Nur Ahmad Furlong

Category: Cool Products

  • New tools for my digital nomad belt

    For the longest time now I’ve been agonising over how to manage my collaborations with partners and clients online. Many of the popular web workers swear by Basecamp, and I believe it is a great product. I’m not big on the monthly payment model for software as a service(Saas) and have instead opted for using tools which I can purchase once and own outright, run on my owner machine or servers and own my own data. I’m just weird like that. I also have a limited budget, which is probably the main motivating factor.

    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.

    Picture 1

    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.

    My Open Atrium

    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

  • Springwise: See-saw power for schools

    seesaw

    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

  • 2 eco-friendly bikes from different sides of the tech divide

    The one is a slick, high tech hydrogen cell powered beauty which I would love to get my hands on and the other, a humble, down-to-earth bamboo construction which I wouldn’t mind trying out either.

    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.

    bamboo-bike env-images

    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.

    the-core 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.

  • AfriGadget » Dr. Ngalande’s Sugar & Yeast Generator

    Dr. Ngalande’s Sugar and Yeast Power Generator

    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

    cedricks_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!!

  • Have you heard of the freedom toaster?

    ftoaster-top-250x457Just met Brett from freedom toaster, a great new initiative coming out of the Shuttleworth foundation which aims at bridging the digital divide by providing a mechanism for people to access high bandwidth content.

    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/

  • An e-Napkin for those coffee shop Brainstorms – I’d buy one of these

    Yanko Design is one of my Favourite sources of juicy product design from the drawing boards of some of the most forward thinking product designers out there. Design Sojourn drew my attention to another insanely cool product idea they’re showcasing. Recently I blogged about Sustainable sneakers, e-Write Boards and the MacBook Air but this next product is in a whole other league. Pity it doesn’t really exist, but we can play pretend can’t we.

    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.

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