Get Hip to Mashups

Here's another great example of a Google "mashup" (a mashup in current music vernacular is the taking of two disparate pieces and mixing them into one song, a la Jay-Z and the Beatles). A Google mashup is a site that combines Google maps with some other website function. So for example, Package Mapper shows you a map of your FedEx, USPS, and DHL package routes. Enter a carrier and a tracking number to see your package's progress plotted on a map, Google Earth, or iCalendar. It's oddly rewarding to see your own package make its way across the U.S. in real time. Housing Maps is another fantastic Google/Craigslist mashup if you're looking for a home to rent or buy.

Live Aquarium on Your Computer

Opentopia's Webcam Site is a great collection of live web cams around the world, sorted by popularity. One of our hypnotic favorites is the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, where you can peek into the Arctic Canada Habitat and see giant Belugas cavorting in the water.

Need an Extra Room?

Check out Aisslinger + Bracht's innovative LoftCube -- a prefab room that can be added to a backyard or hoisted onto any flat roof to add an extra living space to your house.

Wishlist for Your World

While 43 Things helps you dream up things you want to do with your life, 8By1 helps you dream up things you want to do for the world. 8by1 helps you evangelize your wishes for the world, and connects you with similar-minded people who also want these wishes to come true. Popular wishes range from "Cure for Cancer, "World Peace" and "Affordable Health Care" to "Bring the Ellen Show to Vancouver" and "Legalize Marijuana." Once you create or sign onto someone else's dream, there are action steps you can take or add yourself to make the dream a reality. What's your dream for your world?

Everyone Has a Story

Along the web 2.0 lines of Digg and Content TV comes the print version: Smith Magazine will be a reader-generated compilation of personal stories and anecdotes, bridging the gap between the blogosphere and "legitimate" print publishing (although that legitimacy is diminishing). A great example of citizen journalism and the trend towards taking back the media from corporate interests. Read this month's issue - write next month's issue.

Lack of Reason in Politics Headline

We didn't want to let Wednesday's headline about the Emory University brain activity study slip down into headline oblivion. It's groundbreaking. Scientific proof, based on brain monitoring of self-stated partisans during the Presidential debates, that the areas of the brain that control logic and reasoning show no increased activity during political debate, but that the centers of emotion light up like a Christmas tree. If you didn't catch it yesterday, it's worth reading today...

The Future of TV

Al Gore's new startup is one of the most exciting and revolutionary developments in television. Current TV is available nationwide to 20 million DirecTV subscribers and some cable affiliates as well. But the revolutionary part is the content - all the stories are generated by viewers. You shoot a video story, upload it to the site, and other viewers log in, watch videos, and vote on your clip. If the clip is "greenlighted" by enough people, it actually makes it onto the network's airtime. The site has extensive "how to shoot a video" training, including storytelling, choosing gear, shooting, editing, and compression (watch the intro by Sean Penn). But even without the possibility of airtime the site itself is an extraordinarily rich source of storytelling. This is the future of television -- taking back TV from the government and the corporate conglomerates and putting it back in the hands of the people. Viva la revolucion!

Solar-Powered Hearing Aid, Made in Botswana

WorldChanging reports this morning on a solar-powered hearing aid designed and built by a company in Botswana called Godisa Technologies. Godisa means, "to do something that is helping others to grow." More than 4,000 of the hearing AIDS have been sold in 30 countries. According to WorldChanging, "The SolarAid system combines a small hearing aid and a lightweight solar charger...Godisa is Africa's only hearing aid manufacturer, and the only one in the world making hearing aids specifically for the sub-Saharan Africa environment... The SolarAid, including the solar charger and an extra pair of batteries, sells for less than $100, and is built to last at least two to three years. "

Dressing for a Better World

The Freedom Clothing Project is a non-for-profit cooperative for ethical, wearable, and affordable clothing. Founding Director Joe T. says he woke up one morning and decided a few things: "I don't want to buy clothes that keep people trapped in poverty just so I can have a nice pair of jeans. I don't want to look like a complete turnip when I wear my ethics. And I don't want want to have to remortgage my house to buy a T-shirt." The company has gone to market with two simple t-shirts to start, with more clothing to come. Also from the website: "We believe that the people who make the clothes we all wear are important. Their work should assist them to reach their full potential and not oppress and trap them. We believe people want to know more about where their clothes come from. We will be more open than any other brand. We believe that ethical products should be good quality.We believe ethical products should be affordable to ordinary people so that an ethical choice is a reasonable choice." Sounds reasonable to us.

What Do You Want To Do With Your life?

Need help figuring it out? Check out 43 Things - a great example of a user-generated, "Web 2.0" website. Endless lists of what visitors want to do with their lives -- everything from learning French and losing weight, to "write a book," "go to a nude beach," and "learn to play saxaphone." You can look for ideas, add goals to your own list, and even cheer people onto their goals. Users can also blog about their own experiences as they achieve their goals, and whether in the end they thought it was really worth it or not. You can filter goals by people in your own city and even network with other people who are doing the same things you are.

Fly in the Face of Gravity

Last year, after eleven years of battling with the FAA bureaucracy, Peter Diamandis, (also founder of the X PRIZE) launched Zero G - the first commercial enterprise to offer a zero gravity experience to the general public. We tried out one of their flights recently and it was truly amazing. It's pricey, but Zero G offers you the chance to be part of an extremely exclusive club of human beings who have ever floated in weightlessness. The experience is actually priceless - religious, magical, spiritual, life-altering, even, some people say. They take you up on a modified 727 which flies 16 parabolas (think of the shape of a bell curve.) There are up to 27 other people there with you, plus a few coaches. The first parabola replicates lunar gravity. The next four replicate Martian gravity. The remaining eleven are zero gravity. You literally float in the air. You watch M&Ms float magically in nothingness, and see water as it forms crystal goblets and then splashes into a million pieces when you catch it in your mouth. It felt to us like the universe mocking all limitation. Mocking gravity, mocking impossibility, mocking the FAA even - it was truly a glimpse into another world. Flight are offered out of Fort Lauderdale right now, but will soon begin in Las Vegas as well.

Bionic Dolphin Set for Production

Gizmag is reporting that the Bionic Dolphin will soon be sold in watersports stores, enabling adventurers worldwide to discover "underwater flight." The current dolphin is like a one-man submarine, but light, agile, and speedy enough to skim the water, dive completely under, and even leap up above the surface like it's seafaring namesake. A two-seater is being developed as well, with full scale production beginning early this year. What a way to explore the ocean!

TV-Based Healthcare

Philips has launched a pilot study to test an in-home healthcare communication platform that connects patients with chronic sickness to their doctors. Since 78% of U.S. healthcare spending is in on chronic diseaase (we spend over USD $225 billion per year on cardiovascular care costs alone), this technology has the potential to increase quality of care while decreasing healthcare costs. The video rich interface would connect to home monitoring devices for weight, blood pressure, etc. and would offer daily monitoring and positive reinforcement as well as direct communication with a healthcare provider. (from Gizmag)

Plan B (2.0) for Changing the World

WorldChanging.com reports this morning on a new book by author Lester Brown, author of a book entitled, "Plan B: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble." He has just come out with a new book that updates the first, entitled, "Plan B 2.0." WC says it "looks to be one of the better summations of the WorldChanging perspective yet in print..." And the book is available on-line in HTML and PDF formats.

Lester Brown heads the Earth Policy Institute and is the founder of the Worldwatch Institute. Sample chapters in the book include:

2. Beyond the Oil Peak
4. Rising Temperatures and Rising Seas
9. Feeding Seven Billion Well
11. Designing Sustainable Cities
13. Plan B: Building a New Future

According to WC, "Brown also discusses global poverty, energy efficiency, water shortages, and what would need to be done to shift the global economy towards greater sustainability."

Brilliant Marketing

Check out the extraordinary new "Power of Dreams" Honda Civic commercial with a chorus of human sound effects. Click on the Honda site above and then on WATCH CIVIC to view the film as well as the rehearsal for the filming. Or just click here for a direct link to the video.

Be Proud of Your Hybrid!

Your fuel efficient vehicle works hard to get you where you need to go, be proud of it. Whether you have a car, SUV or a scooter, one of these colorful MPG bumper stickers will show just how proud you are of your ride. You'll also help spread the word that there are fuel efficient modes of transportation available. Available in 30+, 40+, 50+, 60+, and 80+.

American Apparel - Sweat Shop-Free Clothing

American Apparel is a very cool and innovative company based in Los Angeles. They make great-looking t-shirts, v-necks, sweatshirts, sweat pants, tank tops and more, all in a sweat-shop-free environment right in downtown Los Angeles. All their full-time workers get health care benefits and a living wage, often well above minimum wage. This is an example of a business doing well and doing good. And the good news is, they're growing quickly. They're now a $250 million enterprise with over 60 stores and they just opened their first store in Israel. "We're going everywhere," says founder Dov Charney.

Time to Wage Peace

The primary function of the proposed United States Department of Peace will be to research and promote nonviolent solutions to domestic and international conflict. The Department of Peace will facilitate the most cutting edge ways to wage peace. From nonviolent communication skills, to conflict resolution techniques and cultural relationship building, the Department of Peace will employ proven and effective strategies for diminishing violence in our country and in our world.

Smart Recycling

Check out this ingenious nod to sustainability - a book bar made entirely from old books. I wonder if you could do a whole house? (From Lifehacker)

Life Changing Book Club

What if you could read the books that changed the lives of Louise Hay, Deepak Chopra, Neale Donald Walsch, and other top transformational leaders? That's the premise for the Transformational Book Circle, a book club which every month sends out a life-changing book along with a CD of practical, experiential exercises to bring each book to life. New member price is $19/month and includes web-seminars and teleconferences.

20 Ways to Reduce Global Warming

Here's a great list from Drury University on things each of us can do to reduce global warming, from turning down the water heater when we go on vacation to buying energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.

Five Women Human Rights Defenders Tell Their Stories

Check out these five on-line documentaries from Amnesty International's "Stop Violence Against Women" initiative. From micro-finance education to psycho-social counselling and prosecution of cases of violence, these women are changing their worlds.

Volkswagen's Hybrid Car/Motorcycle

This is Volkswagen's pretty amazing GX3 - a three-wheeled car that registers as a motorcycle. We saw it at the L.A. Auto Show and it's a work of art, not to mention a work of environmental friendliness. It goes from 0-60 in less than 5.7 seconds and gets 50 miles to the gallon. Volkswagen says it could go into production soon and would retail under $17,000. It ain't your father's Prius. These are exactly the kinds of designs the world needs to bring the other 99% into the high-efficiency market.

"Changing the World One Gift At a Time"

Most of the really cool ideas are really simple, and that's what makes freecycle so great. 1.8 million members in 3,800 different community groups recycle the things they don't need by offering them to and requesting them from others. Don't use your old skis? See if someone in your freecycle community needs a pair. Need a rocking chair? See if someone on freecycle is giving one away. Only one main rule - everything must be posted for free. It's organized regionally, and membership is free. This is community-building at its best.

A Day of Service

Today is a day to remember the injustices that Dr. King fought against. A time to remember his fight for the freedom, equality, and dignity of all races and peoples. A time to remember his message of change through nonviolence. Get a quick audio reminder of what today is about at the King Center, a nonprofit organization that educates the world about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s philosophy and methods of nonviolence in order to create the Beloved Community. Many believe today should not be a day off, but rather, a day on - a day of service to others. What do you think?

Smart Design

The Cyclepod is an ingenious marriage of cool form and function, currently being manufactured and tested in the U.K. Besides the cutting edge form factor, each unit is made from 95% recyclable aluminum, comes with a canopy for weather protection, and stores 8 cycles in half the space of traditional bike racks. These units require zero maintenance, will last for 10-15 years, and provide more security as well. Hope we see them in the U.S. soon.

Change-the-World Websites

MySociety.org is a group of web developers that design websites with two missions in mind: first, to "give people simple, tangible benefits in the civic and community aspects of their lives," and second, "to teach the public and voluntary sectors, through demonstration, how to most efficiently use the internet to improve lives." Already the group has designed this amazing site called Pledgebank that allows people to find partners all over the world to join them in commitments they're making to improve the world or improve their own lives, along with TheyWorkforYou and WritetoThem - two sites designed to inspire citizen activism in the political process in the UK.

Press Play to Hear the ONEcast

The One Campaign is a historic pact for compassion and justice to help the poorest people of the world overcome AIDS and extreme poverty. Click on the ONE Cast above, Sign the ONE Declaration and check out their website for a great collection of resources and public service announcements.

Cool Magazine Launch

Check out this promising new London-based magazine that's getting ready to launch. Sublime calls itself "the first international ethical lifestyle magazine," and was started by a group of 30 media people in 2004, who gathered to discuss what a contemporary magazine should be. We look forward to seeing if this mag can deliver on its promise.

Harvard's Going Green

Harvard University is taking a strong stand for the environment by envisioning their campus environmentally and economically sustainable by the years 2020-2025. The Harvard Green Campus Initiative is hosting a competition that poses the question: How can these facilities be renovated or built in such a way that reduces their environmental impact while maintaining or improving their economic performance and service to the academic community? In addition to a cash prize, the winner will have a hand in Harvard's future as a leader in environmental sustainability.

The Mobile Loft

One of the coolest concepts we've seen in a while, the GMC Pad is "an urban loft with mobility, a concept for living in the ever-changing cultural landscape of Southern California or, quite simply, a modern alternative for those priced out of Southern California's escalating housing market." The GMC Pad features a Diesel-Electric hybrid system, which also acts as a generator for the onboard power grid. More pix at LA Design Challenge. (from Treehugger)

What's Your Common Sense Idea?

Here's a cool website: SinceSlicedBread.com received more than 22,000 ideas about how to strengthen the economy and improve life for working men and women and their families. The judges narrowed the field to the 21 finalists, and now user votes will decide the winners. The winner of the grand prize receives $100,000. The two runners-up will each receive $50,000. The ideas of all 21 finalists will be featured in a book to be published in 2006.

An Innovative Approach to Hunger Awareness

In their new book, "Hungry Planet; What the World Eats," Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio explore the harsh truths about the global distribution of food. The book "took the couple on a journey to 24 countries where they got to know 30 families and the intricacies of each family's weekly food consumption" according to an Oxfam-America review of the 288-page photo essay. The couple included family recipes from each of the families they visited. That sounds quaint until you read what the daily reality of that means - "Meal after meal, day after day, the Aboubakar family eats the same thing: aiysh, a congealed porridge made of the simplest ingredients. A pound of millet flour, two quarts of water, and just enough vegetable oil to coat the concoction." World hunger is an abstraction, but telling people about a family having to eat congealed porridge day in and day out brings it to life in a powerful way that hasn't really been done before. "What we really wanted to do was help people who didn't have a clue understand what was going on in the rest of the world," says D'Aluisio.

Texas Cycling Group Has Donated Over 1,000 Bikes to Katrina Victims

In the power of extraordinary kindness category, the Texas Bicycle Coalition has created an effort called Katrina BikeAid. Recognizing that Katrina evacuees face unique transportation issues in their new surroundings, the group has organized retailers, citizen groups, relief organizations, and local government to coordinate the effort. Over 1,000 bikes have been donated to date.

New Childrens' Giving Game Rewards Kindness

How it works - you perform a kind act for someone else. You leave a game card with your kind act. Each game card has a unique ID number and the Giving Game website tracks the cards and the kindness. It's based on a pay-it-forward concept. It's put out by a cool organization called "Learning to Give, whose mission is, "Teaching the Importance of Voluntary Action for the Common Good in a Democratic Society." Who can argue with that?

The Velomobile

The velomobile is part kayak, part bicycle. Designed to reduce drag and shelter the rider during inclement weather, this velomobile is the brainchild of a kayak builder from Vancouver. But it turns out he's not the only velomobiler. There's a whole website dedicated to velomobiling in North America, complete with a list of owners and sellers.