Hasta La Ideas

Kirsten Hively is obsessive about New York’s colourful neon signs. She’s been photographing them, mainly at night, and runs a weekly blog called Project Neon. Just launched, however, is a Project Neon iPhone app that allows fellow neon fans to locate some of NYC’s finest signs for themselves…

“Project Neon began as my personal project to document New York City’s current, glowing neon signs, starting on the Upper East Side,” says Hively. “Because I couldn’t find any good resource listing the city’s working signs, I kept careful track of the addresses of each sign I photographed,” she continues. “I wanted a way to share my photographs and the signs’ locations so other people could see them in person too.” First Hively created a Google map showing the location of each of the photographed signs. Then she came up with the idea of creating an iPhone app for people to use discover the signs out on the streets.

Of course, making an app isn’t cheap so Hively turned to Kickstarter and managed to raise the required app-building fee. The resulting app, created by Blue Crow Media, has just got through Apple’s app-vetting process and is available for free. Here are a few screengrabs and a little info about how the app funcitons.

Users can browse the app’s photographed neon signs in various ways – in a gridded gallery as above, or on a Google map of New York with each sign tagged with a pin drop, as below:

There is also a “recommended” section which shows signs flagposted by Hively herself as worthy of special attention – and a “most popular” section which charts the signs according to user-ratings:

Simply choose a sign, tap on it to see it full screen

“I use a Canon Digital Rebel XTi,” reveals Hively of her photography. “I have been obsessively sticking with the thrifty fifty, eg. a 50mm lens, which handles low light amazingly well. Because it’s a prime it doesn’t zoom, so I often end up standing in snow berms or garbage piles or occasionally the street to get the shot. I occasionally go back to my favorite signs for another take with a zoom lens and maybe a tripod.”

Click the info button when looking at any given sign and up comes the info about the sign and the premises it flags up.

To find out more about Project Neon, visit projectneon.tumblr.com

To download the app for free, visit itunes.apple.com

Essential survival gear for the modern adventurer

Whether it’s a casual overnight camping trip or a die-hard weeks long expedition in the wilderness, fire is essential for successful survival or s’more making. While rubbing two sticks together or using a standard lighter might work, it can also lead to blisters and the risk of running out of fluid, leaving you stranded in the dark, waiting for the coyotes to arrive. An excellent addition to some of the great gear in our Survivalist Essentials piece and a necessity for any outdoor kit, is a solid fire steel. Most steel are made from either a magnesium alloy or ferrocerium, a man-made metal with a low ignition temperature. All the steels comes with attached striking devices and a 45° with decent force will throw sparks a good distance and help you get some flames going. We rounded up three exceptional steels that are guaranteed to get your flames going.

The Swedish Army fire steel is the epitome of classic fire starting devices. Developed by the Swedish Department of Defense, this fire steel is used by many different armed forces and achieves a 5400°F spark from it’s magnesium alloy rod. Super durable, the steel is rated for 12,000 strikes, will work when wet and can be used to light anything including gas grills or barbecues. While it comes in black and orange with a plastic handle, we preferred the wood, which offers a nice feel and sturdy grip.

Although he originally used a Swedish Steel like the one above, renowned survival expert Bear Grylls partnered with Gerber to produce a line of survival products including a handy fire steel. The Bear Grylls Survival Series fire starter uses a ferrocerium rod to produce it’s super heated sparks. The entire case is watertight, which protects kindling that can be stored in a container space under the screw off top. Despite the less than desirable color way and appearance the steel actually fits very nicely in the hand and produces a very series spark. This starter also includes an emergency whistle and a guide printed on the side detailed the alpine rescue signal and the standard SOS signal.

Another ferrocerium striker is the nanoSTRIKER from Exotac. This starter comes in five different varieties and weighs only 14.5 grams. By far the most compact of all the fire starting devices we came across the nanoSTRIKER breaks down into three parts and when assembled is barely half the length of the palm. It’s small stature doesn’t effect it’s sparking ability, the petite striker packs a serious punch and throws sparks farther than any of the other steels we observed. Rated at more than 1,000 strikes, this starter, which has a replaceable rod, fits perfectly on a key ring and will barely take up any room in your pack.

There are plenty variations of typical fire steel but the above three are solid options for any survivalist. Just always remember to taker care when using any incendiary device and to keep a large torch handy when trekking through bear country.

IDEO’s Adam Vollmer with “Faraday” at Checkpoint 2 of the Oregon Manifest

I suppose I was trying to be a bit coy with that last teaser shot from Oregon Manifest, which included the silhouette of the IDEO × Rock Lobster entry in the foreground, but savvy Googlers have most certainly turned up the full image sets from my fellow journalists Jay Greene of CNET and Jonathan Maus of BikePortland.

IDEO collaborated with Santa Cruz, CA-based Rock Lobster on an e-bike that can only be described as elegant: the frame itself is distinguished mostly by its double top tube and the beautifully welded front rack, but there’s more to “Faraday” than meets the eye. Insofar as IDEO is involved, many of the key design features remain invisible: a custom algorithm controls speed based on rider feedback and internally-routed cabling runs connects the motor and lights to a discreet “brain” at the seatstay cluster.

Photo by IDEO

Photo by IDEO

Moreover, the signature aesthetic touches of the frame belie functional utility as well: the top-tube holds the Lithium ion batteries—reportedly the same as those in the Chevy Volt—while the front rack can be swapped out for other cargo units such as a trunk or child seat. (It’s worth mentioning that the same is true of Fuseproject × SyCip’s “LOCAL” design; in fact, Fuseproject is supposedly developing additional ideas for bringing their vehicle to market.)

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