Many SF Bay Area residents would agree that upon moving elsewhere, after getting over the shockingly lower housing costs, the main thing they would miss is the vast array of ethnic cuisines available in this global village. Sure, the weather may be right up there on the “hard to forget” list, but with three meals a day (and snacks!), the loss of food choices can easily come out on top. In many areas of the U.S. you get a choice of the typical selection of cuisines (Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Korean). But here you also end up with concentrated styles within the general cuisine (Szechuan, Hong Kong dim sum, Southern Indian, chaat houses, Japanese noodles, sushi of course, Korean barbecue and tofu houses). It’s not something to take for granted, though many of us do.

The SF Chronicle ran a special last week on “the new ethnic landscape” of Northern California. It goes into detail on subjects such as the Asian supermarket Ranch 99 and the enclave of Indian markets and restaurants that sit half a block away from my condo (they blend in almost seamlessly with a row of Korean restaurants and markets). It says a lot when you can not only pick from multiple ethnic restaurants, but also, with little effort, buy authentic ingredients and recreate the dishes at home.

I was trying to determine why mention of the automated dog & cat washing machine only now popped up on News of the Weird when I knew I read about it in December 2001 in Wired News. I discovered that News of the Weird lists its sources in its raw version. This information never makes it into my newspaper’s edited blurbs, and I’m happy to find that it is available. The item on the pet washer lists the following: National Post, 12-27-01, Irish Examiner, 3-30-02. I believe the latter is for the second mention of a Northern Ireland inventor who was awarded a grant to study mobile dog-washing equipment. So the pet washing news is indeed from December, but is making the official Weird News rounds now (kinda like that neato web site that your co-worker always emails out months after you first see it).

A NY Times article on the new Williams-Sonoma venture West Elm (note: link resizes window) hints at what happened to Crate & Barrel’s venture into the GenX market, CB2, which I mentioned here two years ago. The original concept, perhaps lacking in sophistication, didn’t take off as well as expected and was overhauled. Now CB2 may expand into other areas. We’ll see if the Elm Street catalog gives it a run for its money. Their target market is similar, but Elm Street is cultivating a New York apartment lifestyle. Senior VP Lisa Versacio pushed for it to be more than a cheaper version of Pottery Barn (a Williams-Sonoma brand). While it will be more affordable than its older sister, it will be decidedly more urban and scaled for small living quarters.

At the Milan Furniture Fair, the Swedish firm Snowcrash exhibited a portable room aptly named Cloud. It comes in a golf-bag sized case and inflates with a fan when you plug it in. The pillowy room it creates seems rather soothing.

When wrinkle-free synthetic fabrics came on the market, the cotton growers needed an extra edge to stay competitive. Ruth Rogan Benerito came to their rescue. A pioneering woman in the field of chemistry, Benerito earned her bachelor’s degree in 1935 and went on to get a doctorate. While working at the Department of Agriculture, she developed the easy-care cotton process which resulted in a wrinkle-free fabric. This was only one of her numerous inventions. She holds 55 U.S. patents and was recently awarded the Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award for Invention.

A team at the Tangible Media Group of MIT’s Media Lab has developed a cellular phone that transmits vibrations between callers. Made out of latex, their device has pressure sensors for your fingers to squeeze and tiny speakers to vibrate that squeeze to the person on the other end of the line. It’s almost like tin can and string phones all over again. I can’t imagine using it while conversing with a stranger, but it is an interesting advance in the world of electronic communications. You could probably cobble together something similar using software with the vibrating feedback gaming devices and mice that are already out there. Chatting with someone over the Internet could take on another dimension. Ouch! Stop that!

When is a credit card like a switchblade? Take a look at the new Discover 2GO card. The patent-pending design is making its first appearance on customer keychains this month, and is sure to raise the eyebrows of the person next in line, if not the cashier. The kidney-shaped card swings out from a protective cover and is designed for those folks who would like to leave the house with just their keys and a credit card. The obvious problem, however, is that common happening: the misplacing of keys. Most people lose their keys more often then their wallet. But this card is another front-runner, like American Express’ see-through card, in the trend of attracting credit card users with a style statement. Hmmm, does anyone make a credit card that you can personalize with your own artwork or photos? That would be a real winner! Maybe I should patent that idea. (Update: U.S. Patent 5,746,451 covers a “Customizable credit card overlay”)

The rise of insurance claims for mold damage is forcing State Farm to “temporarily”, “indefinitely” stop writing California homeowner’s policies on May 1st. Allstate is applying for 22% increase in rates. If you’re buying a house, don’t delay on getting insurance coverage.

The Museum of Dirt is… a museum of dirt. Behold the little vials of material gathered from places such as Martha Stewart’s Turkey Hill home, Watergate, B.F. Skinner’s Gravesite, and other places collectors have deemed worthy of sweeping up. Maybe your driveway is next. (via Growlers)

Yamaha has added a nylon string guitar to their line of “silent” instruments. It joins their Silent Violin, Cello, Bass, and Viola.