eicolab: design thinking for business innovation

Green/Environment

Risk management when dealing with uncertainties

Here’s a great demonstration of using a risk management technique to make decisions when faced with uncertainties and the lack of hard facts.

It also provides an interesting take on the global warming debate. You don’t actually have to believe or disbelieve in global warming to think about the situation at hand and make a reasonable decision.

I am sure you can …

When should you die?

This funny and somewhat dark greenhouse calculator on the ABC’s website appealed greatly to my morbid sense of humour.

Prof. Schipinkee’s Greenhouse Calculator.

FYI I should die at age 49.1 years. Not bad. Only 11 years to go!

Spotted on The Register.

Humidifiers in Singapore

I recently walked pass a whole section in a shopping centre in Singapore selling humidifiers. This is just so “wrong”!

In case you have not been through Singapore, the temperature tends to be around the 30s (Celsius) with very high humidity. Everywhere is heavily air-conditioned. Cooled air tends to be drier, hence the humidifiers I am guessing. So strange, so illogical, and oh so human.

Air conditioners do dry out …

Information graphics: an American Self Portrait

Artist Chris Jordan has created some amazing prints that really rubs home the consumerist madness that is the US, with us in Australia likely not that far behind.

If you have children, be very very scared for their future.

Spotted by way of this post by John Maeda.

Substance behind Coke?

Coca Cola Amatil is thinking of sponsoring anti-whaling activism!

Now that would send out an interesting message for a company/brand more often associated with the worship of youth/sun/fun.

Read the full article Coke may join anti-whaling bout on the Sydney Morning Herald.

When pictures will do

We all “know” the sea level is rising. But there is a difference between rationally “knowing” something and the gut-felt “knowing” that images like these bring to focus:

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Images from a book by Greenpeace Spain and spotted on inhabitat.

More images on Greenpeace Spain’s website.

A picture speaks

“Cynthia Vanderlip, manager of the State of Hawaii’s Kure Atoll Wildlife Sanctuary, cut open the dead body of a fledgling Laysan albatross (nicknamed “Shed Bird”) to find more than half a pound of plastic in its stomach.”

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This is the bits of shit we throw away without a second thought!

This one image sums it all up, without ambiguity, and without unnecessary “designer” fuss.

Read A …

Renewable energy incompatible with economics

I just realised what the fundamental problem with renewable energy is: it is free and there is a limitless supply of it.

Our current economic model is based on profits from scarcity. If no one can make (big) renewable bucks from renewable energy, no business-as-usual will take it seriously. And if no business will take it seriously, it is unlikely governments will take it seriously.

Oh dear…

I suppose if you …

Go the stock cube

I have never really understood the reason behind liquid stock. You know, the type you buy in 1 litre bricks from the supermarket.

stock.thumbnail.jpg

Stock cubes are much easy to carry around, take up less room, and results in less waste (less packaging). Assuming both products essentially come from the same production line and contains more or less the same ingredients, why are we wasting all that …

Saving energy one search at a time

The ecoIron blog post Black Google inspired Blackle (ie Black Google).

The premise is interesting. In summary:
It takes less power (especially on CRTs) to display a predominantly black screen. Google, which has a predominantly white interface, is estimated to be running 550,000 hours daily worldwide. Making Google black could save 8.3 Megawatt-hours per day worldwide!

Check out the full details in the full post

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