Electric Camper: Tiny Geometric House on Wheels Not only is this highly unusual-looking vehicle a hand-made camper – it runs on electricity. Built from plywood, fiberglass, epoxy resin, bicycle parts and an electric motor, ‘Golden Gate’ by San Francisco artist Jay Nelson is reminiscent of all of those amazing hand-crafted house trucks from the 1970s, but with a very modern power source. The tiny camper measures just 96″x54″x64″, making it just large enough inside to lay down on the bed platform. By day, that platform also serves as the driver’s seat. The Golden Gate is better equipped than you might expect, with a sink, stove, cooler, storage compartments and even a toilet. While its top speed of 20mph and lack of headlights doesn’t exactly make it ideal for traveling long distances, it’s easy to envision owning a tiny house like this for use as a swanky home base for camping.
Pen/stylus made from MAGNETS. POLAR PEN - Modular Tool by Andrew Gardner This modular pen will inspire you at work, school or home. If you enjoy tinkering with things or are fascinated with the power of magnets, then this product is for you. We have found many fun and functional ways of using the POLAR Pen and we are really excited to see what you will come up with. Polar comes in two high quality finishes: Pure Silver, purer than sterling (product will tarnish if left unused, any silver polish will restore finish) and 24 Karat Gold, an elegant deep yellow. Using the silver and gold magnets POLAR lends itself very well to the concept of modular customization; the ability to transform a standard product into something different and unique. Magnets Components There are four unique components excluding the magnets: Cap, Clip, Tip and Stylus. Rubber Components Stylus rubber tip - The stylus tip has been sourced from a leader in stylus tip technology. Silicone rubber tip protector - This component gets inserted into the top magnet in the cap. Features/Tuturials
Do-It-Yourself Downsizing Vancouver Entrepreneurs: RentMoola Renting instead of buying property is becoming a harsh reality for a lot of Vancouverites. After all, not everyone can afford paying $55 million in cash for a condo. When you rent, there is a lot of paperwork involved, 12 post-dated cheques is usually part of the package. 1. RentMoola is a mobile and online payment network in partnership with Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express that allows renters and condo owners to pay rent, condo fees and other payments with their favourite rewards credit cards. CEO and Co founder Patrick Postrehovksy was living in Shanghai paying his rent with cash. 2. We have no direct competitors in Canada but several in the US which is a market we are aggressively expending into. 3. For the most part we’ve stayed away from the Vancouver startup scene but have built a dream team of advisors, half of which are from Vancouver. 4. People ask us why there is a service fee? 5. We’re solving three main problems: 6. 7. Any of the Vancouver Canucks. 8. 1. 2.
Green Egg House Images credit Zhao Kang Rents in Beijing are high, so designer Daihai Fei built himself a wonderful little green home that may well become a new icon for the Tiny House Movement.Tipster Spooky writes: Daihai Fei built his amazing egg-house on a bamboo frame, covered with various insulating materials, and topped with a layer of stitched bag. It looks quite comfy, and it is parked right across the street from where he works so that he saves on time and transit. I am not certain what keeps the water out; burlap bags do not exactly work like shingles. The solar panel is nicely integrated into the roof. More at Oddity CentralMore on Tiny Houses:Tiny Homes: The Next Little ThingTumbleweed Tiny House CompanyIt's a Small House After All Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal September 2, 2012 UPDATE: A prettier version of this comic is now available as a poster! Come see me at the WorldCon dealer's room tomorrow! September 1, 2012 Why hello there, Worldcon.
7 Of The World's Best Nano Houses Studio-apartment dwellers may feel reasonably content living a small-scale existence. But if transplanted in the country, how many would opt for a similarly sized house? Driven by a commitment to reduce energy consumption and built space, there’s a growing trend among the eco-conscious to build tiny homes. A new book, Nano House by Phyllis Richardson (Thames & Hudson), gathers 40 of the best-designed examples from around the world--all of which showcase an appreciation for the efficient use of space, materials, and resources. Will they inspire “real housewives” of Beverly Hills to abandon their McMansions, short of a foreclosure notice? Check out the slideshow of 7 houses from the book. Drinking in BC's Beer Identity At the local fest, I solicit brewmaster views on what makes a true West Coast brew. And heroically narrow down my top 10. Tyee photo pool contributor knightbefore_99 has diligently photographed many BC beers over the years. North America's craft beer renaissance may have started right here in B.C. When Spinnaker's Brew Pub opened in Victoria four years later, it's probably safe to say that today's celebrity brewers were still in high school, hoping to score a six-pack of Coors from someone's older brother. These days American brewers get much of the attention, turning out barrel-aged ales, Belgian tripels and cask-fermented brews that reap international awards. But B.C. thrives today too, though with a different style. I had a chance to speak with some local brewers about the craze over craft beers, and where B.C. fits into the whole scheme, at the Great Canadian Beer Festival held in Victoria the first weekend after Labour Day. The general consensus here? No love for the hoppy
Teenager builds tiny home Sixteen-year-old Austin Hay of Santa Rosa, Calif., has been sleeping in a work-in-progress 130 square foot "tiny home" in his parents' backyard for months. The project came about because "like every teenager, I want to move out," says Hay. Hay learned basic construction skills in woodshop during his first two years of high school, and has applied those skills to roughing out a fully functional, self-contained home that sits atop a conventional trailer. He says it's "plenty of space" and hopes to live in the home after college. Showing an unusual level of awareness of the roots of America's current fiscal crisis, Hay said that "I don't think bigger is better — too many chores […] plus, there's no mortgage on it. Hay estimates the total cost for the home is $12,000; most of the materials were acquired at salvage yards.
The Top 3 Free Offline GPS Apps For Android Google Navigation for Android is one of the best map solutions you can get in the palm of your hand, but what if you don’t have a data connection? Whether you’re traveling abroad, using a Wi-Fi-only Android tablet, or just looking to use less data on your phone, you can use one of these map applications to see where you are and get navigation directions. If you start digging through Google Play for offline GPS apps, you’ll find a lot of poor-quality free apps and high-quality apps that cost money. We’ve done the digging for you and found the best free options Google Maps Google Maps has built-in support for offline maps. However, there’s one significant limitation: Only map tiles are downloaded. To download a map area for offline use, launch Google Maps, tap the menu button, and select Make available offline. Zoom and pan around the map with your fingers until the map area you want to use offline is within the square. Google Maps will download the map area for offline use. OsmAnd Navfree
Historic Shepherds Huts A quick note to say that the excellent site dedicated to shepherds' huts - Historic Shepherds Hut ("a web based archive dedicated to record survivors and the forgotten part they once played in our country's rich agricultural past") - is heading to a new location at www.shepherdhuts.co.uk because of hosting problems. They're still in the process of moving everything across but it's worth changing your bookmarks now as they are also planning to expand the site to deal with lots of new huts which have come their way as a result of recent media coverage. Incidentally, if you have a shepherd's hut for sale, please do contact Shedworking - there were many, many disappointed readers who were very interested in the last one we advertised (including the editor of a wellknown national magazine) that I'm sure you'd find a buyer quickly. Our Monday posts are sponsored by garden2office, the Swedish garden officespecialists.Click here for more details.
Monocle's Five Most Loveable Cities Posted by Perrin Drumm | 13 Aug 2012 | Comments (0) These five cities may not have made Monocle's Quality of Life index, but the magazine's urban experts say they "win in the simple living stakes." So while you might not want to pack up and move there, there are plenty of people who love living in Turin, Italy; Portland (Maine), USA; Tblisi, Georgia; Valparaíso, Chile; and Naha, Japan. Turin Monocle calls Turin the most overlooked city in Italy, but with none of Rome's congesting tourist trade or any of Milan's self-conscious slickness, Turin boasts a convivial atmosphere and thriving design community that seeks to balance out the city's baroque roots with modern architecture. Portland, Maine You might be surprised to find Portland, Maine listed here, as opposed to its West coast compatriot, but Monocle noted an "ambitious dining scene grounded in progressive principles" that's outsized for its 60,000-person population.
Urban Nomad We've done a bit of microhousing (and micro-driving) coverage of late, and here's some more. Inspired by the Urban Nomad movement of the 1960s and 1970s (which focused on diminutive, movable dwellings in cities), a Glasgow School of Art design student named Alec Farmer has built a tiny home in which he'll live for the next year. Using the instructions written by [Ken] Isaacs in 'How To Build Your Own Living Structures', I have created a replica of this 50 year old design, and plan to live in it, in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland, for one year. In doing so I hope to gain more insight into Isaacs design, and also into the movement as a whole. Farmer describes the work of Isaacs as "smaller than architecture but bigger than furniture," and that sounds about right.
The Cheapest Places to Live in the World | Lake Atitlan, Guatemala Somewhere in the world right now someone a lot like you is paying 1/3 what you do for a meal out, 1/4 what you do for a similar house or apartment, 1/5 what you do for transportation each month, and 1/10 what you do each year on health and dental costs. And they’re having a blast. “May you live in interesting times” is a wish that’s certainly coming true for many in 2012, but not always in a good way. Even in countries doing relatively well, like Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Chile, Panama, and Mexico, when Europe and the U.S. get the sniffles, everyone else comes down with a cold. A good $1.50 reason to live in Thailand. But some people are living quite well right now without being wealthy. As always, renters face different circumstances than buyers. And remember—moving abroad is not some freakish thing nobody has done before. Cheapest Places to Live – Asia In this interview, Godfree Roberts talks about his living expenses in Chiang Mai: $850 per month. The USA Outlook