The device was invented by eighteen-year-old Morris Mbetsa, who lives in Mombasa, Kenya, where auto theft is a tremendous problem. Mbetsa is a self-taught hardware hacker who presented his work at Barcamp Nairobi in June. Later, it was picked up in a television report (below). Mbetsa is currently looking for funding to mass produce his device and sell it. Once he adds AI to it, the Block&Track will be able to decide when you're doing something wrong in your own car, and quickly send surveillance tapes to the police which contain evidence of your crimes.

Image above via MAKE magazine.

Self-Taught Genius Invents Anti-theft Device [Afrigadget via Core77]

According to TreeHugger:

Today, the workers behind the Flip Flop Recycling Project run the gamut from beachcombers to bead-makers and artisans and sculptors and are producing jewelry, sculptures, toys, household products and accessories. Part of the project's mission remains social — to create jobs for people with limited opportunities. Recently, the project expanded to begin reusing the garbage of low-income communities in Nairobi such as Kibera, Musongari and Ongata Ongai.

Since so much of our cultural debris is non-biodegradable, we're likely to see efforts like this proliferating. Over the next decade it may become more and more common to see plastic shoes drifting in on the tides than seaweed. Image courtesy of UniqEco.

Flipping Kenya's Coastal Flotsam [TreeHugger]