business
Keep an Indian Girl in School
Seven out of ten girls in India fail to make it all the way through the school system. The Girl Store has been set up to help people buy school supplies that will help keep the girls in education. A number of girls are featured, along with their school needs – pencils, backpacks or clothing. [...]
Are Copy Editors Becoming Extinct?
Has commerce and marketing taken priority over careful crafting and editing of books? It’s a question asked, and discussed at length, by Alex Clark (and some more by the many people leaving comments). Rather inevitably, there appears to be an error the text that hasn’t been picked up by the copy editor. Can you spot [...]
The Secret History of Board Games
Ever wondered who came up with the world’s favourite board games and where they got their inspiration? For example, Anthony Pratt, a WWII fire warden, thought up Clue/Cluedo during Nazi air raids, and originally called it Murder! And it turns out that Monopoly looks suspiciously like a board game patented by a Quaker woman 3o [...]
Entrepreneurship Starts at 45
Although there are a lot of famous (and rich) twenty-somethings who have been successful (Mark Zuckerberg is an obvious example), it turns out that older entrepreneurs have an edge when it comes to start up success. It’s likely that this is because they already have some personal wealth to cushion them, a better credit record [...]
Black Farmers
Last year’s Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners Conference in Brooklyn aimed to raise awareness of ecological and food related issues and career opportunities for the African American community. They quote some startling statistics, including: almost 50% of African Americans will suffer from diabetes heart disease and stroke in the African American community there are 30% [...]
Hunting for Dinner
Urban Quest gives diners a series of clues that lead to a slap up restaurant dinner… if only you can find it. The clues lead diners on scenic journeys around Ottawa, Kingston or Toront, Canada and might be by foot, cycle or bus. Read more on Urban Quest
Dinner and a Movie
Cinemas are trying to lure customers with the promise of food served with the movie, such as burgers and alcohol served at your seat and often ordered from your seat too. For example, the Bear Tooth Theater Pub in Anchorage, Alaska has turned it’s popcorn counter into a servery where cinema-goers order tacos, burritos, salads [...]
The Daily Grommet – Crowd Sourced Product Recommendations
Daily Grommet tells stories about innovative products or services that help shoppers find things that have a backstory that aligns with their personal values. Everyday a new story – submitted by people from around the world and consisting of a video review and text – is broadcast on the web to encourage word-of-mouth recommendation for [...]
The Real Peggy Olsen R.I.P.
Phyllis Robinson, who died on New Year’s Eve 2010 aged 89, was one of the advertising pioneers when she was appointed to run the copy department at a new agency Doyle Dane Bernbach and she was called “the first great modern advertising writer” by former Esquire art director, George Lois. She was responsible for successful [...]
Poor Medieval Britons? Not So Much…
Economists at the University of Warwick have worked out that medieval Britons had a per capita income of around $1,000 (1270 – 1870). In 2009, countries such as Ghana, Cambodia, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Burundi all had per capita incomes of less than $1,000. This medieval prosperity allowed people to live much more comfortable existences than [...]
