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The SMH has an article on a concept electric bike from Lexus – Lexus’s hybrid bike.

Lexus’s Hybrid Bicycle concept features a 240-watt electric motor that boosts man-made torque (pedalling) for more effortless riding.

Unlike a regular bike that is rear-wheel drive, the 17kg carbon-fibre concept uses a belt-drive arrangement and an electric eight-speed gearbox from Japanese component specialist Shimano to put power to the road through both wheels.

The rider has a choice of Eco or Power modes, while the all-wheel-drive bike also mimics the regenerative braking of the Toyota/Lexus Hybrid Drive System by recharging the lithium-ion battery with the kinetic energy captured whenever the rider squeezes the callipers.

Found under: BlackBerry 6, OS, RIM, Video, sneak peak, preview, WES,

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Yesterday we showed you the gigantic oil slick that’s floating its way towards New Orleans.

If it looks really big to you, that’s because it is really big.

According to Bloomberg, the Coast Guard has upped its estimate for the size of the spill from 1000 barrels per day to 5000 barrels.

The slick is expected to hit land today.

Meanwhile the first test burns have begun and Obama has been briefed on the situation.

More throughout the day as warranted.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Here’s Why Big Oil Spills Are Going To Become More And More Frequent
• Saudi Arabia Warns That Rocketing Domestic Oil Demand Could Slash Its Export Capacity
• MAP OF THE DAY: Check Out The Huge Oil Slick Floating Towards New Orleans

UPI reports that Indian efforts to produce biofuel from Jatropha aren’t working out as well as hoped – Indian biofuel efforts falter.

Jatropha has long been promoted as a promising biofuel substitute to ease the global energy crisis. One hectare is capable of yielding 390-456 gallons of jatropha oil, equivalent to 433.7 gallons of diesel. …

Jatropha’s growing conditions proved to be more complex than originally thought. Jatropha requires close care. Chhattisgarh Renewable Energy Development Agency analyst Preeti Kaur noted that while initially specialists assumed that jatropha could flourish on wasteland, without irrigation it in fact requires moderate irrigation. As a result, nationwide investments in jatropha of more than $5 billion are at risk.

Kaur added, “The plans have almost failed and our investments are stuck due to the poor quality of jatropha seeds. Other than this, small land holdings are a major reason for the failure of jatropha plantations.”

Everyone saw this one coming, Baidu, the leading Chinese search engine, has posted great financial results in the first quarter after Google abandoned its search operations locally and moved all search efforts to its Hong Kong service. Baidu has been growing in terms of revenue for quite a while now, but these latest numbers … (read more)

A few weeks back, we linked to the NY Times’ Ethicist, Randy Cohen, explaining why it’s not unethical to download a digital copy of a book, if you’d bought a hard copy of the book — even though it probably violates copyright law. That created quite a lot of anger from folks who felt that it was clearly an ethical violation as well. Mitch Wagner, apparently missed that kerfuffle, as he’s written up a short blog post for Computerworld asking people their thoughts on the ethics of downloading media that you purchased legally:

I recently got a hankering to re-read some of my favorite books. I already own them, in hardcover and paperback. But I’d like to re-read them as e-books. Do I need to buy the e-book versions, or can I download a pirated copy of the e-book for free?

The argument that says it’s wrong is pretty simple, and clear-cut: When I bought the books, I bought individual copies of the books. All I own is that one copy. If I lost the copy, I wouldn’t be entitled to a free replacement. It wouldn’t be right for me to shoplift the book from the local Barnes & Noble. I’d have an obligation to buy a new copy, or borrow one legitimately, before re-reading the book.

On the other hand: I already paid for these books legitimately. They’re my books. The shoplifting analogy is specious, because in that case, I’m depriving the rightful owner — the owner of the bookstore — of their copy of the book. If I download a copy of the e-book, nobody else is deprived of their copy.

However, he goes on to make another point that also deserves some scrutiny:

Every couple of years, TiVo hiccups and fails to record a favorite TV show. In that case, I have to decide whether to wait for the show to come out on DVD, or just download the episode from the BitTorrents.

Now there will be people who will claim that, due to the fact that it likely infringes on copyright to do so, it’s automatically unethical. But morality isn’t determined by the law. In general, I’ve always argued that if the economics increase the overall market and opportunity, then there’s no moral issue to speak of — and it’s hard to see how someone downloading an episode their TiVo missed would harm the overall economy in any way. But, I’m guessing that some folks here will disagree…

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Things seem to be looking a bit up in euroland this morning. A bit.

The euro is ticking up, and the Athens Stock Exchange is up 4%, obviously on hopes that the worst fears of Krugman and El-Erian won’t be realized.

So, will the Greeks name their next temple after Obama?

Yesterday he leaned heavily on Merkel, and it sounds as though she may be softening her stance a little.

Of course, his pressure does nothing for the German parliament which still needs to approve a bailout, but still.

At this early hour on Thursday, things are looking a little brighter. If history is any guide, expect more shoes to drop throughout the day.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Mohammad El-Erian And Paul Krugman Both Wildly Gloomy About Spiraling Crisis In Greece
• Now Obama Is Making Emergency Calls To Merkel Over Greek Aid
• Here’s Everything You Need To Know About The Rapidly Approaching Crisis In Spain

Yahoo has had a rough time for the past few years and the company has only recently started showing some optimistic signs. Under CEO Carol Bartz, Yahoo has gotten a lot more focused and has shed off a lot of dead weight. Spurred by great financial results in the first quarter, things are looking up, but there are still questions of whether Yahoo has what… (read more)

A new report suggests China’s Brilliance Automotive’s run could be over in the European market. The news of Brilliance’s exit from the European market comes just months after the automaker’s European importer – HSO Motors – filed for bankruptcy. Brilliance has been handling its own European distribution since November.

Citing poor sales, a Brilliance executive revealed to AutoWeek that the company will halt all European sales. Brilliance was one of just a handful of Chinese automakers that managed to crack in to the European market.

Brilliance’s presence in the European market seemed doomed from the start, with the company’s first European offering – the BS6 – receiving zero out of five stars in Germany’s ADAC crash test. Brilliance’s pricing scheme didn’t do the company any favors, either.

“They didn’t want to lose any money per car,” former HSO boss Hans-Ulrich Sachs revealed. “We told them that this is the entry fee you have to pay to get established in Europe. They told us that we should make the investment to cover the shortfall; that we would have to subsidize the brand.”

Conflicting reports
Refuting AutoWeek’s report, one Brilliance insider told the Global Times that the Chinese automaker has no plans to exit the European market. “Brilliance will never pull out of Germany and Europe, even though it is confronted with bleak sales and thin profit margins,” the source said.

However, Brilliance’s lineup barely conforms to Europe’s current Euro IV regulations, with the Chinese automaker admittedly struggling to comply with Euro V regs. “They abandoned Europe IV in less than a year and a half, and will put Europe V in place in the second half. We can hardly meet the new standards with domestic auto part suppliers. We have to use overseas ones, which will raise our costs,” the source added.

Even if Brilliance does manage to limp along in the European market in the short-term, its long term future looks bleak. Those within BMW – Brilliance’s China partner – have revealed the automaker has stopped work on meeting the new Euro V standards, with sales well below expectations. Although reports vary, Brilliance has sold no more than 4,000 units since entering the European market in 2006, with some reports as low as 502 units.

References
1. ‘China automaker Brilliance…’ view
1. ‘Brilliance’s future uclear…’ view

Source: Leftlane

Dacia has officially confirmed its first entry to the right hand drive market. The Romanian manufacturer’s new SUV, the Duster, will arrive in 2012.

Even as the date of the launch and the pricing information have yet to be revealed, Dacia has set up a UK website, where interested parties can register for updates. The Duster is actually the cheapest SUV on the market. Its top notch version sells in Europe for 16,630 Euros, a price that is comparable to the entry levels of most competitors. The available options for the Duster include one petrol engine (1.6 16V 110hp) and two diesel engines (dCi 85 and dCi 110). These engines generate from 85 to 110hp, which aren’t all that impressive. However, when you consider the car’s reduced weight (1,160kg in 4×2 specification and 1,250kg for the 4×4 version), the overall result isn’t bad at all and could just be enough to pull through. Photo gallery after the jump!

Source: Car news, Car reviews, Spy shots

O Laboratório de acidentologia, de biomecânica e de estudos do comportamento humano (LAB), completou 40 anos de estudos e de inovações ao serviço da segurança, no Comitê de Construtores Francesas de Automóveis (CCFA). O LAB foi criado em 1969, sobre a forma de um Grupo de Interesse Econômico (GIE), e é resultado de uma parceria entre o Grupo Renault e a PSA Peugeot Citroën.
A missão do Laboratório é fazer progredir a segurança no trânsito baseando os seus esforços em três pilares: proteção dos ocupantes do automóvel, conhecer a “genética” dos acidentes para evitá-los e compreender o comportamento do motorista.

Nos anos 90, o Laboratório dedicou-se a um intenso programa de estudos detalhados dos acidentes, com a meta de compreender melhor as suas causas e conseqüências. Ele se constituiu um banco de dados científico e técnico único no mundo, a partir das observações e do recolhimento de informações nos mesmos locais dos acidentes: ele reúne as informações sobre 15.000 veículos, 27.000 acidentes e 70.000 lesões.

O LAB também participou do desenvolvimento dos “dummies” (manequins que simulam o corpo humano nas simulações de acidentes), visando aproximá-los, o mais fielmente possível, das características humanas. Com isso, os “dummies” representam o “corpo humano” com extrema precisão.

Em 40 anos de atividades, o Laboratório adquiriu o “know how” e o reconhecimento cientifico e técnico mundiais, que lhe resultaram na conquista de oito prêmios internacionais. Os estudos realizados pelo LAB foram objetos de 642 publicações cientificas e os profissionais do LAB participaram de 29 projetos de pesquisas francesas e européias.

Fonte: Renault

Filed under: Advice, Health, Hormone Diet

Natasha Turner, N.D. is a Toronto-based naturopathic doctor. She is the founder of the Clear Medicine wellness boutique and author of the bestselling book The Hormone Diet. Each week in her column for That’s Fit.ca, Dr. Turner advises readers on how to remedy common health issues as well as improve their overall health.

Have you been unable to lose weight even with a healthy diet and exercise? Our bodies are wired to send us signals when something isn’t right, but often we’re too busy to hear them. The symptoms of hormonal imbalance are experienced by many every day. Recognizing and treating these subtle warnings is essential to weight loss, yet so many of us have been imbalanced for so long, we don’t even know what normal is anymore.

Continue reading 8 Hormonal Imbalances That Stop You Losing Weight

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Sub-Quattroporte Model to Allow Quattroporte to Grow
Canadian Auto Press

There are auto news stories that just make sense and then there are some that leave us with our heads shaking. Thoughts of Maserati returning to the midsize sport sedan arena do both, it makes absolute sense from a business point of view and simultaneously makes our heads shake, but with the latter they’re shaking vertically.

Maserati Planning Midsize M5 Competitor

Certainly, we’d give the nod to a smaller sport sedan from the company that brought exotic into the realm of relative affordability. The thought of Maserati’s Ferrari-derived V8 stuffed into a smaller, lighter package will likely get enthusiasts whipped up into a collective frenzy, and for good reason.

What makes this story more than just mouth-watering speculation is that it’s very real. News of a smaller sport sedan comes as part of an announcement made by Fiat, Maserati’s parent company, which stated that a new sub-Quattroporte four-door would be part of its five-year growth strategy.

Rather than target Audi’s A6, BMW’s 5 and Mercedes-Benz’ regular E-Class directly, the new Maserati Quattroporte-lite will be positioned higher on the pecking order, more directly against the S6, M5 and E63 AMG, with performance to match and likely a price that comes close to these legendary German sport sedans, but far less than the entry point for the current larger Quattroporte.

The Quattroporte, mind you, is not as large as full-size rivals from Audi, BMW, Mercedes, and now Jaguar, which has finally shown up with a serious competitor in the full-size premium sedan segment. Therefore, the Q will likely grow to its former mid ‘70s through late ‘80s Quattroporte III size, when it stole the hearts of well-heeled yuppies the world over. A larger more opulent Quattroporte would be in keeping with the brand’s history too, which offered a Quattroporte Royale variant in 1986 as its top-line flagship model.

More speculative, a smaller bodied and overall lighter midsize sport sedan could lend itself to a smaller and sportier coupe and roadster bearing the Trident front and back. Could a modern-day Mistral be in our future? Collective Maseratisti fingers are crossed.

Here is the list of car insurance companies. You should choose the right car insurance companies according to your budget and what you really need. All the automobile insurance companies names listed here from A to Z and these companies are from around the world mainly from UK, U.S, and some other Asian countries. It is useful for people who are searching the right car insurance for their own car.

Car insurance companies

A

AA Car Insurance
AAA Car Insurnace Company
Access General
Admiral
AIG Agency Auto
AIG Casualty
AIG North America
Allstate Insurance
Alfa Mutual Inruance
American Collectors Insurance
American Family Insurance
American Hardware Mutual Insurance Company
Asda
Atto & Associates
Auto Owners Insurance Company
Auto Coverage USA
Auto Insurance
Auto Insurance Net
AVIVA
AXA

B

Barclays Motor Insurance
Balboa Insurance
BELAIRdirect
Be Wiser Car Insurance
BCAA
Bristol West
Budget Direct Car Insurance – Comprehensive Car Insurance by Budget Direct Australia.

C

Car & Auto Insurance Quotes
Capital One Auto Finance
Carnegie General
Charter Insurance Companies – automobile insurance in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Georgia and California.
Chubb Insurnace
Churchill Car Insurance
Classic Auto Insurance Agency
Cooperative Car Insurance
COUNTRY Financial

D

Debenhams Car Insurance
Diamond Car Insurance – Diamond offers cheaper car insurance for women because usually women’s claims cost less.
Direct Line Car Insurance

E

Elephand.co.uk
Encompass
Endsleigh Car Insurance – One of the famous car insurance in UK.
Esurance
Esure
Explorer

F

Farmers Insurance – Writer of both private passenger automobile and homeowners insurance.
Foremost Insurance Company

G

GEICO Car Insurance
GMAC
Grange Car Insurance
Great West Casualty Company – Provides insurance products for truckers including auto liability, physical damage, general liability, cargo, garagekeepers, umbrella, property, inland marine, and workers compensation.
Green Flag
Greenbee

H

Hartford Insurance
HSBC Car Insurance

I

Infinity
InsureandGo

J

J.C. Taylor Antique Auto Insurance – specialist in providing insurance services to owners of antiques and modified specialty vehicles.

K

Kanetix
Kwik-Fit

L

Liberty Mutual Group
Liberty Mutual™ Car Insurance
Lloyds TSB
LV Car Insurance

M

Mars & Spencer Car Insurance
Money Expert
MetLife Auto
Metropolitan
MiWay Car Insurance and General Insurance – Car Insurance Quotes through MiWay’s state.
More Th>n Motor Insurance

N

National Indemnity Company – A member of the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. group of insurance companies. One of the car insurance companies that has the products include commercial trucks and truckers, public auto, special types, garage and dealer, prize indemnification, general liability, inland marine cargo, and reinsurance…
Nationwide Motor Insurance
National Auto Care
NetWest
NetQuote
National Warranty Insurance Group

O

Old Republic International Corporation

P

Permanent General Auto Insurance Co. – offers non-standard and standard automobile insurance to customers in Tennessee, Ohio, Georgia, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, California, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.
Post Office
Primmum – car insurance for Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland.
PRIMO Car Insurance
Progressive
Provisional Marmalade

S

Safeco
Saga
Santander
Sentry
SF Fire and Casualty
Sheilas’Wheels
State Farm
SwiftCover

T

TESCO Car insurance
The Money Stop – Compare car insurance quotes from the leading insurance suppliers in the UK.
Travelers
Tri-State Consumers Insurance Company – Offers auto insurance to New York consumers and is headquartered in Jericho, New York.

U

United Automobile Insurance Company
Unitrin Direct Auto Insurance – Provider of auto insurance services for good drivers. Consumers can quote and purchase online through secure web site or by calling toll-free.
Universal Warranty
Universal Underwriters Group – Offers a range of automotive insurance products that cover much of the automotive aftermarket. Located in Overland Park, Kansas.
USAA Casualty Insurance

V

Valuadata Group – Developer of valuation solutions and insurance estimation software systems for automobile collision damage.
Virgin money – UK car insurance from Virgin.

W

Warranty Direct
Wausau Insurance Companies
Western General
Western United
Women on Wheels Insurance

Y

YES Car Insurance

Z

Zurich Connect Car Insurance

If you have other company name that is not listed here. Please contact us to complete the list of car insurance companies.

Source: Cars, Fast Cars, Cool Cars, Sports Cars

The New York Times covers a fantastic project that is attempting to track down some of the world’s most endangered languages – by scouring the streets of the Big Apple.

The Endangered Language Alliance is a project that aims to connect speakers of rare tongues but also to use the opportunity to study the languages academically potentially before they disappear.

The article notes that New York City is the most linguistically diverse place on the planet and there are often more speakers of endangered tongues there than in their place of origin:

The chances of overhearing a conversation in Vlashki, a variant of Istro-Romanian, are greater in Queens than in the remote mountain villages in Croatia that immigrants now living in New York left years ago.

At a Roman Catholic Church in the Morrisania section of the Bronx, Mass is said once a month in Garifuna, an Arawakan language that originated with descendants of African slaves shipwrecked near St. Vincent in the Caribbean and later exiled to Central America. Today, Garifuna is virtually as common in the Bronx and in Brooklyn as in Honduras and Belize.

And Rego Park, Queens, is home to Husni Husain, who, as far he knows, is the only person in New York who speaks Mamuju, the Austronesian language he learned growing up in the Indonesian province of West Sulawesi. Mr. Husain, 67, has nobody to talk to, not even his wife or children.

There’s also some good context for the piece at a post on the ever-excellent Language Log and don’t forget to watch the accompanying video

Link to NYT piece on lost languages in New York.

Filed under: Morning Scoop

Each morning, we dish out a few links we love.

Headed to the supermarket? Health.com has put together a shopping list that’s guaranteed to help you shed a few pounds.

If you’ve got an iPhone, download the hilarious and helpful Eat This Not That app from Men’s Health — it’s one of the most popular food apps out there.

It’s official: Keeping a food journal helps you slim down, as recent studies confirm. The only problem? You’ve got to be motivated to maintain it.

When it comes to eating fruit, do you enjoy it with other stuff? According to one food science theory, fruit should only be eaten on its own.

Do you love or hate cilantro? It’s an acquired taste, but seeing as it’s really good for you, maybe it’s a taste you should acquire?

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CNN reports the volume of oil spilling into the gulf of Mexico from BP’s Horizon disaster has risen to 5000 barrels per day – Oil spill from rig explosion at 5,000 barrels a day.

The oil spill from last week’s deadly rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico has increased to 5,000 barrels a day — five times more than the original estimate, said Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry.

A third underwater oil leak has been located in the pipeline that connected the rig to the oil well, said Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for BP.

The head of BP Groups said the explosion could have been prevented, and he is focusing blame on rig owner Transocean Ltd.

CEO Tony Hayward told CNN’s Brian Todd in an exclusive interview that Transocean’s “blowout preventer” failed to operate before the explosion. A blowout preventer is a large valve at the top of a well, and activating it will stop the flow of oil. The valve may be closed during drilling if underground pressure drives up oil or natural gas, threatening the rig.

“That is the ultimate fail-safe mechanism,” Hayward said. “And for whatever reason — and we don’t understand that yet, but we clearly will as a consequence of both our investigation and federal investigations — it failed to operate. …

BP owns the oil well. Before the explosion, Hayward had announced a significant discovery of at least 50 million barrels of oil. “Of course, all of that is completely irrelevant in the context of what we’re now dealing with.”

The Australian reports that attempts are being made to brun the oil slick on the surface – Controlled burn of Gulf of Mexico oil slick begins .

EMERGENCY crews have begun controlled burns of a giant oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico, but a cruel wind shift raised fears the spill could hit Louisiana’s fragile shores by the weekend. …

Two skimming vessels dispatched by the US Coast Guard and energy giant BP swept the thickest concentrations of oil into a 150m fire-resistant boom. They then towed it to a 8km “burn zone” set up inside the slick roughly 80km south of the mouth of the Mississippi where it was set alight a few hours before nightfall. “They lit it with a little float that has a fuel source on it that floats into the oil and ignites. It did successfully ignite,” Coast Guard petty officer Cory Mendenhall told AFP. …

As a back-up, engineers are frantically building a giant dome that could be placed over the leaks to trap the oil, allowing it to be pumped up to container ships on the surface.

Another Transocean drilling rig is also on stand-by to drill two relief wells that could divert the oil flow to new pipes and storage vessels.

But that would take up to three months and the dome is seen as a better interim bet even though engineers need two to four weeks to build it.

Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry, who is leading the government’s response to the disaster, warned on Tuesday that if BP fails to secure the well it could end up being “one of the most significant oil spills in US history.”

What do the top three Android phones in the United States have in common? They all feature slide-out QWERTY keyboards. The recent trend from HTC and other handset makers has been towards the slim, slate form factor, but phones with a physical keyboard have proven to sell the most units so far.

Top 10 U.S. smartphones from AdMob.

A quick look at the top smartphones from the latest AdMob report shows the most popular three Android phones are the Motorola Droid, G1 (HTC Dream), and the Motorola CLIQ. Each phone has its own appeal, but they all share similar slide-out keyboards. The majority of Android owners have no clue what firmware their device is running and make their buying decision solely on looks.

I find it most interesting that the Motorola CLIQ appears to have out sold the myTouch 3G. T-Mobile launched the myTouch 3G first, heavily promoted it, and upgraded it to Android 1.6. The CLIQ went on sale several months later and only included Android 1.5, but it looks like more customers are choosing it based entirely on the form factor.

T-Mobile recognizes keyboards are still hot and it makes sense they are gearing up to make the myTouch 3G Slide one of their flagship phones this summer. Outside of that, there are not many options for new Android phones with keyboards coming to the U.S. LG might produce a Snapdragon slider later this year, but nothing official has been announced for the U.S. at this time.

I personally switched to the Nexus One earlier this year and I have adjusted to the virtual keypad quite well, but I still wish a physical keyboard was an option. Out of all the Android devices I’ve used over the last few years, the G1 still has the best keyboard layout in my opinion (5-row, big buttons, nice feedback). If someone releases a high-powered phone with a keyboard this year, that is likely my next purchase.

Which form factor do you prefer? Physical or virtual keyboard? If you have used multiple Android phones with keyboards, which did you like the best so far?

Related Posts

• Motorola’s Android 2.1 upgrade timeline for Droid, Milestone, CLIQ, and DEXT
• Droid does updates: Android 2.1 coming to a Droid near you
• Droid pops while Cliq flops
• CyanogenMod brings Android 2.1 to G1 and myTouch 3G
• Game Gripper brings classic controls to Droid

Filed under: Health, Healthy Eating, 30-Day Nutrition Challenge

The 30-Day Nutrition Challenge is in full swing as our participants who began this quest to remove gluten, dairy, sugar, alcohol, caffeine and processed foods from their diet are at the half way point.

Over the last few weeks I’ve received a number of questions from readers who are also interested in trying the challenge, and many of them want recipes to help them through it. If you haven’t already checked out this post I wrote a few weeks ago on recipes and resources, I recommend doing so.

And because no one can never have enough healthy recipes, in my next few posts I will share with you three recipes for a gluten, dairy and sugar-free breakfast, lunch and dinner. Let’s start with my all-time favourite way to start the day: The Smoothie.

Recipe after the jump

Continue reading Healthy Breakfast Smoothie Recipe for the 30-Day Challenge

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In a bid to save forests, designers have tried to make use of materials that can replace wood to carve your home or office furniture. Finding alternatives isn’t easy, but designers have not started trusting the strength of cardboard as a raw material for steady furniture. Cardboard designs are all the rage these days, as they not only give various interesting ways of being crafted but are also easy on the environment. In recent times, we have seen some stunning cardboard creations that can change the perception of recycled and recyclable furniture. Here are a few…

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