now this is real sustainability. apparently the afrigadget blog has been pwned, but i'm really looking forward to reading more about diy technologies from africa and thinking about how this might actually affect design for other settings.
[thanks boing boing]
i have been looking for a [new] external hard drive for a while. i have too many computers and so much media. after one of my desktop hard drives crashed and then my powerbook hard drive bit it about 2 months after buying it, i started getting paranoid about my mass of unprotected digital content. i've finally developed a system for backing stuff up, keeping everything in a central place etc. but the external drive i got is a loaner, and i want something quiet, fast, not too large, and stylish. along comes this beauty from western digital. it's got a 7200rpm drive which is supposedly super quiet. i rather like the ones from lacie but this seems cheaper faster, and it sports firewire 800, 400 and usb 2.0. wohoo. but the best part is the "capacity gauge" a backlit blue led on the front of the drive that tells you at a glance how full it is. oh! and it looks like a book! like all of my other aluminum books, my powerbook, my.... ;]
there is a new cellular service called love detector. rather than try to summarize it myself, i think the gizmodo article said it best:
A new cellphone service in Turkey, Hungary, and the UK allows callers to determine whether [who] they’re speaking to loves them. First the user calls the system, then conferences in the unsuspecting party and starts a normal conversation. The love analysis system calculates the “Love Level” and notifies you whether that person loves you or not.i cannot contain my laughter.We suspect this will be very useful for teenagers, Asperger sufferers, and the British.
[thanks gizmodo]
this little flash drive inflates as more data is added, providing an at-a-glance, not to mention tactile, way of determining how full your drive is. supposedly it remains inflated even when the power is off. cute and stylish... but soon we will be plagued with the new USBeXpl0d3r virus ;]
this solar charger is tiny, looks hot, and recharges both my ipod and my mobile phone. finally my love of renewable energy sources and over-designed technology have been merged into one! you totally want to get me that for christmas don't you?
[thanks popgadget]
i want this phone so badly, like the nokia 7280, only more money, and still with no buttons. and bits of cow.
[thanks engadget]
more from the world of technology that is making a deeper difference: the lifestraw.
The aptly-named LifeStraw is an invention that could become one of the greatest life-savers in history. It is a 25 cm long, 29 mm diameter, plastic pipe filter and purchased singly, costs around US2.00. The most prolific killer of human beings in developed countries is the automobile, followed by a host of diseases resulting mainly from an indulgent lifestyle.Millions of people perish every year because they simply don’t have clean water to drink. Until now, there was not much we could do about this because systems to clean water were costly and required electricity and spare parts and and and … but the LifeStraw now offers a viable means of saving tens of millions of lives every year.
LifeStraw is a personal, low-cost water purification tool with a life time of 700 litres – approximately one year of water consumption for one person. Positive test results have been achieved on tap, turbid and saline water against common waterborne bacteria such as Salmonella, Shigella, Enterococcus and Staphylococcu.
[thanks gizmag]
just stop it. stop naming products things like muff dock. do not have headings in your faq entitled "muff delivery" and "ordering muff." refrain from naming your designs "tarty muff" or "fluffy muff". i won't be held responsible for what i do. you have been warned.
p.s. is "contact muff" a sport? okay i'm done. honestly.
[thanks gizmodo]
i forgot to blog about this before, but panasonic recently released this tiny wireless module which features a radio circuit running on the 400MHz band and a microcomputer on a single CMOS LSI chip that's only 12x16x1.3mm. tinysin!
[thanks engadget]
on my "to buy if i had endless money, but i will probably buy it anyway and give up food for a week" list is the p*phone from hulger. the p*phone is the mass [er, more mass] produced version of the pokias the same guys were making and selling on ebay. what is it you ask? a handset from the other millenium that you can connect to your cellphone for a wild and wacky retro experience. remember when people used to talk into pieces of plastic instead of tiny wires dangling from their ears? hahaha, me neither!
i've been slow with blogging lately cause of the mad rush with my project. so here are a few links:
finally some musical muffs you can wear on your ears! or something. i s**t you not, the iMuffs are a new bluetooth headphone designed to shame any socially awkward person who is clueless enough to buy them. please, don't make me explain again...
[thanks gizmodo]
apparently spotted at the prat show 2005. now you can pray the rosary and bring the funk.
[thanks gizmodo]
a new product on think geek allows you to make fondue by sucking power from your usb ports. now i am all for crazy usb peripherals and, of course, glowing blue lights. and i love fondue. but:
Recipe For The Ultimate Desktop Fonduei think i just threw up.
by ThinkGeek* 2 Packets of Chinese Soy Sauce
* 1 Packet of Ketchup
* 1 Packet of McDonalds BBQ Sauce
* 1 half and half packet
* 4 Slices Of Kraft American CheesePlug your Desktop Fundue™ into your computer, heat for 10 minutes, then dip in! ThinkGeek recommends leftover Pizza Crust from last weeks meeting as the ultimate dipper. But it's also a great base for dipping Hot Pocket morsels and leftover steamed dumplings as well. And for the truly adventurous, let your Pop Tarts swim in this fondue and enjoy a bit of sweet and savory bliss at your desktop! Five stars!
remember the roaring 20's? didn't you love them? well now you can relive them with the new nokia phones. if i could marry a phone, i think this would be the one.
i first heard about these during a discussion at ubicomp 2004. which was incidentally very memorable because at the time sara was screaming "do some usability testing!" at her sony ericsson. a sentiment i could not agree with more if i tried.
