Archive for November 2011
Building Homes for Extended Families
A Southern California homebuilder is now building houses with a smaller home nested inside of the larger one. Lennar designers and researchers and an independent architect developed the floor plans this year to respond to the doubling-up trend that has affected more than 1 in 5 U.S. households. Executives with the Miami-based home building titan [...]
New Biz Making Anti-Venom for Pets
Flagstaff Business News: According to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, Arizona is home to the most dangerous rattlesnakes, spiders, lizards, and scorpions in the nation. So it is appropriate that researcher and veterinarian Dr. Craig Woods of BioVeteria Life Sciences chose Prescott, AZ as the home of his new business venture. BioVeteria is a [...]
AirPano is a noncommercial project focused on high resolution 3D aerial panoramas. The AirPano team is made up of Russian photographers who shoot aerial panoramas from helicopters, light jets, air balloons and radio-controlled helicopter models. This is an amazing idea, and someone needs to do it for profit!
Custom Jeans from 3D Body Scans
Fitted Fashion is using 3D body scanners and fancy software to develop custom blue jeans: The scans, says cofounder and recent Harvard Business School graduate Jamal Motlagh, helps Fitted Fashion derive a precise set of individual body measurements that he and his team can then use to make perfectly fitted clothing. “Self or tailor-made measurements [...]
Want to be a rocketeer? Using a jetpack isn’t easy! You can’t just fire off the thrusters, lean forward to go and expect not to crash. You need to go jet pack school first. Video below.
Gator Man Mike in Naples, Florida has started a business letting people hug his pet alligator for $5. The five-year-old alligator, Baby Bobby, weighs about 35 pounds and apparently loves being cuddled. The alligator wears a muzzle on his head and according to the Gator Man Mike, the gator loves the hugs: “They’re smarter than [...]
Inventor’s Laser Can Turn Brown Eyes Blue
If you have brown eyes, but you’ve always wanted them to be blue, an inventor has a new device that can make that change permanent. Gregg Homer, founder of Stroma Medical in Laguna Beach, Calif., told the Daily News he’s already tested the irreversible cosmetic treatment on about 12 volunteers in Mexico, safely removing small [...]
Curious Little Safety Inventions
What lead to the invention of most safety products? Necessity. Here are two little inventions we shouldn’t live without. Duane Pearsall did not intend to create a smoke detector in 1965 – instead he was trying to measure static electricity in a dark room. He became irritated when the device, which was measuring the concentration [...]
The electric transmissions has seen quite a few innovations, but manual has not been that lucky. However, John Otto hopes to change that with the synchro-clutch. His new design eliminates the need for a foot clutch, making shifting less complicated compared to traditional manual transmissions. The clutch also shifts gears without resorting to actuators and [...]
NordicTrack Inventor Passes On
The NordicTrack held a big place in 80′s exercise history, and it is all thanks to Ed Pauls, the inventor and avid skier. Ed passed on early last month. Star Tribune takes a look at the history of his NordicTrack. In his basement, he invented NordicTrack, initially popular with skiers but quickly a hit with [...]
World’s Most Populated Countries in 2100
According to people at the United Nations who estimate this kind of stuff, the top 10 countries in the world, by population, in 2100 will be: India – 1,557,468,000 China – 944,380,000 Nigeria – 756,007,000 United States – 478,047,000 Tanzania – 314,197,000 Pakistan – 262,149,000 Indonesia – 254,590,000 Democratic Republic of the Congo – 212,000,000 [...]
New iPhone App Recognizes Barcodes and Products
eCommerce Bytes: Amazon.com subsidiary A9.com launched a new iPhone app that uses both barcode and image recognition to recognize tens of millions of products in a live camera view in a real world setting. Flow Powered by Amazon recognizes products, from books and DVDs to packaged electronics and toys, and the mobile app offers shoppers [...]
Bagels Bring Peace to the Middle East?
NY Daily News: The oldest Jewish bialy and bagel shop in New York City is being rescued by two Muslim cab drivers — and they plan to keep it kosher. Coney Island Bialys and Bagels — founded in 1920 by Morris Rosenzweig, a Jewish immigrant of Bialystok, Poland — was about to go out of [...]
Today in Entrepreneurial History: November 4
On this date in 1879, James Ritty, a saloonkeeper and inventor patented the world’s first cash register as “Ritty’s Incorruptible Cashier.” Wikipedia has more details: James Jacob Ritty, saloonkeeper and inventor, opened his first saloon in Dayton, Ohio in 1879, billing himself as a “Dealer in Pure Whiskies, Fine Wines, and Cigars.” Some of Ritty’s [...]
The National Federation of Independent Business said employment fell by an average of 0.1 per firm from 0.3 in September, according to its survey of 2,077 small businesses. The jobless rate is seen holding steady at 9.1 percent for a fourth straight month. The NFIB survey showed 12 percent of small-business owners added an average [...]
Holland Sentinal: “The highway centerline has been called the single most important traffic safety device in the history of automobile transportation, and Edward Hines originated it right here in Michigan, ”State Transportation Director Kirk T. Steudle said when accepting the award on behalf of the Hines family and the state. Widely recognized as one of [...]
Every great small business needs great employees to help guide it in the right direction. CBS has some ideas on what you should look for in a potential employee. The best small business employees: Feel “it’s all 8 hours to me.” I first heard the expression when I asked an employee to help me clean [...]
Natural Baby Products From The Natural Baby Company
What is in the products your baby uses or wears? Some parents may not think much about that question, but Kim Ormsby did. She wanted products that were safe and gentle for her children without sacrificing quality. So, she started her own business, The Natural Baby Company. I recently spoke with Kim about her business [...]
Today in Entrepreneurial History: November 3
1838 – The Times of India, the world’s largest circulated English language daily broadsheet newspaper is founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce. 1911 – Chevrolet officially enters the automobile market in competition with the Ford Model T. 1913 – The United States introduces an income tax. Photo by alancleaver_2000.
Workbook Nurtures Young Inventive Minds
Our children are our future. If we want to generate a new generation of inventors and entrepreneurs, we need to feed their creativity and teach them important lessons. Inventive Minds has created a new workbook that does exactly that. The purpose of the workbook is two-fold: to stimulate imagination and to serve as a teaching [...]
Billy Bob Teeth Inventor Turns Author
Life is nothing like the teeth that Jonah White created so many years ago. It is made to be enjoyed and shared. That is exactly what he has done with his new book. White, a multimillionaire who still lives on the property where his parents, the late John and Ella White, raised him on a [...]
News Story Helps Immigrant Entrepreneur Get Visa
video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player On Tuesday “World News” shared the story of Amit Aharoni, an Israeli national and a graduate of Stanford Business School, who secured $1.65 million in venture capital funding with two cofounders to launch CruiseWise.com, an online cruise booking company. The company hired nine Americans in just one year. But Aharoni [...]
joinFITE Empowering Entrepreneurial Women
joinFITE is in Dallas, Texas for the SHINE conference, in hopes of helping empower potential entrepreneurs. joinFITE will be recognized as the featured cause this year at the conference among thousands of business leaders from across the country, to spotlight their groundbreaking work to financially empower women and help them gain economic stability. joinFITE, championed [...]
Today in Entrepreneurial History: November 2
1920 – In the United States, KDKA of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania starts broadcasting as the first commercial radio station. The first broadcast is the result of the U.S. presidential election, 1920. 1936 – The British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, the world’s first regular, “high-definition” (then defined as at least 200 lines) service. Renamed [...]
iPhone App for Finding Bathrooms in People’s Houses
CLOO’ is an iPhone app that turns any private bathroom into a public bathroom accessible via your social media connections, basically solving the problem of too-few easily accessible restrooms. Just open CLOO’ to see the hosts in your area (members loos (bathrooms) you can use) then CLOO’ displays any friends you have in-common with them, [...]
The “Pizza-Size Burger,” a new hamburger available at Burger King Japan take is almost 9 inches in diameter. It’s topped with four overlapping Whopper patties. According to Inventor Spot you can “order the Pizza-Size Burger in two different styles, though both styles are served in an odd “half & half” format with one half featuring [...]
Unmanned Drones Sell Real Estate
CBS Los Angeles: Helicopter drones are one of the military’s most effective tools. Unmanned aircraft that can get in and out of touch spaces without being detected. In the tough world of real estate these days, some might call it war, those drones are now being used to sell pricey homes in Southern California. The [...]
The Detroit News: It’s like an iPhone in the form of a streetlight. That’s how inventor Ron Harwood described his Intellistreets poles Friday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony launching the innovative technology. The modern poles use LED lights that can be dimmed at all hours of the day, cutting down on energy costs. They also have [...]
Tired of losing track of your drink at a party? Trong Nguyen’s unique drink tags will allow you to keep track of your drink throughout the night, reports The Sacramento Bee. Nguyen’s solution: Mini decks of playing cards called “PartyPal drinktags.” Guests get a tiny plastic card/tag – say, a jack of hearts – and [...]
Weathering The Recession Mompreneur Style
The economy has been rough on many entrepreneurs. However, one mompreneur, Sandy Clark, found a way to keep her business alive. Clark, a “mompreneur” from San Diego, had just begun nursing her twins when she started DoubleBlessings.com in 1995. Her mission at the time was simply to empower new mothers of twins to breastfeed their [...]
I-Corps Turning Academics Into Entrepreneurs
NPR: The National Science Foundation screened applicants for this Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program and awarded each research team $50,000. They’ll be mentored by entrepreneurs familiar with bringing a new technology to market, and participate in ongoing webinars and progress meetings throughout the process. Each of the 21 teams has its own project — things like [...]
Tyz Scarves: Fashion You Can Mold
Women love fashion, and its impossible not to love a piece of fashion that will stay in place. That is the idea behind Tyz Scarves. You can always tie a regular scarf around your neck, or you can mold a beautiful scarf so it will sit on your neck in the position you want it [...]
Kim Bhasin: As hard copy books go the way of the typewriter, that novelty value may be all they have left. But that might not be as bad as it sounds. Nostalgia is very marketable. When we remember the past in a positive way, we’re able to shape the memory into a happier version of [...]
Japanese Salon Has Gone To The Dogs
Japan Trends: Green Dog is a center for holistic life, situated in the upscale Tokyo Mid Town district, among high class restaurants, designer shops and museums. The objective of the center is to create a “joyful life with your partner (the dog)”. In order to achieve that Green Dog offers a wide variety of holistic [...]
Self Publishing Works If You Bring Your Own Audience
WSJ: Self-publishing these days is increasingly a tale of two cities. There are established authors, like Nyree Belleville, who says she’s earned half a million dollars in the past 18 months selling direct rather than through a publisher.. Then there are new authors, like Eve Yohalem. More than a month after self-publishing, she has grossed [...]
The British television show The Gadget Show has built the ultimate simulator for “first person shooter” Battlefield 3 video game. People would pay money for this kind of experience. The simulator features an omnidirectional treadmill floor, 360 degree projection screens and paintball guns that automatically shoot you when you’re damaged in the game. See the [...]
Excellent Business Advice from TV’s The Office
Robert California, CEO of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, Inc. in a recent episode of the television show The Office: Let me tell you how I buy something these days. I know what I want, I go on the Internet and I get the best price. Or, I don’t know what I want, and I go [...]
Prisoners Make Someone a Profit
Prisoners don’t just make license plates anymore: “We Have the Time to Do It Right,” is one of the mantras on the unit’s corporate website; “Built with Conviction” is another. Although 40 of 50 states still produce license plates behind bars, prison businesses have diversified. Inmates at Arizona Correctional Industries at the Lewis prison complex [...]
Today in Entrepreneurial History: November 1
1848 – In Boston, Massachusetts, the first medical school for women, The Boston Female Medical School (which later merged with the Boston University School of Medicine), opens. 1859 – The current Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse is lit for the first time. Its first-order Fresnel lens can be seen for about 19 miles (30 kilometers), [...]
There’s a Huge Market for Quirky Yet Highly Functional Products
CNN: Some advice for the Snuggie: Watch your back! Three years after this blanket with sleeves turned the country into “Snuggie Nation,” other wacky products are threatening to derail its phenomenal run. The competition includes the Forever Lazy, a fleece onesie for adults, Bake Pops, a utensil that creates cake on a stick, and Sift [...]
The Missile Silo Real Estate Biz
How’d you like to life in a old nuclear missile base? Maybe it’s not for you, but there are more people that want to than missile silos available. It’s a good time to be a missile silor real estate agent. The Verge has more: A home like Ed’s is an anomaly. In 1960, taxpayers paid [...]
More Dessert, Less Food Desert
“Food deserts” are low-income neighborhoods lacking access to healthful, affordable food. Across the U.S. a growing number of people live in food deserts, but a new business out of Seattle is attempting to feel this need. Stockbox Grocers is a miniature market that is tucked inside a reclaimed shipping container and placed into the parking [...]
Rollerblade Inventor Thinking Big
The inventor of rollerblades, Scott Olson, has moved on from the blades we all know and love. Now he is taking everybody’s feet off the ground. His new company, SkyRide Technology, is now marketing SkyRide. Olson has invented an elevated track and hanging from it is either a SkyRower or SkyBike, propelled by the person [...]
Gaston Gazette: George T. Adams can still put on his socks at age 85, but may not be able to do that in a year. That’s why he invented the “Sox Butler,” a device that helps a person put on socks without having to bend down. Adams first tried looking in medical supply stores for [...]
You don’t need to be Picasso to be an artist. At times, you don’t even need paint and a brush. Donovan Peterson is an artist who uses existing, worn out items to make new things. The process is also known as upcycling. “At one point I just decided to quit saying ‘that’s a good idea, [...]
Universal Remote: There’s An App For That
Ever wonder why you can’t control your television with your phone? Well, iRule is an app that will let do you exactly that, and more. A plan to make $2,000 each last year on the side by developing and selling software for a universal remote control app for iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch has morphed [...]
