Back in 2011, I bought a new countertop made from “Curface,” a composite material made from a mix of melted down used coffee cups and coffee grounds; we still have it and it’s wearing beautifully — you can treat it like solid wood, sanding off imperfections and oiling it back up to a shine; or you can treat it like a polymer and treat it with waxes like Turtle Wax for a durable finish.
Unfortunately, Curface is no more, but the idea of using coffee grounds as a cellulosic base for aggregates lives on; a German company called Kaffeeform is making coffee cups out of grinds suspended in resin — everything from go-cups to demitasses, espresso cups, and latte cups.
Their marketing material notes that “The cups are very durable, light, and have a mild smell of coffee.”
(via Red Ferret)
Rob Smith is an eminent computer scientist and machine learning pioneer whose work on genetic algorithms has been influential in both industry and the academy; now, in his first book for a general audience, Rage Inside the Machine: The Prejudice of Algorithms, and How to Stop the Internet Making Bigots of Us All, Smith expertly […]
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I’ve often said that science fiction doesn’t tell you much about the future, but it sure tells you a lot about the present: the fact that we’re still citing Frankenstein and the Terminator tells you that we’re worried about being carried away by our technology, the fact that we’re still citing The Matrix tells you […]
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Back in 1984, a lonely, weird kid calling himself Grandmaster Ratte’ formed a hacker group in Lubbock, Texas. called the Cult of the Dead Cow, a name inspired by a nearby slaughterhouse. In the decades to come, cDc would become one of the dominant forces on the BBS scene and then the internet — endlessly […]
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Many tech entrepreneurs are self-starters. The secret is in knowing where and when to start. And if your career plan involves programming or IT skills, the answer might just be “right here, right now” – because these ten online course bundles aren’t just packed with training and insight into essential work platforms. They’re all priced […]
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Looking for new tablets or other essential gear? Normally, you’re out of luck in the summer – that no man’s land for shoppers at the farthest point from the holidays. But here are ten examples where the prices have most definitely thawed out. Check out these deep discounts on Chromebooks and other refurbished gear, from […]
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The world can seem pretty splintered these days through the narrow lens of the internet, but all it takes is the right conversation in a distant cafe or remote mountain trail to show how much we have in common. For years, the professional globetrotters at Lonely Planet have been facilitating that feeling with guides that […]