Last week, General Motors unvailed the Chevy Volt, gas-backup electric car. In the same week Bob Lutz, the Vice-Chairman of General Motors, recently appeared on ‘The Colbert Report’ and where he clearly stated:
I accept that planet is heated but I, like many noted scientists, don’t believe in the CO2 theory.
And one wonders how GM manages to keep its standing as the world’s most successful auto maker.
(at about 1:50 into the clip)
The New York Times reports that solar panels are being nicked right off of buildings, like from Jim and Shayna Powell’s roof in Palm Desert, CA. (pictured).
Many of the panels are ending up on eBay or Craigslist.
A new accessory for the iPhone that will be released shortly acts as a speaker for amplifying music… without using any power.
(I admit it. I recently purchased an iPhone. And except for some so-so battery lifespan, I’m very happy with my purchase. It allows me to be connected in a way that I’ve never been before.)
One of the interesting things that happens every time Apple makes your brand new iPod obsolete is that each new generation of iPod or iPhone creates an enormous array of accessories. As unsustainable as this enormous number of accessories might be, this recent item stood out due to its simple, yet highly innovative design.
By using the existing sound from the iPhone’s built-in speakers, the AirCurve amplifies music outwards into the surrounding space, like speaking into a rolled piece of paper. Take a look at the design here:
The device is not yet available for purchase, but it’s a testament to the power of Design Outside-of-the-Box. I can’t wait to try it out (at the store) and see if it sounds any good.
Within 48 hours, after it’s done its damage in Texas and Arkansas, the remnants of Hurricane Ike will make a direct hit on Toronto.
By then, it will likely be no more than a nuisance… a few strong winds, thunderstorms and rain. But it’s a powerful reminder of how interconnected people are by the weather and the climate. It’s endlessly fascinating to me that a thunderstorm here can be directly related to a hurricane further in the Caribbean.
This part of the continent frequently recieves the remnants of hurricanes in the form of tropical storms or extremely windy conditions. Many of Toronto’s houses have been damages by falling trees and electricity poles (I was about to write ‘hydro poles’ here but remembered that those not living here sometimes have trouble understanding that when we say ‘hydro’, we really mean ‘electricity’ and not water). In 1954, Toronto was even hit by an actual hurricane that damaged a great dealof property and actually killed a few folks in and around the bay to the Humber River in the Western part of the city. You can see plaques and art installations commemorating the event when you take the trails up and down the Humber River valley.
If you’re interested in learning more, I highly recommend Storm Pulse. It has excellent, user-controlled graphical site dedicated to tracking tropical storms and hurricanes.
The venerable BBC has just begun an experiment to track a shipping container as receives and delivers goods around the world for a year.
Globally, shipping containers come in a certain number of standard sizes so that they can fit equally on trucks, trains, boats and planes. The British broadcaster hopes to visit the container as it makes various stops around the world in order to tell the individual stories interlinked by this single transportation item.
You can track the BBC Box here. You can bet that I look forward to calculating the carbon footprint of this trip.
