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The look of the compact and portable Marshall Kilburn Bluetooth Speaker is a throwback to the golden age of big-stage rock 'n' roll, but its function is thoroughly modern. With a 70-watt maximum peak power consumption, it's one of the most powerful speakers in its class, and has well-balanced audio and analogue knobs that let listeners fine tune the controls to their preferences. Bluetooth......read more
New York-based photographer Joni Sternbach specializes in the wet plate collodion photographic technique originally used during the American Civil War. The process requires a portable darkroom, since the wet plates have to be exposed and developed within about 10 minutes. In her amazing SurfLand series, Sternbach captures portraits of surfers from New York to Australia. The juxtaposition of......read more
Move over, dusty plastic globe, the globe of the future is taking over. According to a Mark Vanhoenacker report at the New York Times, digital globes are becoming better designed and more accessible, bringing limitless educational and entertainment possibilities for places of work, study and play: Until recently, cost and technical limitations have largely confined these modern spheres to......read more
Solyndra be damned. The well-publicized failure of the solar energy company is but one black mark on an industry that is actually booming. According to the 2012 edition of Clean Edge's Clean Energy Trends report, things look very bright indeed. At Co.Exist, writer Ariel Schwartz sums up the findings: 2011 was the largest year for global wind power installations ever. Wind power is projected......read more
"I raised my head. The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky--seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness." - Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness The Congo, Africa's volatile beating heart, has for centuries represented a vast unknown to the Western imagination. Irish......read more
130 years after Thomas Edison brought incandescent lighting to the masses, the end is nigh for the old, energy-guzzling technology. On January 1, 2012, seven months from this week, federal efficiency regulations will effectively outlaw incandescent bulbs. Writing in the New York Times Magazine, Andrew Rice traces the rise and demise of the traditional incandescent, and looks into......read more
We all know that cars are responsible for more than their fair share of air pollution. What if the very roads that they drive on could clean up pollution before it hits the atmosphere? Sustainable tech company Pureti is on the case. The firm has a plan to treat roadways with a substance that would actually help dissolve auto emissions. The roadway treatment would utilize "naturally-occurring......read more
Alright, this does seem a bit too sci-fi for our world. But something about it is also very appealing, and people are taking notice. Inhabitat reports that Google just invested $1.05 million into Shweeb's bike monorail system, in which cyclists ride in clear tubes attached to monorail track, pedaling themselves along at relatively high speeds. The system is currently in place in New Zealand,......read more
In 'Pause,' a collection of images from Ozant Kamaci, the Toronto-based photographer captures individual planes as they fly behind trees. Mining the fertile ground between reality and illusion, the pictures take the viewer to unexpected places. There are both color and black-and-white collections in the series. Both are great. In Kamaci's own words, the photos depict "the......read more
Seeds of ChangeA few years ago I made a pronouncement on a social media panel that digital goods would redefine the way we do charitable giving online. Needless to say, there were snickers. After all, how could "throwing a beer" at someone or giving someone a "fluffy kitty" for their birthday really amount to anything, especially at a $1 price point? But now, thanks to Zynga,......read more
