In this issue: THE BOYFRIEND PILLOW MEN ARE THE NEW WOMEN STUPID ROBOTS PINK TV PRIVATE EQUITY BIG IN CHINA And much much more... ------------------------------------------------------------ ____ ____ ___ _____ ____ ______ ______ * / __ )/ __ \/ | / _/ | / / |/ / | / _/ / / __ / /_/ / /| | / // |/ / /|_/ / /| | / // / / /_/ / _, _/ ___ |_/ // /| / / / / ___ |_/ // /___ /_____/_/ |_/_/ |_/___/_/ |_/_/ /_/_/ |_/___/_____/ *Keeping brains healthy since 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail email issue 003 - April 2005 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail is a free monthly newsletter about new ideas, innovations and trends. If you'd like to receive regular copies simply click on subscribe. If you'd like to be removed from future mailings just click on unsubscribe. Subscribe: mailto:subscribe-brainmail@nowandnext.com Unsubscribe: mailto:unsubscribe-brainmail@nowandnext.com Tell the world about brainmail - forward this to a friend. ------------------------------------------------------------ > SINGLE PERSON SOLUTION A boyfriend pillow is available in Japan. The man sized pillow weighs in at 18kg and comes with two shirts (one pink, one blue). The product is a reaction to the growing number of single lonely women in Japan. In most countries 25- 30% of all households are now lived in by singles. Presumably the manufacturer will soon be adding versions that snore, steal the bedding and say out all night. Ref: The Australian (Aus) > ARTIFICIAL AND NOT VERY INTELLIGENT A company in Japan has created a 'cuddly' robot that can take care of old people. If you say to the robot "today I'm not feeling well" it answers "Maybe you are tired and need a rest". And they spent how much to develop this? Ref: Kyodo News (Japan) > DVD WITH ADDED STARCH A Japanese company has invented a DVD made from cornstarch. Unfortunately the cost of producing these DVDs is 300% more than for traditional plastic DVDs. Ref: Japan Today (Japan) > PINK TV CNN reports that a gay TV channel has been launched in France, which hopes to attract 180,000 viewers. Ref: CNN (US) > HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? Channel 4 TV in London is looking for someone (anybody) that will donate their dead body to a TV show. The idea is to show the body decomposing. In 2003 Channel 4 screened live a post mortem. What could possibly be next? Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) > THINK SMALL In case you have not noticed most things are getting smaller (except for TVs which can never be too big). Big newspapers were once considered to be serious while their smaller (tabloid) rivals were sensationalist. This has now all changed with many broadsheets moving to a semi-tabloid format. The Independent (UK) moved to a commuter size in May 2004 and has seen a 19% increase in circulation as a result. What else can we shrink? Ref: Business Week (US) > MEN ARE THE NEW WOMEN Further evidence that men are the new women and women are turning into men: 90% of men do not do any DIY according to a new study published in Britain. Apparently 67% said they didn't know how to do it while 27% didn't have any spare time. Meanwhile the number of women doing DIY continues to increase. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK) > STRAPLESS SWIMWEAR Nike has invented a pair of swimming goggles that don't have any straps. Instead the goggles are attached to your face using self-adhesive strips around the eyes. Apparently this reduces drag in the water for serious swimmers. Last year an English inventor created a strapless Bikini using similar stick-on technology. Ref: Time (US). > HUSH LITTLE BABY At last. Someone has finally added a motor to a baby cot so that the cot slowly rocks the baby to sleep. Ref: Time (US) > BACKPACKER TV It is those crazy Japanese inventors again Ð how about a backpack with a built in TV? Now some of you will be wondering what is the use of a TV on a backpack because surely the TV faces the wrong way? Spot on Sherlock Ð the TV is meant to act as a mobile billboard. Ad agencies take note. Ref: Japan Today (Japan) > NEW NATION INNOVATION Here's an idea from Tyler Brule, founder of Wallpaper magazine. In the future there will be a new country called Liberteria where people are free to pursue all the things that have been made illegal in other countries. Ref: Financial Times (UK). > WATER THAT DOESN'T GET WET The folks at 3M have invented a liquid (snazzy name 3M Novec 1230) that looks just like water and puts fires out. Uses? Ð putting out fires in offices, factories and places like museums where you don't want to damage electrical equipment, computers or priceless exhibits with water. Ref: Time (US) > CAUGHT BY YOUR OWN SMELL New from GE is a device that can sniff out potential terrorists and drug smugglers. Apparently we all smell and a 'human convection plume' carries telltale particles of objects we've been in contact with up into the air. Trap this air (in this case in a GE Entry Scan kiosk) and would-be bombers or drugs carriers can be caught. Ref: Popular Science (US) > NO JOBS According to the Confederation of British Industry unskilled jobs will disappear in Britain within the next decade. Ref: Daily Telegraph (UK). > SCHOOL BRANDS A school in New South Wales (Australia) is selling its own brand of water to help raise money for the school and to counter obesity. Ref: Sydney Morning Herald (Aus) > IT'S NOT MY FAULT A suspect in a criminal trial in the UK recently used Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (AADHD) as a defence to win an appeal against murder. Proponents of AADHD claim that it is a genetic disease which explains some types of criminal behavior. Others claim that it is simply a character trait and an excuse. Ref: The Times (UK) > GRAPHIC IMAGES The traditional media won't show them but according to a report 24% of all adult Internet users in the US have seen graphic images from the war in Iraq on the web and 28% have actually searched for such images. Not surprisingly, 53% of men approve of the availability of such images versus 29% of women. Ref: The Atlantic Monthly (US) > PRIVATE EQUITY According to The Economist there has been a 60% growth in the use of the word private equity in the financial media over the past 24 months. Over the past 10 years the phrase has seen a 1,000% increase in useage. Ref: The Economist (UK). > HEY BIG SPENDER Private banks for the ultra-wealthy are the fastest growing area in banking in Australia according to ANZ bank. Ref The Australian (Aus) > RICH ENOUGH TO THROW IT AWAY Research commissioned by the Prudential in the UK says that 14% of people in the UK throw away small coins because they can't be bothered to carry them around. Ref: Reuters > DO YOU WANT SOME ATTITUDE WITH THAT? The first Ayurvedic restaurant in the world has been opened in London. Customers at Mantra are analysed by waiters and given what the waiter thinks is good for them. Ref: Sydney Morning Herald (Aus) > BIG IN CHINA What are the fastest growing FMCG products in China? According to AC Neilsen the answer is; shampoo, instant noodles, juice, skin moisturiser, laundry detergent, toothpaste, yoghurt, biscuits, sanitary protection and water. Ref: BandT (Aus) > VERY BIG IN CHINA There are almost as many people learning English in China as there are people speaking English in the US, England, Canada and Australia combined. Ref: Financial Times (UK) > HERE TODAY GONE TOMORROW The limited edition food craze has hit fruit juice with the Daily Juice company in Australia launching 'Limited Season' fruit juice. Ref: Nowandnext.com > MORE THAN HALF THINK OUT OF THE BOX In Australia 52% of wine is consumed from wine boxes (down from 64% in 1984). Meanwhile, a survey by Marks & Spencer (UK) says that 80% of Britons always have a bottle of house wine in their house and that 75% keep their wine on the floor or in cupboards. Ref: Sydney Morning Herald (Aus), Daily Telegraph (UK). > CAR IN A CAN Last year Coca-Cola had the bright idea of running a competition where 128 GPS equipped cell-phones were camouflaged as ordinary Coke cans and placed inside Coke vending machines. A red button on each phone dialed straight through to Coke HQ. Winners were then located and presented with a brand new car. Bit rough if all you wanted was a cold drink. Ref www.nowandnext.com > ASSAULT ON THE SENSES TUI (a travel agent in the UK) is experimenting with a virtual reality player to show customers what a country looks like before they get there. The VR player comes with a headset that also dispenses various holidays smells including coconut suntan lotion. Ref: Travel Weekly (UK) > NO FAULT DIVORCE States in the US that allow no-fault divorce experienced a 20% fall in female suicide rates according to a report by the National Bureau of Economic Research (US). Ref: The Atlantic Monthly (US) > DIY TOUR GUIDE The GoCar is a motorised tricycle that you can hire in San Francisco to show you the sights. Each vehicle is equipped with GPS and talks to you about the City's sights once you get to them. Cost is US $40 for an hour. Ref: Time (US) > STUPID IDEA The Department of Transport in the UK has just spent GB £150,000 researching whether bike racks fitted to the front of buses would be a good idea. Not surprisingly, the conclusion was that the racks could create a safety risk. Ref: Auto Express (UK) > ONLY THE PARANOID SURVIVE Demand for armoured vehicles has grown by 100% since 1990 and the value of the market is expected to reach US $1 billion in 2005. Ref: Auto Express (UK) > IT DEPENDS HOW YOU READ IT Reading is in crisis according to figures released in the US. The percentage of people reading literature has fallen by 10% since 1994. However, if you include non-fiction the decline is just 4%. Moreover, the amount of people who enjoy creative writing has increased from 11 million to 17 million since 1982. Ref: The Atlantic Review (US) > HEADLINES OF THE FUTURE According to the RAND Corporation future wars could be fought in India, Pakistan, China, Africa, Russia, North Korea and the MiddleÐEast. Nothing new about this - except the fact that these wars could be fought with mind-controlled insects, nanoenchanced animals and smart dust. Ref: Plausiblefutures.com (US) > Nice touch US based Babies R'US chain has reserved parking for expectant mothers. Some supermarkets do the same so why cannot other retailers? Ref: www.nowandnext.com > Difficult to forecast tomorrow An article in Popular Science made the interesting observation that when it comes to automobiles it is easier to predict the distant future than the next few years. Few people, for example, would disagree that the future of the automobile lies with hydrogen fuel cells although most people currently disagree about how and when this might happen. Ref: Popular Science (US) > Old idea NYC General Store in New York has a nice idea Ð a personal vintage shopper. For the price of a pair of old jeans ($150 an hour) you can hire an expert to track down the newest old stuff around. You can tag along or just wait and have everything delivered. Ref: www.trendcentral.com (US) > Big numbers Wal-Mart has 1.4 million employees. That is more than Ford, GE, IBM and General Motors combined. Ref: New York Review of Books (US) > Growing market Boots the Chemist (Est. 1849) along with Debenhams Department stores in the UK are now selling adult toys to their customers. Apparently demand increased following the success of US sitcom Sex and the City. And if you think the market is still dominated by sleazy suppliers think again. One of the fastest growing brands (Myla) is run by an Oxford educated woman who previously worked in investment banking. Ref: The Scotsman (UK) ------------------------------------------------------------ : PREVIEW OF NEXT ISSUE 'Slocal' is a term to describe the slowing down of some communities as a response to speeding up and globalisation. Examples include the growth of community banks and the Slow Cities movement in Europe. ------------------------------------------------------------ : SUBSCRIBE TO BRAINMAIL Subscribe: mailto:subscribe-brainmail@nowandnext.com Unsubscribe: mailto:unsubscribe-brainmail@nowandnext.com Tell the world about brainmail - forward this to a friend. ------------------------------------------------------------ : EXTRA THINKING If you enjoyed this you might like this http://mccd.udc.es/orihuela/epic/ (thanks to Ian for this) ------------------------------------------------------------ : QUOTE OF THE MONTH Sacred cows make the best hamburgers - Mark Twain ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright© 2005 What's Next. All rights reserved. Neither this newsletter nor any part of it may be reproduced or used for commercial purposes without the prior permission of the publisher. -------------------------------------------------------------