a simple paragraph

The Lost Art of Pamphleteering

Before revolutions were blogged and podcasted, pamphleteering was a popular way to incite activism. According to GOOD Magazine, the group called the Center for Urban Pedagogy is breathing new life into that art form by publishing "a biannual series of pamphlets to address critical issues." The combination of tangible information and enthralling design is meant to encourage citizens to investigate the policies on their own.

Asphalt Roads Can Power the Buildings that Line Them

A company in Holland named Ooms Avenhorn Groep, created a way to harness all the heat absorbed by asphalt roads to turn it into cheap, clean electricity.

Four Rooms in One

Most of the floor space in a typical room isn't functional. Just empty and open. Designer Luigi Colani developed the Rotor House which provides a way for four separate rooms (a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room) to share the same non-functional space. A cylinder rotates left or right to bring a bed, bathtub, or kitchen sink and appliances to view only when it's needed – essentially creating four full-size rooms in the footprint of one.

It's Like Sending in a Rent Check Without a Signature

With File Destructor 2.0 you can intentionally corrupt a file. Have a report due tomorrow morning but you're nowhere close to having it complete? Take the working file, import it into the FileDestructor, and it spits out one of those documents that just reads as gibberish. Then email it to your boss. Looks like an innocent technical glitch. That should buy you another day.

A Bag of Seeds and a Cup to Spit Them In

Another amazing innovation in the world of dried, salted seeds. Okay, maybe it's one of the only ones. But you need to give ConAgra credit for finding a way to better adapt their product to the users' needs.

I Feel Green and Full of Polyfill

Little children have all the same emotions that adults have but not the language to express them. Kimochi Emotion Dolls are a collection of felt toys, each visualizing and expressing a unique emotion. It gives kids a way to communicate their feelings to their parents more effectively than ear-piercing shrieks. You can find them on uncommongoods.com.

The Cola Wars Become Fair

Smartplanet.com introduces us to Ubuntu, the world's first freetrade cola. Not only is made with Fairtrade sugar, it returns part of its profits to the African sugar farmers.