Sampla is a sustainable footwear startup from Ireland, and in their current Kickstarter campaign, they're offering a new pair of animal-friendly shoes made from … apples?!

Rethinking the classic tennis shoe, the upper material of our shoe is made from a vegan material called AppleSkin™. It is made using repurposed apple waste from the juice industry in Italy. The other components of the shoe were carefully selected. Organic and recycled materials were consciously chosen where possible. Nice, simple and sustainable.

Partnering with Trees on the Land, we will plant an indigenous tree in Ireland for each pair produced. To keep carbon emissions as low as possible, our logistics partner sends our shoes using the most optimal route for each delivery. They are neatly packed and sent in our 0% plastic packaging.

And a little more detail about the actual process behind the AppleSkin™:

The apple core, pips and skins are dried and milled to a fine apple powder. Then it’s applied to a tear-resistant woven roll with cotton fabric. These rolls are heated and given an added protective layer to produce a weather-resistant durable fabric. Organic pigments are added to the brown fabric, producing colours of choice. We are left with a material that is breathable, durable, and of course, 100% vegan.

The Kickstarter Campaign has an "Early Bird Special" that'll run you about $100 for a pair of apple shoes and a t-shirt (plus the carbon offset tree planting). This is apparently about 40% less than what would ultimately be the retail price. Read the rest

"Have fun at home with my old rubber boots," the creator writes.

Avant-garde performance art or fetish video? You decide.

One commenter's rave review: "Nice boots. Rubber seems to be very soft."

(via r/DeepIntoYouTube) Read the rest

Having noted that you can get tactical pens, tactical cutlery and tactical pants, I wondered if I might also get a pair of tactical slippers and searched the term at Amazon. Behold the Teva Men's M Ember MOC Slipper.

* Rubber sole * Rib knit collar with webbing detail * Convertible heel counter * EVA foam midsole for lightweight cusioning * Rubber outsole.

Remember the scene from Commando where Arnold Schwarzenegger gears up? Just imagine that, but with a few extra seconds of working a foot lazily into some nice comfy tactical slippers. Read the rest

You may have thought that you were prepared for this moment, but I want you to sit down, nonetheless. Brace yourself. Buck up. Be strong.

Here we go.

Crocs, squishy footwear manufacturer to the stars (also, Larry, who stops by to top off that pig tank of propane I’ve got sitting outside of my RV when we winter in Texas,) is closing its last manufacturing plants.

According to a statement plopped out by the company last week, Crocs decreed that they will no longer be making the iconic closed cell resin kicks that made them famous, any longer, saying “In connection with ongoing efforts to simplify the business and improve profitability, during the second quarter, the company closed its manufacturing facility in Mexico and moved ahead with plans to close its last manufacturing facility, which is located in Italy,"

That said, it’s sounding like the company will likely be licensing out the right to make Crocs sandals, clogs and other squishy footwear options to outside manufacturers.

From Jezebel:

...there have been multiple media reports that Crocs is winding down production in our owned manufacturing facilities. While accurate, some people have interpreted that to mean that Crocs will no longer be making and selling shoes. Quite the contrary, Crocs will continue to innovate, design and produce the most comfortable shoes on the planet. As we streamline our business to meet growing demand for Crocs, we’re simply shifting production to third parties to increase our manufacturing capacity.

We’re extremely grateful, but not surprised that our passionate fans are rallying around the brand today.

Looking for something to illustrate a post about crunch-time in game development, I ran into this video depicting many forms of footwear (but mostly high heels) being used to crunch keyboards:

It turns out there is a a vast and sprawling genre of "things crushed by heels" — mostly safe for work — on YouTube.

Here's a Kiwi, getting what it deserves:

Here's high heels crushing a laptop:

Here's four high heels, crushing two laptops:

18 laptops now:

Here's high heels crushing a Honda Civic:

Here are toy cars, crushed under high heels:

Can you guess what's going to happen to this XBox? It's going to be crushed underheel!

A delicious-looking pizza, crushed:

Even kibble is not spared:

Read the rest

Designer Kermit Tesoro released images of this custom-designed POLYPODIS 2015 shoe. Read the rest