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Posts tagged Technology
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.
Next Gen 3D Printers Print Stuff Out Of Glass
Sep 7th
3-D printers aren’t new, but what they could print next it what’s worth talking about. Rapid prototypers could now manufacture products made of glass, sand, stone, and clay instead of the usual resin or plastic. This could help inventors churn out their ideas faster and artists and architects create things that weren’t previously possible for them. Most of these printers aren’t yet available to the general public, but require a special order with a specific company.
Talk about a renewable energy source
Sep 7th
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created miniscule solar cells that have the ability to repair themselves. These cells are just billionths of a meter across but could be able to extend their own lifetime.
Gen x and Gen Y not meeting halfway
Sep 6th
How many of you have noticed more and more younger folks opting for entrepreneurship over the last 5 years as compared to ever before? And this number is steadily increasing each year. No longer are cozy corporate jobs the big thing. More and more management graduates out of B-schools are getting frustrated with their corporate jobs, even if it is with a fancy investment bank. More folks are suffering from burn-out and are opting to try their own thing. For many folks reading the articles on this website, your 9-6 jobs are no longer their primary source of income. More and more graduates are looking at getting into their own groove and doing their own thing whether it be photography, fashion design, website design, games development, professional blogging, restaurants and much more.
Are you in the Kno?
Sep 5th
IPads are all the rage right now, but a giant double-screened tablet could replace the IPad, and textbooks. The Kno will feature two connected 14.1 inch 1440 x 900 anti-glare touchscreens connected via a flexible hinge and weigh just 5.5 pounds (slightly less than the average laptop weight of six pounds). The Kno is geared toward students, where digital learning technology is slow to catch on and to be useful in the classroom. The company (also called Kno, and is short for Knowledge Now) found that even though typical textbooks aren’t engaging, simple things like the ability to see two large pages at once, highlight text, or leave sticky notes on important passages, were all really tough to do with electronic readers. As a 2010 college graduate, the troubles are understood. I downloaded a book to my e-reader to save money, but it was difficult to find the correct page while everyone else had numbers on the corners of their books.
Anyway, the Kno will have 16GB of onboard storage and battery life is said to last about six to eight hours. The device is currently going through student beta testing, and a price has yet to be announced. The company is also still looking for people to be part of the Advisory Panel and to help determine the future of the Kno. Images after the break
That’s one way to get the message out
Sep 5th
British graffiti artist and political activist Banksy has created an anti-BP statement where you’d least expect one, both ordinarily and for Banksy. A coin-operated Dolphin kiddie ride adorned with a fishing net jumps over a leaking BP oil barrel in Brighton, England. Two girls seen in a video riding the dolphin don’t pay any attention to the subliminal messaging, even as someone who seems to be their mother snaps a photo of them and the dolphin on her cell phone. Perhaps that’s the point, to make people take a second look when there seems to be something weird with the dolphin. Banksy (who’s true identity is still unknown) has been known for environmental commentary through his art, but this veers from his traditional style of urban graffiti. Images and video after the break
New Band-Aid brands so germs don’t stick on you
Sep 4th
Who knew that bandages needed remodeling? Biotechnology labs around the world have been hard at work developing the next generation of bandages normal cuts and scrapes. HemCon Medical Technologies is company based in Portland, Oregon dedicated solely to the civilian and Armed Forces markets. HemCon manufactures bandages and wound dressings that localize clotting. Clotting is localized with chitosan, a biopolymer made from a component in the exoskeletons of crab, shrimp and other crustaceans. The chitosan attracts the outer membranes of red blood cells, which localizes the clotting. There’s also the gecko bandage, a bandage out of MIT that’s inspired by the hairs on a gecko’s feet that give it its adhesive abilities. The gecko bandage can stick to wet surfaces, so its used to bandage internal organs and other injuries. It’s also biodegradable, so no worries of the heart mummifying accidentally.
Move Over Airbnb – Localbigwig is here
Sep 4th
Airbnb.com – the home share service can be credited with creating a market that existed only in the nooks and crannies of craigslist but that doesn’t mean competition is far away. Localbigwig, another home share/rental service is here to disrupt this way business is done. While airbnb.com boasts of numbers localbigwig boasts of smaller numbers but “great people”. Their punchline “it’s not the place, it’s the people” clearly puts the message across.What’s the point if the place is pretty but a psycho killer lives there? Localbigwig screens homeowners before a listing and hence is a BIG leap in terms of a sense of security. Guests planning to stay in localbigwig homes will also be screened for security purposes. What also distinguishes localbigwig from the competition is that its provides home owners the support to maintain and clean up their homes once guests have left.
Building a network based on good service for both owners and guests is certainly a great step forward in catapulting the brand beyond just being another player in the industry. Localbigwig is currently limited to the NYC area. They plan to go national very soon. Go check out Localbigwig at localbigwig.com
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.
A Battery That Fits A Socket Of Any Shape Or Size
Sep 2nd
Tired of searching the right-sized battery between your lamp and your remote control? Well, instead of searching you may now just shape-shift! The A to D Battery, a single nickel hydroxide battery wrapped in memory foam that you can simply squish right into whatever is that needs a new battery. The best part, it’s rechargeable. But there are still a couple issues that need to be worked out, like heat melting the foam or the foam expanding so much that the battery pops out of its slot. Nonetheless, the possibility the A to D battery poses in terms of convenience is still quite appealing. Pictures after the break
A Garden of Bricks? Startup Makes “Garden Grown” Bricks
Sep 2nd
The winner of the 2010 Next Generation contest from Metropolis Magazine is a brick that is grown rather than baked or fired. The process starts with sand, which is then printed with a layer of bacteria, calcium chloride, and urea. Microbes in the sand react with that mixture, forming a glue that binds the sand together. The finished product is as strong as marble and world-wide carbon emissions could be reduced by “at least” 800 million tons a year if this process were streamlined and the bricks were mass produced. Over 1.2 trillion bricks are manufactured every year. 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.
Only one kill to win
Sep 1st
Spy Party is two-player game in development where one player is a sniper and the other is a spy at a party. The sniper is only allowed one shot, one kill, but kill the wrong person and the sniper loses. The spy has several goals to complete during the party, and must complete them as subtlely as possible. Game designer Chris Hacker developed Spy Party from his desire to make “an asymmetrical multiplayer game about subtle human behavior.” It will still be another two years before the game is completed as its still going through beta testing.
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.”
