Sunday, August 28, 2005

Agenda Inc. Live Feed

Agenda Inc. Live Feed: "London Zoo opens a human exhibit Alt. marketing

huma0805.jpg An interesting idea with alternative marketing potential...

From Associated Press - Caged and barely clothed, eight men and women monkeyed around for the crowds Friday in an exhibit labeled 'Humans' at the London Zoo. 'Warning: Humans in their Natural Environment' read the sign at the entrance to the exhibit, where the captives could be seen on a rock ledge in a bear enclosure, clad in bathing suits and pinned-on fig leaves. Some played with hula hoops, some waved. Visitors stopped to point and laugh, and several children could be heard asking, 'Why are there people in there?'

London Zoo spokeswoman Polly Wills says that's exactly the question the zoo wants to answer. 'Seeing people in a different environment, among other animals ... teaches members of the public that the human is just another primate,' Wills said.

The exhibit puts the three male and five female 'homo sapiens' amid their primate relatives. While their neighbors might enjoy bananas and a good scratch, these eight have divided interests, from a chemist hoping to raise awareness about apes to a self-described actor/model and fitness enthusiast. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)"

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

business2blog

business2blog: "B2.0's $50M Giveaway

Cashstack_1The cover story for B2.0's September issue is a bit of a challenge to entrepreneurs everywhere. Senior Writer Michael Copeland got 11 venture capitaliists to cough up business ideas that they would be willing to write a check for today if they could just find the right team and the right fully fleshed-out business plans. If you think you've got what it takes, e-mail the VCs at the end of each idea description. (For my money—not that I'm giving any away—the most solid ideas are Nos. 1,3, 4, and 10).


The ideas are:

1. Anti-Fraud Credit Card Authorization Via Cell Phones
2. On-Demand Bank Software for Back-Office Operations
3. Product Recommendation Engine That Actually Works
4. Simplified Subscription PCs for Seniors
5. Smart Card Wallets for Cell Phones
6. Open-Source Software for Corporate IT Services
7. Neighborhood Wikis/Swap Meet
8. VoIP Customer Service Software
9. Universal Platform for Mobile Software
10. Wireless Home Patient Monitoring
11. Convergence Software to Link All the Digital Devices in Your Home

So what are you waiting for?"

Map Lineup

: "

Online map site shares: Yahoo! Maps - 41%, MapQuest - 33.4%, Google Maps - 9.45% by ZDNet's ZDNet Research -- HitWise published a list of the most popular online map services for the week ending July 23, 2005. Yahoo! Maps, MapQuest and Google Maps led the market.Top 10 map sitesRank Name Market Share 1 Yahoo! Maps41.00%2 MapQuest33.40%3 Google Maps9.45%4 MSN MapPoint4.72%5 Rand McNally2.07%6 Maps.com 1.23%7 MapsOnUs.com 1.02%8 NationMaster.com 0.68%9 US Local Maps0.63%10 MSN TerraServer 0.50% Source: [...]

"

Friday, August 05, 2005

Sage - business2blog

Sage - business2blog: "From the Economist:

Fear of idleness is why many managers discourage laughter during office hours . . . Indeed, another theory of why people laugh—the superiority theory—says that people laugh to assert that they are on a level equal to or higher than those around them. Research has shown that bosses tend to crack more jokes than do their employees. Women laugh much more in the presence of men, and men generally tell more jokes in the presence of women. Men have even been shown to laugh much more quietly around women, while laughing louder when in a group of men."