Gizmodo: holland

The Citadel: The World's First Floating Apartment Complex

Dan Nosowitz — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:00:00 EDT

Since Holland is mostly under sea level, keeping houses from flooding is a constant problem. This concept fixes that problem by just having an apartment complex that floats.

The Citadel is the residential part of the "New Water" complex, which tries to embrace Holland's waterworld-ness instead of fighting it. It'll have a floating road to the mainland as well as plenty of boat docks for its 60 units. Apparently it'll also be 25% more energy-efficient than an equivalent complex on land by using the surrounding water for cooling. It looks kind of crazy, but the sort of crazy that could actually work. [Inhabitat]

Heated Sleep Suit Uses Same Technology as Spacesuits, for Insomniacs, Not Astronauts

AddyDugdale — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:27:05 EST

Dutch researchers have come up with a heated sleep suit that could help insomniacs and older people who suffer from disturbed sleeping patterns. A system of micropipes filled with water warms the patient, increasing their body temperature by just 0.4 degrees Celsius. At 35.4ºC, the body shifts from nocturnal wakefulness to a deeper sleep because, scientists believe, that skin temperature affects cells in the hypothalamus of the brain responsible for controlling sleep. As long as it doesn't spring a leak, eh? [Wired]

Modern Boat Homes to Survive Rising Sea Level

Kit Eaton — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:33:52 EST

Holland may soon be dotted with floating buildings as Dutch architects plan against global warming. The country is already 20 percent below sea level, and rising water levels are a concern. A flooded river is no threat to a floatable building with airtight foundations, and with slack built into electricity and water cables feeding it, the whole kaboodle can simply bob upwards. The gallery shows some building concepts, dreamed up by a company called Waterstudio, among others. Melting ice caps? Bring'em on. [Waterstudio, NPR via io9]

Urban Needle Box Concept Aimed at Responsible Drug Addicts, an Oxymoron if Ever There Was One

Kit Eaton — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 08:28:21 EST

Dutch designer Hån Pham has devised the Urban Needle Box to tackle the problem of used, and possibly infected, needles lying around in public areas. A kind of pocket-sized safety box for sharps, the Zippo-lighter-sized device should be cheap to make, and looks easy to use. The concept might have just one difficulty to overcome: reminding someone who's brain is fizzing with Smack to actually put needles in it. [Yanko Design]

Gizmodo PSA: Don't Frack Around With Fireworks

AddyDugdale — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 09:00:15 EST

Any of you itching to let off fireworks over the holiday season should watch this safety film that comes with love from us to you—because, no matter how big our fireworks are, we geeks need to take care. Here's "jihadi group" the Liberation Army Against Freedom showing you how not to light your firecrackers this Christmas.

It's actually a public safety film commissioned by the Dutch government to remind people of the dangers of fireworks. However, the viral has been slammed as insensitive and as insulting to Muslims by the boss of a marketing agency.

"What is the campaign hoping to achieve by depicting a negative stereotype of the Muslim community in a fireworks advert?" said Saad Saraf, the chief executive of Media Reach Advertising. "Are the producers aware that the actors in the advert are speaking in an Iraqi accent; with the current state of affairs in Iraq, I question, what were the creatives thinking?" said Saraf. Er, what creatives usually think: namely, what is the most efficient and eye-catching way of getting this message through, I reckon. Happy Winterval, people. [MediaGuardian]

Dutch Goverment Testing Disaster SMS

tgrumet — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 13:38:13 EST

After the stint of natural (and unnatural) disasters around the globe this year, wouldn't you like to be instantly alerted to any emergency happening near your home? To help with this, and make sure people who may not be near a TV or radio could still get danger warnings, the Dutch government has decided to do a test with mobile phone messaging. Using what is called Cell Broadcast, GSM technology will send out a cell phone message, letting people know what's going on.

If something happens in the center of The Hague, for example, we can select communication points from telecom companies and everyone who is within a few 100 meters can get the information.

This will be used in concurence with other emergency tactics, like plain old sirens and special emergency broadcasts. Right now, the trial is taking place in Zoetermeer and will soon go to Amsterdam and the south-west of Holland. Mobile operators KPN, Vodaphone and Telfort are all helping with the trial.

Dutch trial SMS disaster alert system [CNN]