Latest Inventions

posted by admin on Nov 5

I recently received the most amazing gift, and I didn’t realise it was all so easy!

Imagine your child’s 1st birthday, your wedding day or a special trip you took made into a unique photobook albums that you designed yourself. 

Now I’m not talking about a jazzed up photo album with hand written notes and photo’s stuck in - I mean an actual real book with your images actually printed into the pages like it was for sale in a store.

Now I knew these things might be possible, but when I received a book about an amazing month in Costa Rica, with all my own great photos and a few of me thrown in - I really was brought to tears!

It Is So Simple:
Not that the person giving me this wanted to give away his secrets, but it turns out that it is really easy to create your own photo book albums online.  Basically you choose your images, you decide what size and design you want for the album - you can even help choose how many pages and what cover you want and it is all stored online until you actually tell them you are delighted with the result.  

If you change your mind, you can then add more pages, remove certain images and basically tamper with it until you are 110% happy.

If you choose a premium online company to help - they will professionally design the book for you to your very own template and in a sturdy hardback cover.  This way, you simply upload your best images onto their site, and they use their experienced design staff to create your own bespoke photobook. 

Before it is printed and individually bound - they give your the opportunity to see the final draft - allowing you to make any final adjustments.

The Result:
Imagine, being able to keep a book of every year of your child’s life, or send out copies of your book to the bridesmaid for a permanent token of your friendship. 

Or send a gift to a friend who achieved something great, a beloved family pet, a beautiful vacation, a house renovation or anything that you want to remember and have taken plenty of images of!

You can choose from plain covers, a photo on the cover, or mine has personalized writing on the cover.  There are also many companies that have specific covers and bindings for certain occasions like your professional wedding album, amazingly designed new home album, birthdays, parties, friends etc, so the choice is yours.

I love my personal photobook, as I know exactly what I was thinking when I took every one of those images.  I remember where I was when I took the snap and I know the little stories that surround each one.

And because it’s a book of only the best shots, my friends don’t have to stare at pictures of people with their heads missing and out of focus animals like in a normal album - this is my special book, and I want one of every vacation I take from now on!

posted by admin on Nov 3

Imagine a plastic box that reduces deforestation, improves health and boils water at the same time!

It seems almost impossible that theses 3 things are related in the same action, but if you just stick with me, all will be explained.

The Kyoto Box could well be the perfect solution for many people in developing countries in terms of reducing their need to travel for miles every day to find fuel for their fires and clean water for their families.

What Is It?
Basically, it is a cardboard box snugly fitted inside another box and topped off with a plexi-glass lid.  Sounds simple because it is!  All it does is absorb heat energy from the sun during the day which then becomes trapped inside the device. 

This allows for very high temperatures to be reached for boiling water and cooking certain foods!  It can also be used to dry certain plants and baking ingredients.

Although it is ’simple’ in principle it has taken Norwegian entrepreneur Jon Bøhmer (of Kyoto Energy) around 10 years of tinkering to get it to the stage where it can be shipped out across the world for everyday use - at around $6.

Not only can the Kyoto Box boil a large amount of water in just a few hours, it’s very materials also insulate against heat loss, so any cooked foods will remain warm for many hours after the sun has set.

How Does It Reduce Deforestation?
There are many ways in which this invention helps the people who use it - and the places in which they live, and the following summary covers the main points:

Reduces Deforestation: By removing the need to use any other fuel to cook and boil, local people do not need to clear local woodlands of trees to feed their families.

Improves Health: By removing wood and dung from the equation - this method of cooking is smoke-free.  Women and babies no longer need to breathe in fumes from the fire while carrying out their daily chores.  It also lowers the risk of fires in the home.

Reduces Diarrhea: By allowing families to boil water before drinking it, this has a massive effect on the family by reducing upset tummies and the drinking of parasites from local water sources.

Reduces Conflict: If families do not need to travel for miles to reach fuel or clean water, they will not come into conflict with other tribes, communities or armed poachers, etc.

Increases Other Livelihoods: If local women can stay in their village for more time everyday rather than spend hours just walking, they can take on other work or trades that could bring more money into their community.

It ticks all the right boxes!