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Purrrfectly Recyclable: An Eco-Reminder to Animal Lovers

Steve Heisler — 2010-04-16T17:54:00 00:00

You'd think it would be obvious: Cat food cans are just as recyclable, and recycled, as regular cans, right? It's referred to as canned cat food, after all. But according to a release sent earlier this week from Purina and non-profit advocacy group Keep America Beautiful, studies show that a scant 20 percent of kitty cans are recycled, compared to 54 percent of canned food intended for human consumption.

The company's method of getting the word out on this disconcerting gap? Art made from recycled cat food cans by celebrities.

This week in New York City, more than a hundred artists unveiled the fruits of their labor for the RePURRposed Gallery including Roberta Flack, Twilight's Peter Facinelli, and Kahi Lee from HGTV. Some pieces were pretty cool and have longer lasting appeal; some, well, look like old cat food cans cut up and mashed into weird shapes. (Ah, the subjectivity of art...) But regardless, it's a demonstration of the value of recycling, and just in time for Earth Day.

All of the RePURRposed Gallery artwork will be auctioned starting April 19 at Together We Can Recycle with proceeds going to Keep America Beautiful. In the meantime here are a few to admire:

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But back to the importance of recycling -- the statistics Purina provides to encourage pet canned food recycling are pretty eye-opening:

o. Recycling aluminum cans saves 95 percent of the energy used to make aluminum cans from virgin materials.

o. Recycling one 3-oz. Fancy Feast aluminum can saves enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for over 2 hours.

o. Recycling one 5.5-oz. Friskies aluminum can saves enough energy to power a 30-inch (95W) TV for over 2 hours.

And with an estimated 93.6 million pet cats in the United States, that is a lot of cans and potential energy we're kicking to the curb.

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Biking Home by Google: Indirect Route?

Steve Heisler — 2010-03-12T13:55:00 00:00

Google Maps was already a great, free tool for city-dwellers, with its embedded public transportation, walking and driving directions. Now, the company's gone and made the app even better by including bike route navigation for the first time.

According to Wired, the feature factors in bike lanes, terrain and incline to find the fastest, safest route, and will eventually be available in 150 cities nationwide. Google Maps' product manager told Wired this has been an option heavily requested by Google users for years.

And this is no small product rollout. Google's blog explains the enormity of this project and how they intend to expand in the future:

Thanks primarily to our partnership with the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, we now have more than 12,000 miles of trails included in biking directions and outlined directly on the map. We also have data on bike lanes and recommended streets for 150 cities across the country. We'll continue to add new trail information and encourage riders to send feedback (biking directions is in beta, after all) and route information for inclusion via the "Report a Problem" tool. When Map Maker is available in the U.S., all riders will be able to directly contribute their local knowledge about trails, bike lanes and suggested routes.

City life is all about self-reliance, and for years Google Maps has empowered urban dwellers with the information they need to get where they need to go. Biking epitomizes that desire for freedom, and as the trend steadily climbs, the need for a stable mapping program is there. And while real time bike mapping is not yet available through Google, expect the final piece of the domination puzzle to slide into place in due time.

Upon first glance, it seems the bike route feature requires a little bit of faith in the cars sharing the road and the greenness of traffic lights. I gave it a whirl by mapping the route to my old job - it was always difficult to figure out the best route. After much trial-and-error, I figured out that taking major roads with bike lanes added much more time than necessary due to an overabundance of cars and the constant start-stop of intersections; the best route, I found, took Chicago's lakefront bike path all the way into the Loop. But Google Maps tells me to take Halsted for the most speed, even though it's about as congested a street as they come in Chicago, especially on a work day. My bike-path route, however, was listed third.

It's great to see all my options laid out in front of me, but like most advice from computers, you need some real-world experience to balance it out.

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Blinged-Out, Floor-Wrecking Breakdancer: "I'm Innocent"

Steve Heisler — 2010-02-23T14:53:00 00:00

America's Best Dance Crew, what hath you wrought? The Buffalo News reports that 18-year-old Ryan Baczkiewicz was arrested Sunday night. The charge? Breakdancing while wearing a diamond-studded belt buckle at a house party in nearby Elma. His (presumably sick) moves resulted in $3,000 worth of "gouging damage" on the hardwood floors. Apparently, there was no cardboard to lay down and get up on. The charge was criminal trespass and criminal mischief - a felony.

But according to Baczkiewicz, contacted via Facebook, he did nothing wrong and these charges are overblown:

I do not own a diamond-studded belt buckle-I most definitely don't have the money for something like that. I have proof that not only was I invited to this party, but I have a witness who can back me up and say I did not do any damage.

Baczkiewicz wasn't able to comment on whether or not said breakdancing occurred at said party, but claims the offending belt is currently in police custody, and that the girl who hosted the party skewed her version of the story. "[She and a friend] lied to their parents and said they didn't have a house party, that it was just those two and their boyfriends, and me and a friend randomly showed up on Valentine's Day. Crazy, right? There was a full-blown house party going on, and I can't wait for my side of justice," he says.

What does that entail, he says? "Let's just say the courtroom's in for a big surprise!"

Elma Court House, March 22, 6:30pm: Electric Boogaloo.

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New Locks Stop Home Invaders

Steve Heisler — 2010-02-11T16:33:00 00:00

Filed under: Design

Protecting your home isn't as simple as turning a deadbolt. According to a story this week in the Columbus Dispatch, home break-ins are on the rise due to weak locks and shoddy frame construction -- and it's not just Ohio. The FBI claims that in 2008 (the last year they have complete records for), 1.3 million residential break-ins occurred, a five percent increase from the year before.

In addition to installing a box strike and using three-inch screws, here are some options for strengthening or replacing you door's lock:
A stronger deadbolt
Start with the foundation of the lock itself: The deadbolt. State Farm Insurance recommends the "throw" be at least one inch (the length the lock comes out from the door when it's locked), that it contain saw-resistant bolts to make sawing difficult, and a captured key deadbolt, with locks on both sides, to keep burglars from simply reaching through a window and popping the lock on the other side. For a powerhouse, check out the Ultimate Locksystem.

SecureKey
Control who enters and exits your house with Schlage SecureKey, a new technology that allows you to give out spare keys to those who need access, then immediately take that access away. The lock is programmed to accept two types of key, and you control which one by using a master key. Hand over a key to your plumber, and once he's gone, simply turn the lock the opposite direction and his key will no longer work. The keys themselves are very hard to duplicate, too.

Keyless touchpads
With the ability to program up to eight-digit access codes, these are practically guess-proof, and like the SecureKey, access is controlled by adding additional passcodes to remove later. Plus, when someone's tinkering with the numberpad, a warning alarm sounds after enough failed attempts. Some models even sport an auto-lock mechanism that seals things up after 20 seconds, and come with a remote for locking the door from afar. As long as you remember to change the batteries (not that often), these locks are a simple way to kick security up a notch.

Fingerprint locks
For some added security that makes you feel like a spy, go for a print-recognizing lock. There's no way any unwanted visitors can get in with your unique fingerprint ID, and guests can use either the passcode or the keyhole slot, which can be sealed up when not in use.

Do-it-yourself solutions
Ok, this one we don't really suggest as your most viable option. But for the DIY crowd, we felt we'd be remiss if we didn't introduce you to the Secret Knock Detecting Door Lock.

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See a Problem? Text City Hall

Steve Heisler — 2010-02-04T14:00:00 00:00

Filed under: How To

Tech-savvy Bostonians with a bone to pick with the city (snowed-in streets, potholes, leaking fire hydrants) needn't worry any more about bureaucratic red tape. Thanks to a new iPhone app called Citizens Connect, residents can snap photos of busted streetlights or stray graffiti, punch in a few key details, and submit the complaint directly to those with the power to help. It even integrates the iPhone's Google Maps software for easy locating, and complaints can be submitted anonymously. The app was posted last November, and according to Boston.com, its popularity has exploded, logging more than 750 complaints and 2,500 downloads. And the best part (besides the fact that it's free): Reaction to complaints seems to be quick.

It's all part of a groundswell that a recent CNN story identified as "Gov 2.0," as state and local governments move towards sharing data about their civic services with developers to cultivate in a useful way.
It's government transparency for the digital age, and though Citizens Connect was created by the city of Boston itself, third-party programmers are getting into the game as well. Government Outreach, a company founded to better connect City Hall with its constituents, recently launched GORequest to cover 22 smaller cities (like Santa Monica, Calif. and Arvada, Colo.) in similar Citizens Connect fashion. Then there's iBurgh, developed for Pittsburgh by tech company YinzCAM, that does away with categories of problems altogether and lets users upload photos of whatever is bothering them-rude cops, perhaps. The grandaddy of them all seems to be SeeClickFix, which works in almost every city and allows users to see nearby complaints on the app and on the company's Web site.

The number of these sorts of apps is growing, which could mean more than just a stop-sign remounting. The same CNN story identifies one by-product as the "death of a passive relationship with government": younger, savvy city dwellers fed up with the old way of doing things can report issues painlessly, quickly, and in a familiar way -- thus they'll be more likely to speak up. But access to the sheer volume of government data means iPhones can directly connect citizens to every aspect of the city, like Buster (Chicago bus-tracking software) and Stumble Safely (using crime stats to map the safest walk home from DC bars). The necessary pieces are out there; it's just a matter of smart, interactive presentation before every aspect of our city lives can be found on the iPhone.

Though we're talking non-emergencies here. If you're in some real trouble, there's an app for that, too: 911.

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