Photo by Jaymi Heimbuch The University of Notre Dame is taking the use of e-readers in classrooms seriously, embarking on a one year study of how the devices integrate into classrooms. The first course to have students use an iPad instead of any text books is Project Management, a class with 40 students that will not only use the iPad as a book, but will also be encouraged to use it for everything else in daily life and report back their impressions (hmmm, could that possibly have been at Apple's request?). Apple is making a big push to turn iPads into the next big thin...Read the full story on TreeHugger

When it comes to reinventing the wheel — or bathtub — there's only so much you can do. Sure you can make it light up like a dance party or add soothing jets, but all any homeowner really wants is a clean and tidy space where all their essentials are at hand. The Stowaway tub aims to do just that and look fairly decent along the away.

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Chelsea brought this article and this fantastic little apartment to my attention. I am guilty of not covering apartments very often but I love the use of space in this one and you must see it.

The article written by The Seattle Times Rebecca Teagarden is titled “Tiny apartment shows the value of a good fit” and talks about Steve Sauer’s 182-square-foot Seattle condo which shows the value of a good fit, from the soaking tub built into the entry floor to the “video lounge” tucked beneath the “cafe area.” Sauer shopped Ikea for many of his home’s furnishings, such as a little table, and used tabletops to fashion cabinet fronts.

Photos by Benjamin Benschneider of the Seattle Times

Saurer’s says, “What I really wanted was one place with exactly what I needed and wanted. Quality is more important than quantity for me, and extra space only a problem,” he has written, describing his nearby too-big-for-him, one-bedroom condo.

“I wanted to compress my home to squirt me back out to the community,” he says, taking inspiration from dwellings in Scandinavia and Japan, places where space is dear. “That was one of the philosophical reasons. I want to be able to shop daily, not store a lot and eat really well.”

When Sauer couldn’t find the things he needed, he designed them and built them: The stainless-steel shower caddy, towel bar. For other pieces, “Ikea came through again.” Lighting, cabinet pulls, and butcher block for shelves, the table top and cabinet fronts. The rich flooring, Brazilian walnut, was installed by Matt Messenger. A bureau from West Elm fit to 1/8 of an inch, and so it was ordered.

“My dream is to put 300 of these in a building and not have it be a tenement.”

Read the Seattle Times article here.

“Something’s wrong with your keyboard,” a friend borrowing my laptop would say. “When I type, all that comes out is gibberish!”

“Nothing’s wrong with my keyboard,” I would reply with a grin. “It’s the layout on your keyboard that’s wrong!”

What usually follows is a long lecture on how the Dvorak keyboard layout is better than QWERTY in every way. My friends usually humor me — this has happened several times — but I’ll spare you the sermon and make it short. Out of the hundreds of reasons you should switch to Dr. Dvorak’s layout, here are seven:

1. QWERTY was designed for the typewriter, not the typist.

Christopher Sholes, who invented the typewriter, found that early prototypes of his invention had a mechanical flaw: When he struck neighboring keys in rapid succession, the typewriter jammed. He needed to replace the initial alphabetical layout with one that separated keys often struck successively. Thus the QWERTY layout was born. This did not solve the problem entirely, but it made the machine jam a lot less.

Good for the typewriter. But what about the typist? While QWERTY was designed so that the typewriter could work, Dvorak was designed so that the typist could work well.

2. Dvorak increases your speed.

Typists base their fingers on the home row of the keyboard. If you want to increase typing speed, the home row is where you place the most commonly typed keys . Which is exactly what Dr. Dvorak did in his layout — 70% of keystrokes are on the home row; 22%, on the top row; 8%, on the bottom.

In QWERTY, only 32% of keystrokes are on the home row. Which means most of the time, typists’ fingers are either reaching up for the top row (52%) or down for the bottom row (16%). So not only does QWERTY do nothing for typists, it actually hinders them.

Dvorak further increases typing speed by placing all vowels on the left side of the home row, and the most commonly used consonants on the right side. This guarantees that most of your strokes alternate between a finger on your right hand (consonant) and a finger on your left (vowel). Alternating between fingers from either hand is faster — just imagine texting with one hand or drumming with one stick.

3. Dvorak lessens your mistakes.

Not only is Dvorak faster than QWERTY, it’s also more accurate. Errors occur more when you type away from the home row, or consecutively with the same finger. When you combine the two problems (using the same finger to type consecutive letters not on the home row) you make even more mistakes.

Reaching away from the home row, typing consecutively with the same finger — these happen more often in QWERTY. And so do mistakes.

4. Dvorak is more comfortable and better for your health.

Although its only your fingers that do the extra reaching in QWERTY, the distance adds up. A study compared the distance traveled by the fingers of two typists in performing the same task. In Dvorak, the typists fingers traveled 1.5 km per day; In QWERTY, 30 km per day. This extra distance increases not only the likelihood of errors but the stress on your fingers.

The discomfort is often temporary. But with the amount of typing we do today — plus the prevalence of QWERTY keyboards — it is not uncommon for the pain to progress to repetitive strain injury. Some RSI sufferers have reported some relief from taking breaks, doing stretches, improving posture, and of course, switching to Dvorak.

5. Switching to Dvorak is easier than ever.

Studies have shown that Dvorak is easier to learn than QWERTY. If you already touchtype with QWERTY, it’s even easier, because you already have the finger coordination needed for touchtyping. There are online resources on learning Dvorak and a ton of typing games for practice.

But where do you get the keyboards? Today, keyboards with the Dvorak layout (or that can switch to Dvorak) are available if you wish to buy one. But you won’t even have to. Most operating systems allow users to make Dvorak their default keyboard layout. You can also make it easy to switch between layouts, but trust me — you won’t want to.

6. Dvorak is cool.

Aside from getting friends and coworkers to type gibberish on your computer (a useful security measure, by the way) Dvorak has other cool benefits. Using Dvorak puts you in an exclusive club — like having a Mac instead of a PC. But aside from mere prestige, you can flaunt your productivity and the ease with which you attain it.

You’ll also be in the company of some cool people, including Bram Cohen, inventor of BitTorrent; Matt Mullenweg, lead developer of WordPress; and Barbara Blackburn, world’s fastest typist.

7. Using Dvorak is a noble cause.

Dr. Dvorak created something great, but he died in vain.

“I’m tired of trying to do something worthwhile for the human race,” he said, realizing his failure to convince people to adopt his layout. “They simply don’t want to change!”

QWERTY has remained the default keyboard layout for over a century. It has outlived the purpose for which it was designed, yet its weaknesses still remain. By switching to Dvorak, you are joining a movement that empowers typists and honors the legacy of a great man.

A new "tea bag" uses nano-fibers to suck contaminants and bacteria out of water, providing a desperately-needed, cheap solution for the billions of people without clean drinking water. More »

It's finally happened! The $5.95 billion Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore finally opened its doors to public in a gala event, and it also managed to dethrone the Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi from its position as the world's most expensive hotel. But that's not all, the main attraction of the hotel is a 650ft wide pool perched up at the 55th storey of the magnificent hotel, making it the largest outdoor pool in the world that high. Called as the Infinity pool, the drop at the edge of the pool spills into a three-tiered catchment which pumps water right back to the main pool! The hotel also has a boat-shaped 'SkyPark' on top of the three towers. The hotel features 2,560 rooms that would cost you $520 a night. Designed by Moshe Safdie, the structure is said to be based on the design resembling a deck of cards. The hotel décor includes an indoor canal that has Sampan boats to ride in, a casino, an outdoor plaza, a convention centre, a theatre, a crystal pavilion and a lotus flower shaped museum. The resort will open employment to over 10,000 locals, enough to generate $72m each year. [Dailymail]

[ By Delana in Architecture & Design, Environment & Nature, Technology & Futurism. ]

Are we on the brink of a new era in construction? With commercial space travel finally within our reach, will we see space colonies within our lifetime? And with Earth’s resources running low, will we soon be forced to move into previously uninhabitable areas of the planet? Japanese construction group Shimizu Corporation seems to think so on all counts, and they’ve come up with a whole series of architectural plans for the world of tomorrow. Their bold ideas, which they collectively call Shimizu’s Dream, illustrate what life on Earth and in space will be like in the not-too-distant future.

Space Hotel

Space tourism will be big business in the future, so it only makes sense to start planning the grand space hotels of tomorrow. This low Earth orbit hotel will be connected to its docking station by a 240-meter (790-foot) elevator shaft. The hotel consists of four elements: solar energy supply (and battery for storing power), loading and unloading platform, a public area, and a sleeping quarters section with 64 guest rooms and 40 staff rooms. The sleeping rooms are arranged in a ring that rotates at a comfortable 3rpm, providing artificial gravity of 0.7G. Guests will be free to observe Earth and other space bodies while enjoying recreation and meals in microgravity.

Urban Geo-Grid Plan

Back on Earth, urban space is running short and it’s time we figure out how to maximize our city areas. The Urban Geo-Grid Plan would move many of our essential urban functions underground to ease congestion on the surface. A vast underground network would be built that would consist of transportation, communications and energy delivery systems – all moved beneath the surface and away from the crowded city streets. There are two different sizes of underground structures: grid points and grid stations. Grid points are small and will contain community amenities like convenience stores and exhibition halls. Grid stations – including some underwater – are larger and will include office buildings, shopping centers and hotels. The ultimate vision is to create an integrated city with both above-ground and below-ground elements.

Luna Ring

Fossil fuel stores are quickly becoming depleted and it’s obvious that future cities will need a cleaner, renewable energy source. What better source is there than unlimited solar power? The Luna Ring concept would put permanent solar collectors around the moon’s equator like a belt. The majority of the solar cells would always face the sun and collect massive amounts of solar energy, which would then be beamed to Earth via microwave power transmission antennae. The construction of the Luna Ring would be handled mostly by robots controlled remotely by people on Earth, though there would be a team of astronauts on hand to supervise the robot fleet.

Lunar Bases

Perhaps in conjunction with the lunar solar plant we will one day finally build the lunar bases that have been predicted for decades. Shimizu Corporation has developed plans for what they feel would be the most expandable and easily operable lunar bases. The base will be constructed of hexagonal modules that will allow for horizontal and vertical expansion. To greatly reduce the costs associated with transporting building materials from Earth to the moon, the modules will be constructed mainly of lunar rocks and soil. Remotely-controlled robots will do most of the work to minimize the risks that would be daunting with a human crew.

Green Float: The Environmental Island

According to Shimizu Corporation, our convenient urban lives have caused us to lose touch with what’s really important and what truly makes us happy: healthy living, cultural pursuits and contact with nature. They want to re-shape the cities of the future to help us reconnect with that healthy, happy lifestyle in an organic way. Their environmental city concept will have a water-bound base with a top that extends into the sky – overall resembling a natural plant. Residential space both at the waterfront and at the top of the tower will house 40,000 people per island, while the tower will provide enough commercial space for 10,000 people to work. Island communities will be joined together in modules, making it possible for entire self-sustaining, carbon-negative cities to be built from groups of the floating platforms.

Inter Cell City

The Inter Cell City is another future city concept based on living organisms. The idea behind the concept is to create sustainable urban systems that integrate natural green spaces with occupied city spaces. Each urban community unit would operate based on citizen initiative, with every one being responsible for its own water, energy and waste management. The cities are designed to be sustainable and to cut down on fossil fuel consumption by 90% within a century.

The Pyramid City in the Air

As far as self-contained cities go, this pyramid city concept is a sight to behold. It is meant to house around a million people in just a 3 square mile footprint, all of whom will be able to enjoy ample sunlight and all the rest of nature’s gifts. The truss construction consists of interconnected octahedral units, each of which can accommodate a 100-story building. The building materials are all lightweight but strong, and the shafts that connect each unit are also used to carry the plumbing, communication and electrical systems. Leisure centers, moving walkways, trains and escalators also crisscross the interior of the vast city, allowing an entire population to live, work, study and play comfortably.

Desert Aqua-Net Plan

Though changing the ecological structure of a place is generally not considered very “green,” we may one day find ourselves faced with the inevitability of living in the desert. Deserts currently occupy around one-third of the planet, so Shimizu Corporation wants to utilize some of that currently uninhabitable space. Their plan is to create seawater canals that will feed artificial lakes in arid regions, then build habitable islands in those lakes. Putting the living spaces into the middle of lakes will cut down on the extreme temperatures to create pleasant living conditions. The canals could also be used for transportation, making the previously difficult-to-traverse desert much more easily navigable.

[ WebUrbanist - By Delana in Architecture & Design, Environment & Nature, Technology & Futurism. ]

The Now That’s Nifty blog reports on photo tarpaulins from the German company Style Your Garage. These tarps are giant flexible photos designed for “up-and-over” garage doors, and they attach with Velcro. They have a variety of themes ranging from vehicles to landscapes to animals and more. Some of my favorites are the jet plane

Italy

and, for those with double garage doors, the dump truck.

If you don’t want to do your garage door, the company also has similar products for standard doors and windows. Prices are $225 for the single-door garage versions, and $439 and up for the double-door and triple-door garage versions. The single-door “motif of the week” is $185.

Style-Your-Garage [Manufacturer's Site]

via http://whileyouwerentlistening.posterous.com/irrelephant