herman

Bridget Carey just got back from the launch of the iPhone 4S at the Apple store here in Manhattan, so we pull her into the studio to tell us about all the kooks lined up for first dibs.

Despite all the problems users are experiencing with iOS 5 updates, everyone in line at the store left with a 4S, though Bridget tells us not many users were anxious to test out Sprint or Verizon's network. Where's Wilson today? Guess.… Read more

This week we've seen a lot of the "fail whale," the cartoon cetacean that Twitter uses as a placeholder when its servers are swamped and its millions of tweets are inaccessible. Part of it's because, as Twitter has said, they've needed to do some crucial infrastructure repair this summer. That hasn't been made any easier by the global frenzy surrounding the World Cup soccer tournament in South Africa: World Cup goals are delivering knockout blows to Twitter, and surprise results of games can be even worse. Right around the Netherlands' unexpected victory over Brazil … Read more

Inside all of us, there lives an inner creep just itching to get out and secretly take photos of unsuspecting members of the opposite sex. The secret book camera, offered here by Keith Carollo and Chris Bick of Fred Flare, definitely confirms that theory. The camera uses inexpensive 110 film and is the perfect size to stick in your backpack or Miley Cyrus-approved clutch purse.

You know what this camera reminds me of? That one scene in Troop Beverly Hills where shevillain Velda Plendor hides a camera inside the Girl Scouts book so Herman can spy on the tragically affluent Girl Scouts of Beverly Hills. Wait, what? You're not as self-deprecating as I am? OK, well I loved TBH and now I can finally live out my cinematic fantasies. Never mind that it's seafoam green and made to look like an antique toy for children--I just so happen to have $55 burning a hole in my apron. Patches?! We don't need no stinkin' patches!

Check out more pictures of the camera after the jump.… Read more

If you've ever sat in an Aeron chair, you know what real office comfort can be like. Plus, they're just great-looking pieces of furniture.

That's true whether you're talking about a real-life Aeron or an Aeron in the virtual world Second Life, where there are plenty of copycat chairs available for sale at reasonable prices.

But now, according to Wagner James Au over at the blog New World Notes, Aeron manufacturer Herman Miller has launched a store in Second Life and is attempting to address the issue of illegitimate knockoffs through an interesting two-pronged approach.

For … Read more

It could be all the microclimates here on CNET's sixth floor, or it could just be my co-workers' widely divergent internal thermostats. Either way, a given day here in the office will see some of us shivering and reaching for thick sweaters, while others complain that the place is steaming hot. What's a newsroom comprised of such varying body temperatures to do?

Office furniture maker Herman Miller, it turns out, has come up with the C2, a $300 personal climate control device for just such a workplace dilemma. The company--which notes on its Web site that temperature control … Read more

How times have changed. At the height of the dot-com boom, one of the early symbols of egregious excess was Herman Miller's "Aeron" uber-chair, which often sold for more than $1,000 apiece. Although it still sells those chairs--which apparently haven't come down in price--the specialty furniture maker is now touting a very different kind of product that's far less visible. In fact, its effects are completely invisible.

The "C2," so far as we can tell from its product literature, is a fancy personal air conditioner and filter that goes for $280… Read more

If there's one thing everyone agrees on, it's that we all need a better way to charge the multiplying electronic devices that run our lives. One of the more anticipated technologies in this department, for example, has been the "WildCharger" wireless recharging pad. Herman Miller, the office furnishing designer extraordinaire that gave us the "Aeron" chair, has apparently a concept similar to the WildCharger's and plans to use it in future desks.

The company has licensed a system called "eCoupled," which uses a magnetic field that can theoretically charge cell phones, … Read more