Daily Bits

OAT Shoes: Biodegradable Sneakers

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What do you do with your old sneakers? I honestly do not know what happens to mine after I either throw them away or give them way. If we are serious about wanting to make our own contributions to helping the environment, here is a great – although a bit silly – idea that we may want to consider.

At the Amsterdam International Fashion Week’s Green Fashion Competition, a new line of shoes won second place this year. Dubbed OAT shoes, the sneakers can actually be planted when you’re tired of them – or when they give out, for that matter. It can be argued that ANY pair of sneakers can be planted in the ground, but the OAT shoes are the first kind that “sprout”. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I read “sprout”, I think leaves and stems coming out of the ground. How exactly the shoes do that – I have no idea. The concept is pretty cool, though.

Here’s the whole idea in a nutshell. I don’t know about you, but I doubt that any sneakers that I have used will look this fresh, though.
OAT shoes sprout
Here are two variations of the OAT shoes.
OAT shoes green
OAT shoes yellow
Now I know I said that the shoes are cool, but there is no denying that the choice of model is anything but, is there? This is how they demoed the shoes.
OAT shoes hot
These shoes will be available this spring in stores in The Netherlands and Belgium, as well as online for those who are located elsewhere.

The Human Body as a Machine

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It’s that time of the year when people make the extra effort to look good, feel good, and do something good for the special person in their lives. More likely than not, people also give extra attention to that thing we call the human body. Take that however way you wish, but here is something that got my attention just a few minutes ago.

It’s a video that has been around for some time now, but I certainly had not seen it before today. Created by Dr. Fritz Kahn, the video depicts the human body in a totally mechanical sort of way. Think about it this way – if the body were made of machines and functioned the way it does in reality, then this is how our insides would look like.

I think that the illustration and the movements of the elements are totally ace, although I would have loved to see the details more clearly. Now this would probably be much much better if displayed in high resolution on a giant screen! I also think it’s cool how the food looks like in the stomach – quite an accurate depiction, don’t you think?

The video may not be the most romantic thing that you can watch on Valentine’s Day, but it sure will present you and your partner a pretty good (short) bonding (educational) activity. (And, yes, I know. It is kinda weird.)

Phantom of the Floppera: Awesome Video to Kick Off the Weekend

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Do the measurements 3.5 inches and 5 1/4 inches mean anything to you? If you are around my age, surely you will have no problems associating those figures with what used to be the standard way of storing data for portability. The good old floppy disks.

Kids of today will probably only scoff at the form and size – both physically and storage capacity – of floppy disks but it used to be that the more floppy disks you had on you, the cooler it was. Now, floppy disks don’t have much use except for decorative purposes – and only if you’re geeky enough.

Either that or you can make a video like this guy did, and post it on YouTube. For sure, you will get some attention – at least from the people who can relate to using these used to be nifty devices. I don’t know about you, but if I had the equipment and the time, I would not mind playing around like this guy did and creating my own masterpiece…err, I am sure you will agree with my use of that term after watching the video.

Now don’t tell me that didn’t make you grin – at the very least – and that the video didn’t take you down memory lane, when you might have looked like this.
young bill gates
Or like this.

Photos via Online Business Schools and Nav Tones

Have You Ever Cussed at Your Computer? Be Honest!

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computerheadbangYes, be honest. Have you ever gotten so frustrated at your computer that you simply had to vent by uttering a few cuss words? If you haven’t – or have made yourself believe that you haven’t – then you are actually part of the majority. According to a survey conducted by Avira, 61 per cent of computer users have not cussed or even yelled at a computing machine that is failing to cooperate. Out of 14,284 users who took the survey, only 39 per cent admitted to having “lost it” because of a malfunctioning computer.

The survey included several other questions including the following:

  1. 39% – Cursed or yelled at the computer out loud?
  2. 38% – No! I would never yell at my computer, it is too sensitive. (I friendly try to encourage it working again…)?
  3. 11% – Thought Wished for catastrophe to strike the company that makes your operating system software or computer?
  4. 9% – Hit your computer with another object (fist, baseball bat, etc.)?
  5. 3% – Actually thrown the computer to the ground or against a desk or other piece of furniture?

I am not really surprised about the low numbers for the last three items. After all, computers do cost money, and unless you’re totally in need of anger management therapy, you would not want to throw money out of the window. Either that or you have a huge wad of cash stowed away somewhere and you don’t care if you had to buy a new machine.

So now, really, be honest – have you ever done any of these things above? I know have at least uttered a word of frustration or two!

Last.fm Mobile No Longer Available for Free

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last-fm
I have had a Last.fm account for a long time, but unfortunately have used it only very sparingly due to the fact that the service is not available for free where I am based. For those in the US and the UK, though, Last.fm is probably the best thing to have ever happened to music lovers. And, with the popularity of mobile devices, Last.fm’s mobile application has also caught the attention of those who just can’t get enough of their music.

Just like many other free web services, Last.fm has been able to get along without charging users a fee due to advertising. However, starting next week, things are going to change big time – at least for the mobile users. Instead of seeing ads and not paying anything, mobile users will have to pay 3GBP a month and enjoy ad-free service. The paid service will then allow users to listen to personalized radio stations but will still not offer the option of picking out individual songs.

While it is understandable that some people will react negatively to the move, the price is not that bad. It is already close to what Last.fm charges for its web service in other locations. More so, using Last.fm via the computer will remain free in the UK.

Last.fm’s official stance is that they believe that this is the right move for the company. They also say that they are NOT losing money, but that this is just the logical thing to do. Of course, the move will only bring in more revenue for the company, but I think the fee is reasonable, don’t you?

FarmVille for Dummies

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FarmVille for DummiesIt is no joke – there is a new book in the Dummies series, and it is titled Farmville for Dummies. Now I don’t know about you, but I think some of the books in this series are quite useful.  They make things easier for the average person who may not be as savvy as others.  But what about if the topic is NOT hard to begin with?

That’s exactly what I thought when I heard about FarmVille for Dummies.  If you think about it, FarmVille is one of the easiest games that you can play out there.  It practically guides you every step of the way, and if you have a question, you can simply ask your friends who are probably as addicted to it as you are!

So why the need for the book?  Is there really a market for FarmVille dummies out there?  Perhaps.  This is the argument from the perspective of co-author Kyle Orland:

Sure, FarmVille isn’t a particularly difficult game—it practically holds your hand in telling you how to play, and there’s a limited amount of strategy to playing…Some of the sections of the game—especially the farmer’s market and some aspects of animal tending—require multiple, time-lapsed steps to complete successfully, and the game only gives one screen of text-heavy explanation for how to go about them.

I guess that there will be some people who will appreciate all the tips and tricks put together in one handy reference.  Then again, if you have to go through that hassle to be a success in FarmVille, I guess dummy is the appropriate word.  Or am I being too harsh?

The book is available on Amazon on a pre-order basis.