Group items tagged

This article is about the capital of Peru which is the second largest capital in the world located in a desert. It rarely rains which means that many residents are forced to get their water from dirty wells. The good thing is that the humidity there is 98% so the local University designed a billboard that's able to harvest the moisture in the air and turn it into potable water. The University teamed up with with an add agency to create the billboard. A series of five tanks located at the top of the tower can store up to 96 liters of water at any given time, and the liquid reserves are accessible from a single faucet located at the base of the billboard.  The water vapor is being pulled directly from the air and further processed by a filtration system. The water is guaranteed to be clean enough for drinking all year round. I think that this is a great invention and should be used in many other places around the world with a high humidity. This article relates to the selected tag of Environment because even though it doesn't damage the environment it is a renewable resource and will only benefit us in the future.They get the water vapor from the air and change it into water from the environment. 

The main idea of this article is the possible effects on the environment that laptops have over desktops. This article discusses the possible of conserving natural resources, using energy efficiently, and how laptops contribute to landfill toxins. Connection: The main problem that laptops have is the resources that laptops are made of. For example, laptops are usually made of metals such as mercury, lead, chromium and other various metals that if not recycled could contaminate the land and resources around the landfill. For example if such metals end up in the landfill, they could contaminate ground water, land water, and the soil around the landfill. This wouldn't allow us to drink the water as well as growing crops or using the soil around the landfill. This highlights how important it is for us to create laptops that use less harmful metals and the importance of recycling laptops.  In my opinion, considering some of the harmful effects that laptops have they also have many positive ones. For example, now that people can use things such as power point presentations, sending emails, we don't need to use as much paper as we used to which saves paper and preserves trees. Due to computers, communication has also become much easier. People can now order things off the internet rather than drive far away to a specialty shop, their item is delivered by a delivery person who has many things to deliver. This is far more efficient than each person driving to a shop to buy something.  In conclusion, computers do have some negative effects on the environment but they also do have some positive effects and made our life much easier. Roman.

This is such a cool article. I think everyone would want to read it. Waterproof phones would be something more people would want. Alot of phones are constantly dying because of water damage. With this new water repelling technology you wouldn't have to worry when your phone would accidently fall in a sink or if you would drop it in a puddle because it would still be working. I can't wait till this new technology comes out!

This article is about a wi-fi sensor that reminds people to water thier pants. I'm sure this is very useful because it is very easy to forget to feed or water your plant. I find it very cool that this app uses your location, local soil conditions, and the type of plant to guess when it needs watering, misting, or fertilization. This way your plant will look exceptionally healthy all the time. All you have to do is put the sensor into the soil of your potted plant and specify what type of plant there is and the sensor will to the rest for you. 

Through the innovation of technology, with faster CPUs, GPUs and RAM comes one problem. Heat. A lot of it. Due to this, water cooling came into play allowing heat to be pulled away from components faster and more efficiently than ever. This allowed enthusiasts to get the most out of their hardware through overclocking. Kingston decided to take it even one step further with their HyperX H2O RAM. This 2133Mhz DDR3 stick of RAM runs much cooler than it's air cooled competitors and is one of the first of its kind, allowing overclocks to get a greater performance boost that ever. And, it just looks plain awesome. Personally, no matter how much of a PC enthusiast I am i would not install this in my Personal Computer as this technology is not perfected yet. For a little more cost, not including a water cooling loop, you can get a stick of RAM with not only more memory, but with a greater base clock than even this hyperX H2O at it's finest can't overcome, without the hassle of leaks, and the extra cost of installation due to piping and radiators.

This article is about an iphone 4/4S case the claims to be "mil-spec rated"- meaning it is water-, dust-, snow-, and shock-proof. So basically it is an "everything-proof" case (with the exemption of nuclear of course). It also claims that it is noticeably thinner than other cases that carry out similar functions. With a whooping price of $70, I think this is a good buy when you consider how fragile  the iphone can be and how much it takes to repair it when damaged.

This article is about a new iPhone 4/4s case that is said to be water,dust,snow,and shock proof. This new case can survive six foot drops and can be submerged under 6 feet of water! The "life proof case adds only 1/16" of thickness to the iPhone. The case is available now and it cost about $70. iPhone users are you willing to pay $70 for a "life proof case"?

Researchers from University of Hawaii and University of Tokyo have teamed up to get a closer look on how sharks behave. The researchers strapped on a bunch of gadgets to a bunch of different sharks. The gadgets are a combination of a GoPro and a sportsband to monitor and video what sharks do in everyday life. The researchers were able to disprove misconceptions on how the animals move. Before, scientists thought that sharks glided effortlessly through the water, but in reality they actually power swim. The researchers also got some footage of the sharks underwater after jumping to catch a pray. The next step for these researchers is to create an ingestible device to get a better understanding of the sharks diet. They hope that this will help people to stop assuming that sharks only eat human limbs like they do in the movies. After watching the video attached to this article, I found it very interesting to see how the sharks moved around the water and to see what they saw when swimming.

this is a problem because people are demanding more computers and phones now because life without them is hard, now you can only apply for jobs on computers or do homework on computers now, so more people need them. This is affecting the environment because to make all these devices are harming the environment, for example the pollution from the factory making the products and the precious metals and supply's we are using to make the devices are non-renewable. So we should find a way to make computers and phones without effecting the environment as much as we are now. this is how computers and phones are affecting the environment, and the demand on computers are just gonna get higher and higher, so we should find a way to build the computer without effecting the environment as much fast.

This is an article about how computers affect our environment, how we can help, and what computers can do to actually benefit us in the world. Some examples of computers ruining the environment could be usage of valuable resources and pollution due to computer waste. Some examples of how we can help would be sanitizing our hard drive, donating our mobile device, raising funds from techno trash, and re-using ink cartridges. Technology can help the environment by helping us develop and produce sustainable practices in the environment. It also allows for paperless communication which limits the taking down of trees. In my opinion I completely agree with what this article has to say. It expands on computers issues but also its strengths.

Many people do not know that just throwing away your old electronics can build up and create a lot of air and water pollution, as well as heat and noise pollution. In our electronics there are many different types of non-renewable resources, also many precious metals are used such as gold, and silver. All electronics contain hazardous  materials that can have a negative impact on our environment, this materials have to be disposed using special methods. You can help the environment by buying more energy efficient products, as well and products that have less hazardous materials inside of them. Also you can dispose your electronics properly and safely. But on the other side using computers can help the environment, because less trees will be cut down for paper. When disposing of electronics improperly can increase the amount of carbon emissions that are the main cause to global warming, also known as greenhouse gases.    

This article talks about our famous #firstworld problems jokes on Twitter and other Social Networking sites. They may seem funny to you, but DDB New York sees them as creating an online atmosphere of neither sensitivity nor awareness to deal with real social and worldwide problems. So DDB decided to team up with the non-profit organization called WATERisLIFE. Together they traveled to Haiti to film locals reading aloud a series of these "problems" to show how ridiculous they are in comparison to real problems that people face in third-world countries like Haiti. In addition to the video they tweeted some of the original authors of the #firstworld problems saying things like "I'm sorry you were awoken by your cleaning lady. I hope today is better" as well as a call to action to donate money to WATERisLIFE which helps create water solutions and rebuilding communities.  This article relates to eLifestyle and how those posts may be funny to us they can also be insensitive to real problems world-wide even though we don't always intend to be hurtful. This also relates because it shows how the internet can be such a positive or negative thing worldwide. In this case out of an insensitive tweet people were inspired to create awareness for bigger issues and a way to help through a video and a few tweets online.  I think this shows a positive side of the internet where people can take something and turn it into a way of helping people world-wide and getting word out faster and to more people all with the power of the internet.

This post is about the price Americans paid over the past 5 years to fix their broken iPhones. With such a thin, glass design, the iphone has not been a very durable phone so far. Many Americans found this out the hard way by dropping it from their hand, plunging it into a body of water such as a toilet or a tub, or dropping it from their laps. The cost of all these accidents adds up to a whopping 5.9 billion dollars over the past five years in the United States. This issue relates back to the "Portable Computing" tag, because no matter how advanced the iPhone is or how it can improve you daily life in hundreds of different ways, it is not able to accomplish anything if it is broken. Reliability when it comes to withstanding drops is a major factor required in order to positively affect our lives. In my opinion, this is disappointing coming from such a prestigious company such as Apple. I think that for iPhone 5, they should build a more robust phone, without sacrificing its slim, thin design that everybody loves so much. You should not have to buy an expensive case in order to keep your phone protected, especially with a price like the iPhone's.

Introducing the all new BMW's very own M Performance sport steering wheel. This steering wheel offers a whole bunch of data and information while letting you concentrate on the road. What makes this steering wheel unique from other steering wheel is that high grip material and the small OLED display located 12 o'clock of the wheel. Within this small display it shows you many features of the car. For example, average fuel consumption, speed, oil and water temperature, lap times, G- force, and more. On each side of the display, there are LED's that glow and flashes to indicate the end of the current gear. So you do not have to look down at the dashboard to see your current RPM. There are also three readout modes: Efficient Dynamic, Sport, and Race. Depending of which mode is currently active, it gives you new information of the vehicle.  So you are probably all wondering the price of this wonderful steering wheel. The price is $1700. To me, I think it is worth it for those who wants to monitor their vehicle and see their lap times etc. The wheel looks absolutely gorgeous and it will attract many BMW customers. 

With all that's been happening with the Super storm, Hurricane Sandy, social networking may seem far from our mind, but it turns out social network sites, like twitter has become a common source for breaking news about what's going on in different places. At times like these, people often join together and find courage and compassion in one another, while others simply seek to make the problem worse. That's what happened when someone had tweeted false news about the hurricane, like tweeting about the New York Stock Exchange building being flooded and under three feet of water. The rumor had spiralled and even been repeated on CNN and the Weather Channel before being found fake. Normally, false tweets are simply overlooked or scoffed at, but at times like this those kinds of tweets can create mass panic and worry. They are definitely immoral, but what has come into question is whether it should be considered illegal. Some think that this type of tweeting was done to increase fear and endanger, but should his behaviour be considered criminal? After all, he does have freedom of speech and the freedom to lie is included in that, except in "rare occasions". Personally, I think that, normally, silly, fake tweets can be overlooked and just scrolled past, but in times of emergency, tweets like this that can add more fear and panic to an already troubled situation should be considered a criminal action. In times of crisis, everybody should be uniting and helping each other, not creating more danger and trouble. Freedom to lie in the face of disaster like this, about that kind of information is not something that should be tolerated. No matter how big or small the aftermath and reaction to those tweets, they should not be overlooked and in no way should the law consider it okay.

This article talks about 13 gadgets that will help make your life a lot easier during a natural disaster like a hurricane. Some of the artifacts mentioned are a  wind-up  radio, which would help if you don't have batteries. Solar powered water purifiers and chargers, which would be good in almost every situation. These articles will help you survive. I chose this article because of hurricane Sandy and it is possible that we might get hit by a natural disaster that bad. If we do , you should know what to have that will help you survive.

This article is about a new recyclable solar cell. This new cell is made using plant-derived substrates. This is known as cellulose nanocrystal substrates (or CNC). These solar cells benefit from being truly disposable and by eliminating the waste that results from the use of alternative materials like petroleum or glass. These cells are not only transparent enough to allow light to pass into an embedded semiconductor. These cells dissolve in water which makes them recyclable. The only downside to this new cell is that it will not be available in the near future and the cells can only yield a 2.7-percent conversion efficiency rate while the normal cells can reach 10 percent. At least we now know that a clean fuel ear is well within reach. I think that this new cell is very cool because we have never seen anything like it before and will help us reduce a lot of waste when it is ready.

This article is about meteors and how often they land on Earth. On Thursday Feb. 14/13 a meteorite fell to Earth in Russia overnight and so far 500 people have been injured. space rocks enter Earth's atmosphere all the time but most burn up before it can reach Earth's surface. A mineralogist at the University of Muenster in Germany, said that there are typically five to ten meteorite strikes around Earth per year but most we do not hear about or see because the Earth is about 70% water and most land there. This article relates to the Environment tag because even though it is very rare to see a meteorite hit Earth they can change the landscape and even the sometimes life. An example of this is with the dinosaurs or creating a crater hole which can later turn into a lake.

This article is about a pot, called "The PowerPot" that can charge USB devices like smartphones, GPS Devices and LED lamps. This works by using thermoelectric modules to convert temperature differences into a 5-, 10- or 15-watt regulated power stream. So basically, you can charge your devices while cooking food or boiling water.

This article is about a new plastic that can "bleed" and "heal" itself over and over again. This was discovered by the researchers from the University of Southern Mississippi. They said that this project takes its inspiration from the human skin- - it "bleeds" red when it's scratched or cut and then heals itself when it's exposed to light. These plastics are made up of water-based copolymers which means it is more environmentally-friendly than most plastics. They stated that this discovery has a lot to go before it can be available in the market.

Our beloved Grooveshark is no longer supposed by EMI and all four labes are also suing the company. Grooveshark had paid over 2.6 mill to EMI, but GS is in a situation where it has to remove EMI's OG records from its database. WILL THIS BE THE END OF OUR SINGING?!

Well, nowadays, most people don't use the website Grooveshark as much anyway (there are just a couple of people that I know of that still use the site). But this support from the music EMI is going to be a big loss for them because they are going to have to remove any original recordings provided by the company. This totals to about four major record labels dropping out, plus all of them are suing Grooveshark. It's not a very good thing, is all I have to say. 

This article is about NASA saying that by 2014 they will find and alien planet. they have a prediction that there is already a planet like earth. it is the size of our planet and orbits at the right distance from its star to support liquid water and, possibly, life as we know it.

This article is about a device that can humidify your home during the winter days. With just a half a liter of water, you can be able to say good bye to cracked lips and dry skin for a day. For me, I think this is a useful device at home because sometimes, and I know most people do, forget to put on lotions and other stuff that prevents your skin or your lips from drying. We all know how painful and inconvenient it is to have cracked lips. Besides from getting shots of pain when trying to speak, it can also make it difficult to eat. So for me, this gadget is worth buying for.