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Posts tagged tech
The Rent Nightly Business Is Hotting Up – Meet Metroflats
Sep 8th
The rent-your-home-to-strangers business seems to be bringing up more and more startups to the fore. Airbnb is arguably the biggest with presence in almost every nation in the world. We had featured another NYC startup – Localbigwig and now there is another! Introducing Metroflats. Metroflats says it all in the name – rent a flat in a metro area. Metroflats gives the same services as localbigwig and airbnb but in a smaller number of cities within the US. Started by two business graduates and serial entrepreneurs – Avisha and Shamoon, Metroflats boasts of the finest places you can rent in cities like NYC, San Diego, Orlando and Miami.
There is nothing new about new businesses popping up when a concept seems to start working but these guys seem to e a little different - targeting the higher end of the vacation rental business. The listings are almost all north of $100 a night competing directly with the upper segment of hotels. Come on, those Hiltons deserve some competition! Check out metroflats at metroflats.com
Boxes Going Green? All Over The Place?
Sep 8th
Oh well, it was Lifebox, then UPS and now Ebay. Ebay is now giving out in its green boxes. But hang on – this one’s a little different. Ebay is not going to ship your stuff in it but is just going to give the box to you. The box has space for you to write where its from and a message to a person you are handing it to. The concept is that you will use the box to give someone something and in turn that someone uses it to give someone else, something else. Confused yet? Yeah, I can understand. Ebay’s Skype buyout was as confusing. But now the good part – if each of the 100,000 (only??) boxes being “given away” is reused 5 times Ebay estimates that we will save about 4000 trees, 2.4 million gallons of water and conserve enough energy to power 49 homes. Nice thought but the lucky few who get these boxes better use it at least 5 times! Images after the break.
Video: Population growth explained with IKEA boxes
Sep 6th
Swedish global health professor Hans Rosling demonstrates the past, present, and future of population growth with a “new technology”: IKEA boxes. Global population is expected to hit 9 billion by 2050, but it doesn’t have to continue increasing. Rosling says 9 billion can be the sustainable population of the earth by encouraging green technologies and having the West be the foundation, instead of leader ahead of the masses like its always been. Rosling argues that by raising the living standards of the poor and promoting family planning, the global population can be curved and held at a sustainable level.
Rosling began his career as a physician, spending many years in rural Africa tracking a rare paralytic disease (which he named konzo) and discovering its cause: hunger and badly processed cassava. He co-founded Médecins sans Frontièrs (Doctors without Borders) Sweden, wrote a textbook on global health, and is currently a professor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Rosling has also argued with many heads of state, including Fidel Castro. Video after the break.
Rosling began his career as a physician, spending many years in rural Africa tracking a rare paralytic disease (which he named konzo) and discovering its cause: hunger and badly processed cassava. He co-founded Médecins sans Frontièrs (Doctors without Borders) Sweden, wrote a textbook on global health, and is currently a professor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Rosling has also argued with many heads of state, including Fidel Castro. Video after the break.
Keep it 100
Sep 3rd
Human consumption has skyrocketed since the 50s. How do we slow it down? World Wildlife Fund vice-president Jason Clay suggests that leveraging 100 key companies to move towards sustainable practices would help consumers consumer less and do more with less. Clay’s goal is to “create global standards for producing and using raw materials, particularly in terms of carbon and water.” Why these 100 companies? They control 25 percent of the production of 15 key commodities, like beef, salmon, cocoa, and palm oil. Such big shareholders of such markets want to remain so, and want product to be there so they could stay in business. Clay’s approach is pre-competitive, working with these folks from the beginning before products hit the shelves. He’s already worked with 40 of the these companies to come to an agreement. He’s going to work with another 40, and use that 80 to convince the other 20. This way, consumers don’t have to do a thing to go sustainable. They won’t have any other choice. Video after the break.
It’s Liquid Wood
Sep 3rd
Another plastic replacement that’s 100 percent organic, Arboform is a German invention that has the mobility and durability of plastic with naturalness of wood. It is produced after combining lignin, a discarded element of regular wood with natural resins, flax and fiber and decomposes into water and carbon dioxide. Images after the break
Email Your Future Self
Sep 1st
Send yourself, or someone else, an email in the future. Just set the date, type the message and hit send. Users can also choose to send either a public email or a private email, with public emails for all of cyberspace to see.
Old Red Goes Green
Sep 1st
With the environmental movement, why not improve the old building materials instead of making entire new ones? Introducing the save water brick from designer Jin-young Yoon that has built-in grooves meant to funnel water for gardening or long-term underground storage. Made from recycled plastic and decomposed leaves, the save water brick has the grooves on one side and looks like a normal brick on the other. So those self-conscious environmentalists can still blend in while sticking to eco-friendly principles. Images after the break.
Because who wants to talk to a guy they met on the subway?
Sep 1st
There’s a new social media website for commuters. Bumped.in allows travelers and folks on the go to not only meet others who have similar lifestyles, but to keep a record of their train and plane trips on the Bumped.in profile. Users can also find hotels and restaurants near particular stops and find people who travel along the same routes or take the same flights. So serendipitously sitting next to that hot guy on the flight may not be so accidental after all.
At least your kids won’t eat these crayons
Aug 31st
Someone has created educational chemistry crayons, which are labeled with the actual chemical used to give each one its hue. If Crayola picks this up, at least parents don’t have to worry about kids eating the crayons, like what happened when the scented ones were introduced with smells like “orange,” “banana” and “grape.”
Some Things You Didn’t Know About Water
Aug 30th
Drinking water is always good for the body, right? Well, not exactly. Drinking large amounts of water does not help the kidneys remove toxins from the body, despite popular belief. Lots of water does not equal healthier skin, as the body is already 60 percent water. Just make sure to get enough water everyday. There’s no need to overdo it.
Privacy Is History. There’s No Eluding The Cameras!
Aug 29th
The city of Leon, Mexico is installing real time iris scanners throughout the entire city. These scanners can identify 50 people per minute, in motion. Leon only has one million people, but in 10 years this scanning system could connect to everyone on the planet! Video of the system at work after the break.
Don’t buy a new electric car, convert your old one to electric
Aug 27th
David Noon on Maui, Hawaii converts cars (anything from Hummers to Isuzus to 1950s Studebakers) to run on biodiesel. Noon, of Maui EVs, is the only one in Hawaii providing such a service. He’s outfitting a Ford Ranger XLT for $17,000. That’s enough for a used car, but for an electric car, you can make that money back in no time.
