For collaborations, the pod beats the squid

As so many of our electronic and digital devices have big ol' power bricks/transformers at the plug/socket end, I heralded the advent of the power squid design over the multi-outlet strip. with it's too-close-together outlet configuration.

But for multiple devices such as lighting, laptops or other items which need to share power but not space, here coms the new Power Pods.  Such genius!

Via RedFerret:

Power strips are great for when you have several different items that need plugged in around the same area. But what happens when you have a few things that are several feet apart, and nowhere near an outlet? Suddenly you’re dealing with a tangle of extension cords and power strips, which looks messy and dangerous. Wouldn’t it be great if you could get a power cord that had multiple outlets spaced along its length? Soon you will be able to.

Over at Quirky, a project has recently gained enough funding to be turned into a full-fledged product. The idea is simple. The Pod Power is a 15-foot cord with a three-prong outlet at every three feet. Each length of cord will wrap around the previous pod, so that you only have as much cord exposed as you really need.

know your wireless

You know all those adds from Sprint/Verizon/T-Mobile bragging about their 4G networks.  Complete and total crap.  And they know it.  At best, these networks run at a rate of a tenth to t fifth of 4G speeds.

The Myth of 4G.

By the way, AT&T service coverage in San Francisco continues to be an oxymoron.

Let's hear it for the boy, let's give the boy a haaaaaand

Thought controlled bionic prosthetic arm, developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University and funded by DARPA. Very cool. Steve Austin's entire overhaul only cost six million dollars. DARPA has just funded the designers an additional $35.6 million to begin testing with human subjects.

The arm has the same range of motion and weight as a typical human arm, with motion controlled by a neural interface, as well as sensory feedback. For quadriplegics, this could change everything.

bright idea

I've heard of the push for white LED street lights, and the cost/benefit analysis of switching an entire city's (such as SF) street lights from incandescent to LED. It would be expensive for sure, but energy savings would pay for it within ten years, and the energy/environmental/maintenance savings after that would be considerable.

I had not considered the impact of solar-powered LED light bulbs on the developing world. From the green design blog Inhabitat:

1.6 billion people in the world still use kerosene lamps for light. Not only are they non-renewable and expensive — they can consume up to 5% of a family’s income — they also give off noxious cancer-causing fumes that amount to the emissions of 30 million cars. Nokero plans to improve air quality and reduce global warming emissions by replacing the unhealthy use of kerosene with their durable, rainproof, solar powered LED light bulb.

Very bright idea indeed! And great for urban use as well.

I love how they designed the casing to look like a lightbulb, including the threads, even though it will never have to screw into anything.