What do you do with all your old electronics? Put ’em in an EcoATM and you could make a few hundred dollars. Caroline Winter reported on a new startup that’s quickly gaining popularity:

• At an EcoATM you place your old phone in an ATM like box. Using cameras, lights and mirrors the machine then builds a 3D model of your device to determine how much it is worth.
• The EcoATM was developed with more than $31 million in funding.
• The machine asks you for your driver’s license number and thumbprint so that you can quickly be identified if you try to trick the machine.
• A quarter of the devices received can’t be refurbished or reused. They are sent to recyclers.
• Charities have begun to make use of the service. One church passed around a collection plate asking members to donate their old devices.

Read more about why people use the EcoATM over other recycling programs offered by companies such as Amazon, the humble origins of the machine, and what some of your old devices might be worth over here.

Source: Business Week

There’s a new website that can help you find cheap flights the next time you need to travel, writes Randall Stross:

• At FlightFox.com you post the itinerary that you would like to fly. Registered users then compete to find you the lowest fare possible.
• The person who finds the best fare gets a “finder’s fee” most of which range between $34 and $59.
• One traveler whose trip included 15 destinations over four months was able to save several thousands of dollars by using the site.
• Users can also specify if they need to travel with their pet or carry an odd sized item such as a surfboard – something that standard flight searching algorithms can’t do.

Read more about how the site works, who searches for the fares, and the amount of money that people have made and saved through the site over here.

Source: The New York Times

Via: Marginal Revolution

Evidence suggests that the era of open sea piracy has, once again, come to an end, write Abdi Guled and Jason Straziuso:

• In 2010 pirates captured 47 ships. In 2011 pirates tried commandeering 176 ships but only managed to take control of 25, indicating that anti-piracy efforts were succeeding. So far this year only five ships have been lost to pirates.
• This is partly the result of the efforts of the navies from Europe, America, China, India and Russia. No ship with armed guards on board has ever been hijacked by pirates and the use of them is spreading.
• Former pirates who were living large in expensive villas have had to return to tiny apartments, in a desperate attempt to hide from their creditors.
• Those who would finance pirate expeditions in Somalia are no longer interested in doing so; the rate of failure is too high.
• The decline in piracy is evident in Somalia’s economy. A cup of tea which used to cost as much as 50 cents has now fallen to just five cents.

Read more about the ships currently being controlled by pirates and what people from pirate towns have to say about the trend over here.

Source: Yahoo

Via: Marginal Revolution

Patty Hayes argued that advertizing is a useless drain on society. Highlights of the argument include:

• If all companies were banned from advertizing then all of the funds they pump into it would either have to go towards investing in better products, lowering prices for consumers, or generating more profit. These would all ultimately benefit people more.
• Since consumers would see less marketing they would buy less and save more – probably a good thing for the American consumer.
• Products with good quality rather than those with good marketing teams would do well in the marketplace.

Read more of the argument here.

Source: P.P.P.S

Credit Suisse surveyed people across the developing world to see how they spent their incomes, writes Derek Thompson. Highlights of the report include:

• Brazilians are the most optimistic. Only 7% saved anything, and over half didn’t save at all.
• China, on the other hand saves the most. 30% of income is saved.
• Due to India’s call centers many think that the country is a telecommunications marvel. Yet only 19% of those in the country have access to the internet.

Read more about what the survey tells us about Russia, Saudi Arabia, and other developing countries, as well as how they compare to the United States over here.

Source: The Atlantic

How do companies such as Amazon manage to get you your products in just two days? Marcus Wohlsen reported:

• Most distribution centers are still run by humans who go and pick your products for you from shelves.
• But there is a move towards automated robots. One type, that go to the shelf and bring the product back, can fill 1,000 orders in an hour.
• Amazon instead has invested in robots that lift the shelves themselves and then brings them over to workers who are guided by lasers to find the exact product to pack.
  • The robots that pick the shelves learn over time which shelves get used more often and keep them closer to the front, meaning that the process gets faster with experience.

Read more about the conditions in the factories, and why the quest for speed has become so important over here.

Source: Wired

Over the years the humble mirror hasn’t changed much. Now we’re seeing the development of “smart mirrors” writes Daisuke Wakabayashi:

• The medical mirror displays your pulse rate when you look at it. It does this by using a camera that measures slight variations in the colour of your face as your heart pumps blood in and out of it.
• Fashion stores can allow you to ‘try on’ clothes virtually and see the results in a mirror.
• Another can show you the latest in news, weather and traffic updates.
• The only thing stopping these mirrors from widespread adoption is the price tag: most cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Read more about the different things that mirrors of the future will be able to do over here.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Via: Marginal Revolution