Splinter Bike - a bicycle built ENTIRELY out of wood
by: Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine, 2011-05-10 12:18:19 UTC
Just over six months after making a joke bet in his front garden, Michael Thompson has lived up to his idle boast of being able to make anything out of wood. Unlike other bike designs where wood is just one of several materials used in the construction - like the
duo from Audi and Renovo, which has a hardwood frame - every part of the Splinter Bike is made from either birch plywood, Lignum Vitae, Ekki or an old broom handle. His friend, and accomplished triathlete, James Tully now has the unenviable and certainly uncomfortable task of riding the 31 kg (68 pound) engineering marvel into the record books...
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Splinter Bike - a bicycle built ENTIRELY out of woodTags: Bicycle,
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Swingtrike: Foldable three-wheeler carves through corners
by: Gizmag Emerging Technology Magazine, 2011-05-11 09:00:35 UTC
Getting about on a bicycle is environmentally friendly, great for your health and cost effective. One drawback – particularly for those learning to ride or for whom balance is an issue – is the instability that comes with being on two wheels at low speeds. Tricycles offer a way to overcome this problem, but
three-wheelers have their own set of stability issues when it comes to cornering at higher speeds. Like the
Deliver-E Trike we looked at earlier this year, the Swingtrike aims to provide a best of both world solution by employing a tilting design that keeps all wheels on the ground across bumpy terrain and through corners, making it safer – and more fun – than traditional fixed frame trikes...
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Swingtrike: Foldable three-wheeler carves through cornersTags: Bicycle,
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Inside Method's Method of Design
by: Greener Design, 2011-05-11 12:00:00 UTC
Method offers an inside look at its packaging design philosophy and how it functions as a core component of the company's organizational thinking.
Visa Is Making The E-Wallet Real
by: fast company, 2011-05-11 19:02:15 UTC
We've heard a lot about the notion of a digital wallet, but the tech itself seems slow to arrive. Now one credit giant is changing all that.
We've heard a lot about the notion of a digital wallet, but the tech itself seems slow to arrive apart from one or two regional experiments, and the promise of more exciting tech in the future. Now Visa's changing all that with a new plan to make the e-wallet, including wireless payments, a reality--and soon, too.
Visa, which calls itself a "global leader in electronic payments" has just announced what it's calling the "next generation of payments solutions." It means, quite specifically, the technology and financial data infrastructure that'll supplant the little card payment machines we're all used to swiping our card through to pay at a checkout or restaurant--a tech that's being swiftly overtaken by digital commerce, mobile commerce, and "burgeoning social networking commerce environments." Basically Visa's seen the writing on the wall for the way its credit card systems currently work, and is planning to reinvent everything into a "secure cross-channel digital wallet" and a "range of customized mobile payments services" tailored to local markets around the world. This is a good thing for us consumers, and probably a shrewd business move by Visa itself.
The new digital wallet will arrive in the U.S. and Canada in the fall of 2011, and it'll work by storing Visa and non-Visa payments data. It will support NFC payments through Visa's payWave system and it'll cover all sorts of payment situations, including e-commerce, mobile commerce, micropayments, social networks, and person-to-person payments. A long list of financial institutions are already on board, including U.S. Bank and the Royal Bank of Canada--indicating this really is a thing that's happening, rather than a far-fetched patent.
But what will it actually do for us as consumers? It's pretty clever, actually. First is a system called "click-to-buy" that simplifies the entire process of e-shopping a little like Amazon's "one click" does, only across all sorts of platforms. Visa's acting as your online financial ID manager, meaning that instead of typing in a billing address, payment details and so on into a shopping site, you'll simply enter an email address or some kind of ID. Visa will handle all the transactional details and security verification, instead of each different online store doing so, which is potentially more secure.
Then there's the cross-channel bit, which means you'll be able to associate non-Visa payment systems with your digital wallet. When you chose to pay using Visa's new system, it'll handle all the behind-the-scenes finances so you don't have to think about them, and it'll work, to borrow some old-school marketing jargon, wherever the new wallet is accepted--be it an e-shopping site or a real retail store. There's an extensive preference manager, of course, which controls privacy settings and comes with a filtering array so you can chose which account is billed from which retailer or purchase size.
And here's the potential killer app that'll perhaps have Groupon and others worried: merchant offers. Because the digital wallet is a data-rich transaction, with more information changing hands than the mere numbers printed on your credit card, merchants will be able to deliver money-off coupons actually during the payment process itself, and have them stored by Visa--assuming consumers opt-in (which will mean sharing demographic and other data with merchants for marketing purposes, we assume).
This really does sound a lot like the next-generation payments system we've been hearing about--and its inclusion of NFC will be of great interest to Apple (which has patent plans and, we imagine, real hardware plans too) and Google, which spoke at the IO conference yesterday to explain how it's not ready to fully embrace NFC payments tech yet.
Although the hardware angle hasn't been detailed by Visa, save for a few mentions of apps and its payWave system, the fact the credit card giant is putting all this infrastructure in place is very important to the tech's future. We contacted Visa's head of global mobile product Bill Gajda about the plan, and he noted "People are changing the way they connect and transact worldwide. There are more digital transactions happening each day," which explains Visa's motivation--and then he positioned Visa in the race to this sort of next-gen NFC tech against competitors like Apple: "As the largest payments company in the world, we’re in a position to simplify a key part of those transactions without sacrificing security. Your payments go with you wherever you are."
[youtube Y80tSc1b8UI]
[Image: Instructables]
Chat about this news with Kit Eaton on Twitter and Fast Company too.
Rub a Stick to Make Light
by: Yanko Design, 2011-05-11 15:36:47 UTC
Our ancestors rubbed two twigs to make light (fire) but to kindle the Lightstarter you just need to work on one. The embedded accelerometer determines if your rubbing is good enough for 30 seconds or 10 minutes of torchlight. Essentially one second of kindling time is equal to 10 seconds of light! I’d definitely take it on my next camping trip.
- Kindling time for Lightstarter is 1:10
- 3 second kindle = 30 seconds of light
- 35 second kindle = 1 minute, 10 seconds of light
- 1 minute kindle =10 minutes of light
- Lightstarter is battery powered and uses an accelerometer to determine the start and length of kindling
Designer: Michael Kritzer for Simple Artifact
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Recycling Chair-Sofa to posh up slovenly living rooms
by: The Design blog, 2011-05-11 04:54:46 UTC
Vdya11:
Ever wondered what to do with the messed up home! Boxes, cupboards going out of control! Space reaching out its maximum crying not to bring anymore new furniture home. Tired of cleaning up! Here seems to be a savior for all those who just want something, which can take away the mess at least from the living room. Born out of modular recycled foam, a nontraditional couch dubbed Recycling Chair-Sofa seems to be that solution.
Those scattered magazines, pins and clothes will now get a home into this couch. Flaunting unconventional looks, the chair seems quite unique to style about with its natural foam color. Slender fissures across the couch looks like a rack where things can be squeezed in.
In comfort, it is like a cat bed ensuring that relaxed moment we always wanted. Bonanza on this is that the couch can be adjusted or re-framed by a simple cable control framework and can even create wide variety of its version just by adding more panels. Is this not interesting!
German industrial designer Stephan Schulz, the father of this invention has in his books few other unique collections as well. You can visit his studio to get more idea or to even order this couch for your living room. However unique this couch be, the functionalities and durability is a real expectation. Hope it meets it all well.
Via: FastCoDesign
Life: The new paper-made water bottle
by: The Design blog, 2011-05-11 20:35:30 UTC
Pragyab:
Since we all need to carry water wherever we go, why not carry it in the new paper-made water container called Life? By doing this, we can save our environment because Life has been made out of recycled paper. This water bottle was first presented to Comieco Expopack Design Competition in 2011. These bottles have been especially designed to be used during Milano Expo 2015.
Life has no harmful effects on the ecosystem. The design of the bottle is very simple. You would only find a double stitch that provides rigidity to the bottle and a green cotton cord wrapped with paper that allows people to hang Life on their shoulder. The eco-friendly design of this container does not use any harmful chemical.
It has been planned that for the promotion of Life, these bottles will be given out for free in the whole city and also during the Milano Expo. This service will help people to become aware of the advantages of this recycled bottle.
The thought behind designing these bottles is to help people carry water in an eco-friendly way. The introduction of Life will definitely reduce the use of plastic bottles, thereby, reducing a lot of plastic waste.
Via: Behance
Mixx by Matthias Demacker for Area DeClic
by: Dezeen, 2011-05-10 10:53:48 UTC
Munich designer Matthias Demacker presented this chair with interchangeable upholstery pads for Italian brand Area DeClic in Milan last month. (more…)
A Line of Furniture You Build & Rebuild, However You Like
by: TreeHugger Design, 2011-05-07 12:23:57 UTC
All images courtesy of Clark Davis
I move around a lot - between being home, at school, and now living abroad, I've lived in seven different apartments or rooms in the last five years. And I don't see myself settling down any time soon. That's why I'm so intrigued by Clark Davis'
Gypsy Modular furniture. Inspired by Legos and an itinerant lifestyle, it's furniture that you can assemble and dissemble, however you like. ...
Read the full story on TreeHugger
Google Unveils Brilliant Android-Controlled LED Light Bulb
by: Inhabitat , 2011-05-10 23:38:35 UTC
Today Google flipped the switch on a remarkable new LED bulb that can be controlled by any Android device using the company’s new open-source wireless networking protocol. The search giant worked with Lighting Science Group to develop the omnidirectional 60-watt equivalent bulb, which can be dimmed or brightened on the fly by an Android-equipped smart phone, tablet, or laptop. The smart bulb is the perfect test bed for Google’s new protocol, which stands to open the door to a new wave of energy-efficient home systems.
Read the rest of Google Unveils Brilliant Android-Controlled LED Light Bulb
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