A book-style iPad case, a new way to share your stuff, more

Mobolaji Akintunde, a Chicagoan who works in advertising and marketing, said he wanted a way to disguise his iPad when he was using it on the CTA. His fiance, physician Sofia Adawy, suggested hiding it in a book. They bought a cookbook at a Goodwill store, carved out an iPad-size hole with an X-Acto knife and covered the outside with fabric. "Over the next year or so, people would start looking at me," Mr. Akintunde said. "They'd say, 'Did you make that? Man that's so cool. I wish I had one for my iPad.'" And so Mr. Akintunde and Ms. Adawy decided to go into business. Working with a local bookbinder, they've started taking preorders for the StacheBook — in four styles ranging in price from $79.99 to $99.99. Ms. Adawy says the first StacheBooks will ship to customers this month.Now open at 2666 N. Halsted St. in Lincoln Park, the Solstice calls itself "a chocolate bar." Signature martinis designed by chef Alexander Dering include the peanut butter cup, lemon peep and cherry bomb; desserts include the chocolate truffle cake and caramel feuilletine. Urban Daddy has the menu here.
Founded by Gregory Jaros, a Chicago native now living in Park Ridge, A Spare to Share is a Web-based mobile platform that turns residential buildings, offices and clubs into "social, sharing communities." Last month, the Fulton Street Collective artists group and co-working site began using A Spare to Share, creating a social network where the collective's members can share, rent and sell items, or post requests about skills they're seeking. "People like helping their friends and neighbors and are happy to share their items, skills and even their time with people they know," Mr. Jaros said. "Having a safe, closed sharing network within their workplace or community makes perfect sense."Chicagoans Jared Petravicius and Simon Tumansky are launching this line of women's shoes with a Kickstarter campaign. They describe the shoes as elegant, fun, portable and comfortable. "Applying the principles of origami, our shoes collapse flat, making them easy to pack for daily or extended travel," the Kickstarter page explains. And the shoes will be produced with sweatshop-free labor at a woman-owned factory in Brazil, using recycled cotton and plastic bottles, the company said. I Know Jane's Kickstarter campaign needs to reach $35,000 by Dec. 10, and as of Monday, it had raised $5,515. What will happen if I Know Jane fails to meet its goal? "We are also looking for additional investor matches whether Kickstarter succeeds or fails," Mr. Petravicius said via email. "If we take investment, we need the investors' value system to match ours. This is very important to us." If the Kickstarter drive succeeds, I Know Jane plans to ship its first shoes in April.

タグ：iPad Case