In case you needed proof that our NASA budget was a staggering threat to… absolutely not a damn thing.
Anon - Members of the Wardens’ Women’s Auxiliary making for the scene of an incident, 1943
Amherst College archivists uncover a new daguerreotype of Emily Dickinson, only the third known photograph of the celebrated writer in existence.
(↬ Page Turner)
Wireless Sensor Tags Help You Keep Track of Your Stuff | Gadget Lab | Wired.com
Stuff goes missing. Maybe you misplaced something, or maybe one of the uninvited guests at your last shindig is “borrowing” it. Regardless, now you need it, and you can’t find it. But what if you could tag your possessions and keep tabs on them, like a researcher tracking so many wildebeests in the Serengeti? You can, to a degree. CAO Gadget’s descriptively named Wireless Sensor Tags monitor movement, angle and temperature and send alerts to your iOS or Android device when things go awry — something moving that shouldn’t be (indicating theft or maybe an impending mauling by a puppy); the inside of an ice chest getting too warm, or the door to your liquor cabinet opening when only the kids are at home. You set the parameters of what sort of notifications you want and how sensitive you want the system to be via app or web client. And while the two-inch-square circuit boards wrapped in an elastic theromplastic elastomer aren’t pretty, the system works.
There used to be a time when, if you wanted money to create public art, produce your invention, or start a company, you had to appeal to higher authorities. Big banks, wealthy relatives, local governments—they had the green, and we the humble innovators had to prove we were worthy of it.
Thanks to the internet and the rise of collaborative consumption, however, this bureaucratic bottle neck need no longer stifle our entrepreneurial spirit. Ever heard of a little startup by the name of Kickstarter?
What’s setting the latest crop of crowdfunding platforms apart from the rest is a passionate focus on local projects. Instead of looking for backers in all four corners of the world, these hyper-local fundraising outlets are helping to connect local entrepreneurs with their neighbors in an attempt to energize local economies, and create lasting relationships between innovators and their supporters.
Beth Buczynski, “Crowdfunding Goes Hyper-Local.”
Been buying Facebook Likes to make your page seem, well, more likable? Know a site that has? Facebook doesn’t like that, and now it’s taking steps to remove those it deems fake.
Amazon.com Inc.’s Kindle-exclusive books have been purchased, downloaded, or borrowed from the Kindle library more than 100 million times, the company said Tuesday.
The books, which belong to a catalog of over 180,000, are nearly all available for Kindle owners with a Prime membership to borrow for free, as frequently as once a month, with no due dates.
» via The Wall Street Journal (Subscription may be required for some content)
iOS and Android device adoption rate said to be fastest in history
BGR:
According to analytics firm Flurry, the adoption rate of iOS and Android devices has now surpassed all other consumer technologies in history. Smartphones and tablets are being adopted at a rate 10 times faster than PCs from the 1980s, two times faster than the Internet in the 1990s, and three times faster than the current social networking boom.
Mobile. Personal computing. PCs, internet and social networking – smartphones are a perfect storm of all three.
“Low Tech” The Chukudu Is a Small Ride That’s a Big Wheel in Congo
Despite its odd appearance, a chukudu goes amazingly fast and can carry heavy loads; an owner can earn up to $10 a day — a huge amount for the Congolese — transporting a variety of goods. And more than that, it can help liberate the women of this region from some of the backbreaking work they face every day. Imagine if the chukudu and international aid organizations worked together to help move Congolese women along the road toward embracing their rights.
Photos: Abby Ross
(via African Digital Art)
