A Few great new tools I’ve started using

So, Recently I’ve had the pleasure of finding a few really great apps, which include The Hit List (awesome Mac task management) which I now use to keep track of all my projects and to do’s & iClockr (time capturing tool now known as Lumina) which I use in conjunction with Invoice 3 (invoice/billing app) to keep track of time spent and generate invoices from billable hours. These are great for my own personal use, but I was still without a crucial component of this mix, something I could use remotely, to keep track of interactions with clients and other partners.

Pay once or open source, no monthlies for me please

I don’t own a credit card and probably never will, so continuously having to pay for services online on a regular basis becomes a little tedious. I’ve tried out a few self hostable solutions like the new collabtive, open goo and a while back active collab, all of which seem to have the makings of a really good web office for the location independent web worker.

It was only a couple of weeks ago that something else caught my eye. Seems I’ve had quite a few of these in the last few months which is great.

Hello Open Atrium, goodbye basecamp

Say Hi to Open Atrium, a drupal based online collaboration system which could be used as an on the fly intranet or for many other purposes depending on your way of thinking of your ability to customize it.

I’ve been wanting to get into using drupal for a while, and this little beauty has pushed me a little closer to that point. It’s quite simple to install, not as simple as WordPress, but then WordPress doesn’t do exactly what this does out the box.

Open Atrium allows you to create mutliple private or open online spaces to which you can invite as many members for each group as you like. The groups allow creation of blogs, uploading and discussion of documents, posting of micro messages like twitter, creation of projects and tasks through it’s case Tracker as well as creation of events on a calendar. Each person’s profile has the ability to add profile specific versions of each of those tools as well.

What’s even better is it’s open source, easy to install and allows for integration of your own custom features as well if you’re into drupal development. I’m looking forward to seeing how the community extends this one. Check out a list of features as well as a nice intro video on their Feature Page at http://openatrium.com/features

Human powered energy generators are on the rise and many different designs have been surfacing in the last year or so. This one uses an existing fun activity to produce some much needed energy.

Daniel Sheridan, a student in consumer product design, won three separate awards amounting to GBP 5,500 earlier this year for his see-saw design, which can create enough electricity to power a classroom by capturing the energy generated when children play on it.

What more can I say, brilliant idea, South Africans could do with a combination of sober entertainment & energy production all rolled into one.

Check it out here

Both aim to approach 21st Century transportation in an innovative yet clean way, but don’t expect these to meet each other on the same street.

bamboobike meets env bike.

The 2 solutions are suited for the worlds they have been designed for, but both have a similar purpose, provide transport in an environmentally friendly manner.

Bamboo has a lighter footprint

Of course the bamboo bike wins the carbon footprint game hands down as it’s a completely sustainable product manufactured from around 70% biodegradable materials available in the locality it will be used in. It’s low-cost, fuel efficient, healthy, and doesn’t need huge production factories and machinery powered by huge energy resources to put together.

Slick, powerful, clean and extendable

On the other hand, the env is made for the modern city dweller who wouldn’t be caught dead on a bamboo frame with wheels. It’s slick design is only the beginning.

The fuel cell is an electrochemical device which produces electricity, water and heat directly from hydrogen and oxygen. The water by-product can be evaporated, drained or even drunk.

It’s hydrogen powered fuel cell(the core as it is referred to) is at the centre of this sophisticated design. The idea is that the core, as the detachable heart of the env can be used to power just about anything anywhere.

Back to the Bamboo Bike and it’s many advantages in a not so teched up environment. I can see the Bamboo bike having a much greater impact not only on the environment but on the lives of thousands of people living in sub-economic locations.

In Africa, very few people can own cars or even motorcycles and people without bicycles have to rely on inadequate and relatively expensive buses. Bicycles are creatively modified to become boda boda taxis.

Transportation issues on different sides of the economic/tech divide couldn’t be further apart, but it’s good to see that on both sides, practical attempts are being made to find sustainable & efficient solutions.

I’ve thought of getting myself a bicycle and electro scooter many times and hope I might get a chance in the near future to play my own part in conserving and lightening my footprint in this regard.

Just off chatting with White Africa, A.K.A. Hash, blog master of AfriGadget.com who lives in the US. I thought I’d take another look at AfriGadget and see if I can find anything which sparks my interest.

Step onto the scene a Sugar & Yeast Powered Generator

This invention(by Dr. Cedrick Ngalande’s) has massive implications for South Africa, not only directly related to the problem of charging of mobile phones in rural settings but in general, for the energy crisis we are experiencing locally.

This shows that Africans are very much innovating and working towards solutions to some of the most crucial problems mankind will be facing in the very near future.

“The rotor moves slowly most of the times but does pick up at certain intervals. This process continues for many hours. Since the rotor is quite heavy (and hence more inertia) a small geared DC motor can be connected to the rotor to generate power for cell phones, $100 laptops, and other things in Africa. People can leave this thing to charge their phones/$100 laptops overnight.”

The blog post where I found this little invention has a hot commenting debate about the actual viability of the invention, but like “Hash” the blog author responded, we need to be talking about what people are doing and maybe by spreading the word others can contribute and help build on these ideas.

Anyone out there know of any other cool low tech energy solutions? All I can say is Go Africa, Go!!

The freedom toaster is a kiosk/vending machine type technology which comes standard with USB & DVD burning ports.

"…preloaded to dispense confectionery, Freedom Toasters are preloaded to dispense free digital products, including software, photography, music and literature." http://www.freedomtoaster.org/

A high tech e-Napkin design tablet thinga majig.

It’s an idea I’m sure many a designer has day-dreamed about,imagining what a utopian dream world they could create if only their tools were … “Hey, snap out of it”. Ok Ok, I know it’s just an idea, but you have to give it to the people who put this presentation together, very slick. We have to think big and dare to be different before we can really achieve something truly innovative. Someone has to be willing to start putting the pen to paper on these crazy cool ideas and motivating the scientists to get their nano’s in order. Check these out.

I’d like to see a e-Reader in this format, something I can fold up and put into my back pocket when I need to. Hey I see the GTD crew going to town with something like this. But seriously, the technology has to exist to create something if not exactly like this, but close enough. Suppose it’s a bit of an expensive task but with notebooks getting thinner & smaller and screen , multi touch,disc storage, wireless and nano technology being pushed heavily in all directions I’d give it another 5 years and we might be seeing a few of these products finding their way into our lives.

I love what the designers of these visuals have done here, I call this juicy graphics, something you’d love to just take a bite out of. Head on over to Yanko Design for more cool ideas and products you can sink your teeth into.

MacBook Air takes light & slick to a new level

So what’s so cool about this new edition to the Mac family. Well, it’s the thinnest notebook I’ve ever seen, nearly as thin as your index finger according to Apple, depends on the size of your fingers I suppose.

Apple has scaled down every little bit of this slick machine they possibly could to make it ultra thin and ultra lightweight. Being an owner of an iPod Nano I can see the potential of a Notebook designed along the same principles and by the looks of it Apple are definitely pushing the slick button overtime. One of the things about being a mobile web worker is the need for an ultra portable yet powerful enough machine with a screen to match. I see all the designers drooling at the moment.

This notebook has been designed with the mobile web user in mind and lacks nothing in power & features.

It comes in a sturdy anodized aluminium casing so it’s something which outlast your regular notebook no doubt.

The display & keyboard don’t suffer from the weight reduction and have been given special attention. This little gem has a 13.3 inch screen which displays 1280 X 800 pixels, something I could definitely live with as a web designer, I don’t need much more than that in fact I prefer nothing bigger so I keep my designs within these limits.

The keyboard is designed with crisp black keys which are backlit for those low light conditions and the built-in ambient light detector adjusts the key lighting according to the conditions. The only thing I think needs a little shaving off the sides is the price tag, though you wouldn’t have expected all that innovation to come at a lighter weight price now would you.

These babies will be retailing at $1,700, which works out to close to R12,000, a little more than I can manage to scrape together at the moment.

Manila Mac releases the AirMail Macbook Air cover

I just learned via Cherry Flavour that a few clever people have jumped on the bandwagon and developed a Macbook Air sleeve dubbed, Airmail. It’s a neat little manila look envelope which serves as a protective cover which showing off the thinness of the notebook. It’s also fleece lined to keep you’re shiny MacBook Air as slick as the day you bought it.

Apple gets another point in my Brand approval rating for the Macbook Air, now I just need to give it a test run.

My laptop backpack is still suffering from being a little over-weight and needs some lightening up. Anyone ready to send some cool projects my way so I can earn myself some fresh “Air”?

I’ve become somewhat of a podcast addict of late. Not having spent a single cent at the iTunes store as I’m not much of a music lover, I quickly found that there are tons of freely available podcasts available through the iTunes store. A few of my recent favourites are “Grammar Girl“(all about using the English language correctly), Design Guy(podcast about being a good designer), TED talks(inspirational talks by the best minds in the world), Freelance Radio(from freelance switch) & The Common Craft Show(simplifying web 2.0 concepts). There’s a wealth of knowledge out there waiting to be accessed. I did a quick search through iTunes and found a stack of design related podcasts ready to inform and inspire.

Once you get hooked by the podcast bug you’ll realize there are really talented, entertaining speakers all over the world sharing their ideas and experiences. Many Universities have also provided material on subjects they cover either in an official capacity or through the students recording lectures or classes.

My only problem at the moment is the cost of downloading them as bandwidth in South Africa us still extremely expensive in comparison to other parts of the world.

The iPod is by no means just about music and I’m a classic example. I don’t listen to music at all and find it a complete waste of mind space, but that’s another topic all together. Still I’ve found this shiny little gadget to play an important role in my day.

The next revelation was equally exciting. The iPod allows one to convert text into iPod format e-books. The iPod nano I have, has a fantastic screen for such a small device. In fact sometimes I forget just how small it is. Storing certain reference texts could be quite useful in certain circumstance. I found a copy of The Cluetrain Manifesto in iPod e-book format and tried it out.

As a designer I’m thoroughly impressed by the features of my iPod nano and keep trying to figure out how I can maximize the way I use it. I recently uploaded most of my design portfolio.

This means I have my porti in my pocket wherever I go if I ever need to show something quickly. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the most ideal way of presenting ones visual work, but it fills a gap and makes me happy .

I’ve also synced it with my Outlook Calendar to have a reference of my appointments. I don’t keep a diary though I probably should.

I know there are other devices out there which are more powerful, allow for connectivity and editing of data etc, but I don’t have one of those, Yet! I’m impressed with my little iPod and have to hand it to Apple for a great design and very useful gadget.

My new partners Synerlogix Consulting are running a cool special on Lenovo ThinkPad R61i Notebooks. As far as I know their pricing is very competitive for these models and to encourage further interest they are giving away an iPod shuffle when purchasing 2 of these machines.

Lenovo South Africa has taken over the ThinkPad from IBM and they’ve maintained the highest quality and technological advancement.

The notebooks on offer have enough power and features to suite just about any type of business user. These machines stronger than the majority of notebooks on the market, something which I know I am currently in need of, running up & down with a notebook from home to coffee shops and anywhere else where business calls. What’s on offer here are brilliant notebooks with brilliant pricing and the iPod thrown in just to add to the value.

Synerlogix, unlike other dealers, have kept the prices as low as possible so they can provide this fantastic product at an affordable price which makes business sense to me as I think they’ll sell more of them that way.

If you know anyone with a ThinkPad, then you’ll realize that these machines are built to last and just keep on working.

The ThinkPads on offer have the following specifications:

Lenovo R61i Notebook NG18BZA 7650-8BG

• Centrino Duo • Core 2 Duo T5250 (1.50GHz) • 2x512MB
• 120GB/5400rpm • DVD±RW DL • Intel X3100 • 256MB shared
• 15.4″ WXGA TFT(1280×800) • Modem • Gigabit Ethernet
• Intel 802.11a/b/g • Bluetooth • Security Chip • FPR
• 6 Cell Battery • Card reader 4-in-1 • Vista Business 32
• No touchpad, no docking station connection and no fingerprint reader

R7 040.00 ex VAT
R8 025.60 incl VAT

Lenovo R61i Notebook NF09ZZA 8932-9ZG

• Centrino Duo • Core 2 Duo T5250 (1.50GHz) • 2x512MB • 160GB/5400rpm • DVD±RW DL
• Intel X3100 • 256MB shared • 15.4″ WXGA TFT(1280×800) • Modem • Gigabit Ethernet
• Intel 802.11a/b/g • Bluetooth • Security Chip • FPR • 6 Cell Battery • Card reader 4-in-1
• Vista Business 32

R7 700.00 ex VAT
R8 778.00 incl VAT

I hope to grab one of these in the near future as my current notebook is slowing me down a bit and I need something a little more durable. if you’re interested in taking advantage of this fantastic offer drop me a mail.

There are a range of other even more powerful notebooks also available outside of the above special through Synerlogix, so if you don’t find what you’re looking for here, visit the Synerlogix Consulting website to view the rest of the range.

Offer valid from 15 January 2008, while stocks last. E & OE. Prices are subject to the Rate of Exchange ruling at the time of invoice

Introducing the Jot-it Eco friendly desktop write board designed by cocoa living:

Basically it’s a plastic base, with another plastic sheet on top which allows you to insert a template between the 2 layers. A note taking template, calendar (perpetual template maybe), a task organising template, or you could customize your own template. The beauty is that you can quickly jot ideas, rough ones without wasting paper and without cluttering up your desktop with scraps of paper you’ve jotted all kinds of random stuff on.

It’s not perfectly designed. You aren’t able to use multiple templates simultaneously, it seems a little clunky to carry around, though it has been designed specifically for your desk and not your pocket. According to the review on Yanko Design the plastic makes a squeaky noise when you write on it so there’s a few bugs which need to be ironed out. The basic idea though is what makes this a good find and I can see this being modified and upgraded to be an extremely useful device. I’ve started thinking about how I can modify my hipster PDA to make use of this white board style note taking, not paper wasting and easy to delete entries.

The flexibility of of this tool is easy to spot. Using it in the classroom situation, in a design agency, in & around the office, next to the phone at home, just about anywhere where you need a quick & easy way to jot down notes.

So head on over to www.cocoaliving.com and see if they have a product to suite your specific needs, or you could devlop your own eco-friendly write board system like I hope to do using a few low cast elements from your local stationery store. If you do please tell me about so I can give it a try.