sundance

Green tech finds: Got some organic matter lying around?

Dead leaves? Grass clippings? Fruit and vegetable peels? Sure, you could compost them, or you could turn them into robot fuel or solar cells. Plus, a gadget for harvesting the power you generate while walking, and an app for showing off your gas and carbon savings from driving a plug-in vehicle.

Art Buzz: Buy art on your iPhone & real bullet holes from Iraq

Geert Goiris: For his latest photo series, “Resonance,” Belgium-born photographer Geert Goiris offers up seemingly benign snapshots which, upon closer inspection, reveal uncanny, or off-putting elements. Most peculiar of all is an image of plastic office chairs arranged AA-style around an unremarkable wood table (which, you soon realize, has no legs)…

Best of the Web: Smell your Facebook updates & Google gets jiggy wit it

Google Music: Yesterday, Google launched its first music sharing and downloading platform, “Google Music,” as a direct competitor to iTunes. Yes, you have to buy the songs (drag), but users can share whatever they purchase with friends for one free listen…

Best of the Web: “Goodnight, iPad” & a typeface made from leg hair

Moustair: I don’t know why, but there’s something incredibly disturbing about this Tumblr blog, which, for lack of a clearer description, places images of mens’ faces beneath their facial hair to create a moustache-wig effect. I’m pretty sure Hulk Hogan’s is the freakiest, but it might just be because his moustache is so intense to begin with…

Best of the Web: New apps, see India from outer space & how to become “The Human Slinky”

India from Outerspace: NASA’s mega-bright images of India went viral last week. Bloggers speculated that the different colored lights had something to do with the celebration of Diwali, the Festival of Light. Of course, like total buzz kills, NASA issued a statement soon after claiming that the colored lights actually indicate economic growth at different time periods. But whatever, we prefer to believe all of India got together to create a giant light spectacle visible only from outer space…

Get your doodle on with a scrapbooking iPad app

I have a thing for notebooks. But after years of notebook accumulation, no real pattern or trend has emerged. I collect them indiscriminately—a pink Moleskine here, a cool, cloth-wrapped volume there, some funky vintage find from a flea market. Sadly, most of them sit blank and dusty on a bookshelf in my office, silently pleading for a simple doodle or To-Do list. Alas, my fascination with notebooks doesn’t seem to have come with any real dedication to journaling.

But the creative minds behind new iPad app, Clibe, have come up with a space-saving digital solution for notebook nerds…

Green tech finds, 9/1/11

Lots of building tech this week, from shipping container “farms” to a net-zero rehab to a “living building” in Seattle.

Shipping containers as mini farms?: Is there anything you can’t do with used shipping containers? Atlanta-based PodPonics turns them into small hydroponic “farms” for growing food near the point of sale. (via Triplepundit)

Solar collector by day, light display by night: Move over, Jumbotron! Industrial designer Meidad Marzan‘s Urban Tiles concept combines solar panels and OLED panels that can be installed on the outside of buildings in an array, and which “flip” to shift from solar collector to advertising display, big screen television, or even a massive artistic canvas. (via Inhabitat)

Green tech finds – 8/18/11

Old school shipping, CO2 as a source of fuel and yet another new solar technology for charging your phone: this week’s green tech finds.

Another recycling robot: While not as directly practical as the ZenRobotics Recycler we mentioned in an earlier post, Florida Robotics‘ Dr. R.E. Cycler is designed for educational purposes – essentially, to show kids what happens to the aluminum cans that go into those blue bins. Take a quick look at it above. (via Fast Company and @TaigaCompany)

Leafsnap: the electronic field guide that gets smarter with use

Ever been out on a hike, a camping trip or just a walk in the neighborhood and been faced with the question “What kind of tree is that?” More often than not, my own answer is “I don’t know.” Leafsnap, a new “electronic field guide” developed by Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institute (which I covered very briefly a few months ago) is designed, in part, to change that answer. Using your iPhone, you can take a picture of a leaf, flower, or fruit from a tree and identify it through comparison with images in the app’s database. Think of it as facial recognition software for the nature lover.

Green tech finds (5/12/11)

Car parts made from dandelions, “flying” trains, and power-producing toilets… this week’s green tech finds.

• A field guide for tree species… on your phone: The new Leafsnap app allows you to identify species of trees simply by taking a picture of a leaf. Users can also share images and locations, making for potentially useful data on tree species. (via Grist and The Guardian)
  
  
• Car parts made from dandelions: The “milky-white substance that seeps from dandelion roots” may work as a sustainable source of “rubber” for car parts such as cup holders and floor mats. Ford and The Ohio State University are experimenting…
  
  

Green tech finds (4/14/11)

Lots of solar news this week… from a new efficiency record, to solar company corporate responsibility rankings, to a DIY solar cooker.

• Solar powered washing machines: They’re just one part of a test to see if people are ready for the smart grid in Breda, The Netherlands. (via Crisp Green)
  
  
• ENERGY STAR certification for senior facilities: Living and care facilities for elders are now among new commercial building types eligible for ENERGY STAR certification (via Earth Techling)
  
  

The amazing app wall at Apple’s WWDC

At this week’s Worldwide Developers Conference, where Apple announced the new iPhone models, among other things, a big array of monitors displayed an “app wall”–a giant matrix of iPhone app icons that pulse when they’re downloaded from the App Store. The effect is monumental and hypnotic. Visit AppleInsider for video of what the app wall [...]