posted by admin on Aug 5

Trying to block out that office noise with partitions and office re-shuffles?

Apparently there is no need as Japan Blinds have invented and designed a range of blinds that actually absorb sound! They are almost identical in every way to normal blinds – except they are made of felt!

These natural fibre blinds have been proved to absorb up to 60% of noise power in the office environment – so not only shutting out the site of the office when you have a meeting (or lunch break) but also drowning out some of the noises like printers, fans and routers.

How Do They Do It?
Well, the trick is in the harnessing of the natural elements. Basically if the thickness of the felt sheets is balanced correctly with a layer of air between the source of the noise and your ears – it absorbs most of the sound energy within itself – like a shield of sorts.

Due to their construction on composition they are actually cheaper and easier to install than many other sound-proofing solutions currently available to businesses – they can be in place in less than 2 hours and cause no major disruption to the workplace.

I mean you have blinds in most offices – so why not just trade them for soundproof ones if you are plagued or annoyed by background noice when you are working.

Not all offices have time to attach massive sheets or materials to the wall cavities – and then still have blinds over the windows anyway!

How Do They Look?
Unfortunately they are not good! They are currently available in thick heavy-looking gray…….

And due to their manufacture, they are of course only compacted and matted fibres – so can tear much easier than plastic or wooden blinds, and depending on the fibres used – they may cause an allergic reaction if the fibres get into the air after damage or through incorrect cleaning.

However, they are a great new idea in the workplace if they really do stop that much of the background noise – and could maybe be used elsewhere and across walls and doors to limit sound interruptions at home or in your workshop!

posted by admin on Jul 18

Instead of another vase or table lamp – why not a stuffed sparrow?

There is no need to wonder about the eco-credentials of that wooden furniture, or the sustainability of the materials used in your boutique jewelry or even the human rights associated with the fabrics used to create that delightful throw – all of these unusual ‘gifts’ are eco friendly, sustainable and don’t abuse the rights of anyone.

Why?

Because they are all made of naturally expired animals – dead animals.

The latest creations in London aren’t fashion statements, don’t come via Paris or feature on any catwalk, they are delightfully unique wild or domesticated animals sourced from the UK, that have had the services of an expert taxidermist – and one with an artisitic twist.

Who Are They?
This creative duo work together to offer us cute curled lambs in a mini suitcase – with a tiny finch in the mix. Or a fox who looks like he’s sleeping, with swirls of pidgeons drawn above him like he is dreaming of his perfect heaven!

No animals are killed to make these items – they were all found dead or passed away naturally before being brought back to life as a beautiful life-like model.

And, inspired by each animal and the case, box or suitcase it will be shaped to fit – a delicate field of sketches is laid around and underneath it to set the scene of their re-created life. A sea bird is nestled infront of its flying friends; and a redwing caught in mid-flight across the skies!

Of course they don’t just offer the animals, you can buy a whole collection of similarly sketched or themed goods for you and your home – but you can guarantee that each of these is a one-off.

I mean, those pheasants stuffed in a hat box can’t be replicated exactly – even if they tried! Each bird or mammal used is unique.

Take a look at their store in London and fall in love with their creations yourself!

As featured in Audubon Magazine

posted by admin on Jul 7

We have always wanted to create a ‘hover’ anything – and now we have……

Inventor Chris Malloy has apparently created a ‘flying’ machine that looks a bit like the Star Wars floating ‘bikes’ that Princess Leia flew through the woods after meeting the Ewoks!

It has been no easy task – and he has spent his life’s savings and over 2 years of his life just creating the prototype! And it is still tethered to the ground as he isn’t sure what might happen if it actually flies anywhere….

The Design:
His hoverboard is based on the seating and controls of a standard motor bike, but this one can travel at 170mph/270kph and at heights of up to 10,000ft/3,000m!

It has a large propeller attached to the front and another to the rear to stabilise it in flight, but obviously there are no wheels on this ‘bike’; so it sits directly on the floor. And from above looks totally different to how you would expect! Quite sleek and modern looking, made of carbon fibre, and without being too ‘space-age’ or clunky.

However, having no contact with the when moving – it make it great for travelling across muddy fields or across rough terrain! Which may be why he has been designing it with farmers in mind. They could do with a vehicle that doesn’t have to stick to the roads – or worry about what they are travelling through either.

However, he is hoping that they will pay around £30,000 or US$48,000, for the bikes which can fly for around 45 minutes on a single tank.

His Progress:
However, it could still be some times before they are in regular use as it is still in the testing phase – and his prototype is stuck in his back garden!

But he has a great website devoted to it’s progress – and is asking for donations to help get things moving on. He is also running it as a competition, where each doner is in with a chance of winning a prototype of the hoverbike for themselves…..

Due to the technical specs of his invention, Chris explains that it is virtually the same as designing and creating a functioning helicopter – so won’t be fast or easy. He also reminds potential owners that they will need to train themselves to use it in a similar way to a light aircraft or helicopter too.

Other Applications:
Apart from herding up cattle and popping to the store – this vehicle could have a lot of other useful applications in many fields, for example; to survey land or products that usually require scaffolding, cranes or other machinery.

By flying on the hoverbike you would be able to scan for other things too, like conduct aerial wildlife or ecological surveys (if your subjects weren’t scared off by the engine noise of course) or maybe even chasing car theives without adding another car to the chase!

Other areas of use could be in the search part of search and rescue, watching over parks and wildlife areas and even filming documentaries or films.

Obviously, this is all in the future – but helps with funding and the design process.

If you want to know more then visit his site yourself – although there is no video up yet of the machine flying – click on Hover-Bike.com. Maybe if you keep an eye on his progress – or fund him yourself – then you can see it in action very soon!

posted by admin on Jun 20

Food shopping in the UK has just got more dedicated to the food!

Not only can you order your shopping on the internet and have it all turn up on your door step in one piece – you can now be guaranteed to have a long shelf life on your produce!

The Problems With Online Shopping:
As we all know, when you buy something that you haven’t seen with your own eyes or checked over yourself – you can’t be 100% sure that it is exactly what you would have picked yourself.

For example, when shopping you would always check that the product you are about to buy wasn’t damaged in any way – or a punnet of fruit had only the ripest and juciest looking fruit in it if you were eating them today – but would look for the under ripe fruit if you weren’t planning to eat them until the weekend.

But you can’t do that online – you just have to click ‘buy 1 punnet’ and hope for the best.

photo credit: kkalyan

Same goes for the ‘best before’ dates – surely the store will be giving you the produce with the shortest dates as that is how stores rotate their stock. They don’t want to sell all the fresh stuff first, do they?

The New Way:
Well now you can see the shelf life of your food before you order it! That way you know how long your produce will keep after delivery.

Obviously this is based on the actual dates on the packaging – but it guarantees that your key ingredient for that dinner party won’t go out of date before you have had a chance to cook it!

And to help out even more – the actual ‘Use By’ dates are shown on the printed receipt that you get with your order!

That way you can pin it to your fridge and be able to plan your weeks food menu without having to check all the dates by hand and writing them down somewhere else!

The Result:
Not only can you now almost guarantee that the shopping your order online would have been the very same as you would have picked yourself in the store – you can also guarantee that you won’t ever have to waste food again!

By making sure that you have ample shelf life on your foods when you receive them – this store is letting you know that they aren’t out to fool you.

They are also making sure that you always enjoy their products, can rely on their service and that you will continue to order from them as they help you to be that little bit greener without even trying!

Now that is great marketing!

posted by admin on May 24

Nobody wants to be tracked while they are driving – but now young people are begging to!

The Co-Operative Society have come up with a great way to find out how safe their new drivers are – and charge them accordingly; by using what they are calling ‘Smartbox’.

Now normally we don’t want to give too much information away about ourselves if we can help it – but when we can be rewarded for our behaviour (and there is money to be saved) we don’t mind!

For example, many people changed to metered water in the UK recently so that they only paid for the water they used – showing that they were using less than the average person. However, water-wasters stil aren’t being penalised as they are only paying the ‘set rate’ still.

But with car insurance it is different! You pay more money for insurance if the insurance companies know that you are more likely to cause them trouble. The equivalent of charging people a huge amount for their water if they don’t commit to a meter to show their exact usage.

How It Works:
Well, young drivers are much more likely to have an accident in their car if they drive too fast, drive irresponsibly and drive in the dark – so their premiums are set high to cover the costs of repairing cars if they drive irresponsibly fast at night!

photo credit: thienzieyung

However, many young drivers don’t drive like that – but are statiscally within the same group – and you can’t take their word that they will behave behind the wheel. So in comes the Smartbox.

Basically, this device is fitted discretely in the vehicle and wired up to the cars electrics – like a black box of sorts – and records various details about driving speed, acceleration as well as having GPS facilities and a slock to record time of day.

Add all of this collected information together and they can tell when, where and how the car is being driven – and reward of penalise as necessary.

The machine can’t lie – so it can easily sort the wheat from the chaff so to speak!

Why Would You Do It?
If you have ever tried to get a car insurance quote when you are young and a new driver – you will know why you would be willing to be ‘recorded’ by the Smartbox: car insurance can be – and regularly is – over £1000 per annum. Way too expensive for most youngsters.

So, why not show that you can be a responsible driver in exchange for massive savings over the year?

All the data collected can be viewed online with the Co-Op, detailing which areas of driving you are very good at and letting you know the areas where you could improve your driving. It isn’t just about the money – it is about creating safer roads for the driver and all other road users.

Literally as you drive safely to and from work or college every day you are saving money – and it can be many hundreds of pounds over the year and into your next years premium too.

And, due to the tracking set up for the driving skills – your car is also tracked if it ever gets stolen!

If I was faced with the choice (and I know I am a good driver) – I would fit one!