Love to Hover “Mothering and fathering are different all over the world. Our cultural myth is that nurturance matters deeply. And it has led to ‘helicopter parenting,’ the smothering surveillance of a child’s every experience and problem, often extending as far as college. It has also led to pervasive anxiety (among parents and children alike) [...]
The Bird You Don't Know [NOTE: This reference to “Black Swan” is NOT referring to “Black Swan,” the 2010 Natalie Portman film.] The “Black Swan” is a term coined by New York University Professor, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and discussed at length in his book: “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable,” 2nd edition [...]
a low-income urban, suburban or rural area where there are limited vendors of fresh produce but often numerous fast-food outlets For cities, one particular problem is "food deserts" – low-income areas where the prevalent food options are chips and soda at corner stores instead of leafy green vegetables at supermarkets. See article at: CSM 14Feb11 - The rise of the [...]
Plastics from Plants “Plastics derived from plant materials currently make up 0.2% of the roughly 350 million metric tons of plastics consumed each year in the world, industry and independent analysts say. But that volume could jump 30% a year over the next decade or so, these same analysts say, thanks to growing demand for [...]
Shop, Talk, Buy, Shriek “The centerpiece of the [eBay] campaign is a six-week Web series, featuring Ms. [Samantha] Bee, called ‘Unwrap Attack,’ which is inspired by the so-called Christmas gift freakout videos on YouTube. Ms. Bee presents fanciful examples of those videos, in which gift recipients shriek, scream and go gaga as they open [...]
The Great Good Place, a book by the urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg, talks about the social and psychological importance of what he calls "third places." He designates home as "first place" and work as "second place". He describes "third place" as somewhere neutral, convenient, comfortable and welcoming. It’s where regulars gather and where conversation [...]
Yes You Scan “two-dimensional bar codes … 2-D bar code technology… . the bar codes — also called quick response or QR bar codes — which consumers can scan with their smartphone and, within seconds, connect to a Web site, photo or video… . Bar code campaigns are cropping up in other transit hubs, as [...]
Probing Unconscious Purchasing ” … neuromarketers, a nascent group of researchers who use techniques from neuroscience to analyze people’s responses to products and promotions. Neuromarketing’s raison d’être derives from the fact that the brain expends only 2 percent of its energy on conscious activity, with the rest devoted largely to unconscious processing. Thus, neuromarketers [...]
Name Game “Mr. Faler, a former police officer who once worked the narcotics beat, has registered more than 1,000 marijuana-related Internet domain names, including oddities like icecreammarijuana.com and marijuanapastry.com… . He is part of an Internet land grab for marijuana domains by so-called domainers who hope to sell their holdings at a profit, betting that [...]
foods from plant varieties and animal breeds that have grown in popularity after a long, limited market presence Roxbury Russet has a nutty flavor. Strawberry Chenango smells like roses. Cornish Gilliflower is reminiscent of clove. Farmers and chefs treat them like fine wine, but these are apples— 'heritage" or "heirloom" varieties that [...]