Think Geek: Tired of waking up and having to wait for your morning java to brew? Are you one of those groggy early morning types that just needs that extra kick? Know any programmers who dont regularly bathe and need some special motivation? Introducing Shower Shock, the original and world's first caffeinated soap from ThinkGeek. When you think about it, ShowerShock is the ultimate clean buzz.

Scented with peppermint oil and infused with caffeine anhydrous, each bar of Shower shock contains approximately 12 servings/showers per 4 ounce bar with 200 milligrams of caffeine per serving. No, we're not kidding and no you don't eat it. The caffeine is absorbed through the skin...

Have smelly co-workers that sleep in too much? Give them the gift of Shower Shock...

Shower Shock Caffeinated Soap [Think Geek]

BizJournals.com: When Lynne Gonsior was pregnant with her son Tony, she set out to find clothing and nursery necessities that were unique and trendy -- even edgy. Instead, she found the same old clowns and ducks.

"Everything was baby blue or pink."

Gonsior, a former senior buyer at Marshall Field's, refused to settle. She and her husband Dan, a property developer, opened Über Baby in Minneapolis one year ago. The business has grown quickly; the Gonsiors expect more than $1 million in revenues by 2006. With an increasing demand for nontraditional baby accessories, Über Baby is a hotspot for parents as young as 20 and grandparents as old as 80. According to Lynne, Über Baby's merchandise is 80 percent exclusive. Nothing sits in the store for more than a couple of weeks to ensure rapid turnover. The store also features the designs of select vendors like Disney animator Joe Mosher.

"We have to constantly stay ahead of the trend curve in order to stay successful," Lynne said.

The couple's 2,100 square-foot store carries clothing lines, unique gifts and original paint colors. The store boasts an extensive selection of Überbags, or funky diaper bags that look more like designer handbags. Racks of T-shirts with logos like "I love my dads" and "Sir Craps-a-lot" are prominently displayed, along with onesies that label a baby as either Republican or Democrat.

Oh baby! Lauded by MTV, Über Baby appeals to hip parents [BizJournals.com]

TrendCentral: If you’ve exhausted your Awesome Workout Mix and can’t seem to find the right motivational soundtrack to hit your stride on the treadmill, these exercise MP3 downloads may be just the thing. Designed by yoga/Pilates guru Grace Lazenby along with a team of Hollywood personal trainers, there are 11 different workouts ranging from iStretch to iSculpt Ballet. Each one is a personal training session/soundtrack that you can purchase and store on your MP3 player. You won’t have anyone to serve as your therapist or to yell at when you feel like you’re about to break, but you also won’t have an excuse to not work out when you’re away on vacation.

Our Current Raves: iTrain [TrendCentral]

USATODAY: Leaning out the window of her SUV, Tami Cornwell orders the same drink she gets almost every day: "Double-tall, four-pump vanilla caramel Macchiato."

A high-tech recruiter, she's gotten hooked on the growing number of drivethrus Starbucks has been opening in recent years.

"On weekends, I like to go into the store," she said one morning at a drivethru north of downtown on her way to work. "On the weekdays, it's more about convenience and caffeine."

Eventually, it got hard to ignore coffee lovers' demand for a quick java fix without leaving the warmth of their driver's seats. The 2005 fiscal year, which ended Oct. 2, marked the first time drivethrus comprised more than half of Starbucks' new company-operated stores — those that aren't licensed in airports, hotels, grocery stores and the like. Drivethrus will continue to add to Starbucks' bottom line, making up about half of the new stores the company opens domestically over the next few years, Donald said.

Starbucks sees growing demand for drive-thru coffee [USATODAY]

The Cool Hunter: There are a number of companies carrying iPod, Blackberry and PSP cases at the moment but none as fine and in the distinguished class such as the current range out from Dunhill. Synonymous with elegance, style and sophistication, Dunhill continues to please with its range of cases. The selection comes in stylish skins and ultra fine leather, which combine functionality and style in their classic design. Gizmo accessories are the in thing right now and it’s a race to see who can provide the market with a luxury end version of these products. With an array of soft, beautiful colors to select from the Dunhill cases are the only way to house and protect your gizmos with class.

Classic Dunhill Style [The Cool Hunter]

BusinessWeek: For decades, wine consumption in the U.S. was hobbled by a lack of understanding of wine combined with lame or confusing marketing and labeling by wine producers, both domestic and international. But as increasingly clever marketers find success with simple, compelling labels -- think Yellow Tail and Marilyn Merlot -- they're discovering another way appeal to the $10-wine buyer: Make fun of the $30-and-up buyers. Think about how Rush Limbaugh talks about liberals, and you get the idea.

Brown-Forman (which markets wines such as Jekel, Fetzer, and Bolla) recently jumped into this vat hand-in-hand with Virgin Atlantic Chief Richard Branson in launching Virgin Vines. Starting with two California wines, a Chardonnay and Shiraz, the partnership seeks to promote wine consumption by dissing those who take wine too seriously. The label's pitch goes like this: "Dare to enjoy this wine without dashes of pretentiousness or hints of snootiness. Virgin Vines believes wine should be all about having fun and loving the taste...not waxing poetically about meaningless wine-speak and food pairings."

Virgin Vines Says It's Hip to Be Dumb [BusinessWeek]

Eurocosm.com: Relax Arachnophobes! Help is close at hand, or better still, arms length! The Spider Catcher is an innovative new product which uses two sets of bristles to gently catch the spider or bug, carefully trapping it until you decide when and where to let it go. Because of it's flexible bristles and long reach, it can get into high corners and awkward spots to capture those pesky little beasts without you having to go near them. No potentially harmful chemicals, no thong hurling, no "splats" on the wall - No Worries ! If you don't like spiders in your house but you don't want to kill them either, then the Spider Catcher is just the right gadget for you. The Spider Catcher allows you to pick up spiders and other bugs while keeping a safe distance. The spider is not harmed and can be released into the garden where it will continue to be a beneficial member of your local ecosystem.

Spider Catcher! [Eurocosm.com]

CScout: Playful training engages your employees or customers in new and innovative ways. Who would dare to just stand in front of an audience and do nothing but talk? In our day it takes a little more to catch the short attention span of most listeners. People do not only grow up watching fast-cut shows, they start going to music classes before they even celebrated their first birthday, are on stage in elementary school and study in multi-media classrooms. By adding elements of interactivity and playfullness training sessions are revitalizing the rusty routines.

Billions are spent to establish a new product on the market, to win new target groups or just keep the market-share. But what about in-depth information, information your staff should know off-hand. The secret of having successful employees is to keep them interested. Companies might start to look for new ways to playfully train and educate their employees and even customers without the usual spiel.

Playful Training [CScout]

we make money not art: The Polite Umbrella, by Joo Paek, respects people’s personal space in a public area. This shrinkable umbrella enables users to morph its shape like a jellyfish in order to reduce occupied space and to increase user maneuverability.

The user can adjust their umbrella by pulling a handle so that one can protect themselves from harsh winds or bumping into others. Additionally, graphic images printed on the umbrella have animated effects which create gestures of politeness such as bowing or hand gestures. Furthermore the umbrella has readable quotes related to good manners in order to initiate communications.

The Polite Umbrella [we make money not art]

Five Star Reviews: We were excited to see a new product that celebrates the value of water without trying to transform it into a sickly sweet diet beverage or loading it with gimmicky supplements.

In the fast growing bottled water market, HINT stands out for what it is AND for what it is not. Founded by Kara Goldin, San Franciscan and busy mother of four (yes, 4!) , she really knows her stuff. Prior to founding the company, Kara was a busy senior executive heading up shopping for America Online.

Unlike the sugary clear “water beverages” you may have seen, Hint is water, nature’s original refreshment, accented with a hint of natural flavor. Think ice cold water with a slice of fresh fruit - water that quenches your deepest thirst while adding just a bit more flavor.

With a clean refreshing taste and no sugar or artificial sweeteners, Hint and Hint Kids is sweeping the nation. It will remind you why you drink water and will make you want to drink more. Best for drinking after a workout or during lunch, Hint water will easily become a celebrity craze.

Check it out for yourself at http://www.drinkhint.com.

Hint Naturally Flavored Water [Five Star Reviews]

Displax.com: Displax® projects itself in a transparent, holographic display, with high definition, visible at daylight, captures the customers attention, bonds with the reality of the business of any kind of organization and has customized sizes, witch allows its placement in window stores of banks or telecommunications store, with the certainty that, whoever passes by, will not be indifferent to it. It has a great impact!

Displax® - Interactive window will be released in three versions. Displax® Interactive is the solution that allows people to interact with a projected multimedia application, just pressing the display with a finger. Displax® - Network allows managing displays placed in any location of the world, in a remote and central way. Displax® - Show allows you to present, in an innovative way, the products in a display, set in a window-store or inside the shop.

Who can use Displax® - Interactive window ?

Banks, Car Show-Rooms, Telecommunications, Shopping Centers, Fairs and Exhibits, Travel Agencies, Museums, Theatres…

Displax.com

WSJ.com: Glitzy television advertising, long the mainstay of marketing, fell out of vogue this year on Madison Avenue. In its place: frill-free commercials. Reflecting the proliferation of reality television, agencies embraced ads that used real people or looked like home videos.

Typical of the trend was an ad for Vonage Holdings Corp., the Internet phone service provider, which used a home movie of a skier leaping off a roof onto a pickup truck. A Toyota Motor Corp. spot was filmed to look like a home movie shot by two slacker dudes partying in the desert when a meteor hits their Tacoma truck. Anheuser-Busch Cos. has lately been running Bud Light ads shot documentary-style, which feature a fictional character named Ted Ferguson who performs daredevil stunts and rewards himself with beer.

'Reality' [WSJ.com]

BusinessWeek: Light years apart in brand image and market appeal, both shops are targeting "the to die for" position which retailers the world over are striving to reach, the point at which a store becomes "a destination," a place where people choose to linger, learn, and be stimulated or simply have fun.

The best shops have always aspired to be more than mere merchants, but intense competition on the high street has upped the stakes. This is particularly so for department stores and specialist retailers, such as booksellers, caught in a pincer action by the advance of online sales on one flank and supermarkets offering heavily discounted blockbusters on the other. As Gennaro Castaldo, head of press and public relations at music store HMV, sums it up: "It's certainly the case that consumers have many more [retail channel] choices today. You have to give people an added reason to come into your store, something that makes the act of visiting a shop as rewarding as acquiring the good itself."

Hot Shops: Retail Revamps [BusinessWeek]

Iconoculture: Your phone is reeking. Japan’s Keitai KunKun smelltones release subtle (yet unmistakable) aromas like Berry and Wild Nature. There’s even a special blend for Hello Kitty. The smelly celly accessories are triggered by the signal of an incoming call, e-mail, or text message. Keitai KunKun isn’t the only tech company following its nose: Singapore’s Nice Smell Kaori-chan Perfume Straps for cellphones emit sweet (and savory) scents like Jasmine, Curry, and English Tea with every ring.

Japan’s Keitai KunKun offers smelltones for cellphones [Iconoculture]

The Green Head: I don't think anyone likes mopping floors, but it appears that robots do! iRobot, maker of the cool robot vaccuum Roomba, have developed the perfectly named Scooba - Floor Washing Robot. The Scooba is truly a revolutionary new hard floor cleaning system. It's programmed to prep, wash, scrub and dry the floor automatically. Using the AWARE robot intelligence system, it will clean under furniture, tables and hard-to-reach places all by itself. The Scooba can clean around 150 square feet on one tank and never reuses dirty mop water. If this works, and early word says it does and well, I'll never have to mop again, not that I did anyway, but still. I can't wait to see what robot servant they come up with next.

Scooba - Floor Washing Robot by iRobot [The Green Head]

Springwise: There isn't a single industry that's immune to innovation. Taking this very literally is German Single Tapete ('singles wallpaper'), which sells photographic wallpaper, featuring photos of whoever/whatever. Customers upload an image via the company's website, which is then processed and produced as numbered rolls of removable and reusable wallpaper. The company also offers a choice of patterns and even photos of pre-selected 'singles' (see 'Paul' and 'Priscilla' above), creating a modern twist on the trompe l'oeil. A 3m x 2.33m wall will set customers back about EUR 275 (USD 322/GBP 186).

Wallpaper 2.0 [Springwise]

CoolBusinessIdeas Newsletter Issue 23: 05/12/05 - 18/12/05

New Business Ideas/Opportunities Featured In This Issue:

MARKETING
Closer to the Consumer
Reality marketing - observe eating habits, jotting down notes, compiling video clips and examining neurolinguistic word maps.

FASHION
Smart Ass Underwear
Smart Ass underwear flashes a saying at its back T-bar every time she bends over in her low-cut jeans.

Yoga, Inside Outside
Yogurt Activeculture – a clothing and accessories line designed not only for function and style, but for a higher purpose.

TRANSPORT
Social Networking in the Sky
AirTroductions.com, aims to match like-minded fliers for business networking, book discussions, romance.

CONSUMER GOODS
Personalized Cookies
Personalized cookies are the hottest new product in the highly competitive wedding, party favor, and personalized gift market.

360 with the Rampboard
The Rampboard is a technological reconstruction of the skateboard that introduces bindings, a suspension, a space-age frame, bi-directional capabilities, and a longer wheelbase.

Soft Plush Toy Radios
King Tai Holdings Ltd has released novelty FM radios in soft plush toy designs.

ADVERTISING
Million Dollar Home Page
One college student in England is changing the world of real estate (and online advertising) one pixel at a time.

Page-turn Ads
CNET has recently launched page-turn ad units. Here's a sample, the Circuit City ad.

Word Of Consumers
Take a cue from Vichy Korea (skin care): since end of last year, they've been inviting customers to blog about their experience with the Myokine anti-wrinkle product line.

DESIGN
Lego Disks
Young French designer, Ora-Ito has just designed a playful new stackable hard drive for Lacie.

Immortalized Leaves
Leaves get immortalized on a pillow, tablecloth, or stationery by Inleaf Designs.

Stylish Vacuum
Sit and … suck? Shaped like a high-design beanbag chair, the Airpouf vacuum cleaner doubles as a spot to sit or a room decoration.

MUSIC
Loading Service
HungryPod helps you load your music collection onto your iPod.

FOOD & BEVERAGE
Moist Granola
Justin Avery Anderson, 18, came up with the idea for his product, Anderson Trail’s Original Premium Moist Granola, on a trip in the mountains of New Mexico when he was 16 years old.

Unique Flavours
Pearl Persephone super-premium pomegranate-flavored vodka combines the balance and smoothness of Pearl Vodka with the flavor of the pomegranate.

LIFESTYLE
Condo Hotels
The latest trend to hit the hospitality industry: the condo hotel. It unites the public's desire to invest in real estate with the travel industry's quest for new properties.

TECHNOLOGY
Seeing Possibilities
NEC has developed a 0.3-millimeter (0.012-inch) thick, foldable battery to be used in cards or clothes.

Shop with Phone
Barcode scanning technology exists. Shopping 2.0: Shop until your camera phone drops!

SERVICES
Seasonal Outdoor Lighting
Most people dread the yearly task of hanging holiday lights. Confident that people would pay for putting up festive displays, Bob Martin and Larry Jones launched BrightIdeas Inc.com.

Within Home
The Welcome Home program trains bilingual veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces to become mortgage brokers so they can help Latinos buy homes.

GADGETS
Kitty Sing
Here's some Hello Kitty irony for you: she has no mouth - but two of the newest additions to her ever-growing gadget kingdom have features for those of us doomed to open ours from time to time. The MP3 player and a breath-tester.

Heart Sensor
Textronics NuMetrex sports bra has a built-in heart rate monitoring system for keen running types.

GAMES
Farming For Gold
Online gamers who lack the time and patience to work their way up to the higher levels of gamedom are willing to pay the young Chinese to play the early rounds for them.

View this issue of the CoolBusinessIdeas Newsletter by clicking here. Subscribe for free by clicking here.

Shiny Shiny: Hang on a minute, this looks strangely familiar. Remember those Mymo mobiles that were withdrawn from the market after everyone suspected that phones turn children's brains to frappuccino? Well, mTrack's i-Kids phone certainly bears a resemblance. Obviously now everyone's forgotten that nasty business about kiddie brain pulping, it's time to try again with the children's phones. This one can pinpoint a child's location to within 20 metres via phone or net and has the backing of children's charity, Kidscape.

It's got limited call capabilities and just four caller buttons. Once subscribed to the service, parents can track junior free using a map online, or on a mobile which tracks the child every 10 minutes. There's also instant tracking via a 'ping' (costing 50p per 'ping') or through a safety zone alert, which notifies parents via sms if their child has strayed from their specified area (50p per text).

Track your kids by mobile phone [Shiny Shiny]

Yenra: Consumers spend hundreds of dollars for custom jeans that shape the body to show off their best features.

"Ten years ago premium denim was anything over a hundred dollars a pair, today it starts at anywhere from a hundred fifty to an excess of five hundred a pair and in some cases even a thousand dollars," advises Kenneth Wengrod, a leading apparel industry financier.

"People want to express their individual personality and designer jeans allows them to do just that because their distribution is limited and is sold primarily in specialty boutiques and luxury specialty stores," said Wengrod.

"Using the highest quality of denim is critical in order for the fiber to withstand the extensive washes and the enormous amount of handwork in the finishing process, which entails sanding, creating holes, embroidery and hand stitching," added Wengrod.

Custom Denim Jeans [Yenra]

Popgadget: Remember when people carried huge boomboxes on their shoulders before walkmans were invented? You don't see that too often and now it's all about how small your mobile music device can get. The Digital Sound Bag lets you slip your personal music player into a clear acetate pocket and plug it into built in speakers if you ever get the urge to make your personal music public while you're out and about. Yeah, I suppose you can recreate the boombox effect - just hoist that bag up to your shoulders and crank it up. Don't forget to strut.

Digital sound bag [Popgadget]

Yenra: Pearl Persephone super-premium pomegranate-flavored vodka combines the balance and smoothness of Pearl Vodka with the flavor of the pomegranate. The resulting flavored vodka has a fresh bouquet and subtle sweetness that makes it a satisfying discovery for vodka connoisseurs.

"Today's consumers are constantly searching for unique flavors," said Todd Nickodym of David Sherman Corporation. "Its delicious flavor caters to individual tastes and can be enjoyed chilled, mixed with juice or soda, or as an exotic addition to your favorite martini."

"Creative bartenders are always looking to remain cutting edge and be responsible for introducing customers to tastes they've never experienced."

"We're hearing that bartenders at high-end clubs and upscale restaurants are discovering Pearl Persephone and embracing it because it is versatile and the only one of its kind," Nickodym said.

Pomegranate Vodka [Yenra]

Iconoculture: The Welcome Home program trains bilingual veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces to become mortgage brokers so they can help Latinos buy homes. The free online program awards a Mortgage Banking Achievement Certificate that certifies veterans to broker, service, and process mortgages. Because veterans leave the military with a host of skills, including the ability to work with people from various cultures, the program is seen as benefiting an industry that requires effective personal interactions. Latino veterans can take advantage of a career option that rewards both their personal and the community’s economic wellbeing.

Welcome Home program trains bilingual veterans to become mortgage brokers [Iconoculture]

Shiny Shiny: Not the first, and we're sure it won't be the last, but this Textronics NuMetrex sports bra has a built-in heart rate monitoring system for keen running types. The sensors pick up your heartbeat and sends the info to the WearLink transmitter, which forwards it on to the heart rate monitor watch. Then all you need to do is check your watch to see that you're woefully unfit and liable to have a heart attack at any time.

Heart Sensing Bra [Shiny Shiny]

we make money not art: Online gamers who lack the time and patience to work their way up to the higher levels of gamedom are willing to pay the young Chinese to play the early rounds for them. These "gold farmers" work every day, in 12-hour shifts, playing computer games to harvest gold coins and other virtual goods that can be transformed into real cash.

Players around the world can trade the virtual currency to other players, who can use it to buy better armor, amulets, magic spells and other accoutrements to climb to higher levels or create more powerful characters.

The Internet is now filled with classified advertisements from small companies auctioning for real money their powerful avatars.

By some estimates, there are well over 100,000 young people working in China as full-time gamers. They have strict quotas and are supervised by bosses who equip them with computers, software and Internet connections.

Farming for virtual gold [we make money not art]

Global Sources: King Tai Holdings Ltd has released novelty FM radios in soft plush toy designs. The products are made of colorful cotton velour and stuffed with polyester filling. They have buttons for controlling the volume, scanning and resetting.

Heart-shaped model FM-9301 measures 29x20.5x10cm. Models FM-9304 and FM-9303 resemble a basketball and a soccer ball, and both measure 18cm in diameter. Model FM-9302 is designed like a two-speaker radio and measures 34x22x12cm.

Novelty FM radios in various soft plush toy designs [Gifts & Home Products]

YOGURT ACTIVECULTURE: What started as a nickname for our yoga practice—Yogurt— has now become a symbol of our vision. For us, yoga is a practice that is colourful, varied and deep. And while it’s helped us get in touch with our ‘inner’ selves, we feel that the typical yoga ‘look’ doesn’t do much to reflect that expression as far as our ‘outer’ selves are concerned. The pastel, conservative activewear out there is well, ummm...boring.

So, we decided to change it up—and there’s no better way to do that than to start a revolution (albeit a calm, quiet one). We started by wearing our old black rock t-shirts, with slogans like ‘I’m Bored’ and ‘Poser’ to practice which, at first, provoked plenty of giggles and winks in the studio, but later, sparked interesting debate about what yoga really meant to us. Sometimes we ARE bored. Sometimes we DO act like phonies… and embracing these experiences is part of the process of self-discovery and awareness that we commit to when we practice, and in our lives in general. And so the seed was planted…

What has since grown out of that initial thought bubble is Yogurt Activeculture – a clothing and accessories line designed not only for function and style, but for a higher purpose. Every design communicates an idea that we’d like more people to think about. $1 from every item sold goes to charity. In this way, we hope to develop an Activeculture that’s NOT just about yoga, but that broadly promotes truth and beauty, encourages playfulness, cultivates individual style and wellbeing, and most importantly, inspires us to make positive changes in our lives and in the lives of others.

YOGURT ACTIVECULTURE

Iconoculture: Sit and … suck? Shaped like a high-design beanbag chair, the Airpouf vacuum cleaner doubles as a spot to sit or a room decoration.

For those who want to keep housekeeping appliances at hand without sacrificing style, the fabric-covered Airpouf by Italian designer Lorenzo Damiani has three openings: for the suction tube, the vent, and the start button. Aside from blending into décor, it brings extra padding to the task of navigating furniture and walls.

When it comes to tools and appliances in the home, performance is all good, but chic design and dual purpose make the right kind of statement for affluents.

For Xer homebodies with a playful streak, thinking outside the canister speaks to personalization and creativity around mundane tasks.

Stylish Vacuum [Iconoculture]

Trendwatching: Take a cue from Vichy Korea (skin care): since end of last year, they've been inviting customers to blog about their experience with the Myokine anti-wrinkle product line. Consumers shared and tracked results day by day, adding updates in real time. Vichy not only 'learned', but also gave back by having skin experts answer individual questions. 9,000 people signed up for the program. Vichy France also asked its customers to pitch in on Journal de ma Peau, a blog about their 'Peel Micro Abrasion' product.

In the Netherlands, retail chain Kijkshop is recruiting webcam-testers to film their week-long use of electrical shavers, hand blenders, mobile phones and other devices. Every month, 15 to 20 webcams will be installed in kitchens, bathrooms, and living rooms across The Netherlands. Kijkshop is now putting the first 3-5 minute long movies (and reviews) online for all to see. More than 5,000 people have already expressed interest in taking part.

Virtual Anthropology [Trendwatching]

Shiny Shiny: Here's some Hello Kitty irony for you: she has no mouth - but two of the newest additions to her ever-growing gadget kingdom have features for those of us doomed to open ours from time to time. First is SBODM International Industrial Co. Ltd's Hello Kitty-shaped flash MP3/WMA player, which offers synchronous lyrics display so you can sing along.

Second is the Hello Kitty breath-tester; breathe on it, and Hello Kitty will let you know on the go whether or not you need to pop a breath mint so you can give folks the ever important "Fresh Kiss."

Ah, that Hello Kitty: Cute as the Cutest button in Cutetown, and helpful too.

Hello, Hello Kitty [Shiny Shiny]

Entrepreneur: Bob Martin and his employee-turned-partner, Larry Jones, couldn't help but notice the attention they were receiving as they put up their first client's Christmas display. "We had 25-foot toy soldiers, a 40-foot arch going across the driveway, a 36-foot-long Santa's Express in the front yard, and about 400,000 lights going throughout the property," says Martin, 45. The extravagant display even attracted the attention of the local media in New Lenox, Illinois.

That was in the winter of 1996. Martin got the creative spark for his company, BrightIdea sInc.com,when he realized most people dread the yearly task of hanging holiday lights. Confident that people would pay for the convenience, Martin launched the business from his garage. He spent just $2,500 at startup, purchasing supplies such as advertising signs, ladders, lights, timers and other equipment. Thanks to free consulting help from his local Small Business Development Center, Martin developed a solid business plan and even got help with marketing and financing. By sponsoring the local TV station's toy drive and giving away free lighting displays through radio shows, he was able to score much-needed exposure in his community for next to nothing.

The Bright Side [Entrepreneur]

PSFK: The End of Shopping is here. The barcode scanning technology, mentioned in that Times article Guy touched on, actually exists and If you have a camera phone and either T-Mobile or Cingular, you can download the software for free and start scanning for the lowest price around. This is how scan-commerce works, after you download the software from ScanZoom, you take a picture of the barcode on the product you want to bargain hunt. SCANBUY, the creators of this new technology, also plan to include price comparisons of other brick and mortar shops in your locale and they will even beam you driving directions. Shopping 2.0: Shop until your camera phone drops.

There is also, Semacode, who are bridging the real world and the web world in their own way. They've created a free system that also allows camera phones to convert bar codes into URLs. Consumers can take a picture of the code with their camera phone and it directs them to a mini site which features a game where you can win, you guessed it, flight coupons. These UPC-URLs are also becoming increasingly common in Japanesse magazines and business cards.

Camera Phones Bridge World to Web [PSFK]

Straight.com Vancouver: Think of it as giving your girlfriend her own personal thong song: new locally made Smart Ass underwear flashes a saying at its back T-bar every time she bends over in her low-cut jeans. The duded-up dental floss, in pink or black seamless polyamide-spandex ($2.95 at www.getsmartass.com), sports mottos like Desperate Housewife, Yummy Mummy, Drama Queen, and, for Christmas, Naughty or Nice?, and Ho!ho!ho! (shown below). Hey, it beats plumber’s crack…

Style Watch Hot gifts for the cool season... [Straight.com Vancouver]

TechRepublic Blog: CNET has recently launched page-turn ad units. Here's a sample, the Circuit City ad.

It's interactive without being in-your-face like interstitial ads or the ads that take over part of the page. You can browse the pages if you like, or just ignore the ad. And for a retailer I think it's perfect--the Circuit CIty example is a great showcase for what you can do in this new ad format.

Cool new page-turn ad unit [TechRepublic Blog]

we make money not art: NEC has developed a 0.3-millimeter (0.012-inch) thick, foldable battery to be used in cards or clothes, leading to new possibilities such as people walking through ticket gates with fare passes in their pockets.

The battery can support tens of thousands of signal transmissions on a single charge and can be recharged in less than 30 seconds.

It "will be used extensively in the future to power all kinds" of gadgets ranging from electronic paper to tags that trace retail goods in real-time, said the Japanese company. It will also "open the way for small wearable computers, such as ticket cards that can be attached to a person's clothes."