iPhone 4 & 4S Professional Grade Underwater Housing
The as yet unnamed product is a custom underwater housing rated down to 100’ in salt water for the iPhone 4 & 4s. Design has been tested in real world conditions by Emmy winning National Geographic cameraman Ken Corben, it is ready to manufacture and ship.
*I have absolutely no use for this*
*I have absolutely no use for this*
*I have absolutely no use for this*
Self control - I has it.
Robots attempt record breaking Pacific Ocean voyage
Four robots have set out on an epic 33,000 nautical mile (66,000km) journey across the Pacific Ocean.
Created by US firm Liquid Robotics, the four are aiming to set the record for the longest distance at sea travelled by an unmanned craft.
Throughout their journey the robots will gather lots of data about the composition and quality of sea water.
The journey is expected to take about 300 days, and is designed to inspire researchers to study ocean health.
Initially the four will travel as a flotilla to Hawaii and then will split into two pairs. One will go on to Australia and the other will head to Japan to support a dive on the Mariana Trench - the deepest part of the ocean.
The robots manage to move thanks to interaction between the two halves of the autonomous vehicle. The upper half of the wave-riding robot is shaped like a stunted surfboard and it is attached by a cable to a lower part that sports a series of fins and a keel.
The wave-riding robots are veterans of ocean-going science and helped monitor the spread of oil during the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Before now the longest single journey they have undertaken was over a distance of 2,500 miles.
Hackers Fight Climate Change
When you think of hackers, environment isn’t the first thing to pop in your mind. This weekend, self-proclaimed hackers around the world will gather at a “hackathon” to attack the latest and greatest problems of disaster-risk management and climate change. These gatherings will be held everywhere around the world - from Atlanta to Silicon Valley to Basel, Switzerland to Nairobi, Kenya and Bogota, Columbia. The big major tech players in our world - Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, NASA - and the World Bank have collaborated to bring the conference again this year.
Elizabeth Sabet, RHoK’s global operational lead says, “RHoK celebrates hacking in its most positive context — using minimal resources and maximum brainpower to create outside-the-box solutions — ‘hacks’ — in response to interesting problems. The intent is to finish the weekend with some concrete prototypes and demo applications that can go on to be put to use by the experts and (nongovernmental organizations) who proposed the problems.”
RHoK serves as a global umbrella organization and provides the resources for volunteers in each city to put together events and solutions. In the past conference (the 2009 RHoK) hackers created I’mOK, an SMS service used by people in Haiti and Chile to inform families of their status via mobile phone after the earthquakes hit the two countries. Since RHoK only provides resources, each city can attack its local problems. In Australia, many people are working towards preventing and alleviating suffering from the bush fires and floods in Victoria.
This versatility and adaptability to solve problems anywhere around the world is what attracted Nicholas Skytland of NASA’s Open Government Initiative. He asserts, “RHoK breaks down barriers that prevent innovation and challenge the way business has always been done, by taking advantage of many of the possibilities created by working in a networked digital world. A successful weekend for us is one in which hundreds, if not thousands, of developers from around the world gather to invent technology that didn’t exist 24 hours ago.”
Moral of the story: if you’re a hacker, you should be going to this!
upcycled via theglobalessence
When this concept printer becomes reality, you’ll never throw away another pencil stub and never buy another ink cartridge. The pencil printer separates the wood from pencils and uses the lead to print documents. There’s even a built-in eraser component.
I want one. So bad.
E-recycle
Are you meticulous about recycling tin cans? Or perhaps you take back your plastic bags to the supermarket, or better yet, but a reusable one. What about taking back your empty Body Shop bottles? What about your electronic items? Ever thought about those? Don’t take this as condescending, I bring it up because I never used to think about it! Its common sensical to realise that it is bad, but just how bad?
China and India have long been the computer graveyards of the world - but now Ghana is reported to be on the recieving end of a share of the 20 - 50 Million tonnes of e-waste generated each year. The international laws banning the export of computer waste bow to the sneakiness of a “second-hand goods” label. 90% of these shipments are dysfunctional - sending them to these countries is dumping them, plain and simple.
Greenpeace has labeled it “poisoning the poor”, as it is they who dismantle the goods for any salvageable material to sell in a scrap market. Not only must they circumnavigate the carpet of broken glass, but are also exposed to high concentrations of lead, dioxins and phthalates which are known to promote cancer. Any children working there, and they do, are susceptible to the effects of lead on brain development which may cause a lower IQ in later years. On top of that, other chemicals found will disrupt the hormone system, which causes a medley of problems with growth, reproduction and regulation of biochemical processes in the body.
So next time you see the latest and undoubtedly sexy model of a new computer, which came out the week after you bought your last one, as they do, rethink your e-think. Do you need it? And if you do, and I will be the first to proclaim that sometimes you really do need it, take a few preventative measures…
Apple have a sneaky environmentally friendly sales strategy! On first glance, its brilliant - with minimal effort required its simple and free. And it still is if you live in the States, and want to buy a new Apple…because then will they recycle it for free! If not, then follow the tips for PC users.
PC Magazine has a great article on steps to dispose of you computer in an eco-responsible way.
1. If your system still works, donate to a family member, or to a charity or service that can donate it (e.g. Earth 911and my green electricals for example).
2. If its two feet in the grave, back up your files and wipe the hard-drive.
3. Do your own salvaging, there might be some functionable parts like hard drives (if you didn’t already wipe it), RAM modules, cooling fans, and optical drives. Even if you have no idea what these are, a computer shop near you may want to aquire them?
4. Find a reputable recycling location. If you live in the U.S. the EPA has a good list of options on their website. For the U.K. recycle.co.uk have some good ideas. Basically a quick google search will throw up a host of options to explore. A small fee may incur with certain companies, so the final choice is up to you. If you do pay - you have the right to know how the computer will be disposed, make sure they aren’t just sending it to landfill…in any country!
Something to chew on while we all sit at our computers…
