BrentonTop Ten Technology Bites for Non-Geeks
April 24th 2008 13:21
1. Solar Panel Bag.
I saw this and fell in love. See, I’m a sucker for Solar power, when it can be used efficiently. And this is pretty efficient. As is, it won’t charge a laptop (you can get some extra bits and pieces apparently that will fix this though) but anything else; your phone, ipod, whatever, and it works a treat. Six or seven hours in the sun and bam! Battery charged and ready to fill your phone.
2. Play Pump
This would have to be one of the most inspired and clever gadgets that I have ever laid eyes on. The problem in a lot of African nations is that while boar water is accessible it is incredible hard work getting it up, so a lot of women (as mostly women collect water) take it from the river; a constant source of health problems. The solution was this – installing a merry go round that pumps water – water is brought up by play not hard work, and is stored in a water tower which has sides used for ads thereby paying for it’s own upkeep. ARE YOU WITH ME HERE?
3. Push Mower.
Before we got into technology in a way that was kind of ignorant and stupid, we were into it in a way that was vibrant and exited. The fact that the internet is now a must have indulgence than an exiting opportunity (I remember how exited I was to have an American E-pal for the first time; in another country! Like, without having to wait for postage or anything! She asked me if we had TV in Australia) can allow us to that once we had to do everything ourselves if it was to be done at all. And makes it VERY easy to forget that sometimes, this was better.
Sure if you have a horse property or a bad leg or some such a ride on is better. But this thing is elegant in its simplicity; you get to mow without losing $ on refilling, you can avoid harming the environment (except the bits you’re chopping up) and you get exercise (& thus become more sexy). Perfect!
4. Pacemaker.
There’s a good many oodles of medical technology bits and pieces that deserve recognition here. The pacemaker fits the bill though, if only for it’s symbolic value; keeping the heart, the symbol of life itself, working, through technology. Wikipedia defines the pace maker as “a medical device which uses electrical impulses, delivered by electrodes contacting the heart muscles, to regulate the beating of the heart. The primary purpose of a pacemaker is to maintain an adequate heart rate, either because the heart's native pacemaker is not fast enough, or there is a block in the heart's electrical conduction system.” Which says it better than I can. NEXT!
5. Wireless Electricity.
This is meant to be a list for not-geeks so I’ll assume you’re not familiar with the awesomeness that is Telsa, so quickly look at his Wiki entry. This guy basically laid the groundwork for many of our biggest ideas. When everyone was running around trying ot work out a way to get electricity into a light bulb, his idea was essentially a wave of electricity EVERYWHERE. Now, that might not have been what Edison popped out with, but it is yet being thought of… and might be making waves in a future near you… More HERE.
6. ESB
ESB is electrical brain stimulation and is, in it’s most basic terms, happiness at the click of a button. The technology exists but is certainly not marketed or recreationally produced in any way. Even those whom one would deem most in need; such as manic depressives and the like, tend to be treated with drugs or other alternatives. There is good reason for this. Animals given the choice between pleasure and anything else – sex, food, drink etc, tend to choose pleasure. Aside from this obvious issue, there are a number of other issues – like that it would be completely contrary to the need for humanity to, like, survive, and the fact that potential problems couldn’t even BEGIN to be interpreted. Like exactly WHO has their finger on that happy button? More info...
7. Stumble Upon.
Instead of turning this list into a super future creature feature, let’s jump back into the present day. One of my favorite little Web 2.0 lovelies is www.stumbleupon.com. This button sticks to the roof of your Firefox (Sorry, IE, forgot you’re all normal folk) and at the click of a button will take you to a page you’ll love. How do you know you’ll love it? Because you tell Stumble what you do and don’t like, and it figures out what you enjoy and what you don’t.
8. Sunglasses Camera.
No not taking a step into the future again… these are very real. Always a favourite in spy movies and all that stuff. Now though they’ve been exposed to marked forces, and you can snaffle one up for around four hundred US dollars. Withholding the unfortunate variable of Human Nature, in theory these are just really awesome. Nuff said.
9. GPS
Global Positioning System. Using satellites to work out where the hell you are, and where you’re going to. No need to get lost. You can find where you are. And the idea is really simple so I think I’ve conveyed the idea here.
10. The Tube.
When I was in London I loved the tube more than you could possibly imagine. Waiting a short period of time under ground, getting on, getting off. Electric powered convenient travel that actually works for the majority, under the city. I’ve read that there’s a proposal for a similar system in Brisbane. Bring it on!
ESB Image by VanessaO
Merbra image from Jaquian
Tube image by JohnSeb
I saw this and fell in love. See, I’m a sucker for Solar power, when it can be used efficiently. And this is pretty efficient. As is, it won’t charge a laptop (you can get some extra bits and pieces apparently that will fix this though) but anything else; your phone, ipod, whatever, and it works a treat. Six or seven hours in the sun and bam! Battery charged and ready to fill your phone.
2. Play Pump
This would have to be one of the most inspired and clever gadgets that I have ever laid eyes on. The problem in a lot of African nations is that while boar water is accessible it is incredible hard work getting it up, so a lot of women (as mostly women collect water) take it from the river; a constant source of health problems. The solution was this – installing a merry go round that pumps water – water is brought up by play not hard work, and is stored in a water tower which has sides used for ads thereby paying for it’s own upkeep. ARE YOU WITH ME HERE?
3. Push Mower.
Before we got into technology in a way that was kind of ignorant and stupid, we were into it in a way that was vibrant and exited. The fact that the internet is now a must have indulgence than an exiting opportunity (I remember how exited I was to have an American E-pal for the first time; in another country! Like, without having to wait for postage or anything! She asked me if we had TV in Australia) can allow us to that once we had to do everything ourselves if it was to be done at all. And makes it VERY easy to forget that sometimes, this was better.
Sure if you have a horse property or a bad leg or some such a ride on is better. But this thing is elegant in its simplicity; you get to mow without losing $ on refilling, you can avoid harming the environment (except the bits you’re chopping up) and you get exercise (& thus become more sexy). Perfect!
4. Pacemaker.
There’s a good many oodles of medical technology bits and pieces that deserve recognition here. The pacemaker fits the bill though, if only for it’s symbolic value; keeping the heart, the symbol of life itself, working, through technology. Wikipedia defines the pace maker as “a medical device which uses electrical impulses, delivered by electrodes contacting the heart muscles, to regulate the beating of the heart. The primary purpose of a pacemaker is to maintain an adequate heart rate, either because the heart's native pacemaker is not fast enough, or there is a block in the heart's electrical conduction system.” Which says it better than I can. NEXT!
Pacemaker with stupid little numbers stuck to it. Off, off sweet numbers!
5. Wireless Electricity.
This is meant to be a list for not-geeks so I’ll assume you’re not familiar with the awesomeness that is Telsa, so quickly look at his Wiki entry. This guy basically laid the groundwork for many of our biggest ideas. When everyone was running around trying ot work out a way to get electricity into a light bulb, his idea was essentially a wave of electricity EVERYWHERE. Now, that might not have been what Edison popped out with, but it is yet being thought of… and might be making waves in a future near you… More HERE.
Hopefully a more scary version of the potential wireless electric future
6. ESB
ESB is electrical brain stimulation and is, in it’s most basic terms, happiness at the click of a button. The technology exists but is certainly not marketed or recreationally produced in any way. Even those whom one would deem most in need; such as manic depressives and the like, tend to be treated with drugs or other alternatives. There is good reason for this. Animals given the choice between pleasure and anything else – sex, food, drink etc, tend to choose pleasure. Aside from this obvious issue, there are a number of other issues – like that it would be completely contrary to the need for humanity to, like, survive, and the fact that potential problems couldn’t even BEGIN to be interpreted. Like exactly WHO has their finger on that happy button? More info...
Imagine complete pleasure at the flick of a switch
7. Stumble Upon.
Instead of turning this list into a super future creature feature, let’s jump back into the present day. One of my favorite little Web 2.0 lovelies is www.stumbleupon.com. This button sticks to the roof of your Firefox (Sorry, IE, forgot you’re all normal folk) and at the click of a button will take you to a page you’ll love. How do you know you’ll love it? Because you tell Stumble what you do and don’t like, and it figures out what you enjoy and what you don’t.
I wanted a picture of Stumble Upon but when I tried to find it on Flickr I found this awesome Mermaid-Zebra hybrid. So I said, it's my blog dammit if I want a Merbra to illustrate my mention of Stumble upon, then it shall be so!
8. Sunglasses Camera.
No not taking a step into the future again… these are very real. Always a favourite in spy movies and all that stuff. Now though they’ve been exposed to marked forces, and you can snaffle one up for around four hundred US dollars. Withholding the unfortunate variable of Human Nature, in theory these are just really awesome. Nuff said.
Sunglasses... or something more?
9. GPS
Global Positioning System. Using satellites to work out where the hell you are, and where you’re going to. No need to get lost. You can find where you are. And the idea is really simple so I think I’ve conveyed the idea here.
im in ur orbitz findin ur direcshinz
10. The Tube.
When I was in London I loved the tube more than you could possibly imagine. Waiting a short period of time under ground, getting on, getting off. Electric powered convenient travel that actually works for the majority, under the city. I’ve read that there’s a proposal for a similar system in Brisbane. Bring it on!
London Tube
ESB Image by VanessaO
Merbra image from Jaquian
Tube image by JohnSeb
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