Nanotech tea bag creates safe drinking water instantly, for less than a penny [Nanotechnology]

Perhaps the first good bit of good "Tea Bagging" this millennium. A wicked smart group of South African researchers have created a filter the size and shape of a tea bag that uses nanotechnology to filter out contaminants. You simply fill your bottle push the tea bag into the mount of the bottle and drink through it. Fits any bottle with a top smaller than a tea bag. The technology will most likely be repackaged in a different form but this is simple brilliance. I know a bunch of ultralight hikers who are going to be all over this.

Nanotech tea bag creates safe drinking water instantly, for less than a penny [Nanotechnology]:

The Buddha Machine Phenomenon

Often times things are entirely too complex and we find that even trying to find pleasure in simple things gets over complicated. Enjoying the ambiance of repetition can be a great way to both let go of life's complexities and relax. Enter the Buddha Machine.
Originally designed by China based music group FM3 the Buddha machines first incarnation was a small plastic box with a simple set of controls who's entire function was to playback a series of prerecorded ambient audio loops. It sounds like it could be absolutely obnoxious but the effect is quite tranquil.
More recently a rather wily JavaScript programmer at tikirobot.net has made his own version of small device that he based on a project called "in B flat" which is a collection of various youtube videos that are all in b flat so that when played back they all sound pleasant together. Add in a little random autoplay and you get a fantastic ambient background noise generator that is a dream to work to. We're listening to it right now as we post this BTW. It's one of those simple things that's just much better than the sum of it's parts.

http://tikirobot.net/BbBuddha/ 
 JavaScript Buddha Machine by tikirobot.net

Signal Shed

Ok, Maybe the idea of living in a 8"x16" room with no Electricity sounds a bit scary but it sure does look cool. The guys over at KITKA design toronto discovered this little gem on the Oregon woods and I think I want one. Now keep in mind this would never work in Alabama just due to the extreme temperature variances and bugs but my wife and I know of a little patch of woods near not too far away that this would be great for.

Signal Shed: "

The Signal shed is only 130 square feet and sits near Wallowa lake
in Oregon (about 6 hours from Portland).

The cabin is completely off the grid with no running water and is heated by a wood stove that they found on Craigslist.

Cedar siding wraps around the cabin and is accompanied by recycled windows and a metal roof. The cabin sits on a platform to minimize the impact of the site. The material costs were around $10,000 and although there was 2 years of planning that went into the cabin. It was built in only 2 weeks with help from family and friends".

World's Scariest Hikes

This was interesting. Gear Junkie published the "World Scariest Hikes". I looked at them and figured they were pretty spot on. I think you could send me to the one in Hawaii any day of the week though. Being a little bit freaked out in paradise beats a day at the office no matter how you look at it. They really need to add the rock garden on the Pinhoti trail to the list. They might be to scared to hike it though.


World's Scariest Hikes:

"Shoulder a pack. Lace up your boots. Now, don’t look down. My recent article for Travel+Leisure covers 10 of the planet’s scariest hikes"