Technology for Luddites
They have the worst weather in the world, but they also have the hottest looking open top trams (streetcars). Welcome onboard the 1930s Blackpool Balloon cars in the UK. Alan Robson has around 1,300 pictures of the vehicles, some of them below. Text and first picture from Wikipedia.
The communications device was located on the beach of Scheveningen in the 1700s. More on the optical telegraph: Email in the 18th century. Source: geschiedenis van de techniek in Nederland.
Finally, a real-world use for small windmills: the wind-powered knitting machine.
Click on the illustration below to see the plan in high resolution. Source: “Mémoires et compte rendu des traveaux de la société des ingénieurs civils, Vol.12, 1859“.
“Chapter XII. On the way of making a second waggon which is propelled by the wind without draught animals, and which dashes violently over open country to the confusion of all troops”
Standby power use is the electricity consumed by appliances and other equipment when they are switched off or not performing their primary purpose. It is responsible for 3 to 12 percent of residential electricity use worldwide (source, pdf). Freelance journalist Robert Buzink has a low-tech solution for this – all you need is a pair of scissors and a screwdriver. The text is in Dutch but the pictures speak for themselves.
