business
Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth?
PSFK flags up an interview with author John Hodgman who suggests there is a cultural shift underway from ‘jockdom’ based on family wealth and connections, to a more considered and deliberative geekdom, in which companies and countries (such as China) that recognise and reward geeks will thrive. Read the PSFK upsum Read the full interview […]
Recession Blessings
For many people getting laid off is a personal and financial disaster; for others it becomes an enforced opportunity to try something different and discover that it makes them happier and sometimes even wealthier. Real estate agent to pinata importer, lumber mill worker to nurse, IT recruiter to dog walker, people are changing careers and […]
Brave Thinkers
The Atlantic has a list of 27 ‘brave thinkers’ or people who “commit acts of moral and intellectual bravery by espousing unpopular or controversial positions”. It includes Steve Jobs (founder of Apple and Pixar), Barack Obama (you know him, right?), Morgan Tsvangirai (Prime Minister of Zimbabwe) and Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook), but only lists […]
Internet Eyes Video Surveillance
Tony Morgan has created a video surveillance ‘game’ that lives in the real world. Shopkeepers in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England can pay £20 a week to have CCTV cameran installed on their premises. The cameras are hooked up to the Internet Eyes website where people are encouraged to watch for wrongdoing, with the lure of a […]
Trendwatching Briefing 2009
Visit Trendwatching to discover why reviewing is the new advertising and what businesses and brands can and should do about bad user reviews. It also provides a handy snapshot of the best review sites to visit before you buy goods or services.
Project 10 to the 100
Project 10 to the 100 is a Google project that aims to make ‘world changing ideas a reality’. It was launched in 2008 when online users were invited to submit suggestions for projects that would make the world a better place. The project has had more than 150,000 ideas submitted, which have been grouped in […]
Trouble in Disneyland
Dick Cook, a long-time Disney exec, has been ousted from his post amid speculation that the company might be changing direction in order to try to capture the attentions of young men. It’s a tale of secret talks, takeovers and Toy Story, full of intrigue and second guessing. Read the full article in the LA […]
A Tough Day at Work
If you are 62-years-old and heading towards retirement, you might hope to freewheel through the last years of your working life. Not so for Washington D.C.’s Metro General Manager John B. Catoe Jr, who has recently had the toughest three months of his career; just before his contract renewal is due. Under pressure to modernize […]
The Brixton Pound
Brixton in south London has just launched a new currency B£ – the Brixton pound – to encourage local people and businesses to spend their money locally. 70 local cafes, pubs and shops have signed up and the scheme is backed by Lambeth Council. Brixton is the fourth community in Britian to adopt a local […]
Dead brands 2009
Business Pundit has posted a list of 20 American brands that died in 2009, including: Sterling Trucks Max Factor Pontiac Kodachrome Rocky Mountain News Read more.
Personal Ads
In a Willy Wonka-ish move to help relaunch Wispa Gold chocolate bars, Cadbury are offering up to £2million of advertising space on their billboards in UK and Ireland to 50 people who want to broadcast their personal message to the world. You can submit your message on Wispa Gold Messages until 3rd October 2009, when […]
Art & Copy
Doug Pray’s feature documentary Art and Copy is a film about the advertising greats you’ve never heard of, but who have changed our lives and culture with their creativity. It features interviews with people such as George Lois, Hal Riney, Mary Wells and others who came up with “Got Milk”, “Just Do It” and “I […]
All You Can Learn
If you feel you missed out on your education, you can now take the college courses you need to brush up your skills for an affordable $399 per course, or take as many courses as you like for $99 per month with Straighter Line. At the moment courses include algebra, English and economics. You can […]
Wedding Registry for Start Ups
Drue Kataoka and Svetlozar Kazanjiev are a young Californian couple who have just got married. But their wedding list had an unconventional selection of gifts for guests to buy, such as: Feed an engineer for a day ($273.97) Large cafe latte for a team of five for one week ($122) Rent a friend’s garage for […]
Advice From a Personal Assistant
Karen Goldstein is an executive assistant who has worked for Silicon Valley execs and actors, gaining a lot of handy know how along the way. She’s started her own blog Advice from a Personal Assistant to share her information with other personal assistants and people who might find her information on technology (she’s a geek), […]
Stay on a Farm USA
PSFK notes that farm holidays are coming back in vogue in the USA, as families look for vacations that are local and sustainable, with the opportunity to contribute to a working farm. For example, on Feather Down Farms properties you get to stay in a rustic tent complete with flushing toilet and wood-burning stove and […]
Mad about Tools
Peter Atwood seems to be a man not affected by the recession, as his work is in so much demand that he has to hold a lottery for people on his constant waiting list. He’s a toolmaker, who makes custom knives, pocket tools and key rings. His philosophy is: “if you aren’t carrying it then […]
Do Lectures
Do Lectures – If you feel like you need some inspiration to get off your arras and do something head down to Cardigan Bay in West Wales on 3rd September for five days of inspirational talks in a woodland setting. Well, actually you can’t because you have to apply in advance and go into a […]
40 Farmers Under40
Mother Nature Network has published a list of 40 [American] Farmers Under 40: from sheep farmers, to a herb farmer and a truck farmer (yes, you read right). They all look very wholesome and smiley, and wear a lot of hats. Hat tip to PSFK
Street Art Stores
A stretch of run down store fronts in dowtown Brooklyn has been turned into an impromtu set of art galleries showcasing shop themed street art. Some of the art has a socio-political message on the credit crisis but commentors have weighed in alleging that the artists were complicit in the demise of the storefronts their […]
Bicycle Powered Mobile Phone Charger
Jeremiah Murimi and Pascal Katana, two Kenyan engineering students have invented a bicycle-powered mobile charger to help people in remote Kenyan villages keep their mobile phones charged up. Until now, charging a phone has meant travelling great distances and then paying $2 for a charge. The students plan to sell the charger for around the […]
Truck Farm
Truck Farm is a roving farm and film project set in Brooklyn. It’s run by filmmakers Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney who have fitted out an old dodge truck with green roof technology and timelapse cameras to grow a flat bed of crops and record their progress. For a subscription of $20 you get updates […]
Organ Brokers
Interesting – and disturbing – story about organ trafficking in Brooklyn. Brokers (including a rabbi) buy kidneys from people in impoverished circumstances, usually India for $2,000 to $10,000, and sell them on to desperate kidney patients for up to $180,000. Read more: Daily News
Creators Inn, Stockholm
If you fancy a free stay in Stockholm, Sweden apply to the Creators Inn, which is offering free rooms for creative types from 1 August to 13 September, 2009. You need to offer a reason for your creative stay and tell them why you want to stay there. Hat tip to PSFK
Square Mile Barista Throw Down
Considering I’m not a huge coffee connoisseur (give me a 75 cents cup of NYC deli coffee and I’m fine), it’s surprising to me that I AM a huge fan of Square Mile Coffee (and coffee shop Tina, We Salute You in Dalston, London). Square Mile Coffee founders James Hoffmann (World Barista Champion 2007) and […]
Cool Hunting’s Summer Reading List 2009
Cool Hunting have just published their recommended reads for the summer, many of which might provide inspiration for factual programming, including: Squeezed: What You Didn’t Know about Orange Juice, Alissa Hamilton – the history of orange juice in the USA; Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work, Matthew B. Crawford – […]
How to Love a Landfill
“You are more likely to be killed in the line of duty working as a sanitation worker than you do as a police or fire officer,” says Professor Robin Nagle, who is Anthropologist-in-Residence at the NYC Department of Sanitation. She teaches “Garbage in Gotham: the Anthropology of Trash,” at NYU and has been known to […]
Window Dressers
The UK’s best window dressers have just competed against each other at the In Store show at London’s Olympia – each team had three hours to complete their perfect window. The winners were from Belfast store Avoca who staged a ‘fantasy teatime’ theme. Over in New York City, Housing Works Thrift Shops are famous for […]
Little People Big World, Little Furniture
Brooklyn based furniture designer Tracy Steele has been inspired to produce a new range of furniture after watching TLC’s Little People, Big World, which features the Roloff family. Parents Matt and Amy and one of their twin sons, Zach have dwarfism. Watching the family go about their lives, Tracy realised that there was no furniture, […]
Teens Build Jobs
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics 22.7% of 16- to 19-year-olds are unemployed and are finding their traditional jobs taken by people in their thirties and forties. But this is a generation that has role models like Steve Jobs of Apple and Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google and they are turning […]
100 Most Creative People in Business
Fast Company has published a list of the 100 Most Creative People in Business – “dazzling new thinkers, rising stars and boldface names” with an emphasis on people who are tackling the bigger issues of the day. Here’s a selection: Shai Reshef – Founder of University for the People Susan Athey – Microsoft’s Chief Economist […]
Showbizzle
Showbizzle is a new website that mixes social networking, scripted web series (x23 eps) with 40 different characters, and career advice for making it in Tinsel Town. The action focuses on Janey who hangs out with her friends who are trying to make it in the biz in Hollywood. The site also features interviews with […]
Ads Designed by the Target Market
The Washington Post recently published an article how a group of students at the University of Virginia created ads to stop binge drinking as part of a contest run by the National Student Advertising Competition. It was the first time the competition had an issue-based theme and the students were aware that they were part […]
Megatrends – is Africa the Future?
Blogging superstar Darren Rowse describes attending the recent Future Summit in Australia as guest twitterer. He reports on a talk given by Alison Sander from Boston Consulting Group who described different kinds of trends: linear, cyclical, fads and megatrends. Megatrends are trends that are growing and have the potential to grow exponentially – and could […]
Dumpster Diving
The Scavenger’s Manifesto by husband and wife team Kristan Rufus and Anneli Lawson is a guide finding, recycling and repurposing anything you can get for free. And you don’t have to go dumpster diving, it counts if you only use cosmetics that you collect as free samples from stores. If it sounds a bit low-rent […]
Traditional Butchery
Sitting in an east London restaurant recently, we noticed a new, but traditional-looking butcher’s shop had opened over the road. Was this a good time to be opening a new business, we wondered? As we watched a trickle of people turn into a flood, packing the shop, it appeared so. Perhaps it is – in […]
How Money Messes With Your Mind
New Scientist has a feature about the various conclusions scientists have reached when studying the effect of money on people’s behaviour and emotions. Find out money associations make people more self-sufficient, why money is like porn and why charity collectors are likely to get fewer donations just before lunch. Read the full article.
Honey, I Did What?! Bringing Down The Banking Industry.
Eight years ago, Michael Osinski developed the computer software that turns mortgages into bonds; the software became banking industry standard, and the practice of packaging mortgages has been blamed for the global financial meltdown. In My Manhattan Project (NY Mag) he tells the story from his perspective.
Prison Recycling
UK prisons are investigating ways in which they can recycle some of the 50,000 mattresses they have to dump every year. They’re being turned into roof tiles, carpet underlay and fence panels to prevent them going into landfill sites. Can’t we challenge Anneka (or someone) to reinvent a mountain of unwanted stuff every week? The […]
Hotelicopter – World’s First Flying Hotel
The Hotelicopter is a modified Soviet Mil V-12 helicopter (of which there were only two prototypes built) that has been fitted out with 16 cabins, 2 suites and a spa. There’s Internet and mobile phone reception, flat screen TVs, DVDs and Wiis. There is also yoga, ping pong and a tea garden(!) Your every need […]
Scientists in the Soup
Campbell’s Ideas for Innovation is a new website from the soup company that invites scientists, entrepreneurs and inventors to submit their ideas for improving the company’s packaging, nutrition, new products and business processes. The ideas will be assessed by Campbell’s before they decide which ideas to implement. Scientists who make a suggestion that is used […]
Personal Butchery
Mother Jones has a profile of a North California butcher who shoots animals though the head to slaughter them for farmers who don’t want to use the big USDA slaughterhouses. Twenty minutes later he’s butchered the animal in to meat. Advocates of his service say it’s impossible to adhere to growing and eating locally if […]
Student Gems
Studentgems.com is a UK website that allows students to use their skills, gain experience and earn money by matching them up with potential employers, who might need a website designed, their garden pruned or a batch of cupcakes ferried to a church fair. It’s also got tips on how to write a CV and managing […]
Foxes Pack Boxes and Hunks Haul Junk
If you need to move, you probably need some help to shift your stuff. A couple of businesses have sprung up that meet your packing and moving needs, the fiscal needs of students with massive loans and the needs of the environment. College Hunks Hauling Junk and College Foxes Packing Boxes both conclusively pass the […]
America’s Next Airline CEO
Gailen David is an airline steward who is aiming to be the next CEO an airline by bringing back civility back to travel – and that’s a goal he’s had since he was 9-years-old. Read his blog and watch him set out his manifesto in his video. He also has series of online videos in […]
User Generated Adventure Holiday Design
Thinking of booking your annual holiday? Disappointed of the standard of the holiday companies you’ve given your hard earned cash to? Time to take an exploration trip. YokMok is a Spanish travel company that invites past customers to road test their new trips and advise/brainstorm how to improve them before they are launched. This year’s […]
Joe Cirulli – Jamie Oliver of Fitness?
Is Joe Cirulli the US Jamie Oliver of fitness? Aged 21 he made a list of things he wanted to do, and has steadily ticked them off. One of the things on his list was building a health and fitness empire, which was rated one of the four best in the world, and the best […]
TED: Cindy Gallop does Porn
Cindy Gallop, an ex- NYC ad agency chairman, has given a talk at the high-brow TED conference about porn. Her new website Make Love Not Porn advises on the difference between porn and real-life sex. In a funny way it reminds me of TLC’s Life Lessons (but is obviously not quite as wholesome…and I’ll probably […]
What Would Google Do?
When battling with impenetrable ‘systems’ that don’t work I’ve often wondered how Google would sort it out, and wished they would: Oyster card readers that don’t read and then overcharge because you ‘didn’t put it on the reader’ (and then can’t be refunded unless you travel to the other end of they tube system to […]
TED Conference Speakers 2009
TED (tagline: Ideas Worth Spreading) have just announced some of their returning speakers at their 2009 conference. In the meantime browse the site for inspirational talks and expert/talent spotting. 2009 conference speakers include: Biochemist Kary Mullins, Biologist Robert Full, Mathemagician Arthur Benjamin, Founding director of Harvard Business School’s Life Sciences Project, Juan Enriquez, Marketing guru […]
