Amazon.com ‘Appstore’
Amazon.com begins selling applications for the Google Android smart phone in its digital storefront just days after Apple files a lawsuit claiming that ‘Appstore’ infringes its ‘App Store’ trademark.
Bus Safety Rules to be Rewritten Because of People are Now Too Fat
Buses need to reassess because of our expanding rear ends.
Are buses less safe today? Yes, according to the Federal Transit Authority, because of … fat people. So it’s rewriting the rules to ensure bus safety:
The Federal Transit Authority (FTA) proposes raising the assumed average weight per bus passenger from 150 pounds to 175 pounds, which could mean that across the country, fewer people will be allowed on a city transit bus.
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Man Sets up Hotel for Chickens
Having a clucking good time.
A Cornish man has set up a hotel for chickens to provide five star service for pampered hens while their owners are away.
David Roberts, 31, came up with idea for the Chicken Hotel in response to the growing popularity for people to rear their own hens. Many people thought he was joking at first but he now runs a thriving business on his farm in Helston, and has bookings as far ahead as Christmas…
A Brief History of How the US Chamber of Commerce has Been Wrong About Everything
Wrong again, wrong again, jiggidy jog.
Bill McKibben has a fantastic column up today in which he details the numerous times that the US Chamber of Commerce has been wrong throughout American history — they opposed the New Deal, policies to support the Allies against Hitler in WWII, and on down the line to blocking action to prevent climate change. So why does anyone still listen?
GiftRocket Makes a Gift Card Accepted Anywhere
A new spin on the popular gift card.
Is the gift card, a surprisingly desirable commodity for gift recipients, in need of a version 2.0? The decades old plastic present, predated by its paper cousin the gift certificate, may be in for a young and hip transformation at the hands of new startup GiftRocket.
GiftRocket’s version of the gift card is place-specific, but not in the traditional sense. The format is designed to open up the $100 billion-per-year gift card industry and allow gift givers to send gift cards to anyone via email for any thing — such as drinks, skydiving or a spa day — at any venue, regardless of whether the retailer sells its own gift cards…
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Printing Nutritional Info on an Egg with an Eggbot
The Informational Egg
Thingiverse member Dnewman has produced some nutritional templates for Eggbot owners (Eggbots are devices designed to print on eggs, ping-pong balls, grapefruit, etc). Clever!
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Is Give2gether a Google Analytics for Philanthropy?
Non-profits can be the key to our local or global community success.
Everybody needs a little help every now and then. Give2gether is banking that non-profits want a little help from economic professors applying their years of study towards making online giving more efficient.
The site itself is similar to other philanthropy-enabling platforms like Kickstarter, Crowdrise or even Jumo. Non-profits can set up a page on give2gether and use it to share news and raise money…
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Concensus Cloud on Books Everyone Should Read
What would you add or remove from this cloud?
Should Twilight be among the books that everyone should read? It is according to this infographic by David McCandless of great books (according to popular surveys):
Do Top 100 Books polls and charts agree on a set of classics? I scraped the results of over 15 notable book polls, readers surveys and top 100’s. Both popular and high-brow. They included all Pulitzer Prize winners, Desert Island Discs choices from recent years, Oprah’s Bookclub list, and, of course, The Guardian’s Top 100 Books of All Time…
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Rain Collecting Skyscraper Cuts Water Usage
Rain is an under valued resource.
Gutters aren’t pretty. Most architects, given the choice, try to find a way to conceal them so they don’t turn an elegant roofline into a clunky mess. But when it comes to the ‘Capture the Rain’ skyscraper, gutters are perhaps the most important element of the structure, and they’ve been integrated in a way that makes them a design statement of their own accord.
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World’s First Bicycle Created by Printing it Out on a Computer
The fully-working cycle, which is made of nylon, is the result of an extraordinary project and is as strong as steel and aluminium but weighs 65 per cent less.
This bicycle is the first in the world to be created simply by printing it out on a computer, using groundbreaking new technology.
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Take a Vitamin Supplement to Mitigate Effects of Radiation
Along with the anti-radiation drug potassium iodide, scientists recommend a vitamin pill.
Astronauts are exposed to more radiation than nuclear power plant workers. As a result, NASA has recommended taking vitamin supplements to mitigate any potential side effects.
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Salt Panic: Chinese Fearing Japan Radiation Rush To Buy Salt
The Salt Panic in China isn’t pretty.
Due to radiation fears from the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan, many Chinese citizens have rushed to buy salt under the belief that it will help fight the effects of radiation due to it’s iodine content…
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