Latest Inventions

posted by admin on May 3

Fancy a chance to win $20,000 to implement your very own Green Invention or Idea?

That’s just what you could get if you enter your great green idea in to National Geographic’s new competition.

They are looking for exceptional concepts or new products and technology with a green twist, to battle it out for the 5 lots of prize money!  This includes implementing that idea, profiling you in National Geographic Magazine and whisking you off to a conference to discuss your ideas with some ‘green’ heavy-weights!

Fancy the challenge - Think you’ve got something different out there?

They are hoping that everyone in the States pitches in, as even a small idea by one person, can grow into a whole new technology or way of life for others.  Your idea may be just the seed that gets something big to happen - and that’s why they are calling the The Green Effect.

What Do You Have To Do?
Well firstly, go to their website and you can watch their promotional videos and also read other peoples ideas.  Don’t worry if someone has a similar idea to yours - as it is how you ‘pitch’ your idea that will win the day.

If you can see a different result or a different action plan - then it could be your idea that leads the way.

If your invention does something slightly different to another, or is virtually the same but has that little unique selling point that strides past the others, then you are what they want!

You don’t have to go it alone either - a group of you can enter the idea, invention or concept.  You have more great minds to channel your thoughts through, and back up in those moments of ‘mind-block’.  And more people is always fun!

How Do I Enter?
Well, you need an great idea - and a passion for it too!  You need to be able to talk about this idea, product or concept as though you mean it!

You also need to be over 18 years of age and live in the US to enter.  Now, you can be younger or live outside of the states and have this great idea - but you need to get a person who is over 18 and resident of the US to enter on your behalf. 

They will be the name shown on the winning entry (should you be so lucky) and they will be the one forwarded and in charge of the prize money to get your winning idea off the ground - so make sure you know them well enough!

What Do I Need?
You need to register with National Geographic online and then you are ready to go. 

You are expected to enter an essay detailing your idea and how it al comes together, and you can enter up to 4 images and or 1 3 minutes max home video to support your idea if you feel you need to!

You can only enter 1 idea per person or group.

Scoring is based on 4 areas of 25 points max each,  They are perceived benefit to the environment, impact on the local community, feasibility of achievement with the funds offered and relationship to the sponsors ethical philosophy regarding ’small steps’.  Obviously you need to read the full ‘rules’ section for yourself to clarify all the relevant points.

How Long Do I Have?
The competition closes for entries on June 8th 2009, and the 10 finalists will be announced the first week in July.

So get on to The Green Effect now and register

posted by admin on Apr 22

Twive Away! - The New Twitter Tool.

Everyone is Twittering at the moment - even Stephen Fry was doing it while on TV the other day!

But, if you are trying to use Twitter as a way to get more visitors to follow your Tweets and potentially gain benefits from it - then maybe you should look into a new guide that is doing the rounds out there!

It’s called TwiveAway (as in a ‘Twitterised Give Away’) and claims to be able to rapidly increase your numbers of followers - getting your message out there to more and more people literally overnight.

How Does It Work?
Well, it works around the fact that you are going to give something away for something quite simple.  This can include almost anything - but to save postage and other expenses, it’s probably easiest to offer an eBook or access to a membership site for free or something along those lines.

All they have to do in return, for example is to forward on your Tweets to a certain number of people.  In doing so they are automatically sent your ‘everybody wins’ prize.

Obviously you need to make sure that your prize is perceived as worth winning and is relevant to all.  For, example not many people will participate if your prize is an eBook on ‘How To Train Your Gerbil To Dance’ or ‘10 Ways To Re-Use Shoe Laces!’. 

Alternatively, if you have got your hands on a great big prize like a new TV or an expensive piece of software - you could offer a ‘prize draw’ where everyone enters but only one person gets the prize!

How Do I Get Started?
You need to sign up for a TwiveAway account to get started, as this will give you access to the software that will follow your competition and your re-Tweeters.  It will even randomly pick your winner for a prize draw if that’s what you chose to do!

Go to TwiveAway.com to get started - it’s free!

However, this is only the start - so make sure that you actually tell people about your giveaway either on Twitter itself or on your own websites to make sure you get as much reaction as possible. 

After all you want to get more people following your Tweets - so the more people you get started - the more people they will forward your Tweet on to.  And this is the chain reaction you are after.

This is where a really good eBook comes into it’s own - if it appeals to everyone, everyone will want to tell their friends about it and the link to your Twitter account will just fly round the offices like a great joke does or a cute puppy picture!

Finally - don’t forget yo make your Twitter account of website it’s best ever, so that all these new visitors have got a reason to stay with you long after the TwiveAway contest!

Good Luck!

posted by admin on Dec 16

Just a quick update about the National Geographic/Vattenfall competition.

It was a competition for children across Europe to come up with a great project to help combat climate change locally to them, but with international possibilities.

The winners were a group of young people from Copenhagen, Denmark who headed up the project:  Biogas: The Best Solution.

Their idea revolved around the concept of creating energy from an existing method, but by using the fuel from their local zoo.  Basically, the animal waste was burnt to create the energy needed to run the zoo itself.  A perfect circle.

The judges felt that this was ‘the most holistic’ project submitted from hundreds of entries from 21 countries.  Not only does it reduce the need for the zoo to import energy from other sources, it also plays a role in preserving the habitats needed for wildlife so that fewer species become endangered in the first place. 

The zoo already has a great reputation for helping existing endangered wildlife - and now it is helping other species before there is a problem - and it may be the model that leads other zoos and wildlife sanctuaries to do the same.

To find out how the project develops in the future follow the progress at www.nationalgeographic.com/combatclimatechange

posted by admin on Jul 27

I found a new club that is VERY exclusive…….

It’s not altogether eco-friendly either - but WOW - what a club to be a member of in my book!! 

I absolutely love traveling - however, I am very, very, very short of the membership criteria - about 75 countries short to be honest!

How Do You Join?
Well - as it’s title suggests - you need to have visited 100 countries or more!  In addition there is a Silver Membership for 150+ and Gold Membership for and amazing 250+ countries visited!

The special award for visiting over 300+ countries went to a Mrs C Kloner from NY this year!!!!  Well done to her…..

In perspective - there are 6 ‘countries’ in North America (Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Prince Edward Islands, St Pierre + Miquelon and the US itself) only 7 in Central America, 13 in South America and 29 in the Caribbean - so even if you went to them all, you would still be 45 countries short!!!  Europe has 67 in total - so a train ride around that continent will top up your numbers……

Why??
Well, the club first started in Los Angeles in 1954 by a travel group and has grown in leaps and bounds ever since - there are now 317 currently listed on the site and thousands of members.

The club holds meeting across the globe as discusses all sorts of travel-related topics and locations, and has much information on their site to help with information and maps for all the countries they list as being ‘valid’.

If you have only been to 75 countries - don’t worry!  They will let you attend any of their meetings that haven’t been ’sold out’ to full members!!

Are You Over 100+ Countries???
After filling out their membership form, and proving your claim, you only need to pay $100 to join and $50 yearly dues thereafter ($60 if non-US). Or just use their site to read up about countries: Travelers Century Club

So, all I need to do is travel to another 50 countries and I might got to sit in on the next meeting!!!

How about you??

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posted by admin on Jun 8

Want To Go To The Moon?

The European Space Agency is looking for young, fit people with a science degree to train as astronauts!!

They are actually looking for people to join their training programme to staff an international space station!

This multi-million pound venture will see actual real people from Europe audition and compete for a place on the team - it won’t be easy though as it is a continent-wide search - so over 400m people from 17 nations are allowed to apply - but you need to be between 27-37 years old and speak fluent English to get your foot in the door.

Sound like you?
The tiny problem is that you can’t hand in your notice at the supermarket, or serve your last spaghetti carbonara in the pasta restaurant and expect to get a reply. Preferred applicant should hold a PhD or Masters Degree in the Sciences - and a pilots licence would be nice - oh, and do you speak fluent Russian???

Apparently they are quite flexible, so if you are an excellent pilot, you can get in on a suitable Bachelors degree in Engineering or Medicine……. if you are extremely fit and aren’t likely to get ill in the next couple of years either.

Apparently, the odds are that out of all the people that apply, only about 50 will be suitable, and people have already started applying.

They are looking for candidates that show great leadership skills but can also follow instructions without question. Training is not easy, and you will need to be able to work in confined spaces with lots of background noise and perform sophisticated experiments - all this with people you may never have met before.

Sounds Great? 
Benefits include the £43,600 starting salary (rising to £70,750 over your 20 year career) and of course the ability to see the Earth as a blue sphere from the depths of space.

In addition, it it very likely that one or two of these astronauts will still be fit enough to be considered for a multi-national flight to the moon in the next decade!

Want to know more? Just click on I want to become an Astronaut and read on……

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