Reviews

The TRIX human-powered carving trike

From Gizmag:

“April 21, 2006 The first prize at the 10th International Bicycle Design Competition in Tapei is a rip-snorter. A brief look through our powered three-wheeler portfolio shows we love trikes and the carving concept of steering in particular. The TRIX uses rack and pinion steering to offer a carving-like experience to human-powered trikes, removing the utilitarian feel of the flat turning arc of a rigid frame and replacing it with pure fun without removing the intrinsic cargo-carrying benefit of the three-wheeler. The steering also means a tighter turning circle and significantly improved maneuverability as it can slalom between obstacles and lean into curves like a motorcycle. As it is ideally suited to negotiate narrow, or congested streets, TRIX is ideal for city centre life and can be adapted to transport goods or become a space-age rickshaw with a single, front-seated passenger…”

This is one cool bike! Here is the link.

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Thoughts

Microreactor for biodiesel production

From Gizmag: “April 21, 2006 — Another wondrous enabling technology has been announced – a microreactor, about half the size of a credit card that produces biodiesel by combining alcohol and vegetable oil directly, greatly speeding and simplifying production compared to traditional methods. By stacking many of these microreactors in parallel, a device the size of a small suitcase could produce hundreds of thousands of gallons per year of biodiesel — enough to power several farms. The device could significantly reduce farmer dependence on mass-produced petroleum. ‘This is all about producing energy in such a way that it liberates people,’ said inventor and OSU Professor Goran Jovanovic. ‘Most people think large-scale, central production of energy is cheaper, because we’ve been raised with that paradigm. But distributed energy production means you can use local resources – farmers can produce all the energy they need from what they grow on their own farms.’ Jovanovic is seeking to partner in order to commercialize the technology…” Here is the link.

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Reviews

Mozes: secure your keyword

From TechCrunch:

“Mozes is a Palo Alto based startup founded by Dorrian Porter that is tapping into the U.S. SMS (phone text) market.

It allows you to do all sorts of things via sms. Hear a song on the radio that you like and want to bookmark? Text the radio station (ie, KROQ) to 66937 (which translates to “Mozes”). Mozes will note the time and station name and bookmark the song title in your Mozes page (and sms you the song information). Meet someone who has a Mozes keyword? SMS their Mozes keyword to 66937 and store whatever personal information they’ve elected to share. And online advertisers can use a Mozes keyword to give you more information on the product…”

This promises to be pretty cool! Here is the link.

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Thoughts

Attack of the viral campaign ads

From Wired News: “It’s the hottest new trend in political advertising: Lampoon your opponent in an online cartoon, and hope it goes viral. By Steve Friess.”

Problem is, we tend to be less critical of critical cartoon ads… When an opponent muckrakes another in a real ad, we think he’s a schmuck. But when he does it in a cartoon, we think it’s cute, yet the same message is gotten across. Yes, cartoon ads are more powerful, and in that sense, more dangerous than real ads. This is a problem! Here is the link.

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Free shipping worth more than a big discount

From TechDirt:

“For years, there have been controversies (especially among financial types) over whether or not e-commerce shops should offer free shipping, especially as some fear that it takes too big a bite out of the bottom line. However, there’s more to free shipping than just the saved money. Researchers are finally starting to look at the psychological draw of free shipping deals. It turns out that people are much happier with free shipping deals than if they just got a discount. There’s just something about getting free shipping that feels right — which could explain why some people get upset when they feel the free shipping is really a bait and switch offer. This points at an issue that isn’t really covered in the original article. One of the reasons why people like free shipping so much is that they don’t feel tricked at the end of a purchase. Too often, online retailers hide excessive shipping and handling fees and only make them show up at the end. This makes people feel tricked…”

Here is the link.

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