Some items of interest:
- Home made Bedazzler for $250 in parts (DIY plans and code available). Basically, it is a non-lethal weapon that uses flashing lights to make people sea-sick. From the archives.
- 7 Rules for Building a Front Yard Garden by Devin. Here's the problem in a nutshell. To make your home resilient, you need to make it productive. A source of production rather than consumption. It will not only allow you to become more independent, it will in the long run, radically increase the value of your property. The difficulty is that many people are still stuck in the past. They believe that homes should only be ornamental/decorative and will resist any improvements you make to improve your resilience (particuarly front yard gardens on small plots). Here are some ideas on how to work around their opposition.
- Interesting interview (Margaret Levenstein) on how income specuation (driven by income concentration) led to the deindustrialization of Cleveland just before the first Depression.
- Riot Rebuild. Architects, handymen, construction companies come together in the face of riots. "Think of it as Guerrilla Gardening for the urban environment."
- National Ecological Observatory Network. Goal is to"Systematically monitor the environment on a continental scale." 15,000 sensors, aerial mapping, and satellite imagery to supply data across 500 categories (air, stream, weather). Data will be "open and free."
- 3D Printing competition. Win cash for submitting the "most creative and innovative" CAD model. 10x10x10in limit.
- Ultra-thin polymer medical sensors. "These devices connect to skin without adhesives, are practically unnoticeable, and can even be attached via temporary tattoo."
- 20% of Iowa's electricity comes from wind.