Earth Air Tunnels Earth Air Tunnels Although, this technique is essentially used for cooling the air in Hot and dry climates, it can also be used for winter heating. Earth- air tunnels may be considered as special types of wind towers connected to an underground tunnel. Sensible cooling can b aided by evaporative cooling.
Your Google Information Is Worth up to $5,000 a Year to Marketers By now, you may have already checked to see what kind of person Google thinks you are (if you're a female Mashable reporter, Google apparently assumes you're a middle-aged man). Google's new, unified privacy policy can show you that, as well as how much we pay for the free services that provide Google with that data. Yes, Google+ and Gmail are all free, but we pay for those services in a currency of personal information. Privacy firm Reputation.com says your personal info could be worth anywhere from $50 to $5,000 per year to market researchers and advertisers. Google says it doesn't and won't give advertisers your information; it uses your info to target what it estimates to be more relevant ads that it has already sold. SEE ALSO: Google’s Privacy Update: What You Need to Know Social networks, similarly, rely on users' private information to make money too. Check out the video above to learn more. Thumbnail image courtesy of iStockphoto, alija
Getting homemade foods off the black market There’s no doubt a homemade food renaissance has taken root. All around the country, home picklers, jammers, and bakers have been looking for ways to transform hobby food production into small artisan businesses. In many states, however, selling food you’ve made in your home is against the law. In California, for instance, it’s currently a misdemeanor for home artisans to sell their goodies in the open marketplace. But due to a campaign launched by the Sustainable Economies Law Center, the laws might change this year. “There are a lot of hoops to get a food business started. Currently, state law requires that any foods produced for sale be prepared in a certified kitchen or food facility using commercial-grade equipment that is inspected by the health department. For entrepreneurs who want to open their own kitchen, the investment and risks are greater. A growing movement Healthy competition Santa Cruz-based sauerkraut maker Kathryn Lukas, who launched Farmhouse Culture in 2008, agrees.
Creative Barcode - Home 32 Innovations That Will Change Your Tomorrow - Interactive Feature Electric Clothes Physicists at Wake Forest University have developed a fabric that doubles as a spare outlet. When used to line your shirt — or even your pillowcase or office chair — it converts subtle differences in temperature across the span of the clothing (say, from your cuff to your armpit) into electricity. And because the different parts of your shirt can vary by about 10 degrees, you could power up your MP3 player just by sitting still. Chris Nosenzo The New Coffee Soon, coffee isn’t going to taste like coffee — at least not the dark, ashy roasts we drink today. Analytical Undies Your spandex can now subtly nag you to work out. The Morning Multitasker The problem with laptops and tablets, says Mark Rolston of the design firm Frog, is that they’re confined by a screen. Clean Hair, No Hands This 15-minute shampoo treatment begins when you lean your head back into a machine that looks like a sink at the salon. What are your two best million-dollar ideas? The Congestion Killer
Manage (and make cash with?) your data online Personal lets users store data from multiple sites and then decide whom, if anyone, they want to share it with. New companies seek to help Web users take better control of their personal dataOne company, Personal, says users could one day trade data for perks, cashSingly offers data lockers that developers will use for personalized appsGoogle, Facebook and others have made billions by harnessing user data (CNN) -- It's a truth of the modern digital age: If you're using a Web service for free, you're not the customer. The sites we visit, the videos we watch, the purchases we make and the items we reward with a Facebook "like" or a Google "+1" -- all of that, and more, eventually melds together into a data set that lets many of the world's most popular Web companies get to know us better. And they're using it to make billions of dollars. But what if Web users could reclaim their online data and benefit, or maybe even profit, from it? That's what a group of new startups want to happen.
Community Ventures Coworking - a global community of people dedicated to the values of Collaboration, Openness, Community, Accessibility, and Sustainability in their workplaces 'Sun-Root' Solar Living Roof System Unveiled SolarFlyer2_for_pr PRLog (Press Release) - Jan. 9, 2012 - Green Roof Technology today announced the ‘Sun-Root’ solar-living roof system, the first fully integrated, non-penetrative solar and extensive green roof system in North America. The ‘Sun-Root’ living roof system is the most advanced green roofing technology available on the market. The ‘Sun-Root’ living roof system was unveiled for the first time in North America on November 30, 2011 at CitiesAlive 2011 in Philadelphia, PA. Green Roof Technology has been at the forefront of green roof innovations for over three decades and remains the leading authority on green roofs in North America. “The ‘Sun-Root’ living roof system is a breakthrough in green technology,” said Kat Harrold, Green Roof Technology’s senior green roof designer. The ‘Sun-Root’ living green roof system optimizes Photovoltaic (PV) element energy production by creating a cooler surrounding micro-climate through evaporation and evapotranspiration.
The Locker Project U.S. ‘microcap’ charges highlight debate over small-firm capital raising | Financial Regulatory Forum By Stuart Gittleman NEW YORK, Dec. 6 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) – Federal charges filed last week in a suspected kickback scheme to sell thinly traded stocks highlight concerns over investor safety as Congress making it easier for small business to raise capital. Boston federal prosecutors filed fraud and conspiracy charges last Thursday against 13 people: corporate officers, a lawyer and stock promoter. The charges were filed as the Senate Banking Committee met to consider changing federal securities laws to permit Internet-based “crowdfunding” and other moves that critics said could weaken longstanding protections for stock investors. “The challenge for Congress today is to balance the legitimate interests of investors with the legitimate goals of entrepreneurs,” said Herstein, whose group represents state securities regulators and opposes some of the steps Congress is considering. (Editing by Randall Mikkelsen)
San Francisco to Allow Electric Vehicle Owners to Juice Up for Free San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee just announced that electric vehicle charging will be made available free of charge in city-owned parking garages and at San Francisco International Airport until the end of 2013. San Francisco city officials are hoping that free charging will nudge vehicle-owners into the electric market — if you know you can charge up for free when you’re not at home, life is a little easier. Each charge is estimated to cost the city about $3 and with 2,750 new chargers going in — 30 of which will be “fast charge” stations — this program could end up being quite the investment in the city’s clean transportation future. Hopefully, San Francisco will be able to garner some information about electric vehicle ownership from the new charging stations. “We can call it experimental,” Bob Hayden told The Examiner, the clean transportation adviser at the San Francisco Department of the Environment. Via Gizmodo
Facit Homes Quand vous ne voyez pas le service, c’est que vous êtes le produit ! La lecture de la semaine, il s’agit d’un article de l’hebdomadaire américain The Nation, il est signé par Ari Melber, journaliste et spécialiste des réseaux sociaux, il s’intitule “Le secret de la valorisation de Facebook”. L’occasion de revenir sur un événement largement commenté et dont nous avions dit quelques mots ici même. “Une chose manque dans tous les commentaires au sujet de la valorisation boursière de Facebook”, commence Ari Balmer. “Tout le monde sait à quel point l’entreprise est populaire, avec ses 845 millions d’utilisateurs, et à quel point elle marche bien, avec une valorisation potentielle à 100 milliards de dollars (soit 5 fois celle de Google quand il fut introduit en Bourse en 2004). Mais qu’est-ce qui fait vraiment de Facebook une entreprise aussi rentable ?” demande Ari Melber. C’est vous, répond-il. Image : Mark Zuckerberg nous dit merci ! Le mot “volontaire” est, selon Melber, une façon plutôt gentille de voir les choses. Xavier de la Porte