Crisp Green » Timothy Hurst

Green Gift Ideas: Wooden iPhone Speakers

Timothy Hurst — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 15:34:18 +0000

Editor's Note: We're getting into the holiday spirit here at Crisp Green, which means helping you find the crispest, greenest, most innovative gifts for all the tech and design geeks on your list! This week we're featuring 'Last Minute Gifts'. See all of our gift ideas here. Happy Holidays!

I don't know about you, but I use the built-in speaker on my smartphone every day. My work and hobbies often bring me places where I want to listen to music and do not want my movement to be restricted by headphones, nor do I want to lug around an additional device that also needs batteries to project the tunes loud enough so I can hear them.

Using the same hollow-body-guitar-principle applied to the original koostik sound dock, the Koostik "mini koo" channels sound down through the bottom of the device and bounces it through the "trumpet horn" to project sound out in all directions.

OK, here's the big caveat (don't be mad): our sources tell us Koostik has exceeded its capacity and they are no longer able to ship this product in time for the holidays. But who says we can only give awesome green gifts once a year? Stash this one in your back pocket for the next birthday on your list.

Amazing POV Video of 216-mph Electric Motorcycle Ride

Timothy Hurst — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 17:20:40 +0000

This was run number 6 of 6 last week at the Bonneville Salt Flats for the record-breaking Lightning Motorcycle team and driver of the SuperBike electric motorcycle, Paul Thede. The SuperBike, which broke the record for the fastest production motorcycle in the world—electric, internal combustion or otherwise—broke the previous record by more than 40 mph. While the actual record-setting ride topped out at over 218 mph, the final ride only hit 216 mph.

[via Jalopnik]

Appropriate Technology – Microsolar (Pic)

Timothy Hurst — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 02:15:58 +0000

Small solar PV on john at Horsetooth Reservoir near Fort Collins, Colorado. (Really I'm testing mobile image uploading and publishing capability. Seems to have worked!) Related posts:Beer-Powered Syngas Plant Planned For Colorado Top Three 2011 Utility Technology Challenge Winners Announced See-Through Film Turns Everything Into A Solar Panel Related posts:

Amazing Video of ‘Private Library’ Writing Studio

Timothy Hurst — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 06:01:20 +0000

When architect Andrew Berman was hired to design a writing studio in the woods of Long Island, New York, he was asked by his client to create a workspace where the writer could get simplicity, peace and quiet. He succeeded in doing that, don't you think?
(Directed & Produced by David Vegezzi)

Viaggi Wooden Bathtub by Maax

Timothy Hurst — Sun, 30 May 2010 14:20:30 +0000

Unveiled at the Montreal International Interior Design Show, the limited edition Viaggi freestanding wood bathtub is modeled after the acrylic Viaggi bathtub, also by Maax. The warm tones and forgiveness of the wood gives bathers a whole new sensory experience.

Hat tip: MocoLoco

Texas Company Gets OK for Wave-Powered Desalination Plant

Timothy Hurst — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:19:58 +0000

SEADOG can be used for desalination or as stand-alone renewable electricity generators

One of the biggest problems of large-scale water desalination plants is that they require tremendous amounts of electricity to operate. There have been breakthroughs in desalination technology that have drastically reduced the amount of energy required to create drinking water from sea water, but very few that have been able to do it consistently with renewable energy. But a company called Renew Blue Inc. (RBI) hopes to change all that with its SEADOG Pump wave energy generator.

RBI today announced it received a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Section 10 Permit to install a commercial wave-powered demonstration using its SEADOG Pump technology at a new facility a mile off of Freeport, Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. The 18-pump system will take up an area of 150 feet by 75 feet and use a portion of the wave power to desalinate up to 3,000 gallons of fresh water per day using reverse osmosis.

"We could produce over 20 times that amount of water with this facility, but we simply want to demonstrate its viability on a smaller scale at this point," said Douglas Sandberg, vice president for INRI.

While traditional desalination plants require large amounts of electricity to operate blades or impellers--40 to 50 percent of operating costs in the desalination process are attributed to energy usage--the SEADOG Pump operates at low pressure, has no impellers or blades, and few moving parts. The company claims that SEADOG has "nearly zero impact on marine life."

"It is an exciting time for us as we move closer to demonstrating a renewable energy technology that can provide base load electricity and fresh water for municipalities, commercial business and local entities," said Sandberg.

RBI will bottle and distribute the Renew Blue brand of water, "the world's first 100 percent fossil-fuel-free, desalinated drinking water produced by harnessing the power of ocean waves."

"I don't want to make bottled water a revenue stream," RBI founder and CEO Mark Thomas told Popular Mechanics last year. "[F]or the most part, it's a marketing project. I want to have a tangible, portable product made entirely from wave energy. With seawater filtered with energy from wave power filling corn-based plastic bottles, I have as close as you can get to environmentally friendly bottled water."

"Now, if people want to buy the water--if they think it's a good thing--we'll sell it to them. But it's not our driving force: That's energy.

The facility is expected to be installed later this year.

Watch a video of the SEADOG Pump in action

The People's Bike: The Trek Lime

Timothy Hurst — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 21:14:04 +0000

Crisp doesn't have to mean battery operated. In fact, we think you can't get any more crisp and any more green than a good bike -- and that is especially true for a bike that is designed to get people out of their car and back on a bike.

Introduced as the answer to the millions of American adults who don't really ride a bike any more, the Trek Lime screams out "ride me" to those folks who might be a little intimated by today's highly engineered, full-suspension bikes with multi-bracket gear systems, disk brakes and 27-speed grip shifters.

With its big, comfortable spring-loaded seat, curved, adjustable handlebars, three-speed automatic transmission and pedal brakes, the Trek Lime is designed to make riding a bike as enjoyable today as it was when you were a kid.

And at $580, the The Trek Lime, which was recently awarded the "People's Design Award" at the 10th annual National Design Awards, is a real value for an every-day commuter.

Shimano market research showed that many people find shifting and braking controls on traditional bikes too complex. That's why Shimano invented its new 'Coasting' platform -- an automatic-shifting three-speed drivetrain tucked into a sleek housing with few visible moving parts.

All tucked away under the Lime's bottom bracket are the guts of Coasting: an electric control box, that measures speed, and a dynamo front hub that powers the control unit and shifts up or down.

Coasting, available on bikes from just three brands right now, takes the guesswork out of shifting and braking. And together with the other technology-softening features, it helps make Lime the kind of bike people can just sit back and ride.

via arch1design: Bicycling