Rent-a-friend in Japan : Can’t afford a full time pet? Rent one…
Lola is a Persian cat who works at the Ja La La Cafe in Tokyo's bustling Akihabara district. It is one of a growing number of Cat Cafes in the city which provide visitors with short but intimate encounters with professional pets.
There are more than 150 companies in Tokyo which are licensed to hire out animals of various kinds and although beetles may be cheap, dogs are much more popular. First you pay a deposit and a hire fee. Then you are issued with a leash, some tissues and a plastic bag and given some advice on how to handle your new friend.
The right pet ? It costs about £8 ($10) an hour to spend time in a Cat Cafe.
Check this really interesting story at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7818140.stm
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Robo Squirrel spies on Real squirrels!
ROBO ANIMALS aid behaviour research
Dubbed "Rocky'' after the cartoon character, the robo-squirrel is working its way into Hampshire's live-squirrel clique, controlled by researchers several yards away with a laptop computer and binoculars.
Sarah Partan, an assistant professor in animal behaviour at H ampshire, hopes that by capturing a close-up view of squirrels in nature, Rocky will help her team decode squirrels' communication techniques, social cues and survival instincts.
Rocky is among many robotic critters worldwide helping researchers observe animals in their natural environments rather than in labs. The research could let scientists better understand how animals work in groups, court, intimidate rivals and warn allies of danger.
In Indiana, for instance, a fake lizard shows off its machismo as researchers assess which actions intimidate and which attract real lizards. Pheromone-soaked cockroach counterfeits in Brussels, meanwhile, exert peer pressure on real roaches to move out of protective darkness.
Check the article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24410638/
Dubbed "Rocky'' after the cartoon character, the robo-squirrel is working its way into Hampshire's live-squirrel clique, controlled by researchers several yards away with a laptop computer and binoculars.
Sarah Partan, an assistant professor in animal behaviour at H ampshire, hopes that by capturing a close-up view of squirrels in nature, Rocky will help her team decode squirrels' communication techniques, social cues and survival instincts.
Rocky is among many robotic critters worldwide helping researchers observe animals in their natural environments rather than in labs. The research could let scientists better understand how animals work in groups, court, intimidate rivals and warn allies of danger.
In Indiana, for instance, a fake lizard shows off its machismo as researchers assess which actions intimidate and which attract real lizards. Pheromone-soaked cockroach counterfeits in Brussels, meanwhile, exert peer pressure on real roaches to move out of protective darkness.
Check the article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24410638/
Zoo Animals Try Online Dating
Zoo Animals Try Online Dating
Katrina A. Goggins, Associated Press. Columbia.
Just like the digital dating services that pair up people, so-called studbooks are used to match most animals held in captivity. The databases containing information on sex, age and weight -- not so much about favorite comfort foods or long walks on the beach -- are used by more than 200 zoos nationally and some internationally. They're practically taking the place of Mother Nature in the not-so wild world of captive animal breeding.
Now, new software is going to the Web, promising more easily accessible data, faster matches and -- in a page out of the most particular of human dating sites -- details on an animal's personality to ease what can be a testy process. At the very least, though, the software will give zookeepers better access to species-level details currently found only in zoo husbandry manuals that now are mostly e-mailed back and forth, said Bob Wiese, director of collections for the Zoological Society of San Diego.
Around since the 1980s in paperback form, most of today's studbooks are in computerized databases. Basic information such as family tree, medical history, age and weight are entered by studbook keepers, then sent to a central location where the data is analyzed and converted into a "master plan" for breeding. But the databases have their limitations. They aren't updated quickly and don't include the extra information on setting the optimal conditions for an animal's breeding.
"It's really about us gathering the best scientific information we can get to make the best decisions about the long-term viability of our populations," Wiese Said.
Check the whole article at: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/09/09/animal-zoo-mating.html
Katrina A. Goggins, Associated Press. Columbia.
Just like the digital dating services that pair up people, so-called studbooks are used to match most animals held in captivity. The databases containing information on sex, age and weight -- not so much about favorite comfort foods or long walks on the beach -- are used by more than 200 zoos nationally and some internationally. They're practically taking the place of Mother Nature in the not-so wild world of captive animal breeding.
Now, new software is going to the Web, promising more easily accessible data, faster matches and -- in a page out of the most particular of human dating sites -- details on an animal's personality to ease what can be a testy process. At the very least, though, the software will give zookeepers better access to species-level details currently found only in zoo husbandry manuals that now are mostly e-mailed back and forth, said Bob Wiese, director of collections for the Zoological Society of San Diego.
Around since the 1980s in paperback form, most of today's studbooks are in computerized databases. Basic information such as family tree, medical history, age and weight are entered by studbook keepers, then sent to a central location where the data is analyzed and converted into a "master plan" for breeding. But the databases have their limitations. They aren't updated quickly and don't include the extra information on setting the optimal conditions for an animal's breeding.
"It's really about us gathering the best scientific information we can get to make the best decisions about the long-term viability of our populations," Wiese Said.
Check the whole article at: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/09/09/animal-zoo-mating.html
Monkey replaces men as waiter
We’ve heard of hi-tech hotels, classy restaurants, this one beats them all..
Your next drink will be served by a Monkey!
The Kayabukiya Tavern, north of Tokyo has employed and trained Monkey’s to wait tables. They were the tavern owners pets, but when they began to get stuff for him around the house, he decided to hire them for PEANUTS!!
Video of simians serving drinks and hot towels in a Japanese restaurant became a hit on YouTube, where a news clip circulated in which the restaurant owner, Kaoru Otsuka, said he did not teach the monkeys waiting skills. Apparently, they learned by observing humans.
Although the macaques work only two hours a day, they never get any days off.
Check the story at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1071289/Pictured-The-amazing-monkey-waiters-serve-tables-Japanese-restaurant.html
Youtube video: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=O1DBuFgt_Ug
Your next drink will be served by a Monkey!
The Kayabukiya Tavern, north of Tokyo has employed and trained Monkey’s to wait tables. They were the tavern owners pets, but when they began to get stuff for him around the house, he decided to hire them for PEANUTS!!
Video of simians serving drinks and hot towels in a Japanese restaurant became a hit on YouTube, where a news clip circulated in which the restaurant owner, Kaoru Otsuka, said he did not teach the monkeys waiting skills. Apparently, they learned by observing humans.
Although the macaques work only two hours a day, they never get any days off.
Check the story at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1071289/Pictured-The-amazing-monkey-waiters-serve-tables-Japanese-restaurant.html
Youtube video: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=O1DBuFgt_Ug
Travel from London to Timbuktu in a flying car!
The world's first bio fuelled flying car. Designed by a young British inventor, the Skycar enables its driver to pilot the vehicle at the mere touch of a button as though it were a microlite.
The team behind it calls the Skycar the world's first road legal biofuelled flying car.
The daredevil 42-day expedition will pass 4,000 miles (6,400 km) through France, Spain and Morocco, head into the Sahara by way of Mauritania and Mali, before returning home via Senegal. With the help of a parachute and a giant fan-motor, Neil Laughton plans to soar over the Pyrenees near Andorra, before taking to the skies again to hop across the 14-km (nine-mile) Straits of Gibraltar.
The ex-SAS officer then aims to fly over the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, above stretches of the Sahara desert and, well, wherever else the road runs out.
See the full article with video at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7821979.stm
The team behind it calls the Skycar the world's first road legal biofuelled flying car.
The daredevil 42-day expedition will pass 4,000 miles (6,400 km) through France, Spain and Morocco, head into the Sahara by way of Mauritania and Mali, before returning home via Senegal. With the help of a parachute and a giant fan-motor, Neil Laughton plans to soar over the Pyrenees near Andorra, before taking to the skies again to hop across the 14-km (nine-mile) Straits of Gibraltar.
The ex-SAS officer then aims to fly over the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, above stretches of the Sahara desert and, well, wherever else the road runs out.
See the full article with video at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7821979.stm
Pay-As-You-Go : Airline Industry
Cross fertilization at its simplest!: Taking a cue from the cellphone industry, an upstart South African airline is selling flights by the minute and allowing customers to buy tickets and book flights via text message.
Airtime Airlines takes to the sky later this month, offering three flights a day from its base in Durban to Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. Passengers purchase minutes much like they would for a prepaid cell phone and redeem them for a ticket. Fees are assessed according to the length of the flight - say, 75 minutes for the run from Durban to Johannesburg - and could save as much as half of what competing airlines charge.
Topping off accounts is where things get interesting. The cost for Airtime minutes can fluctuate, presumably according to promotions and market factors, so topping off becomes an exercise comparable to fuel hedging. Buy a big block of minutes when you think they're at their cheapest and you look smart, unless the price drops again the next day. Then again, it might go up. The price recently rose from 3 Rand to 5 Rand, meaning the cost of a round-trip flight from Durban to Cape Town climbed from about 750 Rand ($81) to 1,250 Rand (about $134). Still that's cheaper than the $200 it would cost on South African Airlines.
Check the details: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/01/new-airline-pla.html
Airtime Airlines takes to the sky later this month, offering three flights a day from its base in Durban to Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. Passengers purchase minutes much like they would for a prepaid cell phone and redeem them for a ticket. Fees are assessed according to the length of the flight - say, 75 minutes for the run from Durban to Johannesburg - and could save as much as half of what competing airlines charge.
Topping off accounts is where things get interesting. The cost for Airtime minutes can fluctuate, presumably according to promotions and market factors, so topping off becomes an exercise comparable to fuel hedging. Buy a big block of minutes when you think they're at their cheapest and you look smart, unless the price drops again the next day. Then again, it might go up. The price recently rose from 3 Rand to 5 Rand, meaning the cost of a round-trip flight from Durban to Cape Town climbed from about 750 Rand ($81) to 1,250 Rand (about $134). Still that's cheaper than the $200 it would cost on South African Airlines.
Check the details: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/01/new-airline-pla.html
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Park your plane at home
Now your garage will hold your personal AEROPLANE!
The ICON A5 is an amphibious, two-seat, composite carbon fiber plane features a sportscar inspired cockpit and retractable landing gear for flying off land and water, but the standout element is the folding wing design which allows the plane to be towed on the road like a speed boat and stored at home rather than paying for space at an airport.
Safety features include a rocket-launched Complete Airplane Parachute (ICAP) stowed in the roof section, a patent-pending Propeller Guard, Wing Angle of Attack indicator, integral headlights and a GPS moving map system that keeps the pilot informed of local terrain and weather in real-time.
Check the video: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=hIeYsCq5jPg
You can reserve your ICON, click: http://www.iconaircraft.com/
For more information check: http://www.gizmag.com/icon-a5-fold-up-amphibious-sports-plane/9470/
The ICON A5 is an amphibious, two-seat, composite carbon fiber plane features a sportscar inspired cockpit and retractable landing gear for flying off land and water, but the standout element is the folding wing design which allows the plane to be towed on the road like a speed boat and stored at home rather than paying for space at an airport.
Safety features include a rocket-launched Complete Airplane Parachute (ICAP) stowed in the roof section, a patent-pending Propeller Guard, Wing Angle of Attack indicator, integral headlights and a GPS moving map system that keeps the pilot informed of local terrain and weather in real-time.
Check the video: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=hIeYsCq5jPg
You can reserve your ICON, click: http://www.iconaircraft.com/
For more information check: http://www.gizmag.com/icon-a5-fold-up-amphibious-sports-plane/9470/
Fly using biofuel!
Air New Zealand has successfully undertaken the world's first commercial aviation test flight using the second-generation biofuel jatropha. A series of key performance tests were conducted at various altitudes during the two hour flight over New Zealand's North Island in which a 50:50 jatropha and Jet A1 fuel blend was used to power one of four Rolls-Royce RB211 engines on the Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400.
Air New Zealand chief executive officer Rob Fyfe said the flight was a milestone for the airline and commercial aviation: "Today we stand at the earliest stages of sustainable fuel development and an important moment in aviation history.
The jatropha plant, Air NZ says, is a great source for earth-friendly fuel--it grows with little water and produces an inedible oil, and they've been sourcing their jatropha from sustainable plantations in India and South East Africa.
Check the news at: http://kn.theiet.org/news/jan09/air-nz-biofuel-flight.cfm
For more information on the fuel check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jatropha_oil
Air New Zealand chief executive officer Rob Fyfe said the flight was a milestone for the airline and commercial aviation: "Today we stand at the earliest stages of sustainable fuel development and an important moment in aviation history.
The jatropha plant, Air NZ says, is a great source for earth-friendly fuel--it grows with little water and produces an inedible oil, and they've been sourcing their jatropha from sustainable plantations in India and South East Africa.
Check the news at: http://kn.theiet.org/news/jan09/air-nz-biofuel-flight.cfm
For more information on the fuel check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jatropha_oil
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Intelligent mobility, international wheelchair
Innovators: Rudy Roy, Ben Sexson, Daniel Oliver, Charles Pyott
Mobility Equation: two bikes + brilliant design + welding skills = all-terrain wheelchairs for the disabled in developing countries
During their senior year at the California Institute of Technology, Rudy Roy and Ben Sexson signed up for professor Ken Pickar’s class Sustainable Engineering for the Developing World. Soon, they found themselves teleconferencing with students and professors at a Guatemalan university, talking wheelchairs. They learned that disabled people in the country face costs of $400 and up, more than twice the national average monthly household income. As a further challenge, standard chairs are no match for Guatemala’s potholed streets, muddy roads and rugged hills. Wielding hacksaws and gas welders, the students cannibalized a pair of old mountain bikes to build an inexpensive, dirt-road-worthy chair. Their easy-to-¬reproduce creation had one more advantage over other wheelchairs shipped to the developing world: “There are bike shops in every country,” says Dan Oliver, who joined the effort as a Caltech engineering undergraduate along with Charles Pyott, a student at the nearby Art Center College of Design. “Take our wheelchair into any shop in the world, and they could fix it.”
Having graduated, the four now run a non-profit organization, Intelligent Mobility International. They are working to squeeze production costs down from $150 to $40 per chair. And they’ve partnered with Transitions, a Guatemalan charity that mainly employs wheelchair-bound workers, to build their chairs. “When I started at Caltech,” Pickar says, “the president at the time said, ‘Ken, some of your students are going to change the world.’ These may be the ones who do it.”
Find more examples of novel engineering solutions applied to improve conditions in the developing world, check out:
http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/CaltechNews/articles/v42/greenmatters.html
Mobility Equation: two bikes + brilliant design + welding skills = all-terrain wheelchairs for the disabled in developing countries
During their senior year at the California Institute of Technology, Rudy Roy and Ben Sexson signed up for professor Ken Pickar’s class Sustainable Engineering for the Developing World. Soon, they found themselves teleconferencing with students and professors at a Guatemalan university, talking wheelchairs. They learned that disabled people in the country face costs of $400 and up, more than twice the national average monthly household income. As a further challenge, standard chairs are no match for Guatemala’s potholed streets, muddy roads and rugged hills. Wielding hacksaws and gas welders, the students cannibalized a pair of old mountain bikes to build an inexpensive, dirt-road-worthy chair. Their easy-to-¬reproduce creation had one more advantage over other wheelchairs shipped to the developing world: “There are bike shops in every country,” says Dan Oliver, who joined the effort as a Caltech engineering undergraduate along with Charles Pyott, a student at the nearby Art Center College of Design. “Take our wheelchair into any shop in the world, and they could fix it.”
Having graduated, the four now run a non-profit organization, Intelligent Mobility International. They are working to squeeze production costs down from $150 to $40 per chair. And they’ve partnered with Transitions, a Guatemalan charity that mainly employs wheelchair-bound workers, to build their chairs. “When I started at Caltech,” Pickar says, “the president at the time said, ‘Ken, some of your students are going to change the world.’ These may be the ones who do it.”
Find more examples of novel engineering solutions applied to improve conditions in the developing world, check out:
http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/CaltechNews/articles/v42/greenmatters.html
Jindalee Radar System
Battles of science and technology
The United States of America spent $11 billion developing stealth aircraft that could not be detected by radar. Scientists at the CSIRO concluded that if the plane could not be detected, perhaps the turbulence it makes passing through air could be. $1.5 million later, their breakthrough process Jindalee Radar system had transformed the stealth bomber into nothing more than an unusual looking aircraft.
The system allows the Australian Defence Force to observe all air and sea activity north of Australia to distances of 3000km. This encompasses all of Java, Irian Jaya, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and halfway across the Indian Ocean. Some sources put the range at 4000km from the Australian coastline or even as far as Taiwan, China and North Korea.
Jindalee over-the-horizon radar was used to track military aircraft landing and taking off from Dili Airport, in East Timor, on 20 September 1999, when Australia-led Interfet forces began securing the former Indonesian province from militia violence. The new radar has also been used to track illegal immigrants approaching Australia by boat through the region's largely unguarded northern waters.
To check out further details click: http://www.dsto.defence.gov.au/attachments/The_development_of_over-the-horizon_radar.pdf
The United States of America spent $11 billion developing stealth aircraft that could not be detected by radar. Scientists at the CSIRO concluded that if the plane could not be detected, perhaps the turbulence it makes passing through air could be. $1.5 million later, their breakthrough process Jindalee Radar system had transformed the stealth bomber into nothing more than an unusual looking aircraft.
The system allows the Australian Defence Force to observe all air and sea activity north of Australia to distances of 3000km. This encompasses all of Java, Irian Jaya, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and halfway across the Indian Ocean. Some sources put the range at 4000km from the Australian coastline or even as far as Taiwan, China and North Korea.
Jindalee over-the-horizon radar was used to track military aircraft landing and taking off from Dili Airport, in East Timor, on 20 September 1999, when Australia-led Interfet forces began securing the former Indonesian province from militia violence. The new radar has also been used to track illegal immigrants approaching Australia by boat through the region's largely unguarded northern waters.
To check out further details click: http://www.dsto.defence.gov.au/attachments/The_development_of_over-the-horizon_radar.pdf
Umbrella Lights The Way
Korean designer Sang-Kyun Park's LightDrops creation lights your way in the rain.
The outside canopy of the umbrella has a conductive membrane called PDVF. As rain comes down, the impact generates electrical energy that powers built-in LEDs on the umbrella.
The heavier the rain, the brighter the light to help you see your way.
What a product!A definite winner on science and technology
Check out more pictures: http://www.yankodesign.com/2008/12/08/umbrella-lights-the-way/
The outside canopy of the umbrella has a conductive membrane called PDVF. As rain comes down, the impact generates electrical energy that powers built-in LEDs on the umbrella.
The heavier the rain, the brighter the light to help you see your way.
What a product!A definite winner on science and technology
Check out more pictures: http://www.yankodesign.com/2008/12/08/umbrella-lights-the-way/
Paper Shredder Recycles Paper
A vision for the future: no more sorting, paper separating, curbside collection. Just feed your business papers into the shredder, turn the Meiko SEED system on and overnight the used paper is recycled into a clean, fresh pile of 1500 new sheets of paper.
The process consists of two machines. The first part of the system, RPN-1500P, dissolves used paper into pulp. The second unit, RPM-1500S, receives the pulp slurry via pipe from the first unit and reconstructs, dries and cuts it into a perfect stack of A4 sheets. Only tap water is needed for the process! This new product is a definite green breakthrough in science and technology!
Check out more: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/recycle-paper-in-office-ecological-security.php
The process consists of two machines. The first part of the system, RPN-1500P, dissolves used paper into pulp. The second unit, RPM-1500S, receives the pulp slurry via pipe from the first unit and reconstructs, dries and cuts it into a perfect stack of A4 sheets. Only tap water is needed for the process! This new product is a definite green breakthrough in science and technology!
Check out more: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/recycle-paper-in-office-ecological-security.php
‘Wireless power' spells end for cables:
Taking science and technology to the next level.
No more batteries, no more chargers and no more wire spaghetti. This is the future promised by "wireless power", a means of broadcasting electricity through the air to laptops, iPods and other gadgets without the need for cables and sockets.
Among the companies showcasing the ambitious technology at CES is PowerBeam. Its system turns electricity into an invisible laser, then literally beams it, as heat, across the room to a solar cell that converts it back into electricity.
David Graham, the co-founder of PowerBeam, told the Observer: "We're going to delete the word 'recharge' from the English dictionary. If your cellphone is recharging on your desk all day, you won't be thinking about it."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jan/04/wireless-power-technology-witricity
No more batteries, no more chargers and no more wire spaghetti. This is the future promised by "wireless power", a means of broadcasting electricity through the air to laptops, iPods and other gadgets without the need for cables and sockets.
Among the companies showcasing the ambitious technology at CES is PowerBeam. Its system turns electricity into an invisible laser, then literally beams it, as heat, across the room to a solar cell that converts it back into electricity.
David Graham, the co-founder of PowerBeam, told the Observer: "We're going to delete the word 'recharge' from the English dictionary. If your cellphone is recharging on your desk all day, you won't be thinking about it."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jan/04/wireless-power-technology-witricity
Science and Technology:Renewable energy source inspired by fish
An engineer in the US has built a machine that can harness energy from the slow-moving currents found in oceans and rivers around the world. By exploiting the vortices that fish use to propel themselves forward, the device could, he says, provide a new kind of reliable, affordable and environmentally-friendly energy source.
Turbines and water mills can generate electricity from flowing water, but can only do so in currents with speeds of around 8–10 km/h if they are to operate efficiently. Unfortunately, most of the currents found in nature move at less than 3 km/h. The new device is called VIVACE, which stands for vortex induced vibrations for aquatic clean energy, and its inventor claims it can operate in such slow-moving flows.
Check more: http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/36907
Turbines and water mills can generate electricity from flowing water, but can only do so in currents with speeds of around 8–10 km/h if they are to operate efficiently. Unfortunately, most of the currents found in nature move at less than 3 km/h. The new device is called VIVACE, which stands for vortex induced vibrations for aquatic clean energy, and its inventor claims it can operate in such slow-moving flows.
Check more: http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/36907
Monday, January 12, 2009
Science and Technology: Wireless Power
‘Wireless power' spells end for cables
No more batteries, no more chargers and no more wire spaghetti. This is the future promised by "wireless power", a process for broadcasting electricity through the air to laptops, iPods and other gadgets without the need for cables and sockets.
Among the companies showcasing the ambitious technology at CES is PowerBeam. Its system turns electricity into an invisible laser, then literally beams it, as heat, across the room to a solar cell that converts it back into electricity.
David Graham, the co-founder of PowerBeam, told the Observer: "We're going to delete the word 'recharge' from the English dictionary. If your cellphone is recharging on your desk all day, you won't be thinking about it."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jan/04/wireless-power-technology-witricity
No more batteries, no more chargers and no more wire spaghetti. This is the future promised by "wireless power", a process for broadcasting electricity through the air to laptops, iPods and other gadgets without the need for cables and sockets.
Among the companies showcasing the ambitious technology at CES is PowerBeam. Its system turns electricity into an invisible laser, then literally beams it, as heat, across the room to a solar cell that converts it back into electricity.
David Graham, the co-founder of PowerBeam, told the Observer: "We're going to delete the word 'recharge' from the English dictionary. If your cellphone is recharging on your desk all day, you won't be thinking about it."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jan/04/wireless-power-technology-witricity
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Navigating Cities By Mood
Guidebooks and recommendations are all very well, but there's very little point in discovering a new activity, restaurant or shop if you're not in the right headspace to enjoy it. Enter I Feel London (or Toronto, or New York as is appropriate), a site that lets users search for things to do based on their mood...
Currently in beta, the I Feel sites bring a new spin to Google Maps. There's a map for nine moods covering such feelings as naughty, hungover, girly, sophisticated and broke. Andy Whitlock, I Feel's London-based founder, has kick-started each map by populating it with a handful of activities, with future contributions to be made by anyone who requests an invite.
A unique service in the travel industry check out site at: http://www.ifeellondon.com/
Currently in beta, the I Feel sites bring a new spin to Google Maps. There's a map for nine moods covering such feelings as naughty, hungover, girly, sophisticated and broke. Andy Whitlock, I Feel's London-based founder, has kick-started each map by populating it with a handful of activities, with future contributions to be made by anyone who requests an invite.
A unique service in the travel industry check out site at: http://www.ifeellondon.com/
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Green innovation: Glass industry
MULTI COMFORT GLASS HOME
Saint Gobain and Komfort Husene are building ten comfort houses in Denmark to promote the Multi Comfort house concept and the energy saving it generates.
Through the use of highly selective effective components- optimum thermal insulation, super- insulating windows and heat recovery systems, the multi comfort house can do without any active heating. Its main sources of heat are the sun and the heat recovered from re-circulated air, both and inexhaustible sources of energy.
An excellent product breakthrough, this is a good way to go green..
For more detail check:
www.saint-gobain.com/en/html/investisseurs/pdf/CSG-24pInnovation08-RVB.pdf -
Saint Gobain and Komfort Husene are building ten comfort houses in Denmark to promote the Multi Comfort house concept and the energy saving it generates.
Through the use of highly selective effective components- optimum thermal insulation, super- insulating windows and heat recovery systems, the multi comfort house can do without any active heating. Its main sources of heat are the sun and the heat recovered from re-circulated air, both and inexhaustible sources of energy.
An excellent product breakthrough, this is a good way to go green..
For more detail check:
www.saint-gobain.com/en/html/investisseurs/pdf/CSG-24pInnovation08-RVB.pdf -
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
History of the Internet
Published by Vanity Fair a very interesting article on the history of the Internet, in the words of the people who made it.
Fifty years ago, in response to the surprise Soviet launch of Sputnik, the U.S. military set up the Advanced Research Projects Agency. It would become the cradle of connectivity, spawning the era of Google and YouTube, of Amazon and Facebook, of the Drudge Report and the Obama campaign.
Written over 8 chapters:
I: The Conception
II: The Creation
III: The Web
IV: The Browser Wars
V: Going Public
VI: Boom and Bust
VII: Modern Times
VIII: The Last Word
here the link, check it out: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/07/internet200807
Fifty years ago, in response to the surprise Soviet launch of Sputnik, the U.S. military set up the Advanced Research Projects Agency. It would become the cradle of connectivity, spawning the era of Google and YouTube, of Amazon and Facebook, of the Drudge Report and the Obama campaign.
Written over 8 chapters:
I: The Conception
II: The Creation
III: The Web
IV: The Browser Wars
V: Going Public
VI: Boom and Bust
VII: Modern Times
VIII: The Last Word
here the link, check it out: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/07/internet200807
The San Francisco Solar Map
The San Francisco Solar Map, created by the City and County of San Francisco and CH2M HILL, has been awarded an Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) 2008 Innovation Award, a great example of process breakthrough. The map will help San Francisco reach its goal of 10,000 solar roofs by 2012. This would give the city an annual savings of more than $7 million in energy costs and an annual carbon savings of almost 46,000,000 pounds -- the equivalent of taking more than 3,500 vehicles off the road!!!
CH2M HILL's solar mapping solutions combine aerial imagery with advanced 3-D modeling, allowing entire cities to be viewed rooftop by rooftop. The solar mapping Web portal estimates the solar energy potential for commercial and residential structures in the city, and allows building owners to visualize the potential environmental benefits and monetary savings that would result from installing solar energy panels on their property.
All they have to do is enter their address and they get to see:
-- The estimated amount of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy that could be installed on the roof
-- The estimated amount of solar PV energy that could be generated at that site
-- Potential electricity cost reduction resulting from the solar PV installation
-- Potential carbon dioxide/greenhouse gas reduction as a result of installing a solar PV system
-- Case studies of other San Francisco businesses and homeowners who have already installed solar PV systems
-- Information on installing a solar PV system, including contact information for local solar installers
CH2M HILL's solar mapping solutions combine aerial imagery with advanced 3-D modeling, allowing entire cities to be viewed rooftop by rooftop. The solar mapping Web portal estimates the solar energy potential for commercial and residential structures in the city, and allows building owners to visualize the potential environmental benefits and monetary savings that would result from installing solar energy panels on their property.
All they have to do is enter their address and they get to see:
-- The estimated amount of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy that could be installed on the roof
-- The estimated amount of solar PV energy that could be generated at that site
-- Potential electricity cost reduction resulting from the solar PV installation
-- Potential carbon dioxide/greenhouse gas reduction as a result of installing a solar PV system
-- Case studies of other San Francisco businesses and homeowners who have already installed solar PV systems
-- Information on installing a solar PV system, including contact information for local solar installers
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Clocks powered by water: product breakthrough
A WATER POWERED CLOCK in bottle shape: It is an environmental friendly LCD Clock that is operated by Water Power i.e. NO Battery is needed. Just fill fresh water into the bottle container up to the level marked on the body of the bottle and in few seconds, the clock will be powered-on. One fill of the bottle provides continuous power for around 2 weeks. And, for optimum performance, add a little salt into the water to act as catalyst.
Place of Origin: China
Company Name: Good Business (China) Ltd.
Place of Origin: China
Company Name: Good Business (China) Ltd.
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