The importance of playing...

This is such a great idea.

More than a million South Africans now have safe drinking water thanks to Playpumps - a simple invention that uses the energy generated by children playing on a roundabout to pump groundwater from boreholes.

Playpumps are made from easily available windmill components and a zero-energy water pump and some 700 villages have had Playpumps installed since 1997.

Unlike traditional hand pumps that produce just 150 litres of water an hour to ground level, where it cannot be stored hygienically, Playpumps can pump 1,400 litres of water an hour into a hygienic overhead storage tank.

I came across this when reading a review of the book Design and Landscape for People: New Approaches to Renewal which shows how designers, entrepreneurs and artists are coming together to develop new products with a conscious and with a real purpose.

Great news...
Source, The Guardian

Button bookmarks for the reader who likes to make notes...

This collection of bookmarks by Jessica Pope of Peridot Press are lovely.
They not only mark your page, but come with a 16 page pad incorporated so you can make notes about the book you are reading.

The Peridot Press specialises in hand-made products, why not take a look...

Interested in yourself?

Take a look at this web-site, there are 100's of personality tests...I just took the great leader test and came out as Gandhi! Take a look

BLIND LIGHT - Antony Gormley

Fuchsy, a friend of mine went to see this exhibition today at the Hayward Gallery - it's on until the 17th August. Here's what she said..."I saw this exhibition today at the Hayward Gallery ...amazing ..but I found this exhibit really terrifying, as I felt so claustrophobic! A great statement on seeing, and not seeing, perceiving and not connecting.
fuchsy

interested in les produits equitable?

You have probably all read about the unethical practices of sports companies such as nike and adidas. Well I just saw this ball on www.nustreetwear.com. At least you can buy this ball knowing that a 7 year old boy has not been kneeling down in terrible conditions ruining his hands sewing this one!

Nice web site too!

For more interesting things see....

take a look at this blog which posts up an interesting thing every day...today cochineal!
You may not want to dwell on it, but did you know the ingredient that gives Danon boysenberry yogurt and Tropicana Ruby Red Grapefruit juice their distinctive colors comes from crushed female cochineal beetles.

Want to know your visual DNA? Take this test...

An ex-member of Conran has set up imagini, a web site which evaluates your visual DNA by asking you questions which you answer by choosing photographs, it then evaluates your personality type and puts you in contact with 'people like you'.
Try it, it's fun! http://friends.imagini.net/

Collaborative doodling...mind-mapping...shopping lists

This is great. GE have launched a new flash-based whiteboard on their web-site where you and your friends and family can doodle, think, create, whatever together...

Take a look....http://www.imaginationcubed.com/LaunchPage

How to cook the perfect boiled egg...

Worrying about over-cooked or under-cooked boiled eggs? That's now a thing of the past with this new technique developed by the UK assurance scheme Lion Quality.

After cooking begins, an invisible, temperature-sensitive thermochromic print appears in black to indicate when an egg is soft, medium or hard-boiled.

The eggs, will be sold in three different types of cartons to make it even more consumer friendly!