Ariele Alasko: It’s not uncommon for NYC residents to claim unwanted home goods left on the sidewalk (bedbugs, be damned), but Brooklyn resident Ariele Alasko is even more resourceful when it comes to matters of dumpster-sourcing. The California native, who studied sculpture in art school, always exhibited a propensity toward creating works scaled for the home. Ultimately, she funneled her domestic instincts into furniture building, and now runs an independent custom woodworking business using scraps found in her neighborhood of Bed-Stuy. Her collection includes wall panels, headboards, coffee tables, and dining tables, all of which boast her signature inlay tribal patterns formed using myriad types of wood.

Drift Relief: Former Fort Tilden beachgoers will have to find a new sunbathing destination this summer, as the beloved strand of secluded seashore is still recovering from Hurricane Sandy. Rebuilding efforts for The Rockaways and other Mid-Atlantic destinations destroyed by the disaster remain in full swing, from Smallwater’s regularly scheduled clean-ups to fundraising initiatives that use the power of design, such as Drift Relief. The latter project, a tribute to the washed out boardwalks that was initiated by New Jersey residents Allbriton Robbins and Hema Patel, sells rescued planks and driftwood hand-painted with brilliant stripes—a fitting ode to the colorful characters who populate the shore.

WOOED: The outpouring of online prescription eyeglasses companies has influenced the style-conscious to match their frames to their outfits, and so too is the proliferation of wild sunglasses driving bold summer looks. San Francisco-based accessories company WOOED makes shades crafted primarily from reclaimed wood, including Rosewood, Cocobolo, Padauk, Black Walnut and Zebrawood. Operating under the principle of making only products that are “designed by nature,” the brand is meticulous about highlighting each wood’s unique grain patterns, colors, textures, and even fragrance.  All glasses are one-of-a-kind and chemical-free, but they nevertheless feature polarized lenses to ward off Mother Nature’s less desirable attributes.

That Calls for a Carlsberg: “Big beer” is making a concerted effort to enter the digital age, but one major brewer instead attempted an old-fashioned prank to capture attention. Carlsberg challenged a few young men to call a friend in the middle of the night, claiming they needed money lost in an underground poker game. To deliver the cash, the friends called upon had to surpass a series of staged obstacles—among them, a fistfight and a wok spewing fire. Those who loyally persevered to help a friend in need were ultimately surprised with a cheering squad and a cold Carlsberg, their reward for bravely “standing up for a friend.”

The Ultimate Speed Date: French automaker Renault gave new meaning to speed dating upon crashing one such event, staged at the notoriously challenging race track Spa-Francorchamps. A handful of speed daters were pulled from the safety of the indoor dining room and paired with Caroline, a comely single who preferred to conduct her date on the track…and who turned out to be a professional racer. Her queasy suitors may not have found love on their high speed dates, but perhaps walked away with a favorable impression of the Clio R.S. model Renault was covertly promoting. In March, Pepsi pulled a similar stunt with help from pro racer Jeff Gordon.

The Bus Shelter: Options for enhanced weather forecasts abound, so it makes sense that The Weather Channel—associated as it is primarily with the elderly—might take drastic measures to stand apart from competitors. To promote its new app for Android, which reveals the exact time it’s meant to rain, TWC rigged a bus shelter to downpour on unsuspecting individuals waiting inside it—except, that is, for one prepared person (presumably an actor) whose TWC app alerted him that he needed to break out his umbrella. The app has been downloaded tens of millions of times and is favorably reviewed, though some Scrooges deemed the stunt obnoxious.

The Committee: Museums are extending their events programming in an attempt to reach more diverse audiences. At the same time, nightlife destinations are broadening their horizons to appeal to those seeking knowledge alongside pints of beer. The Committee, a new company that launched recently to meet these converging demands, offers curatorial services along with salon hosting expertise for cultural institutions as varied as galleries and bars. Among its projects in recent months was a salon series, held at Chelsea lounge No.8, where topics ranged from graffiti to fashion. The Committee’s core members span 40 years in age, ensuring that the content stays inclusive across generations.

The Talk Shop: The past few years have given rise to pop-up shops, pop-up restaurants, pop-up hotels, pop-up parks, and pop-up movie theatres. The latest iteration of the transient trend is the pop-up conversation salon. The Talk Shop, a spontaneous group chat series that kicked off its inaugural run last month in Midtown, invited passersby to join free-flowing dialogue. Program founder Jeremy Redleaf conceived the idea after being inspired by the community spirit that surfaced in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The gatherings were anchored by hosts selected for their outgoing nature, among them a “surprisologist” and a “community ninja,” to ensure that lulls stayed at a minimum.

The Shed: Storytelling events such as The Moth and Radiolab Live have emerged as a favored form of entertainment among city folk, but don’t typically allow for spectator participation. The Shed, a storytelling salon founded last summer in Red Hook, Brooklyn, riffs on the live narrative concept but distinguishes itself by removing the wall between performer and audience. The monthly series, co-founded by Jason Fried, Katie Cooper, Chrysanthe Tenentes, and Audrey Evans, establishes a loose discussion theme for each evening’s gathering (past ones have included “Blackout,” “Uncertainty,” and “Found”). All attendees are encouraged to both share a tale and listen to those of others.

ParkMe: Californians Sam Friedman and Alex Israel felt frustrated enough after repeatedly wasting hours looking for parking that they created ParkMe, an app that helps drivers in more than 1,800 cities find the cheapest and nearest open spaces on streets and in garages. ParkMe gathers data from Web-connected parking meters and garage ticket machines, then displays open spaces on heat maps. Drivers can view the information via their car navigation systems, iPhones, or iPads. To make parking even simpler, the app provides garage rates, discount offers, and a timer. ParkMe is licensed to several parking garage companies, including industry leader ABM Parking Services.

ParkTag: ParkTag is a rewards-based social network that allows drivers to publicize soon-to-open parking spots. Users geotag their vehicles and earn points when they alert others of unoccupied spaces. The points then act as credit usable for locating spots in the future, and those with more points receive priority during high-demand times. Moreover, ParkTag has the potential to become a powerful community-building tool, since searchers typically arrange a time to meet with people who are about to vacate their spaces. The app recently launched globally at TechCrunch’s Disrupt NY Conference, and the creators plan to integrate it, eventually, into cars’ dashboards.

KurbKarma: Like ParkTag, KurbKarma is a mobile app that helps drivers connect with others who are leaving their parking spots. Users post status updates in the app before giving up spaces. Then, in Google Maps, KurbKarma shows drivers where nearby spots are about to open up and lets them inform those departing how long it will take them to get there. KarmaKredit is required to reserve spots. Those who need a space must use two KarmaKredits, whereas those who give up their spots earn one. The app comes with 10 KarmaKredits, but users can purchase more for 99 cents each.

Story: The NewFronts have become aggressive in the quest for advertiser dollars, but still face competition from traditional TV. Disney, in its effort to stand out among the digital offerings on parade earlier this month, introduced, in addition to new webisodes, an interactive storytelling app. The app, called simply Story, lets parents pull photos and videos from their smartphones into shareable virtual books. Primarily targeting STFU, Parents-vulnerable moms, this new addition to the iTunes App Store can be used both for sharing personal anecdotes with extended family and for writing stories in which the child being read to can be the main character.

Kindoma Storytime: Telecommuting may be on the rise, but it’s unlikely that business travel is going to disappear anytime soon—posing a persistent challenge for parents whose careers demand the accumulation of frequent flyer miles. Kindoma Storytime is a new iPad app that marries e-books with video chat, allowing parents (or grandparents) to retain a face-to-face reading experience with their kids, even if they have to say good night from a lonely Marriott hotel room. Both parties must have the app, but either side has the ability to turn the page. The library currently contains 26 books, and the team hopes to continue expanding the selection.

Smart PJs: For parents of toddlers, the evening struggle to get their kids changed into pajamas without having to combat a meltdown is up there with getting them into the bathtub and shampooed. Smart PJs are a new invention that aims to remove tantrums from the bedtime process. The two-piece sets, available in sizes suitable for 1- to 8-year-olds, are “the world’s first and only interactive pajamas.” The tops and bottoms are printed with multi-colored dot patterns that double as QR codes. When a dot constellation is scanned by a smartphone running an accompanying app, a bedtime story appears on the phone.

Blackbird Incense Pyre: Smudge sticks are popular among urban hippies with ritualistic tendencies, but the comparatively harsh scent of the New Age herbal bundles isn’t for everyone. Seattle-based men’s clothing store/apothecary Blackbird conceived of a modern substitute with its in-house incense pyres. The more delicately scented, burnable cones were initially made as a limited run product, but they proved so popular, selling out every time they hit the floor, that the store decided to expand the collection. The highly concentrated aromatics are now available in seven fragrances, ranging from the tomato leaf notes of Roheline to the rose petal/sandalwood/anise seed medley of Ozo.

Incienso de Santa Fe: Southwestern motifs have been resonating with the young and fashionable for the past few years, from Navajo print Pendleton blankets to custom-made dream catchers. The latest New Mexican hallmark to take a US road trip is Incienso de Santa Fe, a family-owned and operated home fragrance business that launched in 1963. The heritage brand has acquired a cult following in recent months, not only for its retro packaging, woodsy scents (juniper, pinon) and ecologically-minded production methods (all trees used to create the incense are already “down and dead”) but also for its hand-cast, hand-painted teepee and adobo hut burners.

Papier d’Arménie Booklet: The burning of benzoin, a dried sap derived from styrax trees, was a 19^th century tradition among Armenians who used the natural resource to disinfect their homes. A French entrepreneur eventually expanded the market throughout Europe by soaking burnable paper in the solution and selling it as Papier D’Arménie. The booklets, produced in the Parisian suburb of Montrouge for the past 120+ years, emit a unique smoky vanilla essence that’s a distinct alternative to saccharine scented candles. Now, fashionable boutiques, such as NYC’s Barber & Supply, stock the blotting papers: perfect for urbanites seeking to cover up their malodorous cooking forays.

Healing Environments: Ambient music pioneer Brian Eno has designed two innovative “healing environments” that will test the therapeutic properties of ambient sound for the recently opened Montefiore Hospital in the UK. Each was created to provide a serene atmosphere with restorative effects for the hospital’s patients. The first space, called simply “Quiet Room for Montefiore,” is an empty room characterized only by its ambient generative music, providing a respite for patients who need a moment to themselves amid the chaotic, impersonal hospital environs. The second, “77 Million Paintings for Montefiore,” features more generative music as well as a light installation (presumably of the therapeutic, non-theatrical variety).

Christine Sun Kim: Last year, a spate of gadgetry sought to give the blind augmented vision capabilities. A similarly inspired effort to “reclaim sound,” conceived of by hearing-impaired artist Christine Sun Kim, is featured in a recent video short from The Selby. Kim investigates the physicality of sound by translating noise into kinetic phenomena in order to experience it through its visual and bodily effects—such as sound vibrations, a visceral, internal way for the deaf to process sound stimuli. The resultant works feature brightly colored strings strapped across pulsing speakers, paint splattered by shocks of sound from a microphone, and ongoing feedback loops that rattle physical space.

BioAid: Researchers at the University of Essex have developed an algorithm that could transform smartphones into nouveau hearing aids. Like similar software that harnesses and perfects ambient noise, BioAid uses the smartphone’s internal processing power to amplify too-quiet noises and diminish too-loud ones. This trick essentially mimics the biological processes that occur in a healthy ear to deliver clearer, more comprehensible sound to the hearing impaired. Such a hearing aid app could ultimately lower barriers of cost and inconvenience that may prevent one from seeking auditory treatment. The algorithm is currently available for free download in the iTunes App Store.

SaveCAP: Airbags are no longer just for car passengers. In fact, they’re now used to protect houses from earthquakes, hikers from avalanches and, thanks to Dutch car company TNO, cyclists from cars. Research has found that when a car hits a bicycle, the rider typically lands on the windshield with their head and shoulders leading. TNO developed an airbag system, called SaveCAP, which inflates on a car’s exterior between the bottom edge of the front windshield and the hood. A forward-facing camera under the rearview mirror connects with software that identifies oncoming pedestrians or cyclists, and activates its “alert” mode to deploy the windshield airbags.

The Safest Bike on the Road: Lawyer and bicycle safety advocate Josh Zisson built what he describes as “the safest bike on the road.” His custom concept bike features an internal rear gear hub that allows cyclists to switch gears at a dead stop, enclosed drum brakes capable of handling all weather conditions and, most significantly, a comprehensive focus on visibility. Indeed, LED headlights, daytime running lights, brake lights, and a complete coating of reflective sealant make the bicycle nearly impossible to miss. Several cycling veterans contributed to the project, including a handmade frame by Ted Wojcik Custom Bicycles, handlebar grips from Portland Design Works, and assembly through Hub Bicycle.

Safer Urban Lorry: Some cities are focusing on bike lanes, but the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) has developed a vehicle design that eliminates trucks’ blind spots thereby reducing the danger they pose to cyclists. The concept, called the Safer Urban Lorry, takes inspiration from the open cab design of modern garbage trucks, touting a 360-degree early warning camera system, lower seating position, and large bus-like windows to improve visibility. The project follows an initiative that the organization launched last year, Safer Lorries, Safer Cycling, which called upon council members to take a pledge insisting on cyclist awareness training for drivers and use of the latest safety technology.

Aqua Studio: Aqua cycling is already an established exercise movement in Europe, but it’s just catching on in the US. Aqua Studio is a recently opened NYC cycling space that offers classes in which up to 15 people (women only, currently) ride metal bikes submerged in four feet of water while also working on core and arm strengthening. Riders, rather than adjusting the bike’s resistance throughout the 45-minute class, choose from three pre-set levels, with water making the workout even tougher than a typical spin session. The studio boasts that class participants burn cellulite and up to 800kcal per hour, but won’t feel soreness afterwards.

Aqua Yoga: The number of Americans who practice yoga reached 20.4 million in 2012, up from 15.8 million in 2008. Among the numerous hybrid versions that have emerged is aqua yoga, which puts less stress on the joints than regular yoga. The water also provides greater resistance, enabling participants to burn calories faster. Guests at LA’s The Hotel Wilshire, through a partnership between Kimpton Hotels and Lululemon, can now take aqua yoga classes led by the apparel brand’s yoga ambassadors in the hotel’s rooftop pool. As Kimpton rolls out new fitness initiatives across its properties, it may offer this class at more locations in the future.

Aqua Zumba: Zumba, the wildly popular dance fitness craze, has spun off Aqua Zumba, a new wrinkle that has been making a splash worldwide. Instructors stand outside the pool to best demonstrate the choreography, which combines aerobics, dance, and lap exercises. Some of the moves and dance styles are modified since they work better on land, but by adding water to the workout, participants can enhance their aerobic endurance, flexibility, and joint mobility. This virtual “pool party” shows no signs of sinking, as an Aqua Zumba by Speedo collection, consisting of swimsuits, aquatic footwear and fitness accessories, will hit stores next year.

Microsoft’s Forbes Hotspot: Sponsoring free Wi-Fi in urban public spaces such as parks and subways is a relatively common practice among marketers, yet a recent promotion from Microsoft gave potential brand fans a more widely available opportunity to access gratis Internet. The software giant partnered with Forbes to place functional T-Mobile routers in special issues of last month’s issue. The hotspots, secured in cardboard inserts, doled out free Wi-Fi for 15 days for up to five devices at once. An ad for Office 365, the publishing stunt included a four-page insert intended to convince users of the convenience of the software’s cloud utility.

Wi-Fi Movie Poster: Movie marketers are making clever use of smartphone technology in their efforts to lure ever discerning audiences into theatres. One recent tactic was even built into the movie itself, as Dutch release App featured a second screen experience via a companion app. South Korean film distributor CJ Entertainment took a similarly mobile-minded approach with its 2.0 movie poster concept. The reinvented advert for espionage thriller The Berlin File was embedded with a Wi-Fi hotspot that offered passersby free Internet. Immediately upon logging in to the network, users were directed to the movie’s homepage where they could watch a trailer and, of course, purchase tickets.

Karma: People share media freely online, even in the face of debates over piracy and copyright infringement. Yet, when it comes to the ways in which they access the digital domain, most keep passwords guarded. The technologists behind new gadget Karma are out to reverse the trend with the introduction of the first social hotspot. The palm-sized box is a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot that provides users with pay-as-you-go Internet access. Through a feature the company calls Social Bandwith, Karma owners can open up access to anyone in their vicinity. When someone joins a Karma network, both users are rewarded with 100 MB of free data.