#Dunbarsnumber - the idea that a person can only have a limited number of close relationships, probably around 150. [O]ur minds are not designed to allow us to have more than a very limited number of people in our social world. The emotional and psychological investments that a close relationship requires are considerable, and [...]
Financing from Strangers “When recent college graduate Bronson Chang wanted to renovate his uncle’s candy shop in Honolulu, he decided to tap his social network for the funds via a ‘crowdfunding’ website, instead of seeking a loan at a bank. Crowdfunding sites—such as ProFounder.com, Peerbackers.com, Kickstarter.com and IndieGoGo.com—allow entrepreneurs to raise money collectively toward a [...]
Ideas Worth Spreading “TED” is an acronym for “Technology, Entertainment, Design.” [From the TED website - http//www.ted.com/ ]: “TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with [...]
Fear of No Outlets “The [electric] carmakers are eager to make their first customers happy, so they are bending over backwards to help with the charging infrastructure and to allay ‘range anxiety’ — the fear of running out of electricity and getting stranded, because all-electric cars cannot go as far as conventional ones. (This is [...]
Discolored Labeling “According to a study due out Tuesday [26Oct10], more than 95% of consumer products examined committed at least one offense of ‘greenwashing,’ a term used to describe unproven environmental claims, according to TerraChoice, a North American environmental-marketing company that issued the report.” See article at: WSJ 26Oct10: “Misleading Claims on ‘Green’ Labeling”
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]