Do it Yourself Hand Warmers

Now that we finally have some snow, we may have some use for hand warmers up here in VT. Here's a quick way to make hand warmers at home with just one quick trip to the hardware store.

All you need:

1 small Ziploc bag
1 large Ziploc bag
A little water
Calcium chloride ice-melt pellets

Fill the smaller bag about halfway with water, then fill the larger back about a quarter of the way with the ice-melt pellets. Put the smaller bag in the larger bag, seal tightly while pressing down to remove air, then squeeze the smaller bag until in breaks open and the water mixes with the ice-melt pellets. This should create a warm bag that will last between 20 minutes to an hour depending on how many pellets you use. Enjoy!

For the full article, click here.

Image 1 via theangelforever.com*
Image 2 via papergoods.com*
Image 3 via dartsp.com*
*All edited in house.

Self-Driving Cars May Be in the Nearer-Than-Expected Future

Companies such as BMW and Google are heading the way towards fully-automatic vehicles. And I don't mean automatic transmissions, but vehicles that 100 percent drive themselves.

BMW Engineer Werner Huber thinks that in about 10-15 years there could be a whole other world of driving. BMW has a technology called CDC (ConnectedDrive Connect) that already maneuvers itself seamlessly through traffic, holding its ground while self-driving on Germany's notorious Autobahn. The plan is for these vehicles to have the fully-autonomous option as well as an option for the driver to drive themselves if they so please - so don't worry about handing your control completely to your vehicle just yet.

The hurdle between creating these cars and actually getting them into production is less so the technology involved and mostly the cost to do it. Automakers are already beginning to master the technology, but it takes a huge budget, which is why it's exclusively available in luxury cars thus far. There's a hindrance from legal issues too; what would happen if the computer of the car crashed? Many injuries could be sustained to the driver, passenger, pedestrians or any other fellow drivers.


Well, Mitsubishi won't have any of these in stock for a while, but we'll let you know in 10-15 when they are available. In the meantime, head to our website to check out our stock of new and used driver-driving vehicles.


Click here to view the full article on Digital Trends.

Image 1 via Digital Trends.
Image 2 via pcworld.com

Pentagon's Project Avatar

DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) has just invested $7 million on a project called Avatar. If you're thinking they can't possibly have humans with huge blue surrogates on another planet - you're mostly right. However, they are working on robot surrogates that will be controlled by the mind of a soldier, much like Avatars are in the Blockbuster film.

The robots will be linked to one specific human partner, who will potentially be able to control their technical counterpart by mind power alone. DARPA has also constructed the AlphaDog, which is designed to interact with humans the way an actual dog would, and was created to lug gear during combat. Check out the newly-released video of AlphaDog below (also the picture on the left).

The things you can do with technology these days. What I'm wondering - is if these robots can be controlled solely by the human mind, will it not take away from the physical training and fitness a soldier has to undergo to prepare themselves for war? And talk about how mentally tough you have to be - will that decrease if your robotic other half is fighting for you? My guess, which would eliminate the downfalls of my questions, is that only the most elite of the military will be the ones with the bots.



Check out the full article here.
Image 1 via picktainment
Image 2 via Grind365

Which Car Can Power Traffic Lights?

The Mitsubishi i, of course. It hasn't been attempted here in the U.S., but in Japan a group of Mitsubishi engineers alongside the National Police Agency decided to conduct an experiment where they hooked up a fully-charged Mitsu i to a portable emergency power inverter - and let there be light! The i independently ran 20 sets of stop lights in downtown Tokyo for two hours.



Did I mention it won Greenest Car of the Year?




To see the full article, click here.


Image 1 via freeclipartnow.com
Image 2 via About.com.

Electromagnetic Roads Will Charge Your Car While You're Driving

Stanford University researchers are currently developing a wireless system that will magnetically charge your electric vehicle while you're driving.

Some EVs are limited to only 100 miles of driving before they need to be charged for ten hours to gain another 100. Stanford researchers wanted to fix this downfall by creating a way to "charge-as-you-drive". It will work by embedding copper coils underneath the EV as well as under the roadway, which will continuously give your battery charge - potentially leaving you with more stored energy at the end of your trip than you had when you started.

How long until we see these changes? Not for a few years - but this would certainly be a huge perk to owning an electric vehicle (other than you know, almost never buying gas and getting 112 miles per gallon like the Mitsu i).

To check out the full article, click here.

Information & photo courtesy of Digital Trends.

Greenest Car of the Year

For the first time in eight years, the Honda Civic Natural Gas is not the greenest car in America - and for the first time in 12 years, an electric vehicle takes the cake.

The Mitsubishi i, Mitsubishi's first electric vehicle beat out the Nissan Leaf, Toyota Prius and CNG Civic. "To calculate their ratings, the ACEEE took into account manufacturing and recycling processes in addition to fuel economy and tailpipe emissions," according to the press release.

Go Mitsubishi! Not only for being socially responsible, but also because winning the Greenest Car is not easy these days. It's probably (or should be) the most competed-for spot.

For the full press release, click here.

Information and photo courtesy of autobloggreen.

The Best Way to Organize Your Apps

Here's a new way to organize your apps on your phone that will make your home screen more user friendly, for you.

I just read through an article that suggest that you organize your app folders by action instead of just labeling them. Meaning, instead of labeling a folder food try eat, and instead of music try listen. This will help your brain organize your folders more clearly and better help you to navigate through your phone.

I just went to switch my folders over to test this out, and already got fumbled with how I was going to reorganize everything into actions. Seeing as how my folders are completely jumbled into categories that kind of make sense, though, I think this may not be a bad idea.

Image and all information via Lifehacker

January's Best Apps for iPhone, Android and iPad

Gizmodo updated their list of the apps they think are the most essential to have. Whether they're fun, practical, or entertaining - they've got a list of what they think you'll love. Everything from sports apps, agendas, photo enhancers, fitness... See what the best apps are (so far) for 2012.

Startup Vermont Launch, Announced Today

Vermont entrepreneurs alongside Vermont Secretary of Commerce and Community Development Lawrence Miller announced the launch of Startup Vermont earlier today. Startup Vermont is an initiative by VT entrepreneurs that will exist to open doors to people who are looking to start up new businesses.

"It will work to promote entrepreneurship, to support high growth startups, and to integrate and enhance Vermont’s ecosystem for the benefit of the state’s entrepreneurs," according to the press release. Mostly, it will work to get Vermonters more jobs, and help potential business owners to begin living out their goals.

Startup Vermont is in conjunction with Startup America, and is one of seven states who are joining the Startup initiative as of January 2012 (others are Hawaii, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Rhode Island, and Virginia and the District of Columbia), while Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Texas are already participating.

Check out this video marking the anniversary of Startup America.

To see the full press release, click here.

Information courtesy of vtdigger.com. Picture 1 via Startup America, picture 2 via Vermont Chamber of Commerce.