On some early mornings, particularly Mondays, there’s an incredible logic-defying force that brings me out of the cozy comfort of soft sheets and quilted safety and into the harsh bleak grey light of a long day whereupon I find myself already behind in my morning tasks. I don’t know how it all happens and perhaps questioning its origination may undermine the system entirely - which I dare not do. However, I am a firm supporter of all tricks and gadgetry that make weekday mornings just a little more pleasant. In the storybooks mornings look great! They’ve got sunshine creeping over a grassy hill and coming in through the windows in that special non-blinding sort of way and birds sing melodically as if to herald another day of your presence, how grand! While my bucolic transition to the rural paradise won’t be happening any time soon, there is a new gadget out there that might just do the trick. The Barisieur is an alarm clock that wakes you up with a cup of coffee. It’s okay to cry, it’s a beautiful thing. Created by Nottingham Trent University student Joshua Renouf as his final project, the Barisieur holds small stainless steel ballbearings that boil the water through induction heating. Buzzes be gone! A scent of freshly brewed coffee is so lovely it would be hard NOT to get up and reach for your cup. If you’re not a coffee person, that’s weird… but The Barisieur will make you tea instead! Right now it’s still in development, but you can find out more about this gadget with an estimated retail price of £250 on Josh’s design site here.
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The California drought has reached monumental proportions and many residents of the Golden State are finally doing their part to cut back on water usage. For example, a new app was introduced this past weekend at the TechCrunch Disrupt SF Hackathon that could potentially save a substantial amount of water; it’s called Shower With Friends. The name may sound a little cheeky, but – and this may be disappointing for some of you – the app does not suggest literally showering with your friends. Instead, the developers have created a platform where friends can compete for the shortest time spent in the shower, thus reducing water usage in a way that can actually be fun. Studies show that reducing your shower time by as little as 5 minutes combined with a water efficient shower head can save 12+ gallons of water. And they add up fast, we’re talking hundreds of gallons per month. To learn more about Shower With Friends and how you can start competing for the coveted title of Shower Taking Master, check out this article from TechCrunch. Stay tuned, hopefully the app will available to download soon. If you’re interested in other ways to conserve water, consider these helpful tips: - Fix leaky toilets and faucets - Turn the water off while brushing your teeth - Stick to watering plants in the morning or evening to prevent evaporation - Only wash full loads of laundry - Leave a bucket in the shower while your letting the water heat up and use it to water your houseplants For even more water conservation tips, check out 100+ Ways to Conserve Cyclists who dislike lugging around those bulky U-locks or chains may be in luck! Two projects – one based in Chile, another in Seattle – have come up with a new bike design that incorporates the lock into the bike itself. Three engineering students in Chile -- Andrés Roi, Cristóbal Cabello and Juan José Monsalve -- came up with the prototype called The Yerka Project after Roi had his bike stolen twice. The innovative design works by folding open the bike’s down tube at the bottom of the frame and wrapping it around an object such as a post or a tree. To complete the lock you attach the bike’s seat to both ends of the down tube and take out the lock pin. The whole process takes less than 20 seconds, and the creators claim that it is unstealable. However, the Yerka bike is still in early developmental stages and a release date has not been announced. From Seattle comes the Denny, whose handlebars can be converted into a lock. With the shape of a curved rectangle the handlebars can be removed completely to secure the frame of the bike to a pole. Designed by TEAGUE x Sizemore Bicycle, the Denny will be mass-produced by Fuji Bikes after it won popular vote at the bike design competition, Oregon Manifest. The bike is expected to hit retail in 2015 and will also feature turn signal lights and automatic shifting. Everything these days seem to run off of some sort of power outlet. Some run on batteries, some an electric charge and others from solar power. There are more and more devices being produced that allow you to charge on the go. Kyuho Song and Boa Oh took all these ideas and turned them into a smart, low-cost, eco friendly solution. Using the energy from the sun and a sturdy suction cup, they created a window socket. This circular gadget uses a suction cup to stick to window surfaces. On the section facing towards the window there is a small solar panel, which takes the sunlight and converts it into usable power. On the other side there is an outlet so you can plug your power chords straight in with out any sort of converter. This provides renewable energy to charge your gadgets especially on the go. The suction cup can easy adhere to car windows during family road trips, an airplane window for long flights, or in a sunny office. Although it is in it’s first stages, the window outlet has enough power to charge smartphones and tablets and expects more efficiency in the near future. Going green doesn’t mean cutting off technology, just improving it! |
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