PW2 Web Blog

Thriv’Ability: Alpha Robot Dog Prototype

Contributed by Rick DeVan on October 7, 2011 at 8:00 pm ET

How about getting supplies to and rescuing trapped people? There are possibly many more peaceful applications for this prototype.

Admittedly, there is something bizarre and uncomfortable about this prototype. Then, again, it is not there for my comfort… it is there to get the job done.

Filed under Life, Work, and Society, Technology, Thrivability

Tags used: Alpha Robot Dog —

Comments and discussion are welcome on the PW2 Web Facebook Page up to four weeks after publication date.

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

Contributed by Rick DeVan on at 8:00 pm ET

Resource: National Cybersecurity Awareness Month at U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The most serious economic and national security challenges we face are cyber threats. America’s economic prosperity and competitiveness in the 21st Century depends on effective cybersecurity. Every Internet user has a role to play in securing cyberspace and ensuring the safety of themselves and their families online.

Take security seriously.

Filed under Life, Work, and Society, Technology

Tags used: Cyber Crime, Cyber Security —

Comments and discussion are welcome on the PW2 Web Facebook Page up to four weeks after publication date.

Thriv’Ability: A Liter of Light

Contributed by Rick DeVan on September 23, 2011 at 8:00 pm ET

Resource: Isang Litrong Liwanag – A Liter of Light project in the Philippines.

Isang Litrong Liwanag (A Liter of Light), is a sustainable lighting project which aims to bring the eco-friendly Solar Bottle Bulb to disprivileged communities nationwide. Designed and developed by students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Solar Bottle Bulb is based on the principles of Appropriate Technologies — a concept that provides simple and easily replicable technologies that address basic needs in developing communities.

Resources via How water bottles create cheap lighting in Philippines at the BBC.

This is a start. Hopefully, electricity, running water, those sorts of things, are next.

Filed under Life, Work, and Society, Technology, Thrivability

Tags used: Isang Litrong Liwanag, Liter of Light, Thrivability —

Comments and discussion are welcome on the PW2 Web Facebook Page up to four weeks after publication date.

Thriv’Ability: Human Antenna

Contributed by Rick DeVan on September 16, 2011 at 8:00 pm ET

Resource: Your Noise is My Command: Sensing Gestures Using the Body as an Antenna via Microsoft Research

It turns out that the human body is also a very effective antenna over a broad frequency range. The human body is an electrical conductor, and thus when exposed to electromagnetic fields, it behaves as an antenna with a frequency resonance determined by various factors including height,posture, etc.

First thing I thought of when I read this was the Theremin: