You could build a truck that ran on biodiesel, contained biodiesel processing equipment, pulled a biodiesel tank, and also sold coffee. It could drive around collecting grounds until it was full, at which point it would drive to a biodiesel consumer community to sell it all before going on another round.

Custom built coffee ground collection containers could be dropped off at each cafe on an established route.

FTA...

If your home is heated by gas and it does not seem to be getting the job done very well as the winter months roll in, you may want to ensure that your hot water line into the heater is open (not to mention the line back into the hot water line, down-stream from the heater).

After being present at a neighbors while a leasing office rep came in to ensure the above was established correctly, I realized the reason that my apartment as been ice-fucking-cold over the past few weeks.

Oh, don't get me wrong, the "heater" was "running"; but that just means the fan was on. Lots of air has been recirculating in my unit for a while now, but absolutely nothing has been getting done to change it's temperature.

I opened the inlet immediately after witnessing the incident, but just now realized I'd left the outlet closed still and corrected THAT deficiency...

Maybe you like it cold, but I may as well be a lizard when it comes to maintaining body heat.

Good luck, and stay warm in there!

While some of us pine away for more pragmatic steampunk accessories, such as goggles, the team over at Weta has been building weapons. These are definitely not cheap, starting at just over $1k and going all the way up to $8k for the Unnatural Selector. Each comes in a designed case that further captures the steampunk essense quite nicely. Any one of these would be a great capstone to someone's steampunk collection.

I suppose it would be too much to ask for some adoring fan to gift something from the collection to me. There are a limited number of each weapon available, so it is not likely that you will get a second chance to pick one up, for yourself or for me!

I have long wondered why computers are not manufacturered with their components easier to add and remove by putting them on the outside of the case instead of the inside. By putting all of the add-on hardware on the outside, it would make today's "tower" cases obsolete blocks in comparison.

Just contemplating the idea of disconnecting anything inside of the computer case is anathema to some people; it's not a friendly place in there. With cables running everywhere and bare circuit boards jutting at right angles to hold transistors and capacitors and a dozen other components you don't want to hear about.

It's time for a change. Let the components be the simple blocks that you can comfortably swap around without having to worry about what cables and cards, etc, must be hooked up first.

Introduing the BUG, from Bug Labs. With the use of modular hardware and miniaturization, they have provided us with a PDA-sized modular computer. At this time, they ship it with an LCD module, a GPS module, a digital camera module and an accelerometer (motion detector) module.

Not impressed yet? Continue reading for a list of some applications that have already been developed for the BUG.

When considering a portable internet device, it is important to consult someone with a bit more experience with a wider range of devices. I have owned a Nokia 770 for a few years now and it is great for what it does: which is give me access to the internet and allow me to update the site.

Over the years, however, I've begun to notice some aspects of the experience that could be improved upon. When the Nokia 770 first came out, I was more eager than I've been for anything that didn't come from under a christmas tree. All I wanted was convenient portable access to the internet, and that's exactly what it gave me.

Of course, the general reaction to it was "what else does it do?"

Well, all it needed to do at the time was connect me to the internet. Now that time has passed, my needs have been refined and my priorities re-evaluated. It's time to shop for a new WiFi tablet!

Who better to ask for advice than Engadget?

I found an incredibly cool graph illustrating the anticipated future trend of computing, gaming, movies and artificial intelligence. They graph things between Best, Worst and Base Case scenarios, showing a range of just how pleasant or unpleasant things could become. Regardless, it is all inspiring from a technology perspective. Some truly great ideas are listed across the graph; things that I had not previously considered and that the industries affected may not have either. Virtual cinema attendance was one idea that struck me as obvious in retrospect, but predicting the last human produced film and game on such short notice (10 years from now?) is not something that ever occurred to me.

No matter who you are, there is bound to be a few things that spark your interest. I will be using the graph as a repeated inspirational exercise going forward; it's just that cool.

Smartpen's have been around for a while, granted. While they still seem to be tied to specially designed paper for use, Livescribe has come up with a new feature that will really appeal to fellow gadget-philes. Their new Pulse pen includes audio recording and playback.

This may not sound like anything revolutionary, given the vast array of MP3 players/recorders available, but keep reading. The recording feature on the Pulse activates while you are writing with it. The intended use is for instances like during lectures when you may wish to record the lecture itself. With the Pulse, you can record the lecture while you take notes, and the Pulse software associates your notes with the audio recorded when they were written, like a new type of bookmarking.

The future of wearable computing, and, indeed, of fasion itself, will go to whomever can first make wearable computing trendy. In order to be trendy, however, a way must first be found to make it so that wearable computers do not need to be completely ubiquitous. There are a great number of styles and fashions in clothing and dress throughout history that we can borrow from in order to produce something acceptable to wear but that caters to integration with electronics.

Whatever forms that wearable computing eventually takes when it becomes accepted without comment in today's society, it will need to be confined within a range of locations that will not cause interference with normal range of motion and activity.

Have you ever seen one of those little personal alarms that people sometimes carry with them when they travel? I was shown one several years ago and saw no need for it at the time. The device is a tiny little box with a pin in it attached to a lanyard. If you pull the pin out, it begins emitting a 100db alarm.

I am not sure how effective these are at personal defense, but I came up with an ingenious way to turn them into highly effective mischief makers. Think of them like sonic grenades: you pull the pin and throw. At $10 each, it is still less expensive than a real grenade, and not as likely to get you into big trouble.

The purpose of the exercise, in my mind, is to address noise pollution problems from a fight-fire-with-fire approach. However, instead of going the standard route of bass-volume competition, you can simply win the one-up-manship of annoying noise with an ear splitting scream from one of these.

Keep reading for some creative ways to deploy one!

About a year or so ago, I picked up a new mouse for use with my laptop. I finally found a mouse that I would only ever replace with itself. It fits my personal checklist of what makes a great mouse.

Peripheral mice have been my what I use to answer my tech fetish cravings over the years, and the experience has taught me what it takes to interface between my right hand and all of the documents, code, games, email, chat, blogging, browsing, et al, ad nauseum, that I force through my system on an almost hourly basis.

It takes a lot. It takes the Logitech VX Revolution. This thing is brilliant.

Keep reading to see my mouse checklist!