critical assumption: June 2010

6/29/2010

Car + Plane + 20 Hours + $200K = Fun in the Sun!

Posted by amckinnis | tags..... Cool, ideas, Innovation

OK - a bit dramatic on the title, but this is one of those really cool things. The Terrafugia Transition has received approval by FAA to fly [and assuming the NTSB to drive on the streets]. It is a hybrid Car+Plane [actually they call it a "drivable aircraft"]- that is classified as a "light sport aircraft" and only requires a sport pilot license [and of course a regular driver's license for road use]. They mention that you could be flying with about 20 hours of training - not bad for a flying car [I mean a drivable aircraft].

Now you can reserve one today for $10K and the delivered price is expected to be about $200K. But you won't get it until sometime in 2012 - so don't expect to get one for your vacation this summer.

There are other cool features [as if a flying car was not enough] and I would imagine these are still "estimates" because the plan is still in testing and really commercially available...

Uses standard unleaded gas [just fill up on your way home]
Airspeed is approximately 120 mph - fuel burn 5 gallons per hour
Land speed up to 65 mph and 30 mpg
Range is 450 miles [assume that's flying]
Store in your garage
Cargo area can hold skis, fishing poles, golf clubs [see a pattern here?]
Emergency parachute [this is a really good idea]

What ever you may think about this Flying Car / Drivable Plane - you have to admit it's really cool that it works and is approved to be sold. This is a much better idea than the Car/Boat thingy.

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6/23/2010

1st eBook from ChangeThis | Tough Love by John Moore

Posted by amckinnis |

OK - I like ChangeThis and CEORead - and here is an announcement of their first eBook - "Tough Love" by John Moore. You can get it for the pultry price of $9.99 - and read it immediately. More info an link below. Enjoy!

We're very excited to offer our first full-length eBook, and honored to have had the incomparable John Moore author it.

It is the story of a coffee shop that has changed the world of coffee, but allowed its growth to change the culture that made the company so special to its customers and employees in the first place. By following the drama of the company's leaders and long-time employees as they struggle, in tough economic times, to right the ship, you'll learn valuable business lessons.

Head on over to the ChangeThis store to get your copy today.

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6/23/2010

Springwise for June 23rd | This week's most smile-worthy new business ideas

Posted by amckinnis |

Well - there are always good ideas out there, and Springwise helps bring those ideas to us. Check these ideas out and see if any would fit for your business. Or take two or three of them and combine them for a fresh look. Remember, innovation is not about original thinking, it's about original integration. Enjoy!

Digital mirrors let customers try on cosmetics
Fashion & beauty / Marketing & advertising

Customers snap a digital self-portrait using the mirror's camera.
They can then scan a product's barcode to see it 'applied' to their
self-portait, using a touchscreen interface to select different colours.

Social networking from any basic phone
Telecom & mobile / Media & publishing

There's no need to upgrade a phone or establish an internet
connection; rather, Sibesonke works using SMS and a standard
text-based browsing protocol.

Tipping cards for travellers enable cashless gratuities
Life hacks / Tourism & travel

Where's My Tip cards can be dished out to service providers such as
doormen. The recipient then goes online and makes a tip request to
the giver, who can pay them electronically by credit card or PayPal.

Ice cream vending machine activated by a smile
Marketing & advertising / Food & beverage

Share Happy machines use facial recognition technology to discern a
person's age, gender and emotion. A big smile is rewarded with a free
ice cream. An image of the consumer can be uploaded to Facebook.

Vocabulary tool uses Twitter for social learning
Education / Media & publishing

Berlitz's Vocabu helps people build vocabulary when learning a
language by featuring examples from Twitter and Flickr. Users can
set and share their weekly goals and form groups to learn together.

Themed restaurant will sell seating by the ticket
Food & beverage

Next Restaurant will select its menus 'from great moments in culinary
history'. Bookings will be taken via online ticketing, like for a theatre
or sporting event, rather than by conventional table reservations.

Duvet suits & boots for cold-weather lounging
Lifestyle & leisure / Fashion & beauty

Australian Lazypatch has created the Duvet Suit and other lounging
gear aimed at keeping consumers warm while they reduce their
energy usage at night. There's a choice of polyester or down fill.

Airport's four-storey slide rewards duty-free spending
Tourism & travel / Marketing & advertising

Singapore's Changi Airport has installed a giant 12m high slide, plus
a smaller version for less intrepid riders. Travellers who spend money
at airport shops receive tokens allowing them to ride the slides.

Compost service for businesses sells the soil it creates
Eco & sustainability

Utah-based Eco Scraps collects leftover food from grocery stores
and restaurants and turns it into valuable organic soil conditioner
for sale at local nurseries and gardening retailers.

Pop-up container clinic boosts health care in Haiti
Non-profit, social cause

Containers to Clinics is converting shipping containers into frontline
health centres. The first will soon open in Port-au-Prince and provide
treatment, vaccinations, and infectious disease testing.

Reflective lace combines style and safety for cyclists
Fashion & beauty / Transportation

Reflective Lace, also known as 'LFLECT', can be sewn into or worn
over regular clothing - or even used as a hairband - by cyclists
wishing to enhance their visibility with an unusual decoration.

Selling products for the price of a tweet
Marketing & advertising / Media & publishing

Pay with a Tweet is a platform that lets content owners 'sell'
content such as books or audio in exchange for a single promotional
tweet to the downloader's social network rather than for cash.

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6/10/2010

Get Published Today | Online tool for creating eBooks

Posted by amckinnis |

I just ran across this site [it's probably been there for ages, but hey, I noticed it now]. It's a platform for authors to create eBooks at no cost. It seems very simple, an author writes their book in Microsoft Word [using the format/style prescribed by Smashwords]. Upload and tell it what publishing platforms/file formats you want it to be available in. And you have an eBook.

Formats and platforms include: PDF, Amazon Kindle, Apple iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad, Sony Reader, B&N Nook, and couple more. Seems pretty simple and straight forward. There's also a way to sell your eBook through the platform [or provide it for free]. If you sell it - there's revenue sharing on the back-end which would be expected. Also, there's an affiliate program for those interesting in selling these eBooks.

Enough from me, here's what they say about themselves...

About Smashwords

Welcome to Smashwords! Smashwords is an ebook publishing and distribution platform for ebook authors, publishers and readers. We offer multi-format, DRM-free ebooks, ready for immediate sampling and purchase, and readable on any e-reading device.

At Smashwords, our authors and publishers have complete control over the sampling, pricing and marketing of their written works.

Smashwords is ideal for publishing novels, short fiction, poetry, personal memoirs, monographs, non-fiction, research reports, essays, or other written forms that haven't even been invented yet.

It's free to publish and distribute with Smashwords.

For readers, Smashwords provides an opportunity to discover new voices in all categories and genres of the written word. Once you register, the site offers useful tools for search, discovery and personal library-building, and each week we add new features based on feedback from members.