Compendium of Useful Information

September 14, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: Books & Reference, DIY

solar house

“Access to 2 gigabytes of information about sustainable and resilient living that meets the challenges of peak energy, climate instability, economic irrationality, toxic politics, war and violence.”

Compendium of useful information – version 1.0, september 3, 2010. The page reminds a lot of the 13 gigabyte database set up by Alex Weir (previously: How to make everything yourself – online low-tech resources), and from a quick overview I learn that many of the same sources are listed.

However, the list is better organised and also seems to contain quite a few DIY-resources which I did not see before.

Related: the recent launches of the Green Wizard Forums and the UNESCO Traditional Knowledge Base. Picture: totally solar heated house.

Green Wizards

September 9, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: Books & Reference, DIY, Environmentalism

“One of the things the soon-to-be-deindustrializing world most needs just now is green wizards. By this I mean individuals who are willing to take on the responsibility to learn, practice, and thoroughly master a set of unpopular but valuable skills – the skills of the old appropriate tech movement – and share them with their neighbors when the day comes that their neighbors are willing to learn”. Green Wizard Forums. (+ criticism & response).

Chronological and Thematic Database on the History of Information and Media

August 10, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: Books & Reference, History, Media

Coptic bookbinding From Cave Paintings to the Internet is “designed to help you follow the development of information and media, and attitudes about them, from the beginning of records to the present. Containing annotated references to discoveries, developments of a social, scientific, theoretical  or technological  nature, as well as references to physical books, documents, artifacts, art works, and to websites and other digital media, it arranges, both chronologically and thematically, selected historical examples and recent developments of the methods used to record, distribute, exchange, organize, store, and search information. The database is designed to allow you to approach the topics in a wide variety of ways.”

Illustration: coptic bookbinding.

Via Achille van den Branden.

Can Traditional Knowledge be Categorized?

July 18, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: Books & Reference

ITKI “This bears all the hallmarks of a well-intentioned project that will grind slowly to a halt. Like flowers that wilt when cut and put in a vase, indigenous knowledge
tends to degrade quickly when removed from its context.”

Doubts on the recently launched International Traditional Knowledge Database.

The Wonders of Industry (1873-1877)

June 15, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: Books & Reference, History, Louis Figuier, Mining, Obsolete technology, Random

the wonders of industry

“Les merveilles de l’industrie, ou description des principales industries modernes”, Louis Figuier (1873-1877). The 4-volume book is in French, but the engravings are indeed wonderful: Part 1 (750 pages), Part 2 (736 pages), Part 3 (687 pages) & Part 4 (744 pages). A sample of the illustrations of part one and four can be found here and here. Below: salt mines in Wieliska, Poland (extra large illustration). Related: Three thousand pages of 19th century technology.

Primitive Technology Handbook

February 22, 2010 by kris de decker Filed Under: Books & Reference, DIY, Primitive technology, Random

primitive technology handbookPrimitive Ways makes use of the internet to teach us the lost knowledge of our Stone Age ancestors: making fire, tools, weapons, cooking utensils, musical instruments, shelters, and much more.

Not everything is that useful in the 21st century, but the site contains a wealth of information and many of the diy-projects sure look like fun. Moreover, they also combine traditional skills with modern materials, like in this four-hour kayak. Some articles are extremely short, but very useful – see the Inuit Thimble, for example.

Primitive Ways is also available as a book or a dvd, but all information is freely accessible on the website. Articles also appeared in the “Bulletin of Primitive Technology”, a print magazine from the Society of Primitive Technology.

Another good resource is “Primitive Technology: A Book of Earth Skills“, available on Amazon. Update: “The origins of invention: a study of industry among primitive peoples“.