Heart Balloon Planter
This heart planter is just too cute. Well, not too cute, just right cute. PrettyRandomObjects is on the front page of etsy today, and I’m not surprised.
Energy & Sustainability
If you’re a maker just starting out your journey in sustainability, it can be overwhelming to figure out how to get started. From understanding the types of materials to utilize, learning what steps will help reduce waste and emissions, and finding inspiring new ways to explore creativity that don’t have a negative environmental impact. The good news is there are plenty of resources available for DIYers looking for ways to make their projects more sustainable – from simple switches you can make today, big-picture ideas for longterm change, or exciting new ways makers are helping push sustainability into the future. In these blog posts we’ll look at tips tricks and ideas specifically tailored towards diyers and makers on the road to creating projects with greater eco consciousness so that not only will you create something beautiful but also respect its impact on our planet!
Screw-in coffin patent issues
This is a choice selection of images from the application for U.S. patent 7,631,404, which has since issued to Donald Scruggs of Chino, CA. The title is “Easy inter burial container.” [via Neatorama]
UC Berkeley has “Nobel Laureate Only” parking spaces
Well, in terms of available parking, UC Berkeley makes UT Austin look like an airport remote lot in Iowa on a Wednesday in the summer. And according to this official page there are presently seven living Nobel laureates on the faculty there, so I’m guessing there must be at least seven NL parking spaces. Supposedly, regular mortals have to shell out $50 for presumptious malparkage among the elite.
Assemble your own solar panel
This DIY video will run through the basics of chaining together polycrystalline cells and leaves the details like enclosure and such to the user.
Warship camouflaged as tropical island
A commenter on my recent dazzle camouflage post alerted us to the fascinating story of the HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen which, in 1942, escaped destruction by the Japanese fleet because the crew moored her among other small islands and covered her in a thick layer of tree branches, thereby disguising her as a small island. [Thanks, rekinom!]
Bowling lane coffee table
William Stranger specializes in building furniture out of repurposed wood. I especially liked the massive coffee table whose top is a four-inch-thick slab of bowling lane. It’s part of a exhibit(?) called Second Growth: A second growth forest is one that has re-grown after it has been heavily logged or clear-cut. The installation of reclaimed […]
Dazzle camouflage
Interesting article over on TwistedSifter about the use of so-called “dazzle” or “razzle-dazzle” camouflage beginning during WWI. (The Wikipedia article is pretty good, too.) It’s a kind of practical op-art: The idea was not so much to make the ship invisible against the background, but to confuse enemy weapons operators as to its distance and heading. The Rhode Island School of Design has a wonderful online collection of various paper plans for dazzle camouflage schemes donated by Maurice L. Freedman, who was district camoufleur for the 4th district of the U.S. Shipping Board, Emergency Fleet Corporation, and would go on to invent the board game “Battleship.”
