Plus: How Trademark Law Works, Interactive LED Sculpture and Kids Re-enacting the American Revolution.

Porky Parody
The National Pork Board is upset that ThinkGeek is marketing its “Canned Unicorn Meat” using a slogan that slightly resembles theirs.

The 12-page cease-and-desist letter, written as if unicorn meat really exists, claims the online retailer of all thinks geeky (and an annual producer of April Fool’s Day products) is infringing on the well-known trademark “The Other White Meat.”

“It was never our intention to cause a national crisis and misguide American citizens regarding the differences between the pig and the unicorn,” Scott Kauffman, president and CEO of Geeknet, which owns ThinkGeek, said in a cheekily apologetic press release on the matter (via Boing Boing). “In fact, ThinkGeek’s canned unicorn meat is sparkly, a bit red and not approved by any government entity.”

Excellent source of sparkles!

Experimental LED Installation
Attendees of the annual Design Miami/Art Basel art and design showcase in Switzerland this week were treated to a new interactive light sculpture from London design studio rAndom international.

“Comprised of hundreds of LEDs that are physically linked with polished brass and electronically linked by micro controllers, ‘Swarm Light’ takes audio visualization into the real world using three 3-D grids of lights,” CNET’s Crave blog explains.

The experimental light installation features a “collective consciousness” that subtly reacts to the viewer’s audible presence, combining light, behavioral responses and interactive spatial environments.

The result: “Human presence brings a basic form of artificial intelligence to life.”

‘Swarm Light’ from rAndom International on Vimeo

What Your E-mail Sign-off Says about You
Cheers? Best? Have you ever thought about what your e-mail sign-off says to the recipient when he or she reads it?

Web Worker Daily recently broke down the hidden messages behind some of the most common e-mail closings. Among the conclusions:

• “Cheers” — Signing off with “Cheers” implies, “‘I’m casual, yet professional.’ We could share beers at the bar, or we could do an angel VC deal. Or both.”
• “Thanks” — Closing with “Thanks” says, “Just do what I’ve asked in the body of this e-mail, and let’s leave it at that.”
• “Best” — Ending with “Best” is a bit more ambiguous. “It basically means, ‘I wish good things for you.’ That’s OK, but chances are that tone doesn’t mesh well with what you’re communicating in the body above. However, ‘Best’ is innocuous enough that people don’t really digest it.”

Do you avoid using a closing at all? That says something as well. Let us know in the comments below how you end each one of the many e-mail messages you send each day.

In observance of July 4th, we will be shuttered on Monday. We will back immediately after the holiday weekend with our “Fringe” issue of IMT. Until then, we wish all our readers a happy and healthy Independence Day.

Cheers.