Posts Tagged ‘party’
Please dont stop the.. dancing!
Thursday, February 5th, 2009
With its powerful sound-system, its numerous lights, its heating and cooling system, a nightclub is an energy glutton. Trying to address this issue, the first eco-club of the world opened last September in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Club Watt saves 30% electricity costs by re-injecting into the main circuit the energy produced by its customers shaking their bodies on the dance floor. The trick? A spring-loaded floor, which dips about 1 cm and activates a flywheel, which starts to capture kinetic energy convert it to electricity, similar to the electro-mechanical process of a bicycle light.
There is a lot of research done on energy saving, but it leaves a wide field open to innovators, imagining revolutionary appliances for old and new technologies. When I heard about this floor transforming movement into energy, I tried to imagine other places or things that we use, where energy is lost, that could be collected instead. What about a computer that would re-load it’s battery when typing on the keyboard?
An average person types between 30-50 words per minute. Considering that the average word is 4 to 6 letters long – say 5, typing on a computer equals pushing down a button 150 to 250 times per minute. Wouldn’t that produce enough energy to power a notebook, or at least increase its battery life? Plus it would have a wonderful effect on our productivity: imagine you’re 5 hours in the plane without a power plug. Should you rather watch a 2 hour movie, or frenetically type this report you should have done weeks ago, which would keep your battery going for the whole journey?
What are some other ways we can apply this technology?
High traffic areas maybe? i.e. airports, metro stations, concerts…
Looking forward to reading your brilliant applications in the comments 
Written by: Antoine Verdon
Young at art:local art exhibit
Tuesday, July 10th, 2007
Sotheby’s has reported a huge boom in international art sales and Fast Company published an article how Americans in general are more concerned with art, furniture, getting nice stuff that has meaning etc.
I am not quite an art connoisseur, but I am starting to feel my apartment walls are a bit too mature now to host the ‘beer’ and ‘hot-girl’ posters that once littered my dorm room. So out of the need to decorate my own apartment I noticed what I feel is a good opportunity to bring together artists and consumers. Of course there are already many ways in which art is exchanged in today’s society but to be honest I do not know where I fit into the market.
Art Galleries: I have found most art galleries are extremely expensive and most of the time pretentious and uninviting to younger clientele. There was a recent article in the Boston Globe about young entrepreneurs opening successful galleries; however art pieces tended to stay in the $2,000 plus range (this helps cover the expensive real estate prices that galleries tend to absorb). Galleries bring in some top art; however my interest in art doesn’t stretch quite that far into my bank account.
Online: In my price range I may be better suited for some art off of craigslist, ebay or sites like artycity, or artshole (UK). One benefit is I can communicate directly with the artist. However, I would find it hard to judge something that I could only see online.
Furnitures / Decoration Stores: The easy option would be a store like IKEA. But while it is a great place for neat decorations, it would only takes a couple days before you and your friend’s apartments are identically unoriginal.
The idea: Rent out a boutique, loft, open space or borrow a friends (clean) apartment for an evening or even a few days. Gather up local artists from colleges, art institutes, and the others from the artistic community and ask them to participate by displaying their best pieces. The art could be sold on consignment with a fair percentage of sales going to the host to cover costs, earn a profit or at best, raise money for a charity. Artists benefit from displaying their work in a nice space for free and providing them with some exposure, and a little bit of cash for their hard work.
For me one of the most rewarding aspects of buying a piece of art is that it is unique and carries with it a certain story. A story best told by the artist. This idea lets the purchaser speak with the artist if they are at the event, and if not, at least know they are local and perhaps meet up for a coffee.
The toughest part will be getting people there. Perhaps a DJ, nice atmosphere, and a co-sponsorship with local art schools could do the trick.
I could not find one, but if you know something like this that already exists in the Boston area, please let me know
