One more Y Combinator startup from the March 2012 class has bagged a seed round of funding. PlanGrid, which has created a groundbreaking app for the construction industry, has raised $1.1 million from a notable list of backers. They include Suleman Ali, founder and CEO of TinyCo; Sam Altman, founder of Loopt; Paul Buchheit, the creator of Gmail; Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s Webspam team… → Read More
GE is leading a $22 million investment in San Francisco-based green builder Project Frog, which helps speed up and reduce the cost of traditional construction by using a combination of new technologies. The company improves on current methods by combining semi-custom designs with a pre-engineered kit of energy-efficient building materials. The end result are building that use at least 25% less… → Read More
Most options for wood used in decks, outdoor furniture and siding are rarely entirely earth friendly, since they are often treated with heavy metals or toxic chemicals, or logged from unsustainable forests. One company is innovating in the space by altering the chemistry of the wood itself to make it weather and decay resistant. → Read More
Businessweek has an interesting video about the bridge in my hometown of Minneapolis that was built to replace the one that collapsed in 2007. The new St. Anthony Falls Bridge was designed using a completely paperless system that made use of laser topography scanners, on-site tablet PCs with 3D renderings. → Read More
I don’t know how many of you guys out there have to use chalklines very often, or indeed how many Crunchers have ever even touched one. Personally, I like the idea of chalklines but never get a chance to use them (I have a nice little toolset, though). I think it’s the little puff of chalk when I snap the line that gets me so excited. Unfortunately, that puff leads to a slightly fuzzy… → Read More
A lot of us have doors in our homes that don’t really go anywhere important. Do you really need to get into the closet where you keep the Halloween decorations and Aunt Claire’s desiccated body every day? Why not add a secret bookshelf doorway! Kenbob has posted a great Instructable — albeit designed by his father-in-law — about how to create a secret doorway out of a… → Read More
As we already know, Apple apparently feels the need to make its presence known throughout all of NYC. In fact, Apple isn’t content with two great stores located in SoHo and 5th Avenue, so they’re building a third in the meatpacking district. That’s right. After stuffing your face at Morimoto, you can now stroll over to 401 W. 14th St. for an iPod Shuffle or a Mac Pro. The… → Read More
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