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Low-tech Magazine refuses to assume that every problem has a high-tech solution. A simple, sensible, but nevertheless controversial message: high-tech has become the idol of our society.

Low-tech Magazine is Kris De Decker (Barcelona, Spain), Vincent Grosjean (London, UK) and Shameez Joubert (Grahamstown, South Africa). If you want to contribute, drop us a line and send some of your earlier work (do not send ideas for new posts).

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Low-tech Magazine posts once every one or two weeks. You can subscribe by feed or email (both contain full articles, no ads). Links to interesting articles on other websites are posted daily regularly (filed under "Found", right column). You can subscribe to them via lowtechmagazine's StumbleUpon page.

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HIGH-TECH

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Faster internet is impossible : internet users continually need faster connections to surf the web at the same speed.

The digital oubliette : chances are small your children will be able to enjoy the family photo album when they grow up.

The right to 35 mobiles : the high energy consumption of the mobile phone network is due to the extremely short life span of the phones.

Information damages the environment : is an electronic newspaper more ecological than a paper newspaper?

Supercomputers reach their limits : the energy consumption of supercomputers is getting out of hand.

Second hand bits and bytes : where is the second hand market for digital products?

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ARCHITECTURE

Heat your house with car tyres and earth : energy hungry America teaches the world how to build ecological houses.

Lego for Big Boys :  habitable shipping containers  promise cheap, modular and comfortable housing.

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ENERGY

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Wind up your laptop : the human body can deliver enough power to drive computers, television sets and washing machines.

The ugly side of solar panels : generating electricity with solar panels can also be a very bad idea.

Energy from the clouds : floating windmills?

Nuclear reactors, but no fuel : already in 10 to 15 years time, there will be a severe shortage of uranium.

The world's factory hall : almost 30 percent of energy use in China comes from the production of export goods.

Build your own windmill : traditional micro-wind turbines are plagued by problems.

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HISTORY

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Email in the 18th century : the surprising speed of the optical telegraph.

Satellite navigation in the 18th century : who needs the GPS?

Reinventing the wheel : the story of the motorized monowheel.

Television in the 17e eeuw : the panorama, the stereoscope, the magic lantern and the peepshow

Computing without electricity : the most remarkable mechanical calculators

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TRANSPORTATION

Ecotech from the 1940s : if we really want more energy efficient cars, the Citroën 2CV shows us that we need not more, but less technology

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Racing on solar energy : if racing cars can drive on solar energy, then why do normal cars still need fossil fuels?

A world without trucks : underground freight networks

Cars on hot air : following the hype on hydrogen - meet the car on compressed air.

Green, slow air cargo : air freight could become the most eco-friendly mode of transport if speed is reduced.

The return of the sailing ship : considering the wind as an extra source of power, the fuel use of cargo ships could be reduced substantially. Could be.

Why the electric car has no (wireless) future : the e-car still faces the same fundamental problems as 170 years ago.

Planes on wheels : from an ecological point of view, the strategy to move travellers from airplanes to high speed trains doesn't make sense.

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WATER

Why bottled water is good for the environment : water drinkers should be praised instead of criticized

Water eats energy : if we fail to reduce water use, we may safely double predictions on future energy consumption.

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GAMES & TOYS

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Download, print, cut, paste : an overview of the best paper models on the web

Gaming unplugged : the newest generation of board games is more fascinating than most computer games

The pinhole camera : low-tech photography

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Found

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    Paris is a miraculous city in no small measure because modern architects have not been able to get their hands on it (read) (via)
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    Retro-tech juxtapositions & encyclopedic image mechanix (see) (via)
  • Home
    Now that's what I call a tree house (see)
  • The good old days
    I'm not interested in retro, I'm interested in better (read)(via)
  • Get an upgrade
    The energy required to produce a computer is enough to run it for 10 years (see & read) (via)
  • Low-tech writing
    Pen reviews (see & read)
  • Where's the fish?
    Ninety years of industrial-scale exploitation of fish has led to ecological meltdown (read)
  • The telectroscope
    Looking through a transatlantic tunnel (read) (visit) (via)
  • Fitness
    The first gym (see & read)
  • Help in case of an atomic bomb attack
    One reason to get down flat is to let the worst of it pass over you (see & read) (Via)
  • Build an electric car
    Retrofitting a 1970s Fiat 500 (read)
  • Minerals
    “Peak oil” is just one of several cases of worldwide peaking and decline of a depletable resource (read)
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    Airships are one of several green technologies which might be killed by a shortage of materials (read)
  • Farms became factories
    Chemical corporations continue their propaganda efforts to convince farmers that they cannot make a profit without using chemicals, antibiotics, hormones, and genetically manipulated crops and animals (read)
  • Take it easy
    A 0.5 horse power car (see & read)
  • Robot wars
    Airstrikes from unmanned aircraft over Iraq hit record levels in April (read)
  • TV
    A screen that ships without a mouse ships broken (read)
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    How to kill an RFID tag (read)
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    In the past five years, London councils alone have chopped down almost 40,000 street trees (read)
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    How to make a Moleskine notebook (make)
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    It only takes five years and archived data is obsolete (read)
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    Genetic modification actually cuts the productivity of crops (read)
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    Intellectual property thuggery is not restricted to the IT and entertainment industries (read)
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    From New York to Los Angeles in 48 hours (read)
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    One of oldest forms of energy used by humans -- sunlight concentrated by mirrors -- is poised to make an astonishing comeback (read)
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    From stone-age tools to space-age computers (see & read)
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    Cars like the Aptera are severely impeding humanity's faltering steps towards creating a sustainable society (read)
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    From rainforest to rubber plantation (read)
  • Time capsule
    2000 A.D. (see)
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    2063 A.D. (read)
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    It takes 90,000 kWh of energy to construct a single family dwelling (read)
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  • Water
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    What is that chasm between house and street? Why is it there? Or rather, why is nothing there? (read)
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    The road to hell is paved with good intentions (read)
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    The car of the future (see)
  • Communications
    Build a telegraph (make)
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    Build an eco village (make)
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    Germany ditches Transrapid project (read)
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    Emoticons on paper (see)
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    What happens when one neighbour with solar panels sues another with big, shady trees? (read)
  • Public transport
    A bus to keep pace with other transportation (see)
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