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Boo! Here’s Part 2 of Fun Mac Games for Halloween! This week’s selection from Mac Games and More includes more Halloween inspired games you can play into the weekend. Get ready to scream because in the games you’ll find a seriously spooky psycho, yourself trying to escape a mysterious island, the devil himself settling [...]

Where else do you find a cozy space other than an installation made of beer crates to curl up with a gripping fiction or metaphysical verse by Jacobean poets? Germany based group KARO has designed an outdoor library in Magdeburg that comprises sheltered seating areas and niches to store a variety books and magazines that the guests can enjoy in an open environment. Started as an art installation in 2005, the library apart from using the beer crates also uses wood and materials from an old warehouse. The outdoor library provides a platform for communication, architecture and space organization while recycling beer crates and an old warehouse.

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Construction of renewable energy projects has revealed some serious environmental issues that will have to be dealt with as we speed toward a clean energy future.  We recently wrote about the conflict between land conservation efforts and renewable energy projects in deserts out west.  Land that is ideal for solar energy production is also pristine land in need of protection.

In California, a similar conflict is arising between solar projects and water conservation.  Solar farms demand a lot of water, a resource that is stretched very thin in the arid areas where they’re being developed.  A large solar farm can use upwards of 500 million gallons of water a year for cooling purposes and there are currently 35 big projects slated for development in California desert.

A “dry cooling” technique exists that uses 90 percent less water than “wet cooling,” but it’s more expensive and reduces the efficiency of the solar plant.  Even so, some plants are giving in and going the dry route.

Solar plants are fighting with state regulators to get the water they need.  Some are succeeding, while others are failing.  Just with land conservation, there doesn’t seem to be one right side here.  Ideally, a new technique for cooling will be developed that doesn’t require large amounts of water or a dip in efficiency.

via Green Inc.

As you can see from our newly designed menus, Cult of Mac has it’s very own Facebook page. It’s a great place for you to keep tabs on what articles are on deck, take a look at some behind the scenes product unwrapping, and complain in our Discussions. Even better, it’s another chance for you to [...]

With the early cold gush of wind shaking the bones, we might as well prepare for the chilling winter ahead, and make early preparations to stay warm and healthy in the freezing conditions. To keep you fit and ready in winter, Ponton has popped up an innovative warmer called “Fireplace” that seems to be an urban interpretation of a bonfire. Powered by bio-alcohol, which give off fewer CO2 emissions, the fireplace by Wolf Udo Wagner is ideal for both indoor and outdoor locations. Finished in borosilikat glass and stainless steel to meet the interior of modern places, the Fireplace is available in three different sizes: small (18 cm, h 27.5 cm), regular (30 cm, h 40 cm) and large (30 cm, h 100 cm), so you may pick one according to the size of your living room.
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The inside of a skyscraper is, literally, the most expensive “land” in the world. So it probably isn’t the best place to grow our food.

The idea of vertical farming (growing food in high-rise buildings in the middle of cities instead of out on farms) has been gaining a lot of interest lately. Most recetly, it showed up on BoingBoing, one of our favorite blogs. We’ve seen a few of these proposals, and we’ve been following the concept for some time. It seems EcoGeeky enough, but a quick glance at the actual economics of farming shows that this isn’t ever going to work.

At first, it seems to make all the sense in the world. Moving production of food into population centers to eliminate shipping. Creating highly efficient “food factories” that allow land elsewhere to be freed from cultivation. But when you look at some of the practicalities behind constructing buildings like these, vertical farms make no sense. As the Vertical farm Project itself notes: “The Vertical Farm must be efficient (cheap to construct and safe to operate).” And a vertical farm is the opposite of efficiency.

A farmer can expect his land to be worth roughly $1 per square foot…if it’s good, fertile land. The owner of a skyscraper, on the other hand, can expect to pay more than 200 times that per square foot of his building. And that’s just the cost of construction. Factor in the costs of electricity to pump water throughout the thing and keep the plants bathed in artificial sunlight all day, and you’ve got an inefficient mess.

Just looking at those numbers, you need two things to happen in order for vertical farms to make sense. You need the price of food to increase 100 fold over today’s prices, and you need the productivity of vertical farms to increase 100 fold over traditional farms. Neither of those things will ever happen. And as much as I hate to burst bubbles, the main claim to the efficiency of vertical farms (the elimination of transportation costs) is not vaild. Even if most of the calories we consume were to be grown inside of cities, almost all of it would be shipped out for processing (most of the food we eat isn’t fresh veggies…you may have noticed.)

None of this is to say that we think farming will remain forever as it is today. EcoGeek is glad that there are many changes coming to agriculture, some of which will increase yields enough to keep prices low while feeding the 10 billion people the Earth will house by 2050. And with the right technologies, we should be able to do this without harming the Earth too much.

We’re not even saying that farms will remain outside. Building multi-level (not necessarily muti-story) automated farming units on inexpensive land within 100 km of food processing plants, for example, might make a lot of sense. But if you’re going to make farming more efficient, you aren’t going to do it by moving it into the most expensive land in the world.

Science-fiction author (and former EcoGeek of the Week interviewee) Tobias Buckell also saw the article and offered his own comments on the topic, as well.

‘Vertical farm’ articles on EcoGeek

As I noted a couple of weeks ago, I want a way to view all my iPhone apps on my iPhone, not just through iTunes. I review lots of iPhone apps and am a keen iPhone gamer. When apps vanish into the void, I forget they’re there (and so Spotlight isn’t much use), and it’s [...]

Showcased at Dutch Design Week 2009, the “ID Mouse” from the house of Intelligent-design is a Bluetooth mouse for all who demand perfection at their fingertip. Finished in hand-formed grade 1 titanium and high quality plastic (resin), the wireless mouse integrates a 3-button neodymium scroll wheel for smooth and brisk scrolling on the web. Compatible with Window XP/Vista/7 Mac OS X 10.3.5, the sleek mouse runs on two AAA batteries and allows laser tracking. Ideal for both left and right handed users, the ID Mouse can be obtained in white and black color for about $1,200.

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The potential of small-scale wind power is starting to be discussed more.  Soon, like small-scale solar installations, wind turbines will be springing up in backyards and on rooftops.  If you’re thinking that you’d like to be one of the people with a turbine out back, you’ll need to assess the wind speeds around your house.  Luckily, as the commercials say, there’s an app for that.

A new iPhone app by Mariah Power lets you measure wind speeds around you by simply holding your phone in the air.  The program uses the microphone to pick up the noise of the wind and then calculates the speed based on decibel level.  The program filters out ambient sound, but you need to avoid louder noises like lawn mowers for the app to read the breeze – or the gust if you’re wanting to crank out some watts.

The company claims the measurements are accurate within 1.5 mph.  Once you take your measurements, you can share them on a map to help them build a database of wind maps.

While this app is cool, it is also a blatant marketing tool for Mariah’s Windspire residential wind turbine.  The 1.2-kW turbine is 30 feet tall and works in areas with average wind speeds of 10 mph or greater.  The company recommends calculating wind speeds over the course of a year before deeming your home turbine-suitable.

via Green Inc.

‘Tis the season for folks to bust out their best Home Ec skills (or their credit cards) in search of costumery to frighten and delight the young and old alike out trick or treating, or just looking for a few good laughs on Halloween.
Back in 2007, when the iPhone had been out just a few [...]

The “DecaDeca” from Daihatsu is an offbeat car that looks more like a “super box” or a hi-tech cabin than a means of commutation. Unveiled at Tokyo Motor Show 2009, the car concept presents an extremely low, flat floor for effortless ingress and egress through its pillar-less, side-by-side doors. Allowing a variety of seating patterns to allow ease of work or commutation, the vehicle can be used either as a personal car or as a taxi. Powered by a three-cylinder engine, the DecaDeca also integrates a big flatscreen with a fold-down desk, turning it into a hi-tech (moving) cabin. And not to talk about its vibrant interior and exterior that equally supports the functionality of the vehicle.

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The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released their third annual state energy efficiency scorecard yesterday and the most energy efficient state was, no surprise, California, while Wyoming was ranked dead last.

The organization judged all 50 states plus D.C. on six criteria:  utility-sector and public benefit programs and policies; transportation policies; building energy codes; combined heat and power; state government initiatives; and appliance efficiency standards.  States could amass 50 points among the areas.

The report found that the recession had little effect on energy efficiency programs and some states like Maine, Colorado, Delaware, D.C., South Dakota and Tennessee made huge leaps in energy efficiency initiatives.

The top ten states are: California (1); Massachusetts (2); Connecticut (3); Oregon (4); New York (5); Vermont (6); Washington state (7); Minnesota (8); Rhode Island (9); and Maine (10).  The bottom ten are:  Arkansas (41); Missouri (41); Louisiana (41); Georgia (44); Alaska (45); West Virginia (45); Nebraska (47); Alabama (48); Mississippi (49); North Dakota (49); and Wyoming (51).

You can view each state’s score and a list of its policies here.

via Press Release

Wow, the launch of Windows 7 on Thursday has prompted Apple to trot out three new ads making fun of Microsoft’s new system.
The big shocker is that they are actually pretty funny. I LOLed at the last line in the “PC Wars” ad above; a line delivered by Justin Long. Yeah Justin Long.
The “Broken Promises” [...]

$6.63 from Cox & Cox
It would be cool to write a message across the cookies with frosting (or otherwise decorate them in an elaborate manner if you are extra ambitious), shuffle them up and give them to someone to put back together before devouring. I think I stole that idea from a jigsaw postcard I’ve seen, but this would be way more delicious.

Combining Chinese handicrafts with Western industrial materials, Dutch designer Sander Brouwer has come up with a smooth yet stylish table that doubles as a flower vase. Dubbed “Paradox,” the functional furniture when used as a table safely hides the domestic flowers or plants inside, which can be seen from small holes on the surface. Presenting a base finished in porcelain and a top in metal, the Paradox presents a unique blend of conventional and modern. Ideal for compact spaces, the multifunctional table is sure to uplift the decor of your place.
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