The sending of good wishes and greetings during this season is an accepted tradition in most western countries and corporate giving can be a huge factor in marketing at this time of year.

FirstQuintile announces the launch of a major t-shirt eCommerce shop just in time for the release of the Hobbit movie. Proving it could be done against all odds, they completed JackOfAllTrades.com for licensed apparel manufacturer of the same name.

Custom jeweler quadruples studio space, adds another retail location as national sales increase.

The selection recognizes Nancy A. Marino's commitment to excellence in the Retail industry and Consulting/Advisory sector.

Stocking everything from original Scotch whisky to interesting blends from Ireland, Japan, Canada and the United States, Whisky Marketplace is a one stop destination to research and purchase the best brands in time for the holidays.

Sales and marketing firm Smart Advantages take time out to enjoy Winterval in Waterford, Ireland.

GiftWorksPlus offers an extensive line of custom wood picture frames that can be engraved with names, dates, messages, and more at no extra charge.

Wags-n-Whiskers-Giftbaskets.com showcases a wide range of gifts and gift baskets dedicated to pet lovers concerned with the health and welfare of their four-legged companions.

Weldon's Jewellers of Dublin have recently uploaded a brand new batch of exquisite diamond engagement rings to their website.

The new Comfort Inn & Conference Center Northeast, in Atlanta, GA, offers affordable accommodations to guests attending Golden Spike Train Show on January 12, 2013.

Hampton Inn & Suites Atlanta Airport Hotel North provides affordable accommodations to guests attending upcoming Scotts Antique Market Shows at Atlanta Expo Center. They are America's favorite treasure hunt.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Atlanta Perimeter hotel, near Sandy Springs, GA, offers close lodging to guests attending upcoming auctions at Gallery 63, featured on the Discovery Channel show Auction Kings.

GiftWorksPlus urges a New Year's resolution to capture treasured memories in personalized custom picture frames.

Coffee lovers everywhere, rejoice! The Kona coffee shortage has lessened, and J. Martinez & Company has Hawaiian Kona beans in stock, ready to ship.

This year, the standout sweetheart can choose a different route to his honey's heart with a brand new type of bouquet.

Harris Seeds is offering sweetheart deals with the launch of its Valentine's Day Shop at www.harrisseeds.com.

Arttowngifts.com helps customers make Valentine's Day unforgettable with gifts that will make this special day one to remember.

An Avenue Apart is an eCommerce platform for boutiques all over the world that offers a wide selection of handmade fashion products selected from international boutiques, including Italy, India, and Argentina.

Collection's European and Asian antiques have remained in private hands for 60+ years

The creations shared in "my Sicilian kitchen" have been prepared by members of the Bilo family for generations, and now are passed on to you and your family. Buon Appetito."-Linda Bilo-Brechtel

For Valentine's Day 2013 King Jewelers is offering special savings on an exclusive selection of fine jewelry, watches, diamond studs, diamond pendants and fashion accessories that is sure to make locating the ideal Valentine's Day gift stress free.

Bakery to commemorate milestone with nationwide celebration for guests on Feb. 7.

At One Cookie, we believe in spreading our cookie love across the nation and changing lives in the process. We will ship our cookies anywhere in the United States. Freshness guaranteed.

February 10, 2013 (New Freedom, PA) - Nevermore Toys is excited to announce Legendary Monsters, a new line of figures based on creatures from popular urban legends. The announcement accompanies a new Kickstarter campaign offering special incentives.

Maiden Gifts, easiest and fastest gift has expanded their fast delivery offers all through the month of February including their Valentine's Special Catalogue of Products.

Mr Garrett Weldon of Weldons jewelers Dublin announced a new arrival in stock of a very interesting antique Irish silver salver, made in Dublin circa 1740, by Samuel Walker.

GiftWorksPlus, the leader in custom picture frames, is offering a blog series full of tips for improving photography skills.

Be A Doll, known for their personalized action figures, has developed a new product "Be A Bust". Submit 2 photos of your loved ones and get a 4 inch likeness of their head and shoulders, mounted on a stained wood base of your choice.

Make it the best Easter ever. Decorate with style, entertain with ease and give beautiful unique gifts to create a memorable EGGCELLENT holiday. It is about Family, Eggs and Bunnies of course.

Hampton Inn & Suites Atlanta Airport Hotel (North I-85) provides affordable accommodations to guests attending upcoming 2013 Scott Antique Market Shows at Atlanta Expo Center. They are America's favorite treasure hunt.

Red Horse Signs the leader in custom vintage signs launches newly redesigned eCommerce website at www.redhorsesigns.com. Also announced is their selection of over 300 customiuzable signs and free shipping on orders over $250.

GiftWorksPlus is proud to introduce a new product line of custom picture frames: the chrome collection.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites N-Atlanta Perimeter Mall hotel offers convenient lodging to guests attending the American Craft Council Show at Cobb Galleria Centre from March 15-17, 2013.

Three recent lawsuits present new challenges for the makers of the Bumbo Baby Sitter, a popular infant chair that are alleged to have caused a number of injuries after babies fell from the seats.

Uniwatches launch their official YouTube channel with video reviews of timepieces and expand their collection of Nixon and Hugo Boss watches.

Bronze grapevine sculptures to inspire during luxe event April 4-7.

Online pawn shop PawnUp.com made another announcement about increasing their list of accepted items. This positive move is aimed at letting more people cash in on their valuables in 2013.

In partnership with APW Asset Management, McTear's announced that more than 10,000 bottles of New World's finest wines will go under the hammer in Glasgow. The sale has attracted considerable interest from collectors from across the globe.

After last year's popular Nashville Diamond Week, King Jewelers has opted to dedicate the entire month of April to diamonds and diamond jewelry. Nashville clients can benefit from discounts, gift card offers and a chance to win a special gift package

Travelers breeze through baggage claim and reduce the risk of losing their bags with BAGPATCH unique and distinctive travel accessory.

GoldMax USA announces the grand opening of two new stores in Murrieta, California at 40790 California Oaks Road, Suite B and C and 39209 Winchester Road, Suite 102.

A wide variety of brand-new coupon codes and discounts is now available at e-coupons.vn for customers to enjoy.

Leading-edge candy company continues its highly successful candy pooper series with the launch of four new categories

According to Pratt Institute's website, Industrial Design students have been assigned to make those "Isolation Chairs" from last month…

"Isolation Chairs" made by students in Industrial Design Studio II (via @PrattInstitute/Instagram)

…but apparently not everyone's thrilled with the curriculum. The Daily News reports that a group of undergraduate Pratt Institute students have brought a lawsuit against the school, demanding a tuition refund in the face of inadequate online instruction.

"The online learning options being offered to Pratt students are subpar in practically every aspect, from the lack of facilities, materials and access to faculty," a lawyer for the students wrote in the suit. "Students have been deprived of the opportunity for collaborative learning and in-person dialogue, feedback and critique."

…The Pratt Institute lawsuit argued that the university's design focus makes remote, online learning even less feasible for students.

I can't imagine how one would go about teaching Industrial Design from afar. If you're an ID student, whether at Pratt or elsewhere, please drop us a line in the comments--I'm intensely curious to hear how your online classes are going.

Matterport has updated their Capture app so that you can now "3D scan" spaces using the built-in camera on your iPhone or iPad. Meaning you take a bunch of photos, and the software stitches it together.

Now that everyone's cooped up at home, I can see tons of people wanting to capture their houses for fun…

…and the app lets you measure, tag items and label spaces too.

The only thing I don't like: You have to upload everything to the cloud, which is where the stitching-together part happens. It darn sure better be hack-proof--it's bad enough we've spent the past few years bugging our own homes with smart speakers, now it's like we're creating maps for tech-savvy burglars.

Harmon Brothers is the name of the social media ad agency that created the unforgettable Squatty Potty video spot. They've cranked out a number of other ads that also went viral (Poo-Pourri, Purple mattresses, Chatbooks, Lume deodorant), helping propel those businesses into multimillion dollar companies.

To help product companies that are struggling during the downturn, Harmon Brothers has announced they're giving away, sweepstakes-style, a $100,000 video marketing campaign. As long as you've got "a product or service that solves a real problem for real people," you're eligible to apply to their "$100K Poop to Gold Giveaway," as it's called.

Ten semifinalists will be chosen, and the Grand Prize winner gets the free campaign. But the other nine aren't left to hang: They get free coaching and/or a year of free access to the online Harmon Brothers University, where they've distilled their formula for going viral into online lessons.

Here are the details of how to enter:

Don't you miss last year, when we were killing each other with weapons rather than airborne droplets? When mass shootings and home invasions dominated the news, a company called Battenshield rolled out their design for a virtually unbreakable door barricade.

It's not the greatest-looking thing in the world, but I will say the functionality of the design is clever, along with half of the installation. The system with the battens simply hangs on the door.

What I'd worry more about is the ability of the average homeowner to install the brackets (particularly over trim with a wavy cross-section) and get the lags driven into the studs.

Interestingly enough, the system was designed by a former SWAT officer whose role was, you guessed it, the "entry team member" who breaches doors.

A special thanks to Core77 reader Ross Oliver, who read our post on Cheat Sheets and commented that silicone--which I always thought was inert--may in fact leach harmful chemicals into food.

Oliver provided a link to Life Without Plastic, a company founded in 2006 by two parents seeking alternatives to plastic for their then-newborn child. Today the company sells over 450 products made from nontoxic alternatives to plastic, like good ol' glass and stainless steel. Because they do sell some items that feature silicone gaskets and seals, their website has a section on silicone, where they provide links to several peer-reviewed studies done on how the material reacts with food. Here's some relevant information:

Silicones are not completely inert or chemically unreactive and can release toxic chemicals. They can leach certain synthetic chemicals at low levels, and the leaching is increased with fatty substances, such as oils.

One study tested the release of siloxanes from silicone nipples and bakeware into milk, baby formula and a simulant solution of alcohol and water. Nothing was released into the milk or formula after six hours, but after 72 hours in the alcohol solution several siloxanes were detected.

Another study found siloxanes [a byproduct of the polymerization process used to create a silicone product] being released from silicone bakeware, with leaching increasing as the food fat content increased.

A review of the literature indicated that the key critical effects of common siloxanes, as shown in animal studies, are impaired fertility and potential carcinogenicity (2005 Report by the Danish Ministry of the Environment: Siloxanes - Consumption, Toxicity and Alternatives).

The European Union considers certain siloxanes to be endocrine disruptors (Study on enhancing the Endocrine Disruptor priority list with a focus on low production volume chemicals, ENV.D.4/ETU/2005/00w28r).

If you use silicone in your kitchen, I'd say the entire page is well worth a read.

The video below features three mask tutorials. In the first, industrial designer Eric Strebel's wife shows you how to sew a pleated mask that contains a slot you can slide a filter into; then Strebel shows you how he modified his shop mask for easy on/off; finally, he runs you through making a BU Mask, which is a cardboard mask (designed by Evgeny Maslov, freely downloadble plans at the link) that can also take a replaceable filter.

For tradespeople, farmers and others who frequently need to cover and uncover their shoes (to protect interior surfaces from mud or worse), disposable booties are an unsustainable solution. They're also a pain to take on and off. This reusable and automatically-wrapping design seems much better:

I've been searching for something like this for a long time. On our free-range farm, I inevitably step in the shit of some animal on a daily basis, and pulling my boots off and on every time I need to go back inside to retrieve something gets old.

However, these wouldn't 100% work for my application. While getting them on looks easy, getting them off requires a fair amount of manual manipulation…

…meaning every time I removed these, I'd wind up with animal feces on my hands.

Question for you: How do you reckon these work? I figure inside the fabric is a polypropylene sheet molded into a sprung shape, with raised tunnel-like seams serving as hinges, and when you collapse the tunnels by stepping on them, the spring action is released. [Edit: I believe reader Kyle Lamson has figured it out. See his comment below.]

(Lastly, I was not able to find what company or designer invented these. There are tons of variants on the market. It's possible they were invented by a fellow named Joel Fersaci, whose Step in Sock model is featured in the video above.)