From coins to keys to gewgaws, we dig LaCie's multiple takes on the flash drive for their sheer variety of forms and amount of thought they've put into the devices. The coins in particular make the perfect currency metaphor for data, with the numerical capacity indicated on its face, and we love the way the interface emerges from the housing:

Then they've got this little 69-ish DataShare device, which cleverly recycles your old SD cards:

Each side uses an SD card inserted into its slot as its storage, and it's broken into two halves--distinctly different red and white--so you can keep your personal data on one, and public data on the other.

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The Ars Electronica Center is the second main location of Ars Electronica 2010. This so called "Museum of the Future" can't be missed due to its striking architecture. The center along the Donau river showcases new technologies to its visitors in order to create insights and learn more about how technology affects our everyday lives.

In front of the Deep Space room, people can't wait to meet with ASIMO, Honda's state of the art humanoid robot who is making its Austrian debut this weekend. Especially the lucky visitors which have been chosen to "play" with ASIMO on stage.

Lots of flashlights when ASIMO says "Hi". Even though the developers say ASIMO has no gender, most people consider him as a him as a little boy (being 130 centimeters tall). After introducing Honda's robot history, a short dance and kicking a soccer ball ASIMO needs to leave the stage for a power refill.

More ASIMO after the jump.

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[photo credit: Evan R. Wexler]

Of all the possible reasons a pair of Brits visiting NYC could get arrested, illegally building a huge, mythical wooden bird-monster overlooking a Brooklyn street has got to be the most interesting.

UK-based artists operating under the noms de guerre Jimmy Bumble and Leonard White built the Brooklyn Griffin, a nine-foot sculpture made from shipping pallets and skateboards, atop an industrial building on Brooklyn's Billyburg-Bushwick border (without permission); the infuriated building manager subsequently had the pair arrested and the sculpture smashed to bits.

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Thanks to both Jeffrey Stephenson and you, our Core77 readership! Back in July we posted some shots-in-progress of Stephenson's Mid-Century Modern PC tower design, seeking your input on some of his design queries; just this morning he's e-mailed us shots of the finished product. Looks pretty sweet, and he's even integrated dual cooling fans into the bottom of the housing.

Hit the jump to read some of Stephenson's thoughts on the project, or check out more shots on Stephenson's website.

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Check out the Marketplace at D-Build.org, a sort of Etsy for designers and consumers interested in reclaimed materials. In the Products section they sell finished products like Arbor & Taylor's Lincoln series of furniture (above), all made from reclaimed lumber; those looking to do their own projects should check out the Materials section, where you can buy random hunks of old floor beams, planks, boards, framing, and even entire ripped-out walls. Design something up, build it, and sell it; do it right and you'll make your money back, and then some.

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YOU ARE HERE is one of the most important signs at this year's Ars Electronica Festival. The former tobacco factory is a great event venue but due to the big amount of spaces, stairways and events it's easy to get lost. So far, we didn't see any breadcrumb trails but visitors need to keep track not to miss out one of the many highlights.

One of this year's highlights is ROBOT-ISM, an exhibition with selected content from the yearly Japan Media Arts Festival. If you love animations such as Fujiyama vs. Knight Cobra and know what "Gundam" means then this is the place to be.

At the Pixelspaces Conference Anthony Dunne (Head of the Design Interactions Department at the RCA) lectures about the robots from the Technological Dreams Series and questions which roles robots will have in our lives and which kind of (distant? intimate?) relationships could develop between man and machine.

See more robots after the jump.

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Several signs are needed to guide all visitors towards the main entrance of the Tabakfabrik Linz, a former tobacco processing plant which is the main event area for this year's Ars Electronica Festival.

Arriving at the main square we walk into a performance by soft bodies who are using the central square as their stage, or better playground, to interact with their audience. This nude performer needed nothing more than a single rock to capture the attention of dozens of visitors.

The Cyberarts exhibition is where we find Zimoun's sound installation. The Swiss artist created a structure of 216 dc-motors rotating wires that all together surprise our ears with unusual and complex sounds. Hard to explain but great to hear.

See more photos after the jump.

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Helmut Smit is our new favorite artist/designer, even if FLAMMA was the only project he'd ever done (it isn't, by the way, and they are all stellar). This brilliant Ikea Hack "harks back to one of humanity's basic needs: making fire." As Ikea does not sell matches or lighters, Smits has taken cues from the wartime necessity of burning furniture to keep warm, and created a fire from an Ikea rope, hanger, wine rack, egg cup, napkins, and floral embellishments.

The video above is worth every minute, not to mention a good lesson in building fires, an art lost on most of us.

Visit Smit's site here.

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Oscar Magnus Narud's Keel collection: tables in rough wood and iron.

Running from September 15th through November 14th, Make-Me is an upcoming exhibition at Moss that brings together a set of artists and designers producing what Moss has coined "Butch-Craft." Maybe there is no better way to describe this than the words they use themselves: "a cerebral yet virile narrative applied to rough work crafted in wood, iron, steel, marble, rush, paint, boiled leather, clay, baked agricultural waste, plant-life, gypsum drywall, and blood, sweat and tears."

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Honda R&D

Automotive Designer
Torrance, CA

You will work independently on the development of original designs or adaptations requiring very specialized design skills and abilities. The Designer employs the best combination of preliminary information and contributing data to develop final designs (2D/3D) and basic concepts; selects technique best suited to represent project including graphics and technology; conducts product research to determine styling trends and consumer preferences; produces sketches, renderings and computer graphic illustrations, ideas and materials for presentation and helps develop strong brand specific ideas for building identity.

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The best design jobs and portfolios hang out at Coroflot.

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