> Motorcycle riding is romantic while motorcycle maintenance is purely classic. > — Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Sitting in Prinzessinnen Gärten, enjoying the first outdoor lunch of the season, I got to talking with a Berlin transplant about Quality. In…
No trip to Japan would be complete without a report about their **vending machines from the future.** A few years back, when I traveled to Japan for the first time, friends put me on scouting missions: >”Find the [robotic vending machine](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/sanchome/525890022/) that follows you around…
Our trip to Japan revealed [many treasures](http://www.thewavingcat.com/category/travel/), but one I’m still glowing about is the **[Fab Cafe](http://www.fabcafe.com/blog/)** in Shibuya, opened by a friend and colleague, Chiaki Hayashi and her design company [Loftwork](http://www.loftwork.com/). The theme is **lattes and lasers.** Their signature drink is a marshmallow man…
We had a lot of fun doing some betatesting for the **[Mozilla Summer Code Party](https://wiki.mozilla.org/Summer_Campaign_2012).** The idea is to **gather a few friends around your [kitchen table](https://wiki.mozilla.org/Webmakers/events/kitchen_table),** have some drinks and snacks, and play around on the web together. It’s through the informal, friendly setting…
The [99% Invisible](http://99percentinvisible.org/post/20439848501/episode-51-the-arsenal-of-exclusion#disqus_thread) podcast recently featured an episode about **[The Arsenal of Exclusion & Inclusion](http://arsenalofexclusion.blogspot.de/2012/04/arsenal-of-exclusion-inclusion-on-99.html)**, a glossary of the many visible and invisible tactics used by urban planners to bring people together — or keep them apart. From armrests on public benches to Hamsterdam, the…