Malian villagers can stream video content over WiFi as a result of Geekcorps’ CanTV project. The project has enabled a local radio station to stream video content to the local community using TV antennas built with cans (cantennas). Geekcorps is the organization behind water bottle WiFi in Mali, and the receiver of Tech Museum Award for the Desert PC.

2006 Speaker, Erin McKean, has informed us that a word near and dear to our hearts has been voted the Oxford Word of the Year - Carbon Neutral.

Erin, editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, writes, “The increasing use of the word carbon neutral reflects not just the greening of our culture, but the greening of our language. When you see first graders trying to make their classrooms carbon neutral, you know the word has become mainstream.”

Don’t worry, Ms. McKean, ERINACEOUS, will have its day of glory soon enough.

Also, she has a new book out called “Totally Weird and Wonderful Words” which is definitely worth taking a look at.

Sky writing is sooooo 20th Century.

Congrats to KFC for being the first brand to be visible from outer space. The logo, recently revamped, is 87,500 square feet. Made of painted tile pieces, the project took 24 days to complete.

You can also watch a video of the project in action.
Note: There is an ongoing debate as to whether KFC is really the first brand to be seen from outer space. Target has also been visible using Google Earth.

So, it appears that Google Earth is the new advertising medium. And maybe this is what we can expect next…

via Michael Castellon

One of the segments in this year’s PBS special, “Alive from Pop!Tech”, (specifically the segment with Ed Castronova and Ivan Marovic) inspired a viewer in New Jersey to write a novel for the National Novel Writing Month! The novel, called “Ursula Unplugged”, is set 200 years in the future and follows two online friends whose relationship starts through a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.

You can track the author’s progress as she writes the novel. Currently, she is at about 22,349 words. The goal for all the novels is to reach 50,000 words.

Here’s the story — see the line(s) about us about halfway down:

Glad to see that Pop!Tech continues to inspire people in big and small ways…

Today, November 14th, is World Usability Day. This day was designated to promote “the value of usability engineering and user-centered design and the belief that every user has the responsibility to ask for things that work better.”

Today is a day to think about the objects and systems around you and ask the questions: “Why doesn’t this work right?” “How can this be improved?”

Who knows what a small change to increase usability could have on your daily life?

Go to the World Usability Day site and check out local events and programs that volunteers and local event planners have created for the 36 hours around W.U.D. You can search for events near you with their handy-dandy Interactive Map.

via NOTCOT

New York based photographer Phillip Toledano wanted to caputure a hidden part of his subject’s characters…how do you tease that hidden side out? Videogames. Toledano has created a gallery of humourous and slightly disturbing images that will make think about wearing a ski mask the next time you play a video game in public.

Pop!Tech Presenters Ze Frank and Kent Nichols are featured in this weekend’s New York Times Magazine as shining examples of Online Auteurs. Ze is the host of daily three-minute video blog “The Show with Ze Frank“. Kent Nichols and his partner Douglas Sarine are the creators of “Ask A Ninja“.

Click here for the Ninja’s special Pop!Tech Video.

The first rule of Anger Release Bar is that it’s ok to talk about Anger Release Bar.

A new bar has opened in Nanjing, China called The Rising Sun Anger Release Bar. This unique bar lets its customers smash glass, hit its specially costumed and protected staff, and generally go ballistic. Wu Gong, the owner, says that most of his customers are women in the service industry and clients can ask the staff to dress as any character they wish to “attack” such as bosses and co-workers.

The question is, is violence, though removed and unleashed in a controlled environment still a healthy way to deal with anger? It’s hard to say, but its good to know that the owner has psychology students from local universities on call for further counseling.

Via BBC News

So by know you should know that Pop!Tech worked closely with Robert Freling and The Solar Electric Light Fund to offset twice the amount of carbon from that atmosphere based on the net carbon emission of all 500+ attendees at Pop!Tech.

At Pop!Tech, carbon emission was quantified in terms of cubic feet as visualized in this video with Andrew Zolli.

Emission is also commonly discussed in terms of weight, specifically in tons. Recently, Slate Explainer how 1 gallon of gasoline produces 19 pounds of carbon, especially if 1 gallon generally weighs about 6 pounds?

If you’re like me, you want to dissect a project like this to the molecular level until I understand every detail. This Explainer post was really helpful. You can also listen to it as an MP3.

Alex Steffen, Pop!Tech 2006 Speaker and his band of Worldchangers have released the long awaited title Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century.

The book is a beautiful 600 page compendium to the latest products and ideas for a sustainable and socially responsible future. Along with Alex, many Pop!Tech Friends and Speakers are contributors to the project as well such as: Blaine Brownell,Cameron Sinclair, Andrew Zolli and Ethan Zuckerman.

The Worldchanging book is an infinitely useful resource for simple and effective, ways to make and support a more sustainable Earth.

There has also been a grassroots effort to get the Worldchanging Book to number one on Amazon. Right now, its at #4 on the Science Bestsellers List and at 40% off the cover price, it’s a ‘must have’ for every bookshelf!

photo::Inhabitat