Category: Technology

Nailing it Right

In hurricane and tornado prone areas a very cheap and simple but effective nail can be used to help a house hold tight. The HurriQuake is a nail that is designed to hold better than other nails even in earthquakes. Popular Science as a lot of information on how the nail was designed and how the idea was inspired by a trip to the Caribbean, the article concentrates on the man who invented it – Dr. Nail.

The nail adds about $15 to the cost of an average 2000 sq. ft. house, it’s such a cheap and effective solution to keep a house standing.

Via MeFi

GoodSearch

This is a good idea that makes use of the everyday, well at least an everyday online activity. GoodSearch is a site that lets you designate a charity that you’d like to donate to and a portion of ad revenue made from your search goes to the charity you specified. It appears to allow only USA-based charities benefit for now.

From GoodSearch:

“GoodSearch is a search engine which donates 50 percent of its revenue to the charities and schools designated by its users. It’s a simple and compelling concept. You use GoodSerach exactly as you would any other search engine and it is powered by Yahoo! so you get proven search results. The money GoodSearch donates to your cause comes from its advertisers — the users and the organizations do not spend a dime!”

Better Tsunami Detection

Detecting tsunamis early can save millions of lives, and the earlier the detection the better. Researchers are wanting to put a new kind of detector that is placed on the ocean floor that will help provide better coverage in the Indian and Pacific oceans.

“They would offer greater coverage of the oceans by filling in large gaps between buoys, allowing scientists to promptly alert officials of undersea earthquakes that could trigger tsunamis and endanger coastal areas, she said.”

Safer Homes

A house in West Point, PEI, is the first Canadian home built under the “Designed for safer living” program.  This program is a joint collaboration between the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, the Canadian insurance industry, and home builders.

This slide show details how the house was rebuilt after being badly damaged by fire last spring.  The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction says it’s unclear how much the improvements added to the cost of the home, because the program is new.

Five more are expected to be built by December 2007, including one in the Prairies that will withstand wildfires, one in Vancouver that will handle earthquakes, and another in Sudbury to deal with wind and storms.

Build Your Own Solar iPod Charger

For those of you with iPods, you may want to ensure that you never have to worry about the battery dying. This is a neat use of small scale solar power, it’s a homemade solar panel that attached to a backpack using velcro that connects to an iPod.

The instructions are easy to follow, and one step is sipping on some coffee (which is hopefully fair trade and organic). If I had an iPod I would try making this, not just for cheap power, but for solar style.