Hasta La Gadget!

Having clean drinking water is something that many of us might take for granted, especially for those of us who happen to live in a First World country. If you have ever made a trip to Third World and developing countries, you would know just how some people live with seemingly dirty water, and have to literally make do with what they have. With the NKD AQUA POD, it is one device which basically allows you to transform ordinary tap water into pure mountain quality spring water as you drink, or so it is claimed. The NKD AQUA POD is a Kickstarter project that is also the first of its kind in the world when it comes to portable water filtration as you will find out in greater detail below.

Just how is your water filtered and supercharged? Well, it claims to use “a 100% natural clean and green purification process” as you drink. While the standard issue water bottle’s structure has more or less remained the same for so many years, the NKD AQUA POD was developed with an intention to not only be functional, but pleasing to the eyes as well, resulting in a bottle for modern living. After all, what is the point of having the self-proclaimed “world’s best water” if it does not end up in the “world’s best bottle”?

The NKD AQUA POD works by sending water that you drink through a patent pending filter that is a snap to change, where it is touted to do away with chlorine taste and odor, not to mention filtering out around 99% of the bacteria in the water. It can also filter out heavy metals as long as the water you are drinking is from the municipal tap, while the gritty carbon taste that you normally experience from other carbon filters are also done away with. Not only that, your tongue will enjoy supercharged water with natural minerals and electrolytes that can be found in nature, and it uses the safest, most technologically advanced plastics which are FDA-approved plastics.

Kickstarter Page
[ NKD AQUA POD offers filtered and supercharged water copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

If you paid even the slightest bit of attention during science class, then you know better than to drink seawater. Despite how inviting it may seem (“hey, it’s still water after all!”), seawater causes severe dehydration so you’re better off thirsty than taking a drink of it.

Unfortunately for those who find themselves stranded on lifeboats or rafts in the middle of the ocean, it’s a temptation that’s hard to resist. Then along came Puri.

It’s a portable seawater desalinating bottle that uses pumping action to remove the salt from the seawater. It’s still a concept design for now, but wouldn’t it be amazing if it became a reality? Puri could then be put on lifeboats, where they can be used during emergencies and save lives in the process.

So that’s probably looking too far ahead, but hey, it could happen.

Puri is designed by Younsun Kim, Kangkyung Lee, Byungsoo Kim, and Minji Kim and is a 2013 IDEA Design Awards entry.

[via Yanko Design]

Authorities in the UK have never had quite the same level of anxiety over Huawei that we’ve witnessed in the US, and they’ve so far been happy to let the Chinese firm get involved with numerous parts of the country’s data infrastructure. As it turns out, the company’s control even extends to the “Homesafe” filter used by internet service provider TalkTalk, which David Cameron recently praised during his push for tighter controls on adult content. The BBC discovered that UK-based Huawei employees are able to decide which sites are blocked on TalkTalk’s service, and that even users who opt out of Homesafe have their internet usage data routed through Huawei’s system. Whether or not this is an issue depends entirely on how much you trust reports of close ties between Huawei and the Chinese government, versus Huawei’s claim that these concerns are based on anti-Chinese prejudice rather than evidence. From a purely practical point of view, however, if the mission is to block off huge swathes of the internet, why wouldn’t you hire an expert?

Update: A representative of Huawei has been in touch to provide the company’s side of the story. He said that Huawei doesn’t “run” the Homesafe system, but that the system is “supported by Huawei” without Huawei having control over it. He added that Huawei does not decide which sites are blocked, and that the final decision as to what filters are implemented rests with TalkTalk. Meanwhile, the BBC is apparently standing by its story, since it has issued no retraction.

Filed under: Internet

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Source: BBC News

It’s no secret that some British residents want an active-by-default internet filter to keep kids away from salacious content. However, the BBC now claims that the UK government wants to falsely imply that this filter already exists. According to a reportedly leaked letter, the Department of Education is asking internet providers to refer to their filters as “default on” without changing what’s ultimately a voluntary system. As you’d imagine, the companies are supposedly quite unhappy: ISP sources believe the phrasing would mislead customers and encourage complacency. Officials have declined to comment on the demands, but we may know the truth soon enough as the Department of Education’s letter says an announcement could come “shortly.”

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Via: Jack Schofield (Twitter)

Source: BBC

Clean water can be hard to come by, especially when you’re in the great outdoors or traveling in areas that don’t have sufficient facilities. While you might come by a water source, the water is probably unsafe for drinking and might contain contaminants or pollutants that might make you sick.

Small, portable water filtration systems are already available, but Vapur goes one step further by including an actual water bottle with their system.

Vapur already manufactures a line of foldable and collapsible water bottles that are widely used by travelers and those who want a convenient way to store and transport water.

Vapur calls their portable water purification system MicroFilter. It’s packaged and sold with the 1-L Eclipse Anti-Bottle, and both weigh just 2.7 oz (77 g) when empty. The 0.2-micron filter can remove 99.9999 percent of waterborne bacteria and 99.9 percent of protozoa, although it can’t remove viruses like most other filters.

Vapur’s new portable filtration system has received recognition from publications like Outside and National Geographic. The MicroFilter system was launched this week and can be purchased for $69.99(USD).

[via Gizmag]