This week’s Link Love: Vegans get their own Google, Rony Vardi dishes on her beauty faves, baby puffins are in jeopardy, SeaWorld hopes you won’t watch these videos, and eco-fashion is the new black.

The Great Vegan Search Engine: A Custom Google Search Tool for Vegans [via Eat Drink Better]

My Five Beauty Obsessions: Rony Vardi [via Well + Good]

Not Puffins! Something Is Seriously Wrong on the East Coast—and It’s Killing All the Baby Puffins [via Mother Jones]

Watch them: 6 Videos SeaWorld Doesn’t Want You to See [via One Green Planet]

‘Wear No Evil’: Eco-fashion is no longer an outlier notion [via News Observer]

Image via News Observer

The post Link Love: The Great Vegan Search Engine + SeaWorld Videos + Eco-Fashion is Here to Stay appeared first on EcoSalon.

Normally big is the opposite of green. These three tech companies prove that being massive doesn’t mean you can’t be environmentally responsible.

Chances are, you’re reading this on a device made by one of the big three tech companies: Apple, Google, or Samsung. Between them, this trio of corporations are responsible for a vast majority of the mobile technologies on the market today (and as we all know, Google pretty much has a lock down on internet search).

These tech companies aren’t perfect, and they deserve the flack they catch for contributing to the growing e-waste problem, avoiding taxes, and allowing  unsuitable working conditions in their overseas factories. But with billions of dollars of revenue comes the ability to make big green changes. They may not be able (or willing) tackle the social injustices that arise from their industry, but they are taking steps to reduce their footprint at home.

1. Samsung – North San Jose Megacampus

Samsung recently broke ground on a 1.1 million square foot research and development headquarters north of downtown San Jose. Designed by NBBJ the 650,00-square-foot office looks like a layer cake, but what hides inside is a lot more exciting than icing. The design “embraces the new urban design guidelines developed by the City of San Jose which call for densification, more active streetscapes, and environmental stewardship,” explains Samsung.

The entire site will be divided into four zones, which move from ‘urban’ to ‘garden’. Various courtyards will feature porous pavement, and lush native trees and plants. The tower itself will be clad in white metal and clear glass, carefully balanced to reduce solar heat gain and provide a sense of lightness. The goal is that no employee will ever be more than one floor away from green space.

2. Apple – Cupertino “Spaceship”

Looking a lot like a UFO Apple’s new 2.8 million square foot facility [PDF] will house up to 14,200 employees, and almost as many trees. Designed by Foster + Partners, nearly 80 percent of the massive campus will be green landscaped, including a company garden.

The parking lot would be house underground, avoiding the runoff that usually results when you pave paradise. According to recent design documents, Apple hopes to make the entire edifice “net zero” by generating a significant amount of the Campus’ energy from on-site renewable sources, and developing partnerships with renewable energy providers for grid-purchased renewable energy.

3. Google – The Googleplex

This spring, it was announced that Google would begin construction on a new 1.1-million-square-foot headquarters in Mountain View, California. Also designed by NBBJ (nobody saw that as a conflict of interest?!), it will be the first time Google has built its own facility from the ground up, and company officials promise it will break new ground in environmental sustainability.

Each of the nine buildings strewn around the campus will face west and east to minimize heat and glare from the morning and afternoon sun. The buildings’ narrow design ensures that no matter where your desk is located, you’ll have plenty of natural sunlight, thus minimizing lighting costs. The Google HQ will make prolific use of solar panels, while a low-energy heating and cooling system will allow it to supply 100 percent fresh air without breaking the bank.

Images: Samsung, Google/NBBJ, Apple/Foster + Partners,

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Want to help Google Maps go where no maps have gone before? Sign up to wear the Google Street View Trekker backpack.

It’s been a while since Google Maps were simply digital road maps. Now, these living charts show us public transit, the best routes for walking and biking, and can even show you what your destination will look like before you arrive.

Brought to you by those colorful cars with the funny spherical cameras on top, Google Street View lets you explore places around the world through 360-degree street-level imagery. Now, however, Google is taking maps far beyond the street.

Extreme mapping expeditions have taken Google adventurers and their sophisticated panoramic cameras to the ends of the Earth in an attempt to make the entire world accessible from a laptop screen. With Google Street View, you can now hike the Grand Canyon, explore the ocean floor, or visit your favorite National Park, all from the comfort of your couch.

Until recently, driving the Google car or participating in one of these daring mapping expeditions was a privilege reserved for the few. But now, Google Street View is giving average outdoor enthusiasts a chance to get in on the action.

The tech giant recently debuted the Trekker backpack. Outfitted with a camera system on top, it enables the wearer to gather images while maneuvering through tight, narrow spaces or locations only accessible by foot. “The Trekker enables Street View to feature more places around the world – places no car, trike, trolley or snowmobile can access,” explains Google. The camera is “operated by an Android device and consists of 15 lenses angled in a different direction so the images can be stitched together into 360-degree panoramic views. As the operator walks, photos are taken roughly every 2.5 seconds.”

Anyone–from University students to tourism boards–who wants to help collect imagery of hard to reach places can apply to borrow the Trekker and help map the world. Apply here!

Image: Google

The post Map The World: Apply To Wear The Google Street View Backpack appeared first on EcoSalon.

Rumor has it that the country’s most successful electric car company could be working with Google to introduce self-driving capabilities.

Nearly every auto manufacturer on the planet offers or is working on an electric car. For some, it’s only a tiny aspect of their fleet. For Tesla Motors, it’s everything. Dedicated only to the creation of sleek, high-performance plug-in cars, Tesla recently made headlines by announcing that it is on track to repay a $465m Department of Energy loan 9 years ahead of schedule. For car makers just struggling to break even on their EV dreams, the news was proof that Tesla is ahead of the game. Way ahead.

The success helps to explain another astounding announcement: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, is talking with Google about adding driverless technology to his already awesome line of electric vehicles.

Google is the poster company for auto-piloted vehicles, a project that is already in testing on open roadways and has the entire auto industry buzzing. In an article describing the experience of riding in an auto-piloted car, Forbes’ Joann Muller writes, “The car we were riding in was a white Lexus RX450h outfitted with a $65,000 laser sensor on the roof, and other gear that included radar sensors in the front and rear bumpers, a high-def camera looking out from the windshield, and another looking inward at the passengers…On the instrument panel, a graphic depicted each of the cars around us as a white rectangle and tracked its movement relative to ours.”

Once you get over the initial shock and horror of allowing the car to merge onto the freeway at 65 mph without your help, the idea of riding in a self-piloted vehicle starts to sound cool. Eventually, you could take a road trip to catch up on some reading, safely send a text, or perhaps even sleep. The only imperfection would be that you’re still flinging pollution into the atmosphere. But that would change with an autonomous Tesla that runs on electricity.

“I like the word autopilot more than I like the word self-driving,” Musk said in an interview. “Self-driving sounds like it’s going to do something you don’t want it to do. Autopilot is a good thing to have in planes, and we should have it in cars.” As Engadget reports, “a hidden configuration page in current Tesla vehicles’ digital control panel reveals some additional features, including Blind Spot Detection, Adaptive Cruise and Lane Departure Warning. Though currently disabled, each could indicate plans to add automation features to the all-electric car.

The biggest hurdle, of course, is money. “The problem with Google’s current approach is that the sensor system is too expensive,” Musk said. “It’s better to have an optical system, basically cameras with software that is able to figure out what’s going on just by looking at things.”

If anyone can find a way to squeeze more tech into a car for less money, however, it’s Tesla. The company’s Model S sedan has a $69,900 base price, a far cry from The Roadster, the company’s first offering, which started at $109,000. The goal, according to Musk,  is to offer a model for about $30,000 within a few years.

Image: jurvetson and jurveston

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The internet is in an uproar about a bill called CISPA, but why? Here’s a simple primer on what this bill is and why it (and all its lookalikes) needs to be stopped.

Do you remember SOPA and PIPA? These two so-called internet security bills would, in the words of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), “hamper innovation, kill jobs, wreak havoc on Internet security, and undermine free speech.” We’re running low on outlets for true free speech in this world, so naturally, the interwebs were none too pleased.

In 2012, SOPA and PIPA provoked an internet-wide protest that saw some of the world’s most prominent websites go black, sporting only information pages about why the bills needed to be stopped. And it worked. SOPA and PIPA disappeared and we went about our business; but many knew the fight for our internet freedom and privacy wasn’t over. Turns out SOPA and PIPA were busy while on vacation, and now CISPA, a bill many are calling their “bastard offspring” is working its way through our government.

But what is this controversial bill, and why haven’t we seen the internet-wide blackout that SOPA and PIPA ignited?

Well, for one thing, America has had its fair share of distracting disasters in the last few weeks. But while we were mourning Boston, an even bigger threat to our rights was quietly passed by the House of Representatives. Although the Senate says it will shelve the bill in favor of drafting its own version, it’s imperative that Americans be informed about what’s at stake.

WHO

CISPA was introduced by U.S. Representative Michael Rogers (R-MI) back in 2011, but has received support from both sides of the aisle in the form of 111 co-sponsors. In an interesting twist, major web and tech entities such as Google, Mozilla, Wikipedia and Facebook, are not coming out in opposition of CISPA like they did with SOPA and PIPA. Some even support it. More about this later…

WHAT

CISPA stands for Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). Sounds so nice doesn’t it? Who doesn’t love to share and be protected? If passed, CISPA would allow for voluntary information sharing between private companies and the government in the event of a cyber attack. If the government detects a cyber attack that might take down Facebook or Google, for example, they could notify those companies. At the same time, Facebook or Google could inform the feds if they notice unusual activity on their networks that might suggest a cyber attack (PG Mag).

WHY (Should You Care?)

Supporters of the bill say that it’s a necessary upgrade to the National Security Act of 1947, which does not cover cyber crimes. Politicians in the late 1940s couldn’t have possibly foreseen the pain of being hacked or becoming a victim of identity theft, so this part seems fairly benign as well. No one wants World World III to start because another country hacked into the military mainframe and fired off some missiles. While this is scary (but unlikely) it’s the other things the government and its corporate cronies could do with this power that’s truly terrifying.

Critics say that “CISPA is an affront to American civil liberties, and the privacy of its citizens.” According to the EFF, “the bill grants broad new powers, allowing companies to identify and obtain “threat information” by looking at your private information.” This would allow companies to easily hand over users’ private information to the government thanks to a liability clause (something that wasn’t included in SOPA/PIPA, and a main reason why big tech companies that opposed those bills now support CISPA. They have far less to lose). This, according to the EFF “essentially means CISPA would override the relevant provisions in all other laws—including privacy laws.”

With the recent passage of the NDAA, a measure that allows “indefinite detention of American citizens without due process at the discretion of the President,” the idea of who or what could be considered a “cyber threat” becomes much murkier. How many of us have shared criticism of our government or supported activists online? What happens if Facebook and Uncle Sam decide to create a handy list of online dissenters just in case? Your privacy and rights go out the window, that’s what.

And there’s also the reality that CISPA could not only enable–but possibly require–employees to provide their bosses with the passwords to their personal social media accounts. An amendment that would have prevented this was voted down by the House of Representatives. Lovely public servants, aren’t they?

WHEN

CISPA was passed in the House of Representatives on April 26, 2012, but was not passed by the U.S. Senate. President Obama’s advisers have argued that the bill lacks confidentiality and civil liberties safeguards and they advised him to veto it. In February 2013 the House reintroduced the bill and passed it on April 18, 2013.

THE GOOD NEWS

CISPA is dead for now and the White House still says it will veto any cyber security bill that doesn’t adequately protect civil liberties. But the same administration also passed the NDAA, so take that with a grain of salt.

Image: danitgeek/deviant art

The post CISPA: What It Is And Why You Should Care appeared first on EcoSalon.

Infused with a snarky personality and advanced mobile technology, these talking sneakers could put your personal trainer out of a job.

Humans were built for exercise. We’ve got massive muscles, a strong skeleton, and a metabolism that just begs to be used. In our hunter-gatherer years, the daily struggle for survival was all the workout we needed, but decades of inventing for convenience has left us stationary and fat. Now, we run on treadmills and take high-intensity aerobics classes just to force ourselves to break a sweat.

Even in our sedentary world, opportunities for exercise are everywhere–it’s the motivation that’s lacking. We sign up for high price gym memberships and personal training sessions only to come up with lame excuses for why don’t show up.

Being lazy used to be a secret between us and the couch, but a new collaboration between Google and Adidas could guilt us into action.

During the recent SXSW festival in Austin, the two companies revealed a “talking shoe” concept that delivers a running critique of your activity levels. Spend too much time in the seated position, and the shoe is guaranteed to have something to say about it.

“Using an accelerometer, a gyroscope, Bluetooth and some other off the shelf technologies, the Talking Shoe translates the wearer’s movements into funny, motivating and timely commentary,” explains designer Zach Lieberman of YesYesNo. “The things it says can be posted to Google+ by the user, sent to real-time ad units, if the user chooses to, and broadcast via onboard speakers. It can talk to the world and to the web,” if the wearer so chooses.

Stay stationary too long, for instance, it will say things like, “This is super-boring” or “Quick, someone check my pulse”, reports Ecouterre. “It might even start offering suggestions, such as a run or a game of basketball. Start getting physical, however, and the shoe will change its tune, noting “That’s more like it,” or “I love the feel of the wind in my laces.”

It’s not hard to see that this humor-based technology could actually be effective. We use all kinds of tricks and apps to hold ourselves accountable to our own fitness goals. The problem with these technologies is that they require our input to be of use. If you skip a workout or fail to reach a goal, they do nothing. These shoes, however, would intrude on our inner excuse-making process, make us laugh, and hopefully, be the push we need to finally get up and move.

“By bringing the personalization and intelligence of the Web to everyday things, we can make them more useful and entertaining,” the designers say. These connected and smart objects are sharing relevant information with us, turning chores into games and making us healthier.”

Unlike the Google Glass, however, neither company has plans of bringing the show to market just yet. But I wouldn’t be surprised if someone else seized the utility of this idea, and ran with it. Literally.

Image: Art, Copy & Code

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We usually assume new technology will make our lives easier and more convenient. The omnipresence of Google Glass is likely to throw us a few curve balls, however.

Project Glass is Google’s new endeavor to develop the world’s first pair of augmented reality glasses. Most tech geeks on the internet simply call the device “Google Glass.”

‘Augmented reality glasses’ means a tiny screen right in front of your eyeball. Much like your smartphone, Google Glass displays online information in a hands-free format that interacts with the Internet via natural language voice commands. With this device recording video, taking a picture, accessing your email, or plotting directions will now happen inches from your cornea and without the need for a single click or swipe. And we’re not talking about decades from now–many predict Google Glass will hit consumer markets by the end of 2013.

The glasses look like something straight out of Mission Impossible, and predictions about how they could make life easier (or much, much more complex) are just as sensational. Let’s take a look at a few…

Dating

A Facebook status update after a blind date from hell is one thing, but what if the blow-by-blow analysis was delivered during the date? With Google Glass, we’ll have the ability to post on social media or even live stream our activities without detection. What’s worse, that guy who seems oh-so-interested in your story about saving a baby bird when you were six might actually be nodding and smiling at an episode of Duck Dynasty instead. Thanks to Google Glass, even eye-contact might lose its meaning.

Work

With Google Glass’ ability to capture, share, and message with only verbal commands, an instant is all that’s needed to capture your coworker picking his nose or pinching pens from the supply closet. Even worse, it’ll take more than firewalls and nosy bosses to make sure employees are actually working at work: Jane’s face may be glued to that quarterly report, but you’d never know that her eyes are actually watching the season finale of Top Chef. On the flip side, it’ll be virtually impossible to stop your workaholic husband from checking company email while on vacation. Good thing the threat of information leaks means Glass is likely to be banned from most offices. And bathrooms. And movie theaters. And concerts. And…

Fashion

Glasses can be cute if you’re going for the sexy librarian style, but they’re not for everyone. With the debut of Google Glass however, face decor is likely to become as omnipresent as phones and wristwatches. So how does one plan an outfit around Borg-like cranial accessories? Well, you’ll be glad to know that Google already plans to offer them in an array of colors (Charcoal, Tangerine, Shale, Cotton, and Sky), and The New York Times reports that Google is in talks with eye-wear designer Warby Parker to develop “more fashionable frames.”

Home

You know that fantasy you have about commanding the laundry to fold itself? Well, Glass can’t do that, but if rumors are any indicator, it’ll definitely give you power over inanimate objects. Google recently applied for a patent that would enable a wearable computer with a head-mounted display (aka Glass) to control physical objects like refrigerators, espresso machines, and garage doors. The patent describes how with the help of sensors, RFID, Bluetooth, and QR codes, the wearable computer could detect everyday objects and project an augmented reality user interface onto them, explains SF Gate.

Putting the screen two inches from your eye is only a hop, skip and a jump away from implanting that sucker directly into your cornea. And you know where it goes from there…So tell us: are you ready to plug your brain stem directly into the Google mainframe?

Image: Google

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Or at least, what we thought of doing.

Even if you’re afraid that Google Skynet might still be a distant possibility, it’s still mind-blowing to realize how much data passes through Google’s servers on a daily basis. Earlier this month, the team at Google Maps compiled data from the end of May to the beginning of September. They looked at all the searches from maps.google.com in the Northern Hemisphere to find out what a lot of people thought of doing this summer.

Camping was the top-searched activity in France, while in Canada and Spain, the top-rated search was for the beach (or as they say, “la playa”). In Great Britain, squash appears to be a highly popular summer activity, while the Dutch appear to have a great love for theme parks.

Here in the United States, paintball was the top searched-for activity. But Google also plotted out the most popular landmarks in the United States by how often they were searched for, which resulted in some good news for those of us currently living on the West Coast. Death Valley, Redwoods and Yosemite National Park beat out other popular tourist attractions by far.

It looks like Ken Burns hit the nail on the head when he termed the national parks to be “America’s best idea.” Is it too early to start planning next summer’s vacation?

Image: Google Official Blog

The post Sunday Infographic: Google Shows Us What We Did Over Summer appeared first on EcoSalon.

The best of EcoSalon’s stories this week.

How do you want to come across to a new acquaintance – strong and dignified, or whiny and self-obsessed? As The Hunger Games goes ballistic at the box office, we celebrate a better cinematic role model for women than a certain “emo teenager pining for her hybrid werewolf-vampire boyfriend”.

How did you originally find EcoSalon? A certain staffer delves deep into our analytics in search of outlier search engine queries, with predictably disturbing results.

Can you imagine greeting the dawn from within one of these gorgeously minimalist Zen retreats?

Congratulations for sustainable fashion designers Everlane – they may have just upended the traditional, relatively wasteful model of industrial clothing production.

Finally, our resident foodie’s column turned two years old this week. Go join in the celebration of Anna Brones and her hit column, Foodie Underground (there’s cake!).

The post The Friday 5: Making a Good Impression Edition appeared first on EcoSalon.

How did you originally find EcoSalon?

I’m betting you just said “I Googled you” – that synonym for “I found you in a search engine” that must infuriate Google’s competitors. Our archives now stretch back 4 years, and that’s a lot of ways to find us via selective Googling (Binging, Yahooing). That’s also a lot of different ways we’re making a first impression with you. So, what was that first impression, and how do we find out? Options abound. We could interrupt your daily reading with an annoying pop-up question, and then six months down the line, you’d find EcoSalon by searching for “annoying pop-up”. (We decided against that). A better idea? One intrepid staff member – hi there – sent into the belly of the machine in search of our most popular search engine queries.

It turns out that taking a stroll through our most-trafficked keywords is like going on an urban hike. I start firmly in our own back yard. Everyone’s talking about foods that boost your metabolism, rainforests, DIY clothes and Andy Goldsworthy – this is a good crowd. These people get EcoSalon. Some are asking what they should do on a nice day. I like that.

Then after a while, as search queries head down towards single figures, there are signs I’m in a different neighborhood. Why are people asking how to “hide your TV?” I’m trying to see that as anything but sinister and dystopian, but it’s hard. Keywords are getting a little flaky. I don’t know what half of them are. “Squid Couture,” Is that a thing? (It’s a thing).

People are starting to sound a little flaky too. Some are asking advice on getting undressed. Doesn’t everyone start with the socks and go from there? Clearly not. And there are the questions that answer themselves, like “Where does chicken breast come from?” and “How to cure a sore throat from talking too much?” I want to give these people a hug, but it’s not that kind of crowd. How much further do I have to go, EcoSalon? Guys?

We’re into the low end of single figures. I’m well out of my comfort zone. Keep walking, no eye contact. Someone is asking how to make “baby hands.” Is that the new jazz hands? Don’t dwell on it – keep walking. More hands appear: “vintage holding hands.” Aw, that’s kinda sweet – perhaps an elderly couple wading through the hedonistic mire in search of more innocent times. And then you see “mohair sex.” This is the search engine event horizon. You mustn’t Google anything from this point onwards, even if you’re really, really curious. You mustn’t. You just aren’t ready.

Threes and twos, now – the queries that only hit EcoSalon once in a wild blue moon. The fringes of internet society, the people even Myspace won’t let in. Some of the inhabitants of this area are just badly-spelled – they’ve grammatically lost their way. But the others? Kansas is long gone, Toto.

No – stop that. Pull yourself together. What’s the worst that can happen? Head down, keep walking, and I’m sure that nothing will…

“I Want A Young Rush Limbaugh.”

Sorry, EcoSalon – I’m out of here.

Images: pmarkham and country_boy_shane.

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