James Hester's Blog – March 2010 Archive (11)

March 24, 2020



This one has been in the works for a while, and I'm really surprised we've managed to keep it under wraps for the wh*** time. But the look on the the world's collective face will be well worth the effort to keep it a surprise.



After literally a year of planning, bargaining, and otherwise navigating the cantankerous bureaucracy that is international politics, my team and I have managed to take an impossible pipe-dream and make it into a reality.



A… Continue

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/01/a_bicycle_that.php



The above link is to an article and video about a fascinating piece of tech that I was told about a while back.



Whether in times of disaster or in areas of the world with poor water/sanitation access, people often have to travel significant distances for water. After the time and effort in getting the water, it needs to be boiled or otherwise… Continue

I was first introduced to the concept of off-the-grid parties at the annual Dark Mountain Festival, which held an off-the-grid club night which has become a real hit for festival goers. Inspired by this, I've been organizing a BYOB (Bring Your Own Battery) Party every summer in the hunting cabin owned by my wife's family in western Pennsylvania. The mains are switched off for the day, and everybody is charged with bringing their own power to contribute to the energy potluck that will keep the… Continue

This project is probably a long way off, but awareness and support generated by the public is what will help it keep going until it's potential can be realized.



It sounds like something from a sci-fi movie, but it's not. Check out this article here:

http://www.physorg.com/news174893601.html



Basically, scientists in a lab in China have succeeded in creating a small version of a black h***. Obviously this was done… Continue

The urban homesteaders of Clarion have developed a tradition over the years of coming together at the turning of the seasons for a big pot-luck feast in which everyone cooks something using ingredients that they've produced themselves (or bartered with other members of the group, since everyone has certain specialties that others don't). Not only is it a lot of fun and a promise of fantastic food, but it also gives us all the chance to swap recipes and get ideas for growing/production from each… Continue

Whether or not this is considered a major problem to food security in the UK, or a viable solution to this issue, is perhaps and issue for debate. Some might consider it a more valid outlook than others. But it's something that I do think about frequently and think that it at least makes for good material to debate.



Looking through a lot of recent reports by the UK government on food security in the country, the powers that be seem fairly confident in our ability to weather any type… Continue

I was first made aware of this initiative this past summer when I was still living in York. Basically, people explore a city and its surrounding areas to find edible plants (most usually fruit bushes and trees) that are either uncultivated on public land, or is on private land (but the owner has given permission to harvest it since they have no use for it). They then spread the word so that others can share in the bounty of these plants that would otherwise sit uncultivated with their fruit… Continue

So after literally months of talking about it, browsing websites for products and specs, and talking to people about their thoughts on various models, I finally just decided to dive straight in and experiment with taking my mobile phone off the grid once and for all.



It started with my discovery last night that there was in fact a Maplin electronics store roughly a 25 minute walk from where I live. As I was heading into town for groceries today anyway, I figured I'd duck out a little… Continue

It's 2020, and boy have things changed from where I thought I'd be.



After my wife Adrienne got a professorship at a small university in rural Pennsylvania, I had to bid farewell to my Assistant Curatorship at the Royal Armouries. It was a tough call. I was in a really good place with prospects to establish myself long-term there in a good career as a specialist in medieval weapons and combat. This what I'd wanted to do, and had been working toward, since I was about 15. However, I… Continue

I cannot think of a better 'hero' to shadow than a good friend of mine called Vinay Gupta.



Vinay is an engineer who is turning his talents toward a combination of humanitarian aid and measures to help the world become more sustainable and resilient to an ever growing possibility of life-altering changes.



He is currently most well known as the inventor of the Hexayurt; a shelter that can be built with local materials and labour, costs a quarter of what an average relief tent… Continue

A child’s mind operates in a world of infinite potential. Nothing is impossible until they are programmed by parents and society to regard it as such. Imagine the possibilities if we cultivated

that ‘pre-programmed’ way of looking at the world.

As an illustration, let me offer a snippet from the novel Sophie’s…

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