Secret Still

The number of computers and other digital components being produced these days is baffling. And it should come as no surprise then that these products produce a lot of waste from excess materials and whatnot. One of the biggest problems is all the silicon left over from making chips. Each chip is pressed from a silicon wafer, but all of the remainder silicon is just tossed out. IBM recently announced that they have pioneered a new process for repurposing the excess silicon into solar panels. They didn’t just take a waste material and turn it into more products; they took a waste material and turned it into a product that greatly reduces the need for pollution causing energy sources. Well damn, IBM. This, coupled with the other advances in solar technology, could reduce the cost of solar panels to the “I can afford that” range. Nerds are just killing it lately.

Watch the video and then read about it here.

There are a couple of posts today that are video based but I think they work better as separate posts rather than part of a larger video post. The first is Google Android. Android is the new mobile OS that Google has come up with in their never ending march to world domination (why am I not more worried about this?). The linked video is a demo of the OS and some of its uses, but there are several other videos in the related list that you should also watch if, like me, you are an incredible nerd.

Google Android Demo

And as an added bonus they have this little bit of inspiration.

The One Laptop Per Child project aims to provide computers and internet access to children in places where resources are low and the need for survival supersedes the need for computing. It’s about connecting children around the world to ideas and knowledge that they otherwise may never have had the opportunity to discover. The laptop itself is one of the most perfectly designed devices I have ever laid eyes on, although I liked the version with a solar panel better than the current incarnation. The OLPC project has just launched their Give One to Get One program which allows you to purchase one of their laptops (for yourself or your child) and in so doing you purchase one for a child in a developing nation. Crimmas presents don’t get much better than this.

One Laptop Per Child project

Give One to Get One program

And a couple of videos for you to get a better understanding of what the project is and how the laptop works: the project and the laptop

Apparently scientists have made some giant leaps in creating nanobots to live in your body and keep you healthy/immortal. That’s a plus for those of us who find that keeping ourselves immortal takes too much time and energy, but a minus for those of us who don’t want unstoppable robots to be in control of our internal organs. They’ve finally managed to convince us that we should let them live inside us. Well played, robots. You’ve won this round.

Note this sentence: The robot ‘motor’ is grafted heart muscle that is powered by sugars within the patient’s blood thereby foregoing the need for a cumbersome external power supply.

AWHUUUUUUUU?!!

Pictured is a nanobot preparing to boil your heart with its eye lasers because you drank too much kool-aid.

Read the short article here

Ok, maybe this is just the nerd in me having a good ol’ time, but I think that this is actually pretty dope. Is dope still around? Do people still say dope?

Roger Arquer, the Philippe Starck of simple glass design, has just tipped his latest project: Non-lethal Mousetraps. You might have seen some of his previous project where he redesigned the traditional fish bowl. All of those designs were remarkable and now he’s done it again with very well thought out mousetraps. The great part is that you can make these yourself for about $1. Well, except for the lightbulb one. Unless you’ve done a lot of freebasing you probably don’t know where to find giant lightbulbs or how to cut the bottoms off of them. I knew that my sordid past would come in handy someday. In your fucking smug face, MCGruff.

Roger Arquer

link via dezeen

Ladies! Has your daughter succumbed to societal brainwashing? Does she refuse toy soldiers for Barbie and pass up BB guns for My Little Pony or Hello Kitty items? Have you despaired of interesting her in the practical aspects of life, such as weaponry and self-defense?

If so, this site is for YOU!

That’s taken straight off the front page of GlamGuns, a site that makes specially customized weapons for girls. Because guns are just as much for women as they are for men. Fuck me this is sweet.

Pictured is the limited edition Hello Kitty AK-47. This doll will set you back almost $1100. I have to say, I think it’s worth it.

The big question: Why don’t you already have one, Bunny? Now you know what to ask Lt. Delicious for come Crimmas-time.

www.glamguns.com

Ok, so it’s kind of gimmicky to make a CD that’s also playable on a turntable. Most people like to keep the two separate because each elicits a different feeling. CD’s are for loud, quality audio, and vinyl is for listening and nostalgia. I love a different one on different days. But still, a CD/LP hybrid is pretty fucking sweet. What I want to know is who will step forward and bridge the gap between CDJ and DJ. Will QBert be the first to scratch one of these tiny dynamos? It won’t be me, because I don’t have an album to put out. I’ll just dream for now.

The link to the site is translated from German. Optimal Media Production (translated)

link via Boing Boing

Micrsoft, in their usual Johnny-come-lately fashion, have slowly jumped into the world of image data. Their new programs, Photosynth and Seadragon, are supposed to revolutionize the way we use our photos and files. The revolution has already been televised, dudes. Nice try though. Anyone with enough time and Photoshop can piece togethera 3-D image from their digital photos. Which is not to say that the software doesn’t make great use of newer technologies, and the way that Seadragon looks at GUI space is pretty impressive. But fuck all that nerd talk and go watch a demo.

Microsoft Live Labs on PBS

If the name Joshua Davis doesn’t mean anything to you then you aren’t paying close enough attention. Innovative, influential, uber-talented, and widely renowned designer are only a beginning to what he has accomplished in his tenure in the design world. He’s responsible for developing entirely new systems for using technology to create original designs. And I don’t mean he’s just well versed in photoshop. I mean that he’s created systems that follow a set of variables to create completely original works themselves without his help. I can’t say enough about how important he is. I think he and I should play catch in the front yard sometime.

Joshua Davis
His Flickr