Meet Aero, the self filling water bottle

I came across the Fontus "Aero" and was blown away. This is a water bottle that fills itself from the moisture in the air. The water is pure and drinkable.

This model is designed, as you may have already surmised, to be mounted on a bicycle.

But this could be useful in so many ways. Immagine having one of these in your danger kit in your car or house.

This idea is brilliant.

Here is a video that shows the process in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeyHuWNUO7k

Here is what the Fontus team have to say about themselves:

"HARVESTING WATER FROM THE AIR IS A METHOD THAT HAS BEEN PRACTISED FOR MORE THAN 2000 YEARS. THE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE CONTAINS CONSTANTLY AROUND 13.000 KM3 OF MOSTLY UNEXPLOITED FRESHWATER. THE FONTUS PROJECT WAS AN ATTEMPT TO DISCOVER THESE RESOURCES.

FONTUS WAS INVENTED TO BRING AN ALTERNATIVE WAY OF COLLECTING SAFE DRINKING WATER TO REGIONS WHERE DROUGHT AND UNCLEAN WATER ARE A BIG ISSUE. BIKES, AS THE MOST WIDESPREAD MEANS OF TRANSPORT IN THE WORLD, ESPECIALLY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, SEEMED TO BE THE PERFECT VEHICLES TO COMBINE WITH THE INVENTION.

FONTUS RYDE AND AIRO MIGHT BE A CLEVER WAY OF ACQUIRING FRESHWATER IN REGIONS OF THE WORLD WHERE GROUNDWATER IS SCARCE BUT AIR HUMIDITY IS HIGH. THEY COULD WORK AS A MOBILE WATER WELL, FOR EXAMPLE, PROVIDING A CHILD WITH WATER FOR THE DAY WHILE RIDING TO SCHOOL.

MOREOVER, THESE SELF – FILLING BOTTLES FREE TRAVELLERS AND ADVENTURERS FROM THE BURDEN OF WATER PROVISION DURING A TOUR. WE WORKED TOGETHER WITH PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETES AND WERE ABLE TO IDENTIFY TWO BASIC PROBLEMS THAT PEOPLE WHO SPEND TIME IN NATURE ARE ARDUOUSLY CONFRONTED WITH:

A HIKER MUST EITHER PLAN HIS ROUT IN A WAY THAT HE ALWAYS FINDS FRESH WATER SOURCES, OR HE MUST PACK HIS BACKPACK VERY HEAVILY IN ORDER TO HAVE WATER FOR THE WHOLE JOURNEY. FOOD IS IN COMPARISON MUCH LIGHTER, IF WELL CHOSEN, BECAUSE YOU CAN COMPRESS IT. BUT WATER WEIGHS WHAT IT WEIGHS; YOU DON’T HAVE MUCH OF A CHOICE.

THESE PROBLEMS ARE A GREAT RESTRICTION FOR HIKERS AND OUR MAIN GOAL BECAME TO FIND A SOLUTION THAT WOULD GIVE ADVENTURERS THE FREEDOM TO GO WHEREVER THEY WANT!" -http://fontus.at/about/

The Fontus website is: http://fontus.at/

You have to admit, this is impressive!

Readiator, a cross-platform epub reader

While I was searching for another epub reader option for my chromebook, I found Readiator. I was using Readium, which has some nice features.

But some of the things I wanted, like being able to zoom into the images in my epubs, wasn't available with Readium.

First off, I love how simple Readiator is. It opens in a regular chrome window, and because it's really just a flushed out chrome plugin, it has the power of the chrome browser at it's disposal.

Readium also uses chrome, but for some reason does not allow you to use all the tools already at it's disposal in chrome.

Here are some of my screenshots.

This is the main page. Simply put, to add books hit the + button, top left.

This is showing how to increase the text size

This is showing how to remove a book

Besides the zooming in of an image, I also like that you can have Readiator add all the epubs in a folder simultaneously.

For more information, you can check out Readiator's official github page here:
https://github.com/shenzhuxi/readiator

And if you want to install this useful Chrome App, you can do so here:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/readiator-epub-reader/ecoaijekbhjbbojbkgliclceljlgelbf?utm_source=plus

GoBang Linux: Fast, Nimble, Simple

While looking through unique Ubuntu based distro's, I came upon GoBang, and I have to admit, I love it.

This is the simplest version of Ubuntu I have ever seen implemented that still has a desktop environment.

Every app is either a command line app or is a very light on resources type app.

The browser is Links2, the music player is MusicOnConsole player, just to give you a feel of how light GBL is.

As http://gobanglinux.org/about/ puts it,

"Gobang is a light and fast operating system based on Ubuntu repositories. The default environment is built on the Openbox window manager. G.B.L allows you to easily and quickly customize your system to suit your needs. ISO images are not issued regularly and contain alternate installation CDs. The idea to create GoBang OS was born out of the need for rapid, lightweight operating system that aims to provide an alternative look at the OS.The system allows a large amount of software installations, and complete control over the appearance. The GoBang Project aims nature of information and education."

Here is my screenshot of GoBang 2.04.2:

(Click to enlarge.)

Here is a nice blurb from http://gobanglinux.org/about/ on the history of GoBang Linux:

"The idea for GoBang came about in November 2012. At the beginning system ISO was published only in one language (Polish) and pointing to a small group of students, studying at the “Administration of the Operating Systems “.As the education program do not provide deeper discussions about the alternative system solutions from the family of operating systems Linux and Unix and most of the issues are based on the Microsoft products, I decided to take care of this problem and start promoting solutions based on codes such as open end free source. The idea is to present a different point of view on the operating systems subject."

Here is the official website: http://gobanglinux.org/

And here is the sourceforge page: http://gobangos.sourceforge.net/