I’ve kept my eyes on Dubai’s development ever since hearing stories about $300 slices of cake served in the restaurant atop the Burj Al Arab (the world’s fanciest hotel, apparently, and certainly not the most reasonably priced). Just the lobby of the building is large enough that clouds formed in it when first built. It’s just the tip of the iceberg, as Dubai has embarked on mega-project after mega-project, including a whole series of islands, a downtown core, the world’s largest amusement park, and much more. Before they had even completed work on a record-breaking 800m high Burj Dubai, they began drawing plans for the 1200m high Al Burj.

On a certain level I have to respect their vision. Financial-crisis aside, oil is most-likely running out, and they seem to have embraced tourism and trade as replacements. They’re trying to build a world-class metropolis from the ground-up.

Aside from many glaring questions about whether this is sustainable financially and environmentally, my main concern is the sheer speed of expansion. A city is an incredibly complex web of various factors, and I personally believe that it is well beyond the capabilities of any designer or design team to draft up a fully functioning city in the middle of a desert in one fell swoop.

They may well get lucky and come up with the right mix of ingredients, but in my eyes a city is something that builds itself over the course of decades. Only time will tell, but the speed here certainly is alarming.

For a summary of recent Dubai building projects, I suggest the aptly, if not overly-simplisticly named Dubai is Nuts.

This is a cute little concept for cheap, biodegradable stir sticks for coffee shops - hard pasta. Washable spoons would be even better, but these would do the trick -especially for places who compost.

Via Chris.

The Book Vase

I can’t imagine this is durable or easy to clean, but it looks neat.

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Swipe Keyboard

It’s little wonder that making an efficient and accurate keyboard on a small mobile device is very, very difficult. Here is a video of one which looks promising. These devices need everything they can get.

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The CO2 output of Concrete

Concrete is responsible for 7-10% of CO2 emissions worldwide, making it the biggest climate change culprit outside of transportation and electricity-generation.

An oft-neglected environmental problem is the CO2 created by cement production. This article outlines the problems and some possible solutions.

I took this photo a year ago in the Laurentians. I wish I could remember the artist’s name.

Guilloches

An article about making those beautiful geometric patterns often used on banknotes and certificates. They were formerly used mainly for security, but have become more of an aesthetic thing now.

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Parking Day

An event which aims to reclaim parking spots by creating small parks or social spaces in them for a single day.

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Ta-Ka-Ta-Ka-Boom

For those of you who don’t live here, or who aren’t aware, Canada’s nationalized broadcaster, the CBC, is holding a contest to find new theme music for our major hockey broadcast, Hockey Night in Canada. The entries are all online for people to listen to, comment, and rate them.

This is an entry to the contest. Listen to the pre-amble for a bit (it’s important for comedic effect) and then jump to 2:20 for the actual song. I couldn’t stop laughing.

Looks like it was submitted after the August 31st deadline though, so HNIC may not be able to use it.

We’ve all heard about the issue of waste caused by disposable soda bottles and cans. Under Soviet rule, they had this efficient, if slightly stomach-turning solution: the communal cup soda fountain. There’s only one glass cup, and everyone uses it. When you’re done, you place it on the right side, upside-down, and it’s cleaned by jets of water, ready for the next thirsty person that comes along.

I should be clear that, to the best of my knowledge, the countries formerly under the U.S.S.R. don’t use this system anymore. The only reason I came across it was because one was in a statue park, where the communist-era monuments depicting Stalin, Lenin et al were gathered, along with other Soviet miscellany after their empire collapsed. The soda machine has been kept running, I assume, as a reminder of those times.

My girlfriend snapped a photo of it when she was in Lithuania a couple of years ago. Her brother (pictured) was the only one brave enough to drink from it, though in effect I suppose it’s no worse than drinking from a cup in a restaurant.

Athens Olympic Venues Unused

Living in a former Olympic City with an unused main stadium we only managed to pay off two years ago (the Montreal Olympics were in ‘76) I’m not at all surprised to see this video showing the unused state of the venues from the Athens Olympics. There’s something about the Olympics that seems to make architects think they can just drop their stadiums and athletic facilities in the middle of a field of concrete with no regard for how they’ll be used for the decades after the games. There’s little wonder that they’re often abandoned and somewhat depressing as soon as all the crowds leave.

The planning committees should have retrofits in mind when they build the facilities to keep them functional when they’re done with - including covering up some of that ugly and barren concrete with something practical.

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Elevator Group Behavior

A classic clip from Candid Camera which shows just how easy it is to get people to bend to group behavior.

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HP Packages New Laptops in Messenger Bags

A simple solution to reducing packaging, so long as those messenger bags are at least somewhat decent in quality.

Zinc Air Batteries

You’ve likely heard of what some are heralding as the coming Hydrogen Economy, which some think may replace the fossil-fuel economy we have now. Problem is, hydrogen isn’t a fuel source, it has to be created by electricity. That makes it more akin to a storage medium than a source.

Apparently some are also looking forward to a Zinc Economy, using Zinc Air batteries. They apparently hold a great deal of power, but they need to be recharged in a central location. Just like with hydrogen, there are a number of companies announcing miraculous breakthroughs which they say will revolutionize everything, but I’m a little more skeptical. I’ll believe it when I see it.

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Mini Moleskines

I really like my Moleskine notebooks, but I sometimes find them too large to carry in my pocket all the time. Luckily, I stumbled across someone who decided to simply cut theirs in half. Looks like it worked pretty well too. Here are instructions on how to do it.

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TED Talk: Robert Full: How Engineers Learn from Evolution

How he and his fellow researchers are making robots that walk, climb, jump and run by copying animals in nature. His solutions are often elegant and simple, but not always intuitive.

Satirical World War One Maps

A Flickr set of some fantastic maps produced during World War One, which attempt to depict the mentalities of the countries. The maps vary quite widely depending on which sides produced them.

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Baking Soda Can Improve Athlete Performance

Maybe this is a little follow-up to my baking-soda heavy green cleaning guide from last week. Apparently there is some evidence that eating baking soda before certain athletic events can help increase performance. Is there anything it can’t do?

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Shower Quick Shut-Off Valve

I recently installed a shut-off valve on my shower, which I figured cut down my water use in the shower by about a third. You can buy one at the hardware store for around $5. Here are some instructions on how to install your own.

In an effort to keep my home as free of harsh chemicals as possible, for the last year or so I’ve been making my own cleaning products. I’ve found them to be just as effective as commercial cleaners, but a whole lot cheaper. They’re also much healthier, and avoid releasing chemicals like Phosphates into the environment. Some of them are dead-easy, and some need a bit of work to make.

As I experienced success with certain cleaners, I’ve slowly branched out and added more to my repertoire. This is a round-up of my experiences, which have been almost universally positive.

Note: Everyone may not get the same results. Test on a small section first. Tweak recipes as necessary. These should be safe, but could damage some surfaces so be very careful.

Spray Cleaner

Ingredients:
- 1 PartWhite Vinegar
- 1 Part Water
- A Pinch of Dish Soap
- Lemon Juice (Optional)
- Essential Oils (Optional)

Cost: About 25 to 50 cents a bottle

Uses: Counters, Appliances, Outside of Toilet, Tabletops (be sure to test in a small area first), as daily shower spray.

This is probably the easiest one to make. The smell took a little getting used-to, but dissipates very quickly. It can also be nicely covered by a few drops of essential oils of your desired scent. Lemon juice works well too, and helps cut grease.

Pure white vinegar also does a great job cleaning toilets. Pour a cup or two into the water and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Come back and stains will come right off.

Pure vinegar can also work as a glass cleaner, though doesn’t do quite as good a job as ammonia-based cleaners on heavy jobs.

Tub, Sink & Stove Cleaner

Ingredients:
- Baking Soda. That’s usually it.
- Table Salt, if needed.

Uses: Ceramics, Vinyl Floors, Stovetops, Fridges.

Cost: About $3-$4 for 2 KG of Baking Soda

This was a resounding success. Turns out that it does a pretty great job cleaning anything that needs a bit of scouring. I put mine into a jar and poked holes in the lid with a hammer and nail, so I can shake it onto cleaning surfaces. I then scrub with a damp cloth before wiping the Baking Soda away with a damp cloth.

This also did an absolutely fantastic job on our ceramic stovetop. We had tried several other cleaners, and found that this was better than some dedicated ceramic stovetop cleaners.

Drain Cleaner

Pour some Baking Soda down the drain, then pour in some vinegar. Wait a few minutes and then pour in boiling water.

Doesn’t unblock all drains, but can help some slower ones move a little faster.

Toothpaste (Experimental)

Ingredients:
- Baking Soda
- Table Salt
- Food-safe Vegetable Glycerine
- Peppermint Essential Oil

View the Full Recipe.

Cost: About $1 to $2 for 100ml

I was very skeptical of this one, but it worked-out better than I expected. I’m too chicken to use it exclusively, but I hedge my bets by using this one at night, and a more conventional toothpaste in the morning.

It’s really refreshing, and leaves my mouth feeling very clean.

I’m still putting this one in the “experimental” category. I am not a dentist, and so can’t guarantee 100% that this is safe long term. I do know that my mouth feels just as clean after brushing with this as it does with normal toothpaste.

I put mine in a reusable toothpaste bottle, though I assume this might be harder to find for some people. I suspect a chef’s style squeeze bottle would work well too.