Friday 31 January 2014

CONTAGION



This story that broke on Bloomberg yesterday (30 January 2014) is what I had hoped not to hear for at least another couple of months. The word "contagion" is generally not used lightly

You can read this story, or some of the other finance related posts on on my Bubblespotting blog 


Recycling abandoned fishing nets

It is estimated that approx 50% of the world's remaining coral reefs either is dead, dying or at the very least damaged. Some estimates go as high as 70%.

There are many causes, sadly most of which have a common denominator - man. One of the major problems - abandoned nets. These throw away nets are not only a risk to coral, but to all wild sea life.

One company is making an effort to stem the tide - See the video below for corporate social responsibility in action


Now to figure out a way to get rid of all the other rubbish, oil and garbage

Saturday 25 January 2014

Onewheel - self balancing electric skateboard


Ever thought of yourself as a skater boy / skater girl / skater ... erm ... person ?  Flying downhill, wind in your hair, doing tricks and being all cool ... just before you fall out your 2 front teeth ? You haven't ? Well why not ?

Well here is something that can change that - introducing the OneWheel:


It might take a second or two to realise that this is no ordinary skateboard. At first you notice the shape is a bit off from what you might be used to. Wait - what happened to the wheels ?

 Website

Onewheel, as you may have guessed by now, only has one wheel. But to make up for it, it is a really big and chunky wheel. But wait, thats not all - Onewheel also is an electric, self-balancing skateboard - watch the quick Youtube video below -


So you might even get to keep your front teeth.

The Onewheel has a direct drive motor, seated in the hub of the wheel.  It comes with a lithium battery and sensors that control speed and balance (watch the video above). It can reach speeds of 12 mph (20km/h) and has a range of about 4-6 miles (6-9 km).

The Onewheel project is the brainchild of Kyle Doerksen, who set up Future Motion - the company based in Mountain View, California which is developing Onewheel. This product has been literally shooting the lights out on kickstarter, read about them here, and on their own website

Very cool, I think




Thursday 23 January 2014

Hover-bike


Hot on the heels of the Sky Whale, comes the Hoverbike, an invention by an Austrian Chris Malloy.


The pic pretty much says it all - yes his feet are not touching ground (and it doesn't look like he was jumping either). Its inventor believes the bike can travel up to traveling at speeds of up to 173mph at 10,000 feet. (or for those of us who live in the real world 278 km/h at a height of 3 kms). That height might be a bit of an issue for Air Traffic Control, I think





Check out the video (scale model):


Here is a top down view with some key specifications:


Click here to visit the Hover-bike Website

Pretty cool stuff!

Tuesday 21 January 2014

But will it fly ?

Oscar ViƱals, a Spanish industrial designer by trade, is clearly a very big aviation enthusiast. So big in fact that he has released details, and his own incredible pictures, of a new proposed airplane he calls the "greenest aircraft imaginable."

The Sky Whale - Full story CNN



 The Sky Whale - full story CNN

If the graphics are anything to go by, the Sky Whale makes the average Airbus look like an antique. I would so fly on this !

 Sky Whale

In my opinion it has a bit of shark in it, maybe a whale shark

 Whale Shark

And you guessed - I like it!

Sunday 19 January 2014

I like this

Check this out ... it is not completely fresh off the press but the potential is massive




I wonder how far they got with their research ? If you know, please let me know

Cool 3D printing toys

Recently I have been discovering a whole bunch of exciting 3D printing tech. So I might as well research this a bit


Read more here:
http://rt.com/usa/3d-printed-concrete-house-727/

Thursday 16 January 2014

Sunday 12 January 2014

The British Railway Bubble

But wait, there's more ...

In the 1800s there was a railway building craze sweeping through Britain. Just about every Tom, Dick and Harry opened their own railway company - resulting in the British Railway Bubble

You can read about it here - British Railway Mania and here http://bubblespotting.blogspot.com/




Tuesday 7 January 2014

Market Bubbles

For just about as long as I can remember, I have been interested in stock markets and investments

So as part of my investor education, I have decided to do a little research into market bubbles. What causes them, where do they come from, what happens - those kinds of things

I have created a series of presentations on Bubbles which I would like to share with anybody who may be interested - I have also created a dedicated blog for Bubbles specifically - you can find it here: http://bubblespotting.blogspot.com/ 



Comments or feedback welcome
Google+

Saturday 4 January 2014

More Capital Projects


Here is a 2nd Slideshare on Capital projects.

This one covers major projects in Egypt (2x), Kenya, Equatorial Guinea and Angola