What to do when you're a Rothschild
Build a catamaran out of water bottles and sail across the Pacific to raise awareness of the 100 million tons of plastic slurry clogging the oceans. The pontoons are stuffed with whole bottles. The rest is made from recycled bottles. http://www.theplastiki.com/. (source: Good, Summer 2009)
A sure thing
At 0.1% interest, savings accounts are pretty dull. To motivate more people to save, a group of credit unions in MI is treating deposits like lotto. Every time you deposit at least $25, you get another shot at winning the monthly $400 drawing. There's also a yearly $100K winner. "All the money you deposit into the Save to Win account is still yours, plus interest. You can't lose!" (source: Iconoculture)
Response rate for spam
1 in 12.5 million. Unfortunately, it's enough. (source: Fast Company, 8/13/09)
Want to cut costs?
Give better input. According to a survey of top agencies, 30% of our time is wasted due to poor communication by clients for RFPs and briefs. This isn't just an agency-to-agency, blame-the-client venting session. The survey was conducted by a consultancy to Fortune 500 companies owned by a guy who used to be VP global marketing at Dell. (soruce: Ad Age, 8/17/09)
Born to be green
The world's first electric chopper, built by Siemens and Orange County Choppers, can go 100 mph, but only runs 60 miles per charge. Created using recycled materials, LED lights, and water-based paint, it's all the cool without the ear-splitting roar or smog-most regular cycles emit as much pollution as an ‘80s automobile. (source: Christian Science Monitor, 8/11/09)
Pay no attention to the man behind the checkout
Did John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, just commit brand suicide? He published an article with a decidedly libertarian bent in The Wall Street Journal sharply criticizing Obama's healthcare plan. After reading an opening quote from Margaret Thatcher and phrases like "A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That's because there isn't any," disillusioned Whole Foods faithful, who'd assumed the company's management was as crunchy as the brand, are feeling unsurprisingly betrayed. And they're venting loudly on social networks. Even calling for a boycott. WF's spokesman insists Mackey's personal perspective has nothing to do with WF, which doesn't have a perspective. Can the brand and the man successfully co-exist with such radically different voices? Judge for yourself. http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070-lMyQjAxMDA5MDEwOTExNDkyWj.html. (source: Washington Post, 8/19/09 & Wall Street Journal, 8/11/09)
Calling a spade a spade
"Pointless babble" is now a scientific term.
Johnny Cardboard
Furniture, sculpture, window décor, Johnny does it all-with corrugated. http://jonnycardboard.com/sculptures/sculptures.htm (source: Very Short List, 8/19/09)
Give me an "A"
If you loved "Helvetica," keep an eye out for "Art & Copy," a new film coming (maybe) to a theater near you. It's about, you guessed it, the art of writing great advertising copy. (source: NYTimes, 8/19/09)
The well-traveled clementine
Not a real receipt, but an interesting idea. It hit my mailbox as I was eating an apple from New Zealand bought at Wegmans in Pittsford and wondering what the...NY State grows an average of 25 million bushels of apples a year, with our neighboring Wayne county being one of the major producers. It's about 9,000 miles from Rochester to NZ. (source: PSFK and New York Apple Country Fast Facts)
How the cheddar crumbles
The state of Victoria, Australia, has awarded $18,000 to a researcher who's spent the last 2 years studying how cheddar cheese cracks under pressure. The goal is to avoid waste by learning how to make perfect cheese crumbles and reduce the number of inferior crumbles. (source: WAToday.com, 8/19/09)
What does your refrigerator say about you?
Mine screams middle-aged food penitent. http://www.good.is/post/picture-show-you-are-what-you-eat/ . A visual discussion of consumption.
Why we love to Google
And tweet and read celebrity stats and endless other completely irrelevant information. Scientists used to think it was because finding stimulated our brain's pleasure center. But according to a Washington State U neuroscientist who's devoted his life to the subject, our need to seek is even more powerful. The possibility of a payoff is much more stimulating than actually getting one. Problem is, curiosity, combined with the ability to fulfill it online 24/7, may be rewiring our brains, making it nearly impossible for us to give sustained attention to anything. And since our brains are designed to be more easily stimulated than satisfied, we get into a loop of seeking without being happy with what we've found. (source: Slate, 8/12/09)
All you can jet
$599 gets you an unlimited, month-long pass on JetBlue. Some restrictions apply, but if you've got four weeks to go gypsy, it's a great opportunity. Aw, too slow. The program maxed out yesterday.
Send in CSI, we've got a mystery
And now from the people who bring you "Two and a Half Men" and "Medium," something interesting -- a video ad running inside Entertainment Weekly. A tiny screen embedded in the ad lets magazine flippers watch montages from their choice of five CBS shows. (source: Cori) http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=138546
Never a dull day on Lombard Street
Wednesday SF's twistiest thoroughfare was turned into a giant Candyland board complete with kids dressed as colorful game pieces. (source: Cori encore) http://ow.ly/kC1b
We've still got some evolving to do
The human body is only 25% energy efficient. (source: Bicycling, August 2009)
Spectacular spec
Built on a vacant urban lot to sustainability standards. Fantastic inside and out. It's for auction, but it's in Australia. More pictures http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=o&id=105868671&f=20&p=10&t=res&ty=&fmt=&header=&cc=&c=71291812&s=vic&snf=rbs&tm=1249623612
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