific platforms. From measuring Earth's magnetosphere to solar surfing in style, these guys sure know how to shake up spatial density. Born out of boredom, the team tried out the tundra-ridden tide to the pace of one of their robots. Unfortunately, with a laptop in one hand and a robot in the other, the 5mph joyride didn't last long.

"So, we hooked the sled to the robot and went for a ride. The robot, it turns out, can haul its own weight (nearly 200 lbs.) on a sled and hardly notice it...Snow surfing behind the robot is not very exciting however; it only travels at a slow walking pace."

Peep show.

[Sidenote: Back from Seattle - thanks again to Gavin for guest blogging last week!]

Sometimes the search terms that lead visitors to your site are terribly misleading. Just because you type the words "sex" or "technology" or even "advertising" doesn't mean that's what others will find on your site. For instance, I get a regular number of visitors to my site based on the Google keyword search for "chaos porn". Those that arrive are greeted with this story (actually it would be interesting to know how many people actually read it -- perhaps I should consult the analytics guru). It is actually a very funny story (not mine) about the dangers of home photos being stored on USB drives. However, I am sure that this is not what the visitors are expecting.
But then, those that are searching for "Sally Field Naked" and end up here deserve all they get.

When I first stumbled across Shake Well Before Use I remember laughing out loud. I remember thinking to myself, "I can't believe she said that". So then I kept coming back. But it wasn't just the shock value -- and regular readers will know that there is plenty of that in store -- it was also the perception. It is like a laser or the crack of a whip. Often the commentary will be boiled down to a single line, while at other times, there is a willingness to engage and debate risky and provocative topics.

So, if you are new to Shake Well Before Use and Ariel's unique writing style, I would like to introduce you to my six of the best:

• More to crave ... -- Racy topics and racy copy are a staple diet here, but I particularly loved "an overkill of innuendos".
• If you are going to fuck up ... -- Sure there is plenty of racy copy, but let's be clear about the way to grab attention in a sea of RSS feeds. Create a headline with attitude.
• Cockpunch the chumps -- Ok ... another great headline, but there is more. This post leads you through the reasons and then delivers a sucker punch -- "Viral marketing isn't about hitting as many people as you can, that's what TV is for". As Borat would say, "NICE".
• Recipe for viral -- questioning what is considered "success" for online video.
• SXSW -- In case you were, like me, unable to travel 15,000 miles to attend SXSW, Ariel provided excellent and timely commentary on events, conversations and panel discussions. Quite exceptional, actually.
• Continuous mentioning of one handed typists -- you all know who you are and if you don't stop you'll go ... well, you'll go.

This gift is likely to be left behind by another kind of Bunny, but really, it is a gift for anytime of year ... especially as I hear the North American winter is making a comeback.

This edible chocolate paint kit comes with a paint brush and edible chocolate paint. Importantly it also comes with stencils just in case you are a little tongue-tied or your hand is too busy -- shaking.

Could well be a great way to generate some heat.

It is one thing to lurk on a blog ... to salaciously rifle through the posts on offer, jumping from post to post, image to image in a flurry of keystrokes. It is easy and safe, and for the most part untraceable. Many of us do it ...

How many times have YOU stopped by Shake Well Before Use only to take the first link out or worse, close down the browser just in case your boss/colleague/partner saw what you were looking at? How many times did you stop and comment ... daring to leave your real name or email address?

Imagine now, if you will, what it is like to slip, knowingly into the home of someone you hardly know. Oh, it's no problem, nothing illegal ... just strange ... different. And you think, as you turn the key -- what if there is something there I shouldn't see? Some half-robed, thinly disguised post? A picture leaving LESS to the imagination? But then it is too late. You are in. And everyone knows you are there ... lights out, lurking in the shadows -- this time, inside looking out.

So here I am, playing around in the backrooms of Shake Well Before Use, surfing the web and picking out Ariel-style tidbits for your pleasure. And I must admit it is much more ordered than I expected -- not even an untidy piece of lingerie lying around. If only I could say the same for my own blog ;) Image via W10.

While in not so sunny Seattle, I didn't want to tease with the hopes of the usual tasty topics, so I've left you a guest blogger to whet your palate until I return next week. While he may not have as many pent up "fantasies" as the last guest blogger, Steve Hall, be sure that he still has a thing or two to show.

Gavin Heaton, based out of Australia, is a contributor to Marketing Profs Daily Fix and also writes at Servant of Chaos. He was one of the few bloggers that began linking to Shake Well Before Use when it first took flight. Leveraging the unlikely, I took Gavin up on his Twitter when my need of a guest blogger came up in conversation. As always, I give guest bloggers free reign and no censorship, so NSFW-softies be warned.

P.S. If you're in Seattle as well, I recommend making paper airplanes and attending Ignite Seattle!. Unfortunately, I'll be on an airplane while you're taping yours together.

Kids love their mashups [ Nike: The Second Coming - via]

Experimenting with analog [ Roy Block - via ]

Tell kids to stick their heads in it [ Plastic Bag Chandelier - via ]

Sure you can take it, but can you dish it out? [ Dishmaker - via ]

[Sidenote: A guest blogger may be on the way for the remainder of this week, so stay tuned]

Hitting at the heart-strings of Shake Well Before Use, a shyly seductive Swiss girl slinks her way into fashion.

"The last person you would ever imagine creating the sweet yet perverted Locher's line, is an innocent Swiss girl, straight out of "The Sound of Music"."

Locher's, the Paris-based boutique, finds influence in found objects and flea markets across Europe. Digging through drawers may be somewhat of a specialty for the designer, Nicole. With one hand in grandma's handkerchiefs and another in 'classy' porn collections, this sex kitten of a sewer creates an interesting household hybrid. With tshirt titles like "No Time to Fuck", "Insatiable Little Thing", "I Love Porn", and "Just Good Boys Get Presents", it's hard to say no.

"To counterbalance the elegance and antiquity of the embroidery, she adds the playful charm of a dirty saying embroidered into every shirt."

Ah, a woman after my own heart. The last person you would ever imagine creating the sweet yet perverted Shake Well Before Use, is...

The Netherlands is certainly not a place to be wasted by staring at a computer screen. Where's the need for porn when the Red Light District is just steps away? Apparently needing to remind the populous of negativity for being a nerd, KitKat released this commercial. The ad features a life within a life within a life, based off of non other than the seductive, yet at times scary, Second Life. We can only cringe in expectation of a Forth Life joke.

Joost, the interactive software that allows for peer-to-peer TV content sharing via web makes its debut with a bit of awkward advertising. While most commercials strive for clarity, Joost apparently wants to woo their audience with charming confusion. Attempting to enamor their viewers with special effects and aspirational gospel, the commercial involves an old man double-dipping his fingers in jar filled with Joost's hopes and dreams. Here's hoping he washed his hands before contaminating them.

Trendhunter points to a call for submissions that requires stamina for those who are up to the challenge. Durex UK is spreading the nation with openings for condom testers. While the position isn't paying, feel free to change positions until you find one that fits. The 'job' offers a chance to win 500 quid, and a plush set of benefits that one could only dream of in an office cube. Coworker crushes will no longer be reserved for flirtatiously fickle email exchanges, so be sure to apply before April 30.

Fetishes have long flirted with the interweb, manifesting themselves in naughty niches and virtual vacancies. To cater to the interweb insatiable, a new fetish magazine is taking its glossies from print to online publishing. The "edgy, raw, over-the-top fetish mag" attempts to claim your fancy by making itself free. While most fetish sites simply seduce and ask for a subscription fee before you're able to finish, this one opens up for entrance. Senze, the Sweden-based sensation, only offers content online, so while the feeling of sticky pages may be long past, you may still want to protect your key pad with some plastic wrap.

[via]

A site dedicated to gamer glucose.

[via]