Just got my new subscription to Fast Company – a great magazine for the entrepreneurial and curious.

I remember when i first got a neighbor’s issue by accident back in 99 in california.

I think i actually saved it for a while somewhere [hey, no pac-rat comments now].

Anyway, this is a fun way to spend an hour or two looking over the International Designers Society of America’s top 150 picks for 2010.

TFT – Terry’s Favorite Things

So many of these are coming out of California – especially the bay area…

Does that surprise anyone?  A place where Art and Tech come together.

There were so many favorites for me, including the JAMHUB for musicians.

Note – if you go to the company’s site, you won’t find it yet, but there is an inflatable guitar that is really cool.

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Yet another skateboard like device that reminds me of a TRON light cycle made by Brooklyn Workshop called the FREE RIDER.

$150 gets you your own ride.

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Great wine glasses that everybody can afford – and you don’t have to worry about breaking these. GOVINO Go Anywhere glasses.

The thumb notch is a nice design touch.  And hey, these are only $3.00 a glass.

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This one by Hyundai Engineering is dear to my passion for vertical farming – this time on a micro scale – for the condo or apartment dweller!

The Kitcken Nano Garden.

EAT YER VEGGIES PEOPLE!

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Other notables – the Laundry POD by RKS – when you just need to wash a few little things.

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A LED light bulb by Panasonic that might simulate the same coverage as our old favorite, the incandescent?

Although I think Process Taiwan has a better design with their T-Tech LED Dimmable Light Bulb.

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If you like motorcycles and going green, there is hope down the road with Mission Motors Mission One Sportbike.

150 mph and 150 miles per charge.

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Like to kitesurf in the arctic circle?  Keep dry, warm and stylish with this outfit.

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Perfect your push up with the Perfect PushUp V2.

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Here’s the first folding bike design that in my opinion is actually a gOOd One. The Ville folding bike

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The Write? Light! idea is a perfect solution to people like me who start having ideas pop into our heads

just when we are ready to go to sleep and the lights are off.

Combining a pen and a light in one in a new aesthetically pleasing design.

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Here’s an interesting solution to the toilet situation… You know, the one where some guys can’t seem to

contain their #1?  2in1 Toilet concept

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Being a fan of Parkour, here’s a shoe that’s supposed to be better than what PKers usually use.

980 TATOU

Although I have read that many PK enthusiasts aren’t all that impressed with the current offerings for

specialty shoes and besides, true PK would ideally be done in bare feet. OUCH!

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Finally, the Zen Wagon by KaiKu will give the Red Radio Flyer wagon a run for it’s money.

HAPPY TRAILS

TFT | Terry’s Favorite Things

(atmospheric water generator)  or as I call it, a “glorified de-humidifier.”

EcoloBlue

Atmospheric Water Generators

When I saw this I thought I was looking at your typical office water cooler and almost didn’t give it a second glance.  But being the inquisitive sort that I am, I noticed it was indeed something much more.

Atmospheric water generation isn’t really new – think of a dehumidifier. It sucks water out of the environment and collects it in a reservoir.  I have one – it’s a power hungry machine and I avoid using it but on rare occasions.  The water that is collected doesn’t look like anything I’d want to drink – being full of dust and cat hair. And that’s just the stuff that I can see.

This is where the second half comes in.  Add a water filtration/purification system – in this case, reverse osmosis, UV, carbon, micron, etc and you get a really cool GOTTA HAVE IT! product.  This isn’t so much a review of the Ecoloblue water generator as I don’t have one in my possession . . . yet.  But I can tell you, I won’t be without for long.

When it comes to going off the grid and sticking it to the power company… and water company. . . this is just the sort of product that fits the bill for going independent successfully.

EcoloBlue has 2 models as of this writing with a third coming soon.  Starting at $999 for the EcoloBlue 28 (7 gallons per day) and $1399 for the EcoloBlue 30 (8 gallons per day). Units are backordered and expect 3-4 weeks for delivery – that’s how popular these babies are catching on.

Units use a variety of filters that need to be replaced after so much use.  Package deals are offered on their website to make it easy to keep stocked.

From the Horse’s mouth:

EcoloBlue Atmospheric Water Generators (AWGs) produce unlimited, pure, delicious drinking water from just the humidity in the air. Our machines utilize a cutting-edge, proprietary technology –the most efficient, and energy conscious condensers available today– to extract more moisture from the atmosphere, quicker and more efficiently than any comparable machine.
YES, IT IS REALLY THE HUMIDITY

Believe it or not, Earth’s atmosphere contains more water than it’s vast oceans. 8 miles straight-up of untapped atmosphere just waiting to contribute to life on Earth. Until now, it was a mere fantasy to harness that unlimited, and renewable natural resource. EcoloBlue AWGs bring the previously unfathomable idea of limitless, sustainable, and portable hydration to the masses.

As if these weren’t cool enough, extra snaps:

NO GRID REQUIRED

EcoloBlue’s AWGs are designed to work seamlessly with any power source. Including solar, wind, and gas-powered generators. So you can have limitless, pure drinking water anywhere. Any time.

I’d power it with wind or solar or a free energy device ideally. (CC)

OK, if these home units are lacking and wimpy for your tastes, EcoloBlue manufactures 5 industrial size units that produce from 50 to 1300 gallons per day with units weighing in at 700 lbs for the light weight class to over 7000 lbs for heavy weight.

I’m thinking you install this into one of your shipping containers on property…

05/27/2010 UPDATE:

check this out: 10 Water Myths

TFT – Terrys Favorite Things

Skitch For Mac

“this graphic was created using SKITCH“

This one too – using the apple built in iSight camera.

Very cool and useful program I’ve been using since November of 2008.

It is still free and periodically has to be upgraded and is still being labeled as Beta version.

Skitch has online storage abilities and quick drag and drop onto desktop or email or ????

It allows you to store images online for free on their server.

Personally, I use it for quick screen grabs and drag the jpg onto my desktop for further use.

You can also use your mac’s built in camera if you want to mark up and image. (see above)

The software has tons of customizable features of which I and most people won’t use most of the features – kinda like photoshop.

It has a save function if the jpg (or png, tif, pdf, etc) drag and drop isn’t what you’re looking for.

A history of previous captures is found under the Photo button at the top left of the skitch screen.

Text – size, color and FONT are all customizable.

Click on the hammer/wrench button top left of the Skitch screen to see a pull down menu of functions available.

Flip and rotate image, change font, full screen snap, snap skitch itself. . . these are just some of the tools available.

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS (borrowed from Skitch.com)

See it…

• Snap a website
• Capture a chat moment
• Screenshot an application
• iSight snap your bad hair day
• Quickly sketch an idea
• Tap into your iPhoto Library
• Re-open images from your Skitch History

Say it…

• Annotate with circles and gorgeous arrows
• Add text that always stands out
• Scribble and jot… it’s automatically smoothed
• Re-size and crop by simply dragging a corner
• Drag the file to wherever you like, no need to save
• Return to what you were doing — in seconds — not minutes!

All in all a must have too for the creatives or online marketers. Skitch. Get it here.

The one thing missing – or I haven’t discovered yet, is the ability to crop an existing snapshot inside the skitch window.

4/16/2010 UPDATE – Just figured out how to crop – it’s really intuitive once I realized what to do. You use the select tool while just inside the borders – top bottom – left – right and crop as you please.

Say Goodbye to Shampoo

my friend’s mama always said, and I paraphrase,

Soap is cheap. No excuse for not being clean

But most soaps and traditional shampoos are actually quite harsh for the skin and hair.

That’s why I love to use Wen hair conditioner products. They are amazing.

A former girlfriend of mine introduced me to this fantastic product.

Wen Fig 32oz

There are several types – not to be used based on your nose’s preference but rather the type of hair you have.

For fine and medium hair the proper choices are Lavender, Cucumber Aloe, or Sweet Almond Mint.

If you have medium coarse or ethnic hair then Fig, Lavender or Tea Tree are your best bets.

She gave me the Fig conditioner to try and I have to say, I didn’t think I’d like the scent, but after using it I find I do.  Plus it feels great working it into your scalp.  That’s the key to using hair products I found out.   To get rid of dirt and balance the scalp’s oils, you need to work your fingers down in there.  And when it comes to conditioning the hair, the ends need it the most.

I really like that Wen is a very natural product that has no sodium laurel sulfate which is pretty much in most all shampoos and body soaps on the market today.  Sure, they get you clean but they are WAY to harsh on the skin and hair.

What the company says:

WEN is designed to eliminate shampoo and its harsh and damaging effects, without sacrificing the integrity and beauty of your hair. WEN is the only cleanser/conditioner you will need to use in your daily routine, and can be used as often as necessary.

Fig Cleansing Conditioner is a universal cleanser which, due to its rich, dense consistency, works exceptionally well to moisturize, hydrate and replenish dry, heat-damaged, color-treated, or dehydrated hair. This cleansing conditioner is free of sodium laurel sulfates and detergents, and cleanses without lathering or stripping the scalp or hair of natural moisture.

Due to the harsh detergents and sodium laurel/laureth sulfates found in most all shampoos, they would experience color fading/stripping, dull, lifeless, frizzy, dry hair, dry scalps, oily scalps, scalp disorders, hair loss, etc., damaging their scalp, hair, health and environment. That was when I started to implement my new concept in cleansing, eliminating the detergents and harsh chemicals that lather and strip your scalp and hair, and introduced the WEN product line to the world.

WEN Cleanses with astringent and antibacterial properties without lathering; it adds sheen, luster, moisture, strength and manageability to the hair. Color lasts much longer and it stimulates the scalp promoting blood circulation, stopping hair loss and promoting healthy hair growth. WEN is formulated with the perfect balance for all hair types and performs amazingly well on ethnic hair, due to its moisture content.

Learn more about the specifics

http://www.chazdean.com/t-aboutwen.aspx

Terry’s Favorite Things

GUM.

I love gum. Or I used to.  Back before they ruined them all. Or so I thought they did.

Except for those 25 cent gum balls that you can find in the malls and shops – you know, the ones that loose their flavor in under 60 seconds or second rate Double Bubble that is popular around Halloween, or bubble gums with unpalatable and bizarre new flavors, I’m left with nothing to chew that won’t poison my body and rot my brain.

Yes, I read labels dammit.  And one by one, all the major gums have switched to the DARK SIDE and put that fucking nutra sweet aspartame shit into their bits of inedible chewing wax.

As a kid I remember looking forward to getting a piece of Bazooka bubble gum when my dad would take us kids for a haircut at the local barbershop. Sure, that Bazooka gum was hard as rocks and the cartoon on the wrappers was lame, but nevertheless, we looked forward to our reward for a job well done – that being managing to sit still while getting our hair chopped.

Then there was the time when I was visiting my grandparents on Long Island as a kid where there was still an old Woolworth’s five and dime that was within walking distance from their house.  I remember buying this bubble gum that was like a foot long for just a quarter.  I imagined I was going  to get into the Guiness Book Of World Records for World’s biggest bubble blown and this gum was going to be my vehicle to success.

Oh sure, Hubba Bubba, Bubblicious and Bubble Yum were fun to chew back in the days when I didn’t have to shave and the taste buds in the back of my mouth [inside the cheeks] hadn’t worn away yet, but now it seems like they are my only option today if I want to chew some gum without getting sick. But the urge to blow a bubble is too great and I don’t want to deal with the issues of getting it off my face.

In high school I moved onto more mature chewing pleasure in the form of chain chewing Dentyne cinnamon flavored gum. I preferred it over Wrigley’s Big Red as tasting more natural, also  I thought it kept my breath fresh. Plus the rush of the cinnamon burn was an unrealized precursor to my love affair with hot sauces and wasabi.

Later I would move to Wrigley’s gums [minus Big Red] until one day I noticed they had made the switch to the Dark Side as well.

WTF?  Can’t ONE company keep making it the old, simple way with just sugar?  I figured it was either an aspartame infiltration conspiracy  or maybe it was just plain cheaper than using sugar.

Just like the majority of major chocolate makers are using more and more crap in their ingredients.  At least with chocolate, there’s plenty of available natural and organic options.  And boy do they taste great! But I digress…

fresh-en up bubble gum

One gum that I hadn’t seen in years and figured it was a casualty of the gum wars, was a gum called Fresh-en Up gum.  Fresh-en Up came in a square pack of 6 or 7 pieces in a variety of flavors like bubble gum, spearmint, cinnamon and peppermint. But what made this gum really fun was it’s liquid center ‘bursting with flavor’ goo.  Chew time wasn’t the best, but it was a softer chew than most and it was different – it had style for a gum and gave you a broader experience … like Pop Rocks do for candy.

Chicklets was another fun sounding gum. Though even as a kid, I never really cared for the microscopic pieces in those little bags. A better gum in my opinion was Beechies. Beechies came in spearmint and peppermint gum that came 2 pieces to a box.

Beechies Gum 2lb Bag

Well, after a quick search on Google, I come to find out that both Beechies and Fresh-en Up live on to this day and can be had for a reasonable price… so long as you are willing to buy in bulk.  Hey, no problem. Gum keeps for a really LONG time.  Most important, they still make their gums with the ingredients they always have.  NO artificial sweeteners to melt my brain.

You can buy Beechies Gum here.

And Fresh-en Up Gum here.

Terry’s Favorite Things

Today’s Pick:  Shaklee’s Performance Sports Drink

My Favorite - The Big Can - 70+ servings

When it comes to staying hydrated and rehydrating, nothing else comes close. As a personal observation, an added benefit seems to be quick available energy that keeps you going long after you think you’d be spent.*

I like to buy it in the Performance Team Pack size to save a few bucks, plus it lasts for quite a while.  Lately I’ve been sticking with the Lemon-Lime flavor, but I like to mix it up and switch to the Orange now and then.  I tried mixing the two together half and half but found it didn’t really taste as good as each on their own.

A few years ago, I just bought a Trikke 8 and finally figured out how to make it go. So being the over achiever I am, I decided I would conquer the entire Pinellas Trail -  34+ miles from end to end running the length of Pinellas County with the addition of a few extensions which of course I had to do.   [Note to self: share embarrassing story of Trikke 8 experiences]

I mixed up a double dose in a 20 oz water bottle, grabbed a few granola bars and set out on the Pinellas Trail for the first leg of what would be several different sessions to finish it.

Mind you, I had not been doing much cardio at all prior to taking this on.  Sipping on the Performance, I managed to go almost 5 hours and wasn’t even tired or sore.  Not even the next day.  I couldn’t believe I went that long and far without paying for it later.

I really like the fact that Shaklee doesn’t put crap [chemicals, artificial colors/sweeteners/additives] in any of their products, so you know you are getting the best there is. Chalk up another glowing testimonial to the power of Shaklee, lol!  I tell you, this stuff works!

The smaller can of Performance makes 19 servings @ 100 calories per.

*Independent peer reviewed and accepted published research has proves this to be true.

The folks over at Icon Aircraft will even train you to fly your new A5 amphibian.

Being classified as a sports plane, you only need 20 hours of training for your license to fly.

If you don’t have one, they will train you over the course of a few weeks before you take delivery of your plane.

Training will run about $3000 to $5000.  Hey, if you can afford the very affordable price tag of the A5 [$139K], then a few extra Gs should be nothing.

Delivery is still expected to be in late 2010… oh, the waiting is the hardest part.

Hey, why not go get your license now if you haven’t already?!

With the Winter season approaching and snow skiing vacations on many people’s list, this is a great time to tell everyone about a most wonderful discovery of a natural treatment for avoiding high altitude sickness. Heck, this is painless adjustment to high altitude in a bottle.

North view of Rio Grande outside Taos, NM

On a recent trip this summer out to Santa Fe and Taos, my friend and I experienced the effects of high altitude on our bodies as we were coming from sea level in Florida which we are accustomed to.

At 6000 to 7000 feet above sea level, I’m told the oxygen levels are about 20% less than at sea level.  Doesn’t sound like much, but it can get to you in the form of shortness of breath, headaches and nausea and worse.

The change in altitude affects the pressure on the kidneys and fluid buildup in the lungs and brain. To make up for the decrease in oxygen, the body needs a few days to acclimate by increasing red blood cells which are your body’s oxygen transporters.

The first day we are hitting the ground running around Santa Fe feeling good.  Gorgeous weather and tons of stuff to see are distracting us from thinking about the change in altitude.  But later in the  day I notice I feel a little winded and my friend is faring much worse. She feels weak and nauseous and has trouble catching a breath.  Concerned, we call a pharmacy to find out we are suffering from altitude sickness and my friend probably needs diuretics.  Not ones for popping pills, we search to see if there are any oxygen bars in town.  We find one but it’s closed.

We consider homeopathic remedies and stop in a Whole Foods market.  After explaining the situation, an employee leads my friend straight to a bottle of green stuff.  I am a little skeptical of this being some sort of miracle elixir, but I figure it can’t hurt.

The product is ChlorOxygen – a chlorophyll concentrate made from stinging nettle put out by Herbs Etc, a local Santa Fe supplement company.  On the packaging, it reads:

• builds red blood cells
• increases oxygenation
• boosts energy levels
• facilitates high altitude acclimation.

I doubt it’s a placebo effect, but my friend and I can both personally attest that everything the label says is true.

You use it by putting 18-36 drops in a bottle of water and have it once or twice a day.  Being concentrated, it can stain easily and green teeth and tongues can be a bit disconcerting.  ”Me HULK… Me Angry!”

My friend wastes no time and grabs a bottle of water in the store and mixes up the concoction right there and starts drinking it.  It turns the water a dark green color. As for the taste, they say it has a mild grassy flavor. It also comes in a mint flavored version.

Personally, I like the taste and find it VERY mild… If you’ve ever had a shot of wheat grass, I can tell you this is NOTHING like that.  I find wheat grass hard to drink as it’s soooo strong.  This stuff isn’t.

I am amazed at how quickly it works.  My friend starts feeling a bit better within minutes and before the day is through, she is good to go.  We both end up drinking the stuff the rest of the time we are in New Mexico.  I swear it gives us a nice energy boost too  - and not a harsh ‘wired’ one like mass marketed energy drinks can do.  Along with regular water, it makes it very easy to stay properly hydrated the whole time we are there.

We both like the benefits so much that we even use it daily back in Florida. We share the tip with everyone we meet too.

I have to warn you, we did experience one of the ‘side effects’ too – green poo which smelled like grass fed cow variety.  This seems to go away after you’ve been taking it for a while and your body adjusts to it.

I really like that ChlorOxygen doesn’t require refrigeration and has no icky preservatives. At about $10 for a 1oz bottle [60 18 drop servings], it’s a very cheap solution to solving the problem of altitude sickness.

I like the Mint Flavored version myself – available here: Herbs Etc – ChlorOxygen Mint Flavored – 1 fl oz

ChlorOxygen, don’t leave for your mountain vacation without it!

**Save $5.00 on your order at www.iHerb.com use code IHE882**

If Apple was in the aerospace industry, they couldn’t have done a better job of designing a GOTTA HAVE IT! MUST HAVE IT!

I think of it as the Macintosh of sports planes. . . On my wish list to Santa. Drool….

I’ve had my eye on this baby since it’s inception. The Icon A5 amphibian light sport aircraft.

Price: $139,000

Deposit: $5000 fully transferrable if you have buyer’s remorse.

Beautiful simple design – like a cross between a jet ski and a spaceship.

The interior is simple and sleek like a fine sports car with a stick in place of a steering wheel.

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All this is made possible by the FAA avaiation rule change in 2004 by creating a new catagory known as light-sport aircraft.

A mere 20 hours of flight school instead of the 40 hours needed for your standard private pilot license and you’re qualified to fly this baby.
If you don’t already have your pilot’s license, flight lessons will cost you around $5,000 in training fees.

First delivery is expected Q3 2011 plenty of time to get some flying in before 2012, lol.
Powered by a Rotax 100hp engine has a range of about 300nm and speed of 120. 100hp.

Damn, there’s SeaDoos with more horsepower than that!

Due to the aircraft’s class restrictions you’ll have to decide between a rocket safety chute (one, please) or automatic wing folding.

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Come on, put a little muscle into it.  Hey, I’ve got hand cranked windows in my truck and I’m cool with that.

One less thing to break.  Besides, I’ll take safety over convenience any day.

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If you really can’t wait and want to be first in line, you can plop down 100K deposit and be one of the first to get delivery.

“The first 100 ICON A5 customer deliveries will be exclusive A5 Limited Edition (A5 LE) models.

Reserving an A5 LE, and thereby joining the ICON 100, requires a higher deposit of $100,000 USD.”

Coolness:

Take off and land on land or WATER!

As new planes go, price isn’t in the stratosphere

Easy to fly

Awesome design

Bummers:

Have to wait for a while before they’re ready for delivery

A few rules of the sky:

Fly below 10,000 feet

Only day flying with clear skys and stay away from busy airports.

The coolness factors WIN

Now where did I put my checkbook?

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Icon: southern california manufacturer of light sport aircraft Icon A5.

Founder: Kirk Hawkins, 41, former F16 fighter pilot with degrees in engineering and business from Stanford.