In this issue: BANK IN A BOX POP-UP HOTELS JUST SHOOT ME JINGLE MAIL And much, much more... ------------------------------------------------------------ ____ ____ ___ _____ ____ ______ ______ * / __ )/ __ \/ | / _/ | / / |/ / | / _/ / / __ / /_/ / /| | / // |/ / /|_/ / /| | / // / / /_/ / _ _/ ___ |_/ // /| / / / / ___ |_/ // /___ /_____/_/ |_/_/ |_/___/_/ |_/_/ /_/_/ |_/___/_____/ *Feeding hungry minds since 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail email issue 42 - August 2008 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail is a free snack-sized newsletter dedicated to current and future trends. To subscribe or unsubscribe go to http://brainmail.nowandnext.com Tell the whole world about brainmail forward this to zillions of friends. ------------------------------------------------------------ > World's #1 Dad A survey commissioned by MTV and Associated Press asking young people to name their heroes found that young Americans ranked their parents in the top slot. 29% named their mother as their #1 hero, 21% named their father and 16% said a parent without giving any details. Next in line were friends (11%), God (10%), grandmothers (8%), a brother (7%) and a teacher 5% Ref: AP (US) > The Future of Women is Men A study by the Nikkei Institute of Industry and Regional Economy has found that Japanese Women in their 20s and 30s are increasingly asserting their 'manhood'. According to the study, male traits can especially be seen in areas such as clothing. food and relationships. For example, women will increasingly prioritise work over social engagements and will focus on how men look rather than other attributes. Ref: Nikkei Weekly (Japan) > Bank in a Box Things are obviously bad in banking but it looks that things might be getting even worse. A Dutch bank is sending its wealthy clients a shoebox each month to help them to keep track of their finances. A courier picks up the boxes each month and the bank then processes the contents (bills, receipts etc) sending the client an itemised report. What's next? Mattresses under which clients can keep their cash? Ref: Springwise.com (Netherlands) > Roads Are More Dangerous Right? In 1931 there were 2.3 million motorcars in Britain and these vehicles caused 7,000 fatalities. By 2006 the number of cars had increased to 33 million but the number of deaths had fallen to 3,150. Ref: The Times (UK) > 10 Hottest London Shops What are the ten hottest shops in London? According to Howard Saunders (a retail designer) they are; Wholefoods Market (Kensington), Daylesford Organics (Pimlico), Primark (Oxford Street), Desigual (Regent Street), Abbercrombie & Fitch (Savile Row), The Shop @ Bluebird (King's Road), GAP (Brent Cross), Cos (Regent Street), Hob (Russell Square), and Habitat (Regent Street). Ref: Inside Retailing (Aus) > How Many Politicians Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb? Taxpayers in the UK have paid for a ten-point guide for Members of Parliament explaining what to do if they find a smashed light bulb. The text includes the recommendation that "cleaning operatives" should use a mask and gloves. Ref: The Week (UK) > Aviation Trends What's hot in aviation circles? The answer is Chinese routes and infrastructure, Indian hubs and low-cost carriers, Dubai as a hub, Russian de-regulation, Low-cost airlines flying long-haul, larger aircraft, green flying, airport cities (e.g. Dubai World Central), short breaks and direct flights within Europe. Ref: Monocle (UK) > Pop-Up Hotels What happens when you cross a giant 18-wheel RV with a hotel? The answer is a pop-up hotel that sleeps as many as 44 people. Hotel Movil is the brainchild of Spanish entrepreneur Fernando SaŽnz de Tejada. The hotels come with heating, air-conditioning, Wi-Fi and flat screen TVs. Ref: Business 2.0 (US) > Sweet Idea A microbiologist at the dental school of the University of California (Los Angeles) has created an orange flavoured lollipop that prevents tooth decay. The sugar free sweetie is infused with a natural ingredient found in liquorice that kills Streptococcus mutans, the main bacterium that causes cavities. Ref: The Times (UK) > Criminals Fingered By Their Own Hands Scientists at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States have developed a way to remove faint fingerprints left on the bodies of murder victims. The technique uses something called Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS). Handheld SERS scanners will probably be available in the not too distant future. Ref: New Scientist (UK) > Just Shoot Me Members of the sheriff's SWAT team in orange country New York are packing pistols that take your picture before they shoot you. The idea is a way of addressing concerns about police accountability. The gadget gun starts recording pictures as soon as the gun is drawn and will primarily be used as a defence against liability lawsuits. Ref: Wired (US) > Virtual Disasters The use of virtual worlds for training purposes is well documented but the release of Zero Hour: America's Medic created by the Department of Homeland Security takes things to a whole new level. The games are simulators to help emergency crews respond correctly to major catastrophes. Scenarios include dirty bombs, freight train smashes and flu-pandemics. Ref: Wired (US) > Mobile Madness Have you noticed how Japanese school girls have a penchant for pendants dangling from their cell-phones? The latest craze is to have vegetables dangling from your Vodafone. The 'Green Capsule' is a 5cm teardrop shaped capsule containing a seed, special soil and water. When the seed starts to grow it can be transplanted to a proper environment. According to a company spokesperson: "The strap is truly rare because if contains a live plant". Sure, until the EMF radiation kills it. Ref: Nikkei weekly (Japan) > Super Dollars There is $70 million of fake US currency in circulation in the US, 75% of which is in $100 bills. 56% of this is produced using high quality colour scanners, printers and copiers. One solution to this problem is to create printers that recognise and refuse to print certain items. Other ideas include the addition of next-generation security threads, smart watermarks, colour changing inks and raised inks. Ref: Popular Science (US) > Grumpy Old Men? Research by Professor Bill von Hippel at the University of Queensland (Aus) says that people aged 66-91 are just as happy as those aged 18-30. One particular trait of older people appears to be the ability to look at the positive aspects of life and to be happy with less. Ref: Journal of Psychology and Ageing (US) > Zoom Zoom German engineers will soon unveil Europe's first Maglev train. The train, which travels at 217mph 1/2 an inch above the tracks, will travel the 23 miles between Munich airport and the city in 10 minutes. The world's only other Maglev train is in operation in Shanghai. Ref: Popular Science (US) > Final Year for Yearbooks? A number of colleges across America will publish their last ever yearbooks this year as costs for hard copy books escalate and students become more cash-strapped. However, the real culprit for the demise of the traditional yearbook is online competition from the likes of Facebook and MySpace. One wonders whether people may one day regret not having hard copies of yearbooks if these sites one day vanish. Ref: The Economist (UK) > Woman Behind Bars In 1970 1 in 40 prisoners in the UK was a woman. The figure is now 1 in 17 and women represent the fastest growing group behind bars. Petty theft remains the most common reason for incarceration but drug offences also feature highly. Overall 80% of female prisoners suffer from metal problems (a fact probably related to the decline in women entering mental institutions) and 2/3 women in jail are aged under 18. Ref: The Economist (UK) > C-Suite Trends According to CFO magazine 20% of US CEOs in 2005 came from a finance background - a figure double that of a decade earlier. So what else influences who gets to the top and how fast they get there? One factor is being a 'lifer'. People in the US that stay with one company get to be CEO in 22 years on average whereas for 'hoppers' that switch from one company to another it takes 26 years. The time taken to get the top spot is also falling. In 1980 it took 28 years whereas now 24 years is the average. A key reason for this speeding up is flatter organisational structures. As for women, they make up 11% of US CEOs compared to 0% in the early 1980s. Ref: The Economist (UK) > Cutting Out the Supermarket Community supported agriculture is a term used rather loosely to describe small farms that are owned by or funded by groups of individuals. In the early 1990s there were thought to be around 150 such small farms in the US but the figure has now jumped to around 1,500 as food shoppers connect with food growers directly. Ref: New York Times (US) Word Detective: Jingle Mail Jingle mail is the practice of returning car keys or house keys to the finance company that helped you to acquire them when money was cheap and lending practices were less strict. ------------------------------------------------------------ : FAST FACTS 81,000 people died on Chinese roads during 2007 Ref: Xinhua News Agency (China) 14% of American dogs suffer from separation anxiety. Ref: New York Times (US) According to the University of East Anglia (UK) the chance of finding intelligent life on another planet over the next 4 billion years is 0.01% Ref: Cosmos (Aus) More than 85% of the information held by organizations is unstructured. Ref: Gartner Group (US) In 2001 there were 4,384 Arabic speakers in the US military. By 2005 this had risen to 5,703 but this compares with 92,852 Spanish speakers and 14,097 French linguists. Ref: Atlantic Monthly (US) 54% of children aged 4-6 years old in America would prefer to watch TV than spend time with their fathers. The same study also found that parents spend an average of three and a half minutes having "meaningful conversation" with their children. The average American child watches 28 hours of TV per week. Reef: AC Nielsen (US) 27% of UK 15-year-olds have been drunk twenty or more times according to a survey by the Institute for Public Policy research. This compares to 12% of young Germans, 6% of young Dutch and 3% of young French. Ref: Time (US) According to a 2007 UNICEF study, the UK is ranked last of 27 surveyed countries when it comes to child well being. Ref: Time (US) 54% of adults in the US believe that humans did not evolve from another species. In 1994 the figure was 46%. Ref: Nature (US) In China there are 228 million Internet users compared to 217 million in the US. Ref: Iconoclast.com (US) 55% of women in America die their hair. Ref: Harper's (US) There are 1 million people in the US with Type 1 diabetes. Ref: Forbes Asia (US) 12.6% of US residents (37.6 million people) are illegal immigrants. Ref: Newsweek (US) 31% of people living in London were born outside of the UK. Ref: Time (US) 62% of people living in Britain aged 18-24 say they believe in horoscopes versus 38% who say they believe in the Bible. Ref: Fox TV/The Times (UK) 10% of Americans believe that the Internet brings them closer to God versus 6% that say it makes them feel more distant. Ref: Harper's (US) The average cost to create a cancer drug is US$1.04 billion. The FDAs approval rate for cancer drugs between 1990-2007 was 8%. Ref: Businessweek (US) 2.5 million US children are on prescribed antipsychotic drugs. Ref: The Guardian (UK) In 2004, the richest 1% of the American population took home US$1.35 trillion in pay. This is more than the total national take-home pay in Canada, Italy or France. Ref: The Observer (UK) ------------------------------------------------------------ : WEBSITE OF THE MONTH The news displayed visually... http://www.marumushi.com/apps/newsmap ------------------------------------------------------------ : BOOK OF THE MONTH The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor and Privacy on the Internet - Daniel Solove (Professor of law at George Washington University) ------------------------------------------------------------ : QUOTE OF THE MONTH "Always in motion is the future" - Yoda, Star Wars Episode V ------------------------------------------------------------ : STILL HUNGRY? If this snack-sized newsletter still leaves you feeling hungry feed your brain with something a little more substantial at www.nowandnext.com (and yes, that's free too). ---------------------------------------------------- : LOOKING FOR AN INSIGHTFUL AND ENTERTAINING SPEAKER? If you are looking for an inspiring speaker for your next event ask your speaker agency about Richard Watson or contact him direct via http://nowandnext.com Recent speaker clients have included IBM, McDonald's, Virgin, Commonwealth Bank and Disney. ----------------------------------------------------- : SMALL PRINT The stories, statistics and 'facts' appearing in brainmail are sourced from a variety of reliable publications worldwide. However, brainmail cannot guarantee the truthfulness of stories and a degree of commonsense should be applied before quoting or using any of this material in a commercial context.