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 [...]
Brew for Few “Baying Hound is a prime example of a nanobrewery, a business that’s tiny even by the standards of craft brewing, where 15,000 barrels a year is the dividing line between a micro and a regional brewery. At his current pace — Rinehart brews twice a week… — he’ll turn out 96 barrels [...]
Outsiders Upfront “Lead directors are gaining clout on U.S. boards, a development that gives the boards the potential to become more effective counterweights to powerful chief executives. The role is a compromise created in the era of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Lawmakers wanted to beef up boards to cut down on corporate shenanigans, but they [...]
homes financed by mortgage loans on which no payments are being made but have yet to be listed in a foreclosure sale. [R]eal estate agents and mortgage brokers wary of optimism are focusing on a new term that has entered the housing lexicon: ghost inventory. Banks appear to be sitting on thousands of homes [...]