Author Archives: Rich Whittle
Billboards can be a surprisingly effective platform (literally) for environmental causes, as exemplified by these creative setups, which destroy expectations of what’s possible with a rectangular space. Via: Weburbanist Photos by artatm/davewilliamsdesigns/thecrapbox/fistofblog.
According to Fast Company, David Rees may well be the world’s first and only artisanal pencil sharpener. Yes, it’s real,” says David Rees of his budding pencil-sharpening business. “It’s as real as artisanal cheese-making or artisanal honey production or artisanal anything else that’s part of this movement.” Unlike his electric counterparts, Rees promises the “care [...]
Can you tell what this new invention is? I’ll give you a hint, it involves food. Put your guesses in the comments and we’ll give you the real answer and tell you about the inventor behind it tomorrow. via: The Red Ferret Journal
Remember that awesome Etch A Sketch Case that we showed you a few weeks ago that made your iPad look like the toy? This would make a great holiday gift and I want one! Headcase and Etch A Sketch combine on an officially licensed iPad case. It not only enhances the aesthetics of your iPad [...]
Tweezerman founder Dal LaMagna says his company grew by being frugal with money and keeping stakeholders interests at heart in this report from CNNMoney.
According to the Beverly Hills Courier, Media4Women, a full-service online media and marketing company, is offering to launch your new business online, for free. The company’s “New Year New Business” contest offers startup companies the chance to win a 3-month contract with Media4Women including an online marketing plan proven to get results, website design and [...]
According to a story at ReadWrteWeb, regardless of industry, there is one age-old relic of professional networking that refuses to die: the business card. Even at the most high-tech and cutting edge of events, you still can’t mingle without collecting a pocket full of paper cards. Surely, this can’t go on forever. The business card [...]
Jumping On The Snuggie Bandwagon
Snuggies — the famous “blankets with sleeves” from those cheesy TV infomercials — may look frumpy, but with a little imagination, they can be hotter than lingerie in the bedroom, reports AOL News. You’ve probably heard of the myriad sexual positions associated with the ancient Kama Sutra, but what about those practiced in “Snuggie Sutra”? [...]
Every so often an idea comes along that stops you in your tracks. sOccket is an incredible demonstration of the power of a simple idea, of the collision between science and sport, of the application of minds to mending hearts. One part soccer ball, one part portable energy generator, another community builder and finally one [...]
According to CNNMoney, Tyler Marsh grew up surfing in Hawaii, so he’s used to living in what many consider an ideal vacation spot. But after visiting his older brother, Tim, who was living in Costa Rica in 1997, he found his paradise: “It was just someplace that was a little foreign and really open,” Tyler [...]
Biz Boost To Military Families
The Wall Street Journal reports that several new programs that aim to help military family members and veterans start businesses were announced last week. The Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, along with sponsor Ernst & Young, is offering “boot camp” for entrepreneurs. The program—open to family members who are full-time caretakers of wounded [...]
“The New York Times” To Launch Bestseller Lists For E-Books
The New York Times announced that it will begin publishing bestseller lists for e-book fiction and nonfiction in early 2011. According to Mashable.com, the Times’s bestseller lists, established in 1935, are arguably the definitive metric for success in the book publishing world. The addition of two new lists for e-books points to the growing importance [...]
Ingenious Machine Can Print Cobblestone Roads
A road printer. This machine can build 400 yards of road per day using cobblestone. You just have to keep feeding it bricks. Via: Gizmodo
Governments Clearing Way For Small Biz Creation
The New York Times reports that governments have responded to the financial crisis by making it easier for entrepreneurs to start new businesses, paving the way for employment growth amid an uncertain economic outlook, according to a World Bank report. The study, Doing Business 2011, found that governments in 117 of the 183 economies it [...]
Obama Administration To Appoint Web Privacy Czar
According to Ars Technica, the US government is preparing to appoint a privacy czar and introduce legislation to address growing concerns over Internet privacy. The announcement is expected to come within weeks along with a report from the US Commerce Department, though at this point, the details are apparently far from being hammered out. The [...]
Listen Now: Or download: Weekend Wrap-up November 13, 2010
Unique Products To Inspire And Amuse. Now I can REALLY use my iPad. Soft, warm, blue and enormous, ’nuff said. Honey, I had a dream I was at Denny’s. Heck, it worked for ZZ Top. These products are actually a product themselves…Prank Packs. Arik Nordby makes fake gift boxes, and his company 30Watt is releasing [...]
Game Inventor Hopes To Spawn New Craze
Put down your Monopoly counters and pack up your Cluedo pieces because a new board game has arrived in Wokingham. The Wokingham Times reports that entrepreneur Phil Annets revealed his first toy venture, Whirred Play, last week when he showed the game to residents at Barkham Post Office. The game is a clever word challenge [...]
Free Holiday Shipping At Walmart
Walmart ups the ante for holiday shopping. They have announced free shipping on 60,000 holiday items, including electronics, video games, toys, jewelry and furniture. There is no minimum purchase amount and returns are free, too. The free shipping offer ends Dec. 20, 2010. WalletPop says Walmart estimates the free shipping offer will save shoppers $25 [...]
Why So Many Entrepreneurs Get Divorced
Meg Cadoux Hirshberg is a journalist and the wife of Gary Hirshberg, president and CEO of Stonyfield Yogurt, she writes at Inc.com: No one, as far as I know, breaks out divorce statistics for entrepreneurs, but I’d wager they’re higher than the U.S. average. Fortunately, my husband and I are not among that number. The [...]
via: The Pajama Pundit
Samuel L. Clemens, better known as Mark Twain and famous for stories such as Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, also was an inventor and received a total of three patents. According to a USPTO press release, while living in Hartford, Conn., Twain, received his first patent for an adjustable strap that could be used to [...]
Baby Boomers Buying Habits Change
Because the way we think and process information evolves as we age, experts say the way we behave as consumers also changes. According to Jim Shea at The Hartford Courant, as a result, members of the baby-boom generation are now at a stage in life where emotion and gut feelings play a bigger role in [...]
Coca-Cola And The Birth Of The Coupon
“Delicious! Refreshing! Exhilarating! Invigorating!” When John Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in 1886, not even that adrenalized ad slogan could persuade customers to try it over all the other carbonated wonder tonics on the market. According to Wired, his bookkeeper started giving away tickets for free tastes of Coke, but Pemberton chided him for “extravagance.” Then along [...]
Readers of a certain age will remember the fun of getting the giant Sears Wish Book in the mail at the start of the holiday season and paging through it to mark all the desired gifts. According to AppScout, the Wish Book is online now and Sears has added social features this year. Just in [...]
Anyone Can Create And Launch iPhone Apps
According to Venturebeat, GameSalad hopes to usher along the era of user-generated apps with its new GameSalad Studio, which makes it easier for people to create, test, and distribute their iPhone games. The Austin, Texas-based company says that no programming knowledge is necessary for people to use its tools and create their own apps that [...]
Target has come up with a clever way to sell more gift cards. Incorporate the card in a game. In this case a baby shower game. Via: the dieline
Growing Market For Bizarre Foods
Deep fried eel bones. Goat eyeball tacos. Breaded blowfish. All badass-sounding items featured at New York City restaurants both luxe (bones at Sushi Yasuda and blowfish at Oceana) and low (eyeballs at Taqueria Puebla in Staten Island). Inc.com says ingest one of these babies and you’ll have a story to impress your foodie friends—and gross [...]
Bigger is not always better, says a recent article in The New York Times. As retailers struggle to save money in a sluggish economy, they’re starting to downsize – literally. After all, a smaller space will have a lower rent, fewer costs for storing inventory, and a need for fewer employees. The Times notes that [...]
Open-Data Boon For Entrepreneurs
San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order last year asking city departments to publish data under their control. Since then, hundreds of sets of data have been released. And the bounty is feeding creativity among app designers. Fast Company reports that at least 50 new apps have been built using the open data, [...]
According to Fast Company, the jeans manufacturing process can be surprisingly water-intensive. Most jeans are washed in industrial washing machines between three to ten times during the finishing process–and that adds up. So when Levi’s went looking for ways to save water this past year, it focused on the finishing side of jeans manufacturing. And [...]
Though designed to enhance customer experiences, post-service customer surveys might actually harm a business’s relationships with consumers, reports Futurity.org. Companies that use immediate follow-up customer surveys or multiple follow-up surveys may open themselves to negative consequences, a new study finds. Customers who were satisfied with the specific service they received may jump to the conclusion [...]
WalletPop reports that Mr. Peanut, the iconic mascot of Planters peanuts, is ending 94 years of silence in a new commercial. Given stop-action life (and the voice of Robert Downey Jr.), Mr. Peanut hosts a memorable Christmas party in one ad and plays The Christmas Song on the rims of glasses in a companion follow [...]
Name It And Webbies Will Buy It
A new study suggests online consumers judge a site’s or a software’s credibility by its name—and the more specialized the better, reports Futurity.com. Researchers randomly assigned a group of 124 undergraduate students to buy wine with websites, recommendation agents, and computer monitors that were labeled either as specialized wine purchasing-technologies or as general e-commerce technologies. [...]
When A Product Gets The Obama Effect
How the Slurpee got street cred. Easy: President Obama mentioned it. In recent campaign speeches, Obama said Republicans stood around drinking Slurpees while Democrats did tough legislative work. And at Wednesday’s day-after-the-election press conference, he joked that he might hold a “Slurpee Summit.” 7-Eleven is jumping on the opportunity for additional buzz. Officials representing 7-Eleven [...]
Ditching Politics For Entrepreneurship
Two campaign seasons ago, a group of young staffers schooled in new media helped President Barack Obama win office. Now according to The Wall Street Journal some have left politics behind and are using similar skills, plus lessons learned on the campaign trail, to start their own entrepreneurial ventures. One even funded his start-up by [...]
Creativity Improves Negative Moods
The anguished artist may be a popular stereotype, but as it turns out, exploring negative feelings through creative work can actually transform a sullen attitude into a bright one, according to Dr. Shelly Carson in an article at PsychCentral.com. The creative process provides a form of “auto-therapy,” which tends to improve moods. What type of [...]
Via: DailyInfographic
A front runner hasn’t emerged in the toy-of-the-season race reports The Chicago Tribune. But there are some contenders. Something called Squinkies tops the list. The “soft and squishy figures” can be worn as jewelry, put on top pencils or collected. But more importantly—they’re cheap. Industry experts say inexpensive collectibles are one sector of the toy [...]
The Emmy® award-winning reality series, Everyday Edisons, featuring “ordinary people with extraordinary ideas,” is back for more for Season 4. This time around, Everyday Edisons is coming to you and casting Season 4 online at Edison Nation. They will pick 10 outstanding innovations. All it takes is a great idea. Give yours a shot at [...]
Living Grass As Indoor Advertising
Curb Media’s DesignGrass is completely natural grass created solely for indoor environments. According to trendspotter Springwise it can be designed in any shape, pattern, image, brand or word and installed on indoor surfaces such as walls and ceilings; once installed, the grass never requires any watering or trimming. Already in use by brands including Electrolux [...]
Via: Daily Infographic
Ronald and Bryan Williams, two entrepreneurial brothers from New Orleans who run the successful music company Cash Money Records Inc., are turning their attention to the book business according to a story in The Wall Street Journal. The brothers, whose company counts rapper Lil Wayne among its artists, plan to use the same techniques that [...]
Finally, a chip that understands a nacho-eater’s need to enjoy each and every topping without stealing all the middle chips: Spoonachos! Best thing since the spork. Designer Denis Bostandzic deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for this one. My question is…why did it take till the 21st century to come up with this product? Via: Holy [...]
According to ABC-TV News a new phenomenon called “haul videos” means teens can show off their purchases to the whole world. There are more than 110,000 haul videos currently on YouTube, and some videos are racking up tens of millions of views. Hauls are short product review videos. The “vlogger,” or video blogger, shows off [...]
The Young Entrepreneur Council, an advocacy group that works to overcome youth unemployment by teaching young people how to build successful companies got together to answer this question. The council’s members include Generation Y entrepreneurs and experts in a variety of fields. Aaron Patzer, founder of Mint.com: Hire an expert.If you’re sure that what you’re [...]
New TV Series ‘Homemade Millionaire’
The Learning Channel has joined forces with HSN and Milojo Productions to premiere the six-part series HOMEMADE MILLIONAIRE on November 19 at 10pm ET/PT, according to a press release. The series offers aspiring female entrepreneurs the potential opportunity of a lifetime – to have their innovative ideas sold on-air and online through interactive multichannel retailer [...]
According to The Wall Street Journal, thirty minutes may not seem like a lot of time to get professional input. But small-business owners from the New York city area are being helped by coaching seminars that work a lot like a speed-dating event, offering quick one-on-one sessions with advisers.
‘Maybe’, according to The Wall Street Journal, is one word that always gets lost in translation. And in the age of electronic invitations that can be quite a problem because ‘maybe’ tends to mean very different things. To some, it’s a gentle way of saying ‘no’. To others, it’s a way to hedge in case [...]
Companies Paying Hiring “Bounties”
It’s a finders keepers job market out there says The New York Post. More and more companies are paying their employees a bounty for finding a new hire. Experts say the trend illustrates how social networks have come to affect almost everything about our lives, even the hiring process. Others note that candidates that are [...]
