Over one million people will go to sleep this year without proper shelter and in the wake of our countries current economic situation and the continual growth of tent cities here in America, it is the mission of Shelter 2.0 that everyone should have the right to a roof over there head and a floor under there feet. Shelter 2.0 is both  affordable and easily assembled without any prior construction experience or the use of power tools other than a cordless drill, making it easy and safe for a volunteer workforce. The shelters are easily enlarged by adding to either end since there are very few parts that are different. You can ship some ShopBots and a couple of truckloads of plywood and tarps and have an instant shelter factory on site, or cut them all over the world in a distributed network of Fabbers.

Shelter 2.0.

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ThanksGivingGoodness

Originally uploaded by hilnix

Thanksgiving Gathering this year was amazing! Here’s a picture of me with Lisa Mekis and Carin McKay; my two collaborators on the event.

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Just a quick update to tell you where I’m at

After moving back to the Bay Area for six months… I’m about to mix it up again… where to? I’m not exactly sure!

We had some great success and challenges with the documentary film project – Andrea and I met up in Northern India last year to interview Tibetan Exiles about non-violence, China, the Olympics… you can see some of our work online here:
http://digitaldharmafilms.org
due to lack of funding and general life being what it is … the project of making a full length documentary is on hold…. but if you are interested in helping or have any film-maker resources, please clue me in!

I’m looking for places to go visit and work/live for a bit – specifically farms, cooperatives, retreat centers, land projects where there is a need for some skilled hands and a commitment to Art, Community, Activism and just plain having a good ‘ole time…. so if you know of anything like that out there please let me know.

I’m also looking to buy a truck that can be my workhorse – a good truck for traveling, working on a farm, maybe through a camper on it, tow a trailer with some tools and camera and stilts and my chef knives…. a gypsy wagon!

My short term plan is to explore and have a respite from the city for 6-mo or a year, and then see where that leads me or perhaps go back to school… maybe in Sweden!

So that’s the nutshell version…. of my life… would love to hear about you!

In Gratitude,

Tom Sepe

Kamal Meattle used three just three indoor plant species to increase oxygen, filter air, and boost general health at a a New Delhi business park. You can use them, too, in any indoor environment. Meattle’s presentation at the TED 2009 conference details a large-scale success, using thousands of plants for hundreds of workers. In any living or working space, though, the three plants—Areca palm, Mother-in-law’s Tongue, and a “Money Plant”—can be used to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen, remove organic compounds, and generally filter and freshen the ambient air. A single person looks to need a minimum of 11 total plants, and certain climates with less sunlight could require a bit of hydroponic growing, but Meattle swears by the health, productivity, and atmosphere benefits.

[via Lifehacker Australia.]

Check out the slideshow from the TED conference 2009 after the break:

(more…)

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02.17.2009 – Cheaper materials could be key to low-cost solar cells.

By Robert Sanders, Media Relations | 17 February 2009

BERKELEY — Unconventional solar cell materials that are as abundant but much less costly than silicon and other semiconductors in use today could substantially reduce the cost of solar photovoltaics, according to a new study from the Energy and Resources Group and the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).

These materials, some of which are highly abundant, could expand the potential for solar cells to become a globally significant source of low-carbon energy, the study authors said.

Solar power collectors, like these photovoltaic panels on a New Mexico high school roof, could be installed much more widely if they could be manufactured from less-costly materials. (U.S. Department of Energy photo)

The analysis, which appeared online Feb. 13 in Environmental Science & Technology, examines the two most pressing challenges to large-scale deployment of solar photovoltaics as the world moves toward a carbon neutral future: cost per kilowatt hour and total resource abundance. The UC Berkeley study evaluated 23 promising semiconducting materials and discovered that 12 are abundant enough to meet or exceed annual worldwide energy demand. Of those 12, nine have a significant raw material cost reduction over traditional crystalline silicon, the most widely used photovoltaic material in mass production today.

The work provides a roadmap for research into novel solar cell types precisely when the U. S. Department of Energy and other funders plan to expand their efforts to link new basic research to deployment efforts as part of a national effort to greatly expand the use of clean energy, according to Daniel Kammen, UC Berkeley professor of energy and resources and director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory.

from UC berkeley News

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Unfortunately they couldn’t fit the sculpture into the powder coating oven and had to paint it by hand. This was less than ideal for a number of reasons – mostly, Michael said, because he could have bondo-ed the weld seams faster than the grinding of the seams necessary for powdercoating, and as a result obtained a smoother finish. ANother important lesson learned is that there is now a metal-to-metal bondo that contains aluminum – which means you can use it in the powder-coating process!

We then took the egg over to the new NIMBY space in Oakland, which is HUGE! It will be exciting to see NIMBY 2.0 evolve….

Ofcom Website | Global Citizens and Consumers in the Internet Age.

Overview: Professor Douglas Rushkoff, Professor of Communications, NYU , to provide insights into latest research on the transformative nature of the internet on the economic and social dynamics of consumers and users, and their commercial implications – vital information for regulators, industry and investors as they seek to remain relevant in this new ecology.

Keynote:Professor Douglas Rushkoff, Professor of Communications, NYU

Chair: Tim Gardam , Board Member, Ofcom

Reflections and Closing Remarks by Ed Richards , Chief Executive, Ofcom

I brought out a few of my friends to the secret warehouse that stores the Steampunk Treehouse -  Sean Orlando was there to talk about the Treehouse, along with Alan Rorie, Oliver W. Lowe and Emily Beighley.

Oliver is working on a book titled “Steampunk: The Retro-Futurist Dream” to be published by RE:Search Publications. Sean and I were both interviewed for that book so I’ll make an announcment about its release at a future date….

Emily Beighley builds fabulous “Neo-victorian Antiquiteis and Curiosities” which she brought along to show to the cameras.

Alan Rorie brought out his Dihemispheric Chronaether Agitator which is also featured in the news segment.

A big thanks to Jake Von Slatt and steampunkworkshop.com – the interview that Meridith did with me on their blog a few months back has brought me a ton of press and attention!

As it stands now, Andrea is moving to India next month, and the film is now 100% in my hands. One powerful lesson I’ve learned over the last few months is that it takes a tremendous amount of time to produce a documentary film – on the order of months if not years. Of these two new developments, I’ve decided to re-assess. Basically to discard any previous notions and start from the beginning.

This is more than necessary, as I was beginning to get discouraged, or at least feel overwhelmed by the complexity and enormity of the project!

Recently, I had the good fortune to meet with a professional dicumentary film editor, Kathleen Dargis. She turned me on to a book entitled “Trailer Mechanics” by Fernanda Rossi, and it is walking me through the steps to fully understand my motivations and desires for making a film. This is so important for if I’m going to dedicate the next year of my life to this project, then I better be doing it fir the right reasons, or I’ll get burned out, or worse just fail miserably!

So now I am starting to develop a concept around the values and topics that I am interested in… and then the next step will be to create a fundraisibg trailer that will demonstrate the idea to foundations and potential finders, as well ad become a tool for developing an audience for the film.

My current production schedule;

Nov-Dec -Fundraise from my immediate network while working on concept. Perhaps a few intimate evenings where I can show footage, talk about the project and get support.

Jan-Feb – Edit the trailer

March – ? apply for grants, private donors, create events. Also this will be when I will be doing additional interviews or filming to support the new film story/framework.

Stat tuned!

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