In this issue: FINDING THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU'D PROBABLY LIKE AUDITORY DISPLAY SOFTWARE EPIDERMAL LITERATURE TOP 25 INVENTIONS SUB-PRIME BORROWING INFLATABLE PUBS And much much more... ------------------------------------------------------------ ____ ____ ___ _____ ____ ______ ______ * / __ )/ __ \/ | / _/ | / / |/ / | / _/ / / __ / /_/ / /| | / // |/ / /|_/ / /| | / // / / /_/ / _, _/ ___ |_/ // /| / / / / ___ |_/ // /___ /_____/_/ |_/_/ |_/___/_/ |_/_/ /_/_/ |_/___/_____/ *Keeping brains healthy since 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------ Brainmail email issue 005 - June 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 remove. Subscribe: mailto:subscribe-brainmail@nowandnext.com Remove: mailto:unsubscribe-brainmail@nowandnext.com Tell the world about brainmail - forward this to a friend. ------------------------------------------------------------ > I've never heard it, but I know I'll like it How do you develop your musical tastes? Perhaps Audioscrobbler.com or last.fm can help. Once you've downloaded some free software, it compares your play list to other users with similar musical tastes. It then bounces their list back to you allowing you to find things you didn't know you'd probably like. Ref: Observer Music Monthly (UK) > Pretend friends Scientists have discovered that around 30% of children play with imaginary friends with some having as many as 13. If you are feeling left out, look no further than e-Bay. They currently have four for sale. Ref: Developmental Psychology (US) > Private currencies The value of unused frequent flyer miles in global circulation currently exceeds the total amount of US dollars in worldwide circulation. The calculation is based on 14 trillion miles at 2 US cents each giving a total value of US $700 billion. Ref: The Economist (UK) > Camo-Candy Gum-O-Flage is a scented chewing gum for hunters so the deer can't smell you coming. Ref: Iconoculture/Details (US) > A familiar face As mobile devices become more popular, the need for ID verification is increasing. A Japanese company, Omron has created face recognition technology for use with screen-based devices to protect the information they contain. Ref: linuxdevices.com (US) > Money doesn't talk, it sings Citigroup is delving into the field of auditory display software. The idea is that traders are so overloaded with information on their screens - from flashing numbers to coloured pop-up displays - that linking market fluctuations to music could cut through the clutter. For example, a short ascending clarinet means that the Canadian dollar has just risen 0.1% against the US dollar. Ref: Wired (US). > Banking innovations Customers at Lloyds TSB bank in the UK can now top-up their pay-as-you-go mobile phones at ATMs. Over in Japan customers of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation can transfer savings to cell-phones, which have electronic money functions. Ref: Japan Today (JAP) > Product placement in reverse The clothing retailer Burberry has blamed 'chavs' (rough translation = low-life) for taking their brand downmarket and killing sales. Meanwhile Tommy Hilfiger has started to make some clothes without a logo in an attempt to stop undesirable elements doing the same. Ref: The Telegraph (UK) > Too rich and too powerful? Tesco currently takes £1 for every £3 spent in supermarkets in Britain. This may explain why a recent survey found 75% of people in the UK believe that supermarkets are too powerful and favour stricter government controls. Ref: Retail Week (UK) > Nip and tuck A magazine called New Beauty has been launched in the US. Nothing new about that except that it is entirely devoted to plastic surgery. It has 13 regional editions packed with ads for local plastic surgeons catering to a US market where 15 million cosmetic operations were performed in 2003. Ref: Sunday Times (UK). > School bullying becomes a media event Mobile phones are being used in a new form of school bullying. The idea is that one child humiliates another while other children capture the event with camera or videophones. The images are then sent to other schools in the area or uploaded onto the Internet. Ref: The Times (UK) > Epidermal literature anyone? An artist in the US has 'published' a short story by persuading 2,095 people to have one word from the story tattooed on their body. The idea is that when the last individual dies, so will the story. Apparently a disproportionate number of volunteers were librarians. Ref: New York Times (US) > Mobile beauty We've got ice cream vans and mobile libraries so why not a mobile beauty spas? A UK company has launched a beauty bus aimed at bosses who want to shower their staff with love. It features waxes, facials, manicures and a massage table. Ref: Time Out (UK) > Good medicine How do you encourage pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs for the developing market where the local people can't afford to buy them? A book called 'Strong Medicine: Creating Incentives for Pharmaceutical Research on Neglected Diseases' has an interesting idea. What if Western governments signed agreements guaranteeing pharmaceutical companies they would buy the first 100 million doses of any effective treatment for malaria or HIV at a profit-making price? Ref: New York Times (US) > It's all white A company in the UK is making a very nice living selling only things that are white. Items include sheets, pillows, china and towels. Perhaps someone should invent a company that only sells black stuff - for all those imaginative types that can't think of any other colour to wear. Ref: Trendcentral (US) > I'm popping into the pub dear If you've ever dreamed of putting a pub in your back garden this could be just the ticket. An inflatable pub has been spotted in the UK that can hold 30 people. The pub features a fireplace and a fully functioning bar. Playing darts is not recommended. Ref: Wired (US). > Top 25 innovations According to Lemelson/MI, the top 25 technology innovations from the past 25 years are; Internet, Cell phone, Personal computers, Fibre optics, GPS, Portable computers, Memory storage discs, Digital cameras, RFID, MEMS, DNA fingerprints, Air bags, ATM, Advanced batteries, Hybrid cars, OLEDs, Display panels, HDTV, the Space shuttle, Nanotech, Flash memory, Voice mail, Modern hearing aids and short Range, high frequency radio. Ref: CNN (US) > Things you never knew you wanted How about a USB coffee pad to keep your mug warm while you surf the Internet http://www.thinkgeek.com or a radio controlled tank armed with a controllable electric shock gun http://www.iwantoneofthose.com Ref: Culture Smulture (Aus). > Three-minute culture? A leading expert says that orchestras could soon be a thing of the past because young people are not being exposed to orchestral music other than through adverts, films and computer games. Ref: Prospect (UK) > Aggressive marketing An article in the UK medical journal The Lancet says that there is a positive correlation between young kids watching violence on screen (TV and games) and displaying violent behaviour in real life. Meanwhile the city of Yokohama in Japan has banned the sale of violent video games to children under the age of 18. Ref: Japan Today (JAP), The Lancet (UK). > The sound of silence TV-B-Gone is a universal TV remote that will switch off 99% of TV sets. Ref: New York Times (UK) > Nothing up top A survey in the UK says that the happiest people in the country are those living in bungalows. Bungalows make up 2% of all UK housing. Ref: The Observer (UK) > Place shifting Given the success of TiVo - which allows viewers to time shift their television viewing - TV2Me should be huge hit. The difference is that this new product allows viewers to shift their television viewing by remotely receiving television broadcasts from any country in the world. Ref: Wired (US) > When the virtual meets the real The Gaming Open Market is a space in cyberspace where video gamers can exchange virtual currencies or convert their hard won cyber dollars into the real thing. Ref: BBC News (UK) > Cards for sub-prime borrowers US Company, Vanquis has launched a credit card aimed at 'sub prime' borrowers. These are high-risk individuals that most banks and credit card companies ignore. The sub prime market grew at 7.9% in 2004 against 2.6% for the overall market. Ref: The Economist (UK) > Word detective - 'abandonware' Abandonware is software that companies choose to stop selling and give away for free. The best example is classic video games from the dawn of Internet time. Of course playing old games on newer computers can be a problem, which is why programs called emulators come in. Ref: Sydney Morning Herald (AUS) > Word detective - 'laser shopping' 'Laser shopping' is the term used to describe value shoppers that enter a retail store to buy a specific product, often having compared prices online before so doing. Ref: The Economist (UK) ------------------------------------------------------------ : PREVIEW OF NEXT ISSUE Workplace morale is at an all time low according to a new study ------------------------------------------------------------ : STATSHOTS In the UK, more people are members of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds than all three major political parties combined. Ref: The Economist (UK) There are almost as many Chinese learning English in China as there are people who can speak English living in the US, UK and Canada combined. Ref: Financial Times (UK). The spending power of Hispanic Americans is expected to grow by 315% between 1990 and 2007. Ref: The Selig Center for Economic Growth (US). ------------------------------------------------------------ : SUBSCRIBE TO BRAINMAIL Subscribe: mailto:subscribe-brainmail@nowandnext.com Remove: mailto:unsubscribe-brainmail@nowandnext.com ------------------------------------------------------------ : QUOTE OF THE MONTH "In the future you will be able to rent dreams" Steven Wright ------------------------------------------------------------ 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 written permission of the publisher.