Casual Friday

What was the origin of the "casual friday"?

Take your best guess, then go read the answer on mba-world.org!
http://www.mba-world.org/articles-mba/what-is-the-origin-of-the-casual-friday.html

Pimento, la 1ère boisson gazeuse au monde qui va offrir au palais un joli choc organoleptique, aussi ample que celui que procure l’alcool. Mais sans alcool.
Pimento. Une boisson forte, épicée, et dont la secousse est audacieuse autant que musclée. Un breuvage caractériel qui ressemble autant à un jeu fantaisiste qu’à une expérience insolite.
Pimento. Une boisson mature et singulière, allégée en sucre, aussi désaltérante que rafraîchissante. Un pouvoir organoleptique gourmand, moderne (par le gingembre) et trendy (par le piment).
Pour déguster Pimento, il vous faudra un peu d’audace, un peu comme si vous vous prépariez à vous attaquer à un curry du Sri Lanka plutôt relevé.

Miam.

Volume : 250 ml
Pays d'origine : France
Ingrédients : eau gazéifiée, sucre, acidifiant (acide citrique), arômes naturels, édulcorants (sucralose, acesulfame K), colorant (caramel), arôme (quinine).
Conservation : dans un endroit sec, à l'abri de la lumière.
Conseil d'utilisation : Mélangez Pimento avec du jus de pomme, ajoutez de la glace pilée et quelques feuilles de menthe et vous obtiendrez un délicieux Virgin Mojito. Pimento peut aussi être utilisé dans la confection de cocktails à base de rhum, tequila ou vodka.

PREZI.com

You thought PowerPoint 2007 changed the way your presentations look like?

Think twice.

PREZI, the amazing alternative to PowerPoint presentation was born in Budapest in 2009.

Adam Somlai-Fischer and Peter Halacsy started working on Prezi in 2007, as they felt slides limited their ability to develop and explain ideas. Prezi was their response to solve these issues. Prezi officially launched in April 2009 from Budapest - the home town of Peter and Adam. Sunstone Capital and TED Conferences invested in Prezi in July 2009, and the San Francisco office was opened in November 2009.

"At Prezi, we prefer not to follow trends. Instead, we learn about culture and respond with technology. We believe in humanity’s desire for creativity and self-expression."

http://prezi.com/juymc2ajdauu/lenergie-solaire/

Attitude est le 1er energy Drink 100% Naturel et Sain

L’énergie d’Attitude energy drink provient de ressources naturelles : le Yerba Mate, le Rhodiola Rosea ainsi que la L-Carnitine. Le Yerba Mate est une plante d’Amérique du sud similaire au thé vert. Contenant 10 fois plus d’antioxydants que le thé vert, le Yerba Mate est reconnu pour ses vertus énergisantes et des scientifiques ont montré qu’il pouvait contribuer à la perte de poids.Attitude energy drink contient de la Rhodolia Rosea qui lutte contre le stress, la fatigue et aide à l’amélioration des performances physiques.LaL-Carnitine joue un rôle essentiel dans le corps pour produire de l’énergie à partir des lipides, apporter de l’énergie au cœur et aux cellules immunitaires. Elle améliore l’endurance sportive, favorise la récupération après l’exercice physique et prévient la fatigue précoce.Attitude energy drink convient à la consommation des personnes souffrant de diabète. Cet energy drink contient uniquement du sucre issu de fruits réels à faible taux glycémique. Le sucre est extrait naturellement sans procédé chimique, additifs ou autres traitements enzymatiques.

Bonnet-barbe

Un bonnet avec une barbe et une moustache fait à la main.
Le bonnet est déclinable dans plusieurs coloris et pour la barbe il y a le choix entre chocolat noir, gris, brun, brun et beige.
Ce bonnet est une pièce conçue pour s’adapter comme un masque de ski.

GoX

Si vous êtes sujet aux passages à vides et autres séances de « comatages » improvisés, vous savez probablement à quel point il est difficile de s’extirper de ces moments de solitudes où l’activité cérébrale avoisine celle d’un plancton. Avec le stress, une alimentation pas toujours saine, la fatigue ou encore la pollution ambiante, ces coups de barres ont tendances à se multiplier…
La GOX est probablement le meilleur remède à ces états végétatifs.Elle contient en effet de l’oxygène pur à 99,5 %.

L’effet est immédiat, la pureté de l’oxygène agit comme un souffle d’air frais sur les neurones qui s’activent presque automatiquement.

The GO Plate

Just visit website : http://www.thegoplate.com/

Footballer lives in a designer store

(Reuters Life!) - Soccer players may be known for their extravagant homes, but Italian footballer Andrea Vasa has trumped his peers by living in a somewhat unusual location -- a designer store.

Since late February, 30-year-old Vasa, a defender for Milan's Brera team, has slept, washed, dressed and chilled out at the flagship store of Belgian menswear designer Dirk Bikkembergs in the city's exclusive Golden Quad area.

His surroundings include a ground-floor leather sofa and TV area, a bedroom, gym and large bathroom plastered with pages of Italy's "Gazzetta dello Sport" paper -- all spread out in the store and easily seen by shoppers. A small kitchen is there too.

Huge windows look out onto the busy square outside, and a soccer shoe-shaped entry phone adds the "home" touch. Personal pictures and some books adorn the shelves where clothes from the Bikkembergs main line are exposed.

"Clients go in as if it were my own wardrobe," Vasa, originally from Sardinia, said while walking around the store.

"Before I used to live in a one-room apartment -- there is just no comparison. It was 40 square meters (431 sq ft), here the bathroom is that size." Bikkembergs has said the store was designed for and inspired by the lifestyle of "passionate sportsmen."

The shop, spread over three floors, sells the Bikkembergs menswear collections as well as travel bags, sunglasses and sport shoes. The top two floors double up as Vasa's home with a spot for his car, a white Porsche.

Shoppers walk around as Vasa sits on the sofa watching TV or playing video games and on some occasions, they have walked in the bedroom while he was still in bed.

"Some people don't believe it, others are surprised or they don't expect it," he said.

"Some have even asked if they can live here too."

Despite the luxury surroundings, there are some limitations. The shower can be seen, so washing needs to be done carefully.

"Someone who is more extrovert would shower or do it in swimming trunks," Vasa said, adding that he also hides his shampoo and shower gels, leaving only his toothbrush and toothpaste exposed.

"Some people would actually open the bottles to check whether they were real," he said.

The store is open from 10:30 a.m. (0830 GMT) to 19:30 p.m. (1730 GMT), meaning privacy starts in the evening. A guard is on watch during the night.

Vasa, who had modeled for Bikkembergs before moving in, said he was shortlisted for the project after volunteering with others. The location and the car were definitely a draw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB8vkG5Hr28&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_fresh+div-1r-6-HM

Customizable Flavor Beverage Bottle

PMMI, sponsor and producer of PACK EXPO International 2010 (October 31–November 3; McCormick Place, Chicago, Ill.), recently named us finalists among 10 package designers and developers in the “Package of the Future” competition, a key component of Project 2020: The Consumer Experience, sponsored by DuPont. The competition challenged the package design community to come up with a vision of what consumers can expect to see on retail shelves in 2020, and prototypes of the finalists’ concepts will be on display as part of the Project 2020: The Consumer Experience area of The Brand Zone, located on the lower level of the Lakeside building.

Our Customizable Flavor Beverage Bottle utilizes dissolvable pellet capsules molded into the neck of bio-plastic bottles with a liquid base

(i.e. water, soda, iced tea, milk) to allow consumers to customize and control flavor variety, flavor intensity, and vitamin additives. Consumers simply snap the pellet they want

through the film on the inside of the bottle, where the pellet begins to dissolve. A simple shake of the beverage thoroughly mixes flavor. With this approach, the potential exists

for multiple flavors under a single SKU and a single bottle could be used for multiple servings before it is recycled.

And the new Barbie is...

Barbie Geek !!!

This is the 125th Barbie's job (how competent she is, isn't she ?!)

What is interesting is that her new "profession" has been decided by more than 500 000 internautes on Facebook and Twitter...and surprisingly enough the Geek has been chosen among others like surgeon, architect, etc...

This is becoming more and more used by marketing departments to launch products: it creates some buzz with a rather cheap promotionnal campaign and it guarantees a minimum of success !

Some unexpected poetry

Among the uggliest daily objects, there are the bike padlocks.

OK it's supposed to be efficient more than pretty but Italian designer Sono Mocci has created a padlock that combines Primary functionnality (preventing your bike from beeing stealen !) and design.

Creative topping for yogourt

Recreasun- manufactured by Sojasun (a soya based products company )– has launched a « creative topping containing flavored crunchy powder».
It is packed in a stick (9-11 g) pourable in a plain yogourt bringing flavors and crunchy texture.

Now, the consumers can create themselves their own deserts among 5 delicious flavors: almonds/cherries, biscuits/citrus fruits, almond/cocoa, apples/spicy bread, nougat/apricot and pineapple/coconut..... mmmmmh! Taste it!

The GoldCorp Challenge (march 2000)

The story of a daring CEO who was seing its mining company underperforming and going down.

http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/feb2007/id20070201_774736.htm

Goldcorp is Toronto based mining firm with a 50 year-old mine in Red Lake Ontario. In 1999 CEO Rob McEwen instructed his geologists to release all geological records to the public.
The “Goldcorp Challenge” offered $575k to anyone who could find the gold and drew 1,200 people from 50 countries.
Results:
- 110 sites identified 50% new, 80% produced gold.
- 8 million ounces found.
- Company value up from $100 million to $9 billion.

McWedding

Unusual example of diversification...

As of Jan 2011 in Hong Kong, you will be able to get married at Mc Donald's.

If you have 100 guests or less and you are ready to make an alcohol-free ceremony, then you may get married in one of the 3 Mc Donald's restaurants which offer this service in Hong Kong.

A few things to know before you go:

- They get about 10 calls a month from couples wanting to wed at the fast food chain » there may be a waiting list!!

- Your McDonald’s wedding destination will still stay open to the general public during the ceremony

- "Traditional weddings use cherries for the newlyweds to eat together and kiss. We will have french fries for them to kiss" (Helen Cheung, Mc Donald's).

http://www.everydaymoney.ca/2010/10/for-400-you-can-now-marry-at-a-hong-kong-mcdonalds.html

Back to Childhood

It has been years that the little Yellow People have come out oh their box: you may have seen them on TV or Computer, in their Lego Land.
But quite recentyly, they have even extended their offer to some "daily life" products not exclusively dedicated to children.
Two of the latest I find particularly fun are the Lego Wallet and the Lego I-Pod Dock.

This way, you change them as often as you want to fit to your envy !!

The Dream Chair

As winter approaching, here is a Must Have !
Designed by Les M or Celine Merhand and Anais Morel, the Cocoon armchair has the ultra soft duvet and armchair that allows the users to coil up for an extended and relaxing TV session.

Can't wait for the 2-seat one !

Optimize your bathroom space storage

In these times when you pay (too much) for every square feet, here is one piece of solution to optimize your bathroom storage, designed by the GW International.

Seil Bag Concept

Creating designers Lee Myung Su, Wan and Park Geun Park Okhee for Lee Myung Su Designlab , a small spotlight on the excellent concept of smart backpack "SeilBag" which has the particularity to indicate to motorists the direction taken by a cyclist with a small LED display.

Controlled by a small remote control, it can also display a range of emoticons, but also a danger signal in case of automatic braking.

SEIL bag by Lee Myung Su design lab from Ben on Vimeo.

Brazil and innovation

Speaks for itself... (feat. Benjamin Mercier)

Merlin is not that far... FamCam

Brainjuicer, a start-up in Marketing/consumer research has the project of "Virtual ethnography for consumer insights generation"

=> it consists in placing cameras in the homes of participants

http://www.brainjuicer.com/

The "real time face detector": the software which recognizes your mood!

A group of scientists from Fraunhofer Institute (Germany) is working on a software which detects the user's mood by analyzing the characteristics of the face: the nose, eyes and the face outline.

If you look stressed, the system recognizes your reactions and adapts the flow of information in your computer to optimize the understanding.

This program is attractive for marketing analysts to catch the reactions of walkers in front of posters for example. It could be a powerful tool to evaluate the impact of the advertizing on potential consumers!
If you are curious to test it on yourself, you could download the demo:
http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/EN/bf/bv/kognitiv/biom/422107.jsp
Enjoy!

Some little annoyance less at your desk

Another simple and innovative idea: the CableDrop.

It prevents you from losing your cables behind your desk, scrambling on the floor (which is not always the better side you want to show to your collegues !)

Simple, Design and Cheap (around 10$ for a set of 6)

A fun way to drink water

Simple, Cheap and not Useless
It's not everyday you find something compliant with these 3 criterias !

Here is one: the Tapi Squeeze Fountain, designed by Dreamfarm, an Australian company

It's a very simple rubber device that fits to almost any tap so that you can drink water directly from your tap.

It is Hygienacally safe, costs only 5$ and above all, FUN.

Made a 1,474-Megapixel Photo During President Obama’s Inaugural Address

A journalist shows us how precise and scary technology can be!

http://www.davidbergman.net/blog/how-i-made-a-1474-megapixel-photo-during-president-obamas-inaugural-address/

Solar Strap for Camera

What about ading a function to the strap you have to use anyway ?

This is what Yanko Design proposes by adding solar films to its Solar Camera Strap

Simple and easy

The Spray that works in any way !

One of the golden rules to come up with breakthrough innovations is to be a response to a dissatisfaction.

What about the dissatisfaction of the spray you can only use in the vertical position, of the dissatisfaction of striving to use the end of it ?!

This is a little dissatisfaction to which Michael Pritchard has an answer. It's the AnywaySpray which can be used...in any way of course.

Hot does it work ? It's thanks to a tube, which has millions of holes, and where the laws of physics work in the pump’s favour. As long as any part of the tube is in contact with the liquid, and whichever way the container is inverted, a constant spray will be maintained until the very last drop.

Here is a video of Michael presenting its Spray

Open Innovation

Open Innovation is a neologism created in 2003, which aimed at defining a new trend in innovation: it no longer has to come 100% from within, and the combination of inside and outside knowledge and resources is often beneficial.
Co-catalyst is one of the more & more numerous "Innovation brokers": as e-bay connects buyers to sellers, the innovation brokers connect a company with a need for a new technology - or at least with one identified problem, to a company working on the solution. Innovation brokers go further than e-bay: they offer consulting, licensing and monitoring services to their clients.

An interesting article was published in February 2010 on Co-catalyst blog, concerning Open Innovation anhow to make the most of it - or how not to make mistakes!

For many years innovative organisations have been trying to resolve the conundrum of how to get to bigger impact innovation more quickly and with less investment. In answer to this, the practice of Open Innovation is increasingly being adopted as the normal mode of operation for leading innovative companies. Open Innovation, applied correctly, offers the opportunity to access leading capabilities from around the world, exploiting complementary technologies and partnerships to short-cut the need for expensive internal activity and to realise innovation strategies faster. Some companies have adapted to this new way of working quickly and relatively painlessly but many organisations have had teething problems, to say the least. We have identified 10 common mistakes which can stop organisations from benefiting from the Open Innovation way of working.
1. Engaging externally without a clear innovation strategy
2. Poor definition of the requirement or need
3. Failing to get sufficient internal business or brand team engagement
4. Not having a clear, aligned internal view about how to handle IP
5. Ruling out radical or unexpected options too quickly
6. Lack of variety in Open Innovation approach
7. Not understanding the attitude as well as capabilities of potential partners
8. Not respecting the needs of potential partners
9. Looking at potential partners in isolation
10. Last but not least…failure to build trust

Go check full post on the website: http://www.cocatalyst.com/blog/index.php/2009/02/27/10-common-open-innovation-mistakes/

Some more colours in our Cities

Wasted Spaces is a street art-based organization that uses abandoned buildings and vacant properties as a playground for its artists.

Their latest undertaking is the Smile Project which involves setting up various temporary installations depicting smiling faces, such as ’smiley balloons’, in public places in the English town of Wembley.

Eat your glass

After recycling objects, here comes the edible objects !

New York-based design consultancy The Way We See The World has developed a new version of disposable cups called Jelloware. These edible cups are made of agar agar, a gelatin derived from algae and used as an ingredient in desserts, which are cast in different flavors like rosemary-beet and lemon-basil to complement the beverage inside. Once used, the Jelloware can be simply tossed onto the grass where agar agar would nurture the plants to grow, making these cups an ideal substitute for disposable plastic and paper cups.

Label Lait 100% canadien

En 2010, la campagne de communication des producteurs de lait du Canada s'accompagne d'un label "Lait 100% canadien". Ils encouragent les consommateurs a le chercher sur les packaging.
Notamment, ce label permettrait d'éclairer le consommateur sur les desserts glacés qui ne sont pas faits avec de la crème.

http://www.plaisirslaitiers.ca/le-lait-100-canadien
http://www.craimeglacee.ca/concours

Rimouski's company competions i-pad!

Since i-pad was launched, the competition on this new market is flourishing.

From Singaporean startups (http://www.01net.com/editorial/515875/un-serieux-concurrent-pour-l-ipad-la-tablette-tactile-joojoo/) to BlackBerry (http://www.ipad-apple.net/category/concurrence/), the pad is everywhere.

A small company from Rimouski, Quebec launched a pad through a partnership with Microsoft!
http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/est-quebec/2010/02/11/002-exopc.shtml
Let's keep track of their success!

Microfinance companies on the Stock Exchange

NYSE Euronext et Microfis créent un segment de marché pour la finance responsable :

NYSE Euronext et Microfis ont annoncé leur intention de créer au quatrième trimestre 2010 un marché organisé pour la cotation et la négociation d' obligations ayant comme sous-jacents des créances sur des institutions de microfinance internationales ou sur des entités solidaires, au sens de la loi LME.

Il existait fin 2009 environ 1 milliard d'euros d'encours dans les fonds d'épargne salariale solidaires, mais que seulement 5 % de ce montant étaient effectivement investis.

Article complet : http://www.boursorama.com/opcvm/detail-actualite-opcvm.phtml?num=69dd3a0a343554f68db90b95aba2af41

The decline of Facebook ?

It won't happen overnight, but there seem to be a slihtly decline in Facebook popularity among teenagers.

That appeared in a recent Teens and Social Network study.

Acoording to that study, around one in five teens (19%) that have a Facebook account have either abandoned it or are using it less, found Roiworld.

The reasons pointed out by the study are:

- 45% have lost interest

- 16% are leaving because their parents have joined

- 14% think "too many adults/older people" now use the social network

- 13% are concerned about their personal

But despite, those first signs of decline, it remains the first social network used by teens with 69% who have an active profile. YouTube ranks second with 64% of teens claiming to have an active account. MySpace comes in third (41%) and Twitter fourth (20%).

Details of the study:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/33751159/Teens-Study-June-2010

Change the way you consume and not what you consume !

That's what Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers, co-author of the book "What's Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption" are telling us.

Those two words kind of describe what has developed over the past years concerning lending, trading, sharing, renting and swapping, in domains such as: transportation (cars, bikes), apparel (clothing, accessories), food, living spaces, household appliances, money (social lending, virtual currencies, time banks) workspaces, travel, accommodation, space (storage, parking, spare rooms).

Here is a video that sums up the concept

Much more to find on their web site

Borrow someone at the Human Library...

Imagine borrowing a person from your local library in the same way you would borrow a book.

That's what the Human Libraries propose !

The Human Library is designed to fight against stereotypes and prejudices.

How ? Instead of borrowing books, you "borrow" someone for 30 minutes who tells you about his life, a story he wants to share. All kinds of "human books" are available from the junkie to the drag queen, the noun to the ex-prisonner

Since the launch of the concept in Denmark, it has developed in all the continents with hundreds of events per year.

You can even find permanent Human Libraries in more than 30 cities.

Who wants to borrow me ?

Vox is recycling our idea...

People that get together each week to talk about what suprised them, what they want to share with the team...on subjects such as technology, new products, etc...it reminds me of something !

Anyway, the Vox Lab is a really good show you can watch on their web site. They present quite stunning things...and most of all, it's presented in a fun way !

Rona recycles its tins of paint...and Apple ads

Rona and Bos agency found a fun way to let the drivers know that they use old tins of paintings...
This add won the Grand Crea 2010 Price which recognizes in Quebec the best add of the previous year.



There have been no complaint from Apple. This Apple ad was old enough to not consider its recycling harmful.

What about the "Friday No-Wear" concept...

Are they brave or mad? Office workers of a Marketing Company based in Newcastle decided to go naked to boost team spirit ! How about that ?

Not sure it would be easy to convince the CEO...

After the sparkling chocolate, the sparkling Candy !

Haribo has launched its Pink Tagada, a variation of its top seller traditionnal Tagada Strawberry.

Its particularity is to be kind of sparkling

After the molecular cuisine and its recipe of sparkling chocolate, here is another example of what is a new trend: new experiences through food !

A new way to find images for your Powerpoint Presentations

Google launched its new Google Labs feature, Google Swirl, as a more exploratory and interactive alternative to the usual image search. Click on a Washington monument image, and the image cluster expands outward in a swirling pattern to form a constellation of sub-cluster images. The results organize themselves by characteristics such as night or day views and different lighting angles, etc...

It's way more friendly than usinge the traditionnal Google Image Search and The Similar images options.

"We think it's particularly important for visual information, because that's more about exploring rather than finding," said Aparna Chennapragada, Google product manager for Image Swirl. "We think the interface should allow for that."

And it does !

Let's just hope that it would be chosen by Google among all the innovations available on Google Labs, to be released. And it should since it's top ranked by the internauts.

Google Swirl ranks in the top Google Labs Innovations

A interesting way to compensate Greenhouse gazes

Carbone boréal is both a greenhouse gas offset program, through tree planting, and a research project led by researchers at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (Qc, Canada). Any organization or individual can participate in this innovative project. Each and every contributor helps to finance tree planting to offset the greenhouse gases emitted by their organization, family, activities, etc.
The boreal forest in Québec includes natural open woodlands that do not self-regenerate. The project aims at establishing research forests within these open woodlands, in collaboration with Québec’s Ministry of Natural Resources, while respecting forest ecosystems and boreal biodiversity. Each contributor to Carbone boréal gains reliable and verified carbon credits, at a competitive cost and fully tax refundable (in Canada).

Tasty drinks

Innocent, a French Company, is one of the numerous little companies making business out of Smoothies.

What is specific to Innoncent is their fun way to communicate on their products, leaving aside all the standards of specification

The moto of their comm': FUN !

http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/

Surprises for your tongue

As molecular gastronomy is developing more and more, here is a example of what funny experience you can have with molecular gatronomy.




Recipes and other stuff to be found:
http://www.cuisinemoleculaire.com/
http://blog.khymos.org/

Upside down !

An example of how GAP is trying to attract more consumers by these kinds of happenings.
And it works !



Not sure that could be done in a Porcelain Shop !!

Switch it off

Live Green Toronto, Toronto's website for eco-friednly living, launched a new transit shelter advertising campaign with a unique twist: passersby can flip a giant switch that turns the ad on or off. The ad’s text encourages readers to "switch this poster off," and to switch on Live Green’s website for information about saving energy and living green.

A smart campaign, and a creative way to spread environmental awareness.

Leave aside your marks !

That's somehow the message sent by HSBC trough its ads.
Some fresh air in a domain that is not usually associated to openness !











It reminds me a little bit of some of the Paintings of the Belgian painter, Magritte who invites us to forget the association between the word and the image

An alternative to Recycling

A company that proposes to use and transform your garbage.
What if your chips bags became purses !!



http://www.terracycle.net/