Innovative items and news to improve your life and the world.
Yaktrax are an easy to use ice traction device in a breakthrough design. The Yaktrax fit over nearly all types of soes, and provide a solid, predictable grip on ice and snow. We like them because there's no learning curve - just clip them on and walk normally.
If you thought Google Earth was Big Brother-ish, check out the technology preview of Windows Live Local - Virtual Earth. The test sites are only for Seattle and San Francisco, but you can literally "drive" around the cities from your computer as images virtually create the city around you. It's not very intuitive yet, but you can drag the car around the map to move, or type in an address or business name to drive to it. Microsoft could learn a lot from Google about user interface, but as killer technology goes, this is the bleeding edge.
Check out the new website for the historic 2006 Yes Ride, a 4,000-mile journey from Seattle to Boston, "fueled by the determination of America's youth and the kindness of strangers." The bike trek raises money to increase education, reduce extreme poverty, improve healthcare, and assist in HIV and malaria vaccine research, and is aligned with the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals. Contributing to The Yes Ride, either through cycling or donating, is a concrete way to partake in the worldwide effort to end severe poverty. The site is also an interesting and rich source of facts about what's going on in Africa.
Check out the spectacular WITNESS website, founded by musician and activist Peter Gabriel. WITNESS uses the power of video to open the eyes of the world to human rights abuses. By partnering with local organizations around the globe, WITNESS empowers human rights defenders to use video to shine a light on those most affected by human rights violations, and to transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools of justice. Over the past decade, WITNESS has partnered with groups in more than 60 countries, bringing often unseen images, untold stories and seldom heard voices to the attention of key decision makers, the media, and the general public -- catalyzing grassroots activism, political engagement, and lasting change. The site also trains people to turn compelling testimony and images into powerful human stories and strategic advocacy campaigns that make a difference.
Check out this AlertMap from Havaria Information Service. It's a live snapshot of disaster events around the world, including earthquakes, floods, snowstorms, biohazards, etc. It's a reminder of how important it is for us to take care of the planet. Now we'd like to see a visual snapshot of all the breakthroughs happening around the earth.
Jeroen Wijering has created a fascinating visual snapshot of breaking news around the world. As news happens, headlines pop up exactly where they happened on a map of the earth - just click on the headline to read the story. It would be nice to be able to filter the news sources, but kudos to Wijering - this is a great start.
Here's a great new Google mashup if you're in the market for a car. The eBay Motors Google Mashup turns your whole city into a giant car lot by mapping exactly which cars are available and where.
Women for world peace create support groups for women focused on nonviolent, solution-directed, social change and experiential, educational, peace circles that promote peacemaking activism locally and internationally. Circles of Ten is a grassroots, non-profit organization that emphasizes the empowerment of women to create a culture of peace at home, in schools, in their communities, and in the world. The Circles of Ten website contains stories of the courageous action, wisdom, and inner strength of women, as well as information about the organization and how to join or start a peace circle of your own.
Personalized start pages are common now on sites like Google and Yahoo, but we like the Web 2.0 versions at Netvibes and Pageflakes. These sites serve up only the information you need, and are completely customizable. For example, you can add the RSS feeds from all your favorite news sites and read them all on one page. There are also modules like local weather, movie times, your Flickr photo stream, Gmail, dictionaries, price comparisons, to do lists, an SMS send feature, and even your Netflix queue. Pick and choose the modules you want, drag them around the page in a layout you like, and your life's datastream is neatly assembled on a single page. And because it's browser based, you can access your page from any computer. Pageflakes is slightly ahead of Netvibes thanks to its tab feature at the top, which lets you create separate pages for home, work, fun, or a specific project. Both sites are easy and intuitive to use -- check them out.
The Clean Sweep Program is a checklist of 100 items which, when completed, give you complete personal freedom, according to the coaching website BetterMe.org. The questions are grouped in 4 areas - Physical Environment, Well-Being, Money, and Relationships. You can answer the questions in just a few minutes, and it does give you a snapshot of where you are, where you're going, and what areas of your life need work - definitely worth checking out.
When internationally-acclaimed photographer Edward Burtynsky won the 2005 TED Prize, he made a wish. That wish was to encourage a worldwide conversation about the planet - its problems and their possible solutions. Ed chose to kick-start that conversation with a slide show of his images at WorldChanging.com. We congratulate Ed and invite you to visit the slide show and learn more about supporting that powerful conversation.
A new kind of luxury hotel is taking to the skies, and it could change the way you think about air travel. With a one-acre cabin (think two football fields) and well-appointed staterooms, the Aeros concept airship by Worldwide Aeros Corporation is more like a flying cruise ship. The helium based ships will not fly high enough to require pressurization, and with a top speed of 174 mph, it would take about 18 hours to traverse the contentintal U.S. But with comfortable rooms, restaurants, and casinos on board, and the ability to hover over national landmarks for a spectacular view en route, the airship could be a fantastic new way to travel. And while the Aeroscraft dwarfs the largest commercial airliner, it requires less net space on the ground than any plane because it doesn't need a runway -- it takes off and lands straight up and down like a helicopter. The first airship is scheduled to take flight by 2010 (more at Popular Science).
Shirts of Bamboo says its 70% bamboo (30% wool) shirts and sweaters are softer than the softest cotton, and feel similar to silk or cashmere. Bamboo fiber clothing is also naturally anti-microbial, requires no harmful chemicals, is comfortable and thermal regulating, and will keep you cooler, drier, warmer and odor free. Bamboo is the rage now in everything from housewares to homebuilding (and apparently, clothing) because it is one of the world's fast-growing and most prolific plants, reaching maturity in four years (instead of the typical 25 to 70 years for commercial tree species in the U.S.) It is also grown without pesticides or chemicals, is 100% biodegradable, and is naturally regenerative. Get used to it -- bamboo is the future of the planet.
Zillow.com gives you free, instant home valuations and neighborhood sales data for more than 60 million homes. Just punch in your own address (or the address of your friends, your boss, or the house you grew up in), and see not only a satellite image of the home, but also what that home is worth now, what was paid for it, and what other homes in the neighborhood are worth. Co-founders Rich Barton and Lloyd Frink revolutionized the travel industry with Expedia.com, and it looks like Zillow may do the same thing for the real estate industry. The name Zillow is a marriage of "zillion" (as in data points) and "pillow" (the idea of a home, or a place to lay your head). With its ease of use and extremely useful function, Zillow has the makings of an online "killer app." (Note: site is best viewed on Firefox or Internet Explorer)
Although this image was posted on Engadget and is not released from Apple, it's certainly a compelling look at what iPod users are hoping for. It's a full-screen letterbox video iPod, with a digital scroll wheel that pops up when you touch the screen. If you've used the DVD player on OSX, this would seem like a smart and efficient way to increase the video size. We do know there is a special invitation-only Apple media event on Feb. 22nd... stay tuned. [Update: The Feb. 22 invite turned out to be another fake event. Guess we'll have to keep waiting..]
We're suprised how many people are unfamiliar with the UN Millennium Development Goals. There are a total of eight transformative goals, ranging from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education. All 191 United Nations Member States have pledged to meet these goals by the year 2015. It's a pretty spectacular collaborative effort, and a reminder that the world really can envision a bold future together.
Orphans with mental and physical disabilities in Armenia are eligible for care in special schools until age 18, when their options are to go to a psychiatric hospital or out into the streets. Disheartened by the thought of her "Armenian family" facing this choice, a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer teamed up with an Armenian NGO to fund and open Warm Hearth, a dedicated, long-term home for adult orphans with disabilities. (from Idealist)
Ever been camping and had to get up in the middle of the night to face the icy cold air? Those days are over now, with the Selk'bag - a sleeping bag system which looks like a giant full body uni-garment. Inside or outdoors, the Selk'bag gives the body maximum mobility and comfort. Fully lined and insulated but not bullky, you can stand without any trouble, walk, cross your arms and legs, and when you get tired, just tuck and roll. Could also come in handy in long ticket lines.
The SwiMP3 is a pair of swim goggles with an MP3 player that uses headphones resting flat on the cheek bones, between your ears and your eyes, so that you hear the music through bone conduction rather than through your ears. Music breaks up the tedium of lap swimming, of course, but even better is the fact that it encourages proper form (since it sounds better when your head is in the water, you'll keep your head down). You may want to keep the theme from Jaws off your playlist. $200 at Amazon
Well, we didn't see this one coming. Call it a cathartic, city-wide attempt at conflict resolution: Pillow Fight Club stages giant, free public pillow fights in major cities around the world. Hundreds of people turn up with pillows and good-naturedly clobber one-another. You can release your pent-up aggression at the next Pillow Fight on Feb. 14 (Valentine's Day) in San Francisco (6pm at Justin Herman Plaza, Market & Embarcadero).But there are rules: 1) tell everyone you know about Pillow Fight, 2) Wait for the Ferry Building clock to Strike 6pm, 3) Don't hit anyone without a pillow, and 4) Don't hit anyone with a camera. We're guessing it'll be a great place to meet bitter singles.
Shifting Gears is a juried online exhibit of 15 award-winning young artists with disabilities. These 15 finalists were asked to reflect on a pivotal moment, a time when things changed dramatically for them. The theme challenged each one to pause and contemplate their life and its relationship to art and disability. The entries mark a moment in time where life turned a corner, where reflection resulted in a new path to creative expression. For many, change was an internal process of self discovery. For others, the shift transpired within their artwork, allowing for new media or a new theme, perspective, or subject matter. For some, change was imposed due to outside perceptions about their life and abilities. As one artist said, "Giving myself permission to release my self-imposed artistic limitations has opened doors in my creative process." (artwork by Xang Ngoc Ho, Age 25, First Award $10,000)
The Living Tree Paper Company is a leader in developing printing and writing papers made from nonwood fibers and post-consumer waste. By providing high-quality papers that are environmentally responsible and economically sound, the company is helping to minimize the environmental impact of paper production and use. Consider these facts:
MediaRights is a fantastic community organization dedicated to maximizing the impact of social-issue documentaries and shorts. They help adult and youth filmmakers reach audiences, educators and librarians bring films into their curricula, and nonprofits and activists integrate media into their campaigns. Browse around the more than 5,000 films on issues like the environment, health advocacy, racial justice, gay/lesbian, religious freedom, and youth.
If you have trouble waking up in the morning, then this ingenious alarm clock is for you. When the Puzzle Alarm Clock starts buzzing, it also jettisons 4 puzzle pieces into the air, and the buzzing won't stop until you assemble the pieces back onto the clock. The perfect marriage of form, function, and irritation (thanks to Bronson for the tip).
