CoolBusinessIdeas Newsletter Issue 26: 02/04/06 - 30/04/06

New Business Ideas/Opportunities Featured In This Issue:

CONSUMER GOODS
Gifts of Experiences
Xperience Days lets customers give an opportunity of a lifetime as a gift.

Give Ordinary Products a New Life
The company - which sells primarily through its website - relies heavily on product design to attract and reel in customers.

Stylish Laptop Bags
UpTown Bella solves the travel problem of juggling your laptop, boarding pass, cell phone, and ID when going through airport check-in.

PetPocket
The PetPocket straps to a pet owner's shoulders just like a baby pack, to tote Mr. or Ms. Fluffball wherever their adventures take them.

New Cigar Flavours
Dutch cigar producer, Royal Agio Cigars is adding two of their new products, Panter Coffee and Panter Coffee Wooden Tip to their royal range of cigars.

LIFESTYLE & LUXURY
Art Hotels
The clever concept sees different artists and designers commissioned to fit out each room, or in the case of the Madrid hotel, entire floor.

Drinks For Dogs
Vitamin fortified, flavored bottled water specifically formulated for dogs has been introduced under the titles of Puddle Water, Hose Water, Gutter Water and Toilet Water.

Silent Squeaks
The Soniks have arrived to revolutionize the squeaky dog toy forever with their exclusive "Silent Squeak" technology only dogs can hear.

MEDIA & PUBLISHING
Foreign Tunes
Earworms Musical Brain Trainers layer basic foreign words and phrases over pleasant instrumental tracks. After listening to the songs a few times, you’ll find that you’ve picked up some useful lingo.

FASHION
Pewter Works
Featuring beautiful pewter works, this new collection is suitable not only as wonderfully functional pieces for home use, but also as gifts, fashion accessories and delightful keepsakes.

iJeans
Levi Strauss is to introduce a new range of 'iPod jeans' featuring built-in headphones, joystick and docking cradle.

Flower Rings
Designed with the fun, colour and passion that life offers in mind, omondieu!’s saucy line of floral jewelry has been making waves with the style set since its inception in 2004.

DESIGN
Tasty Room
A room made of chocolate may sounds like a crazy, wonderful, tasty fantasy - but for £2500+, Food Is Art will turn it into a crazy, wonderful, tasty reality.

Self Made Tents
Just throw 2Seconds into the air and it will open up on its own before even reaching the ground.

High Above
Like a growing number of homeowners paying extra attention to the space over their heads, Cronin likes to incorporate the ceilings into his room design.

ENTERTAINMENT
Movie Smells
Movies will now be a treat for the eyes, ears… and nose.

Mobile Music Studio
If music truly is the universal language, then millions of music hopefuls are sure to be talking about the new Cingular Mobile Music Studio available exclusively on MySpace.

Viral Videos
You may have heard about YouTube and the viral video craze that’s become one of the hottest Internet trends since the birth of social networking sites.

Safe TV
TiVo is going even more consumer-happy by offering TiVo KidZone, a “safe” place where kiddies can connect only with programming that meets parental approval.

Flaunt It Kit
With a Peekaboo Dance Pole, you can keep it up for as long as you want.

TECHNOLOGY
USB Bra
USB connectors have been turning up everywhere these past few months - on beverage chillers, plastic frogs, and other unusual places.

Read without Flipping
If you drop by a show house for an apartment in Korea, you will see that you can read a book without turning pages using RFID technology.

ONLINE & SOCIAL NETWORKS
Winning Together
A new Internet site, MutualWin, www.mutualwin.net, connects consumers so that they can take advantage of a wide range of referral offers, fulfilling the site's slogan, "It's a Mutual Win!"

MARKETING
Funeral Marketing
Mount Royal Commemorative Services, on Montreal's Mount Royal, it's all part of bringing life to an industry long known for its deadly dull marketing.

HEALTH & BEAUTY
New Medical Trend In China
Chinese biomedical scientists are now developing a new approach to medicine by combining traditional Chinese medicine and Western biomedical science.

Ethical Beauty
For those dismayed by Anita Roddick’s "sell-out" to L’Oreal and who have sworn never to darken the Body Shop’s doorstep again, the hunt is on for alternatives.

FOOD AND BEAVERAGES
7UP Curvy
Clear lime brand of PepsiCo India, 7UP, has unveiled its curvaceous new packaging Curvy.

SERVICES
Golf Glamour
Eye Candy Caddies' mission is to make golf sexy.

Cold-Calling Training Services
People were more interested in hearing how La Vine managed to get clients on the line than hearing about what he had to sell, so he began offering tutorials on how to make cold calls.

GADGETS
Caffeine Innovation
"Nespresso Card" that is a personal chipcard, which holds coffee preferences for registered individuals. The card enables you to access your favorite coffee anytime, anywhere.

SPORTS AND GAMES
The Assasin
The idea is to squirt your assigned victim before you get squirted by the player who has been assigned to squirt you.

Self Steady Bike
Gyrobike helps a bike steady itself whenever the rider loses his/her balance by using natural physical properties to turn the handlebars towards the direction of an impending fall.

Table Flip
Beasley is the creator of table golf, a new game that combines golf and billiards into one.

MOBLIE
Tag It and Share
You can create a KoolTag for any message you want to communicate to your friends.

Mobile Commerce From PayPal
The move by PayPal, a unit of online auctioneer eBay Inc., gives consumers a pay option via telephone.

SERVICES
Dream Homes
Zillow, which provides free, anonymous home value estimates, has struck a deal with Microsoft Corp. to offer detailed pictures of homes using the software company's "bird's-eye" mapping technology.

Shower Curtains
Inspired by a passion for photography and art, the vinyl curtains were created to bring a little something extra to your time in la toilette.

Maxi Mambo
Maxi seat pleasure, maxi design fun: The Maxi Mambo gives your reception area, your lounge or your trade-fair booth the finishing touch.

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Engadet: Besides learning to use the toilet properly, the ability to ride a bicycle is one of the most important early-childhood accomplishments, but unfortunately, the current use of training wheels for practice does little to prepare kids for life on two wheels. Well a start-up using technology developed at Dartmouth College is aiming to eliminate the rolling crutches that are training wheels, and replace them with a gyroscopic flywheel that attaches to the front wheel and helps a bike steady itself whenever the rider loses his/her balance by using natural physical properties to turn the handlebars towards the direction of an impending fall. Soon be able to buy a model with this technology built-in instead of retrofitting one you already own.

GyroBike flywheel helps bicycles self-steady [Engadet]

Entrepreneur: In recent years, research shows consumers are looking for gifts that are unique--not your run-of-the-mill department-store gift cards. As one of the first companies to catch on to this trend, Xperience Days lets customers give an opportunity of a lifetime as a gift.The average cost of the gift certificates is $275 to $300--prices range from $65 for a trapeze lesson to $110,000 for a private zero-gravity flight.

The concept of giving experiences, which is common in the United Kingdom, was an idea that UK native Bishop, 37, and his co-founders, Michelle Geib, 29, and Robb Young, 34, knew would be a hit in the States. They were right-since the company's launch, at least three competitors have entered the market. "People in the U.S. generally have an adventurous streak and are willing to try things," says Bishop, who met his co-founders while attending business school in South Africa. "Plus, they're very good gift-givers."

Adventure Venture [Entrepreneur]

The Cool Hunter: The trend in hotels with themed rooms seems to be spreading like a rash, with hotels in Denmark, UK, Berlin, Paris & Madrid. The clever concept sees different artists and designers commissioned to fit out each room, or in the case of the Madrid hotel, entire floors. The idea is to give guests a completely different experience to the guest next door. The latest hotel to join in the trend is the Reflections hotel in Bangkok. Each of the 30 rooms has been created by a different designer or artist in everything from stylish deco style right through to crazy kitsch, which can make you feel as though you’ve stepped into a fantastical abstract painting. It’s fun and definitely not for the minimal-lovin faint hearted.

Art Hotels Are Making An Impact [The Cool Hunter]

DailyCandy: Q. What do the following lyrics have in common?

a) I would walk 500 miles.
b) Who let the dogs out?
c) You oughtta know.

A. There’s a really good chance they are now going to be stuck in your head all day. (Sorry.) But you can use Earworms to get them out — and learn quelque chose while you’re at it. Like a catchy tune that you just can’t shake, Earworms Musical Brain Trainers layer basic foreign words and phrases over pleasant instrumental tracks. After listening to the songs a few times, you’ll find that you’ve picked up some useful lingo. Download 75-minute lessons in German, Greek, Italian, Spanish, and French. (Chinese is offered only on CD.) Portuguese, Arabic, Japanese, and Russian are coming soon. By July, volume two of all of the languages will be released.

Just Can’t Get You out of My Head [DailyCandy]

thestar: Featuring beautiful pewter works, modern and clean designs that fit seamlessly into contemporary lifestyle, this new collection is suitable not only as wonderfully functional pieces for home use, but also as gifts, fashion accessories and delightful keepsakes.

Among the highlights of the collection are the Pallasio and Plasma ranges of photo frames, a new children’s gift range called The Ark (designed by British designer Nick Munro) as well as a whole new line of pendants called Mojo which features eight designs of traditional good luck symbols from various cultures, all given a modern twist.

SHELF LIFE [thestar]

Entrepreneur.com: A stapler that staples up to 60 pages with even the lightest touch of a pinkie finger, a transparent tea tin lid that keeps out damaging UV light, a diaper bag that's runway-ready--they all point to one trend: In even the most seemingly ordinary product categories, there's room for extraordinary design innovation.

"I looked at the stapler market and [saw that] there hadn't been any functional changes in over 100 years," says Todd Moses, founder of Newtown, Pennsylvania, office products company Accentra Inc. Moses' core product, the PaperPro, packs the power of a staple gun into an otherwise traditional, nonelectric, sleek-looking line of staplers.

"When my wife and I became parents, we entered a parallel universe of really bad brands," says Steve, co-founder of Fleurville, a maker of high-end diaper totes. "People having babies now are very different from what [new parents] used to be. But typically, there's an assumption that the kid is buying the products." In other words, cartoon characters and fuzzy bunnies might ap-peal to youngsters, but it's adults who have to carry the diaper bags--and the Granvilles had a hunch that something fashionable would be a hit. They were right.

For Michael Cramer, founder of Adagio Teas, making his gourmet tea products stand out comes down to design details such as a bottom-dispensing teapot that simplifies preparation of loose teas; transparent, UV-blocking lids on tea tins to give customers a glimpse of the product prior to purchasing it; and pyramid-shaped tea bags that combine the taste of loose tea with the convenience of a disposable bag. The company--which sells primarily through its website (www.adagio.com)--relies heavily on product design to attract and reel in customers.

Designed to Sell by Karen E. Spaeder [Entrepreneur.com]

Shiny Shiny: A room made of chocolate may sounds like a crazy, wonderful, tasty fantasy - but for £2500+, Food Is Art will turn it into a crazy, wonderful, tasty reality. Their life-sized chocolate rooms - inspired by the tale of Hansel and Gretel - can be transported to your venues, and are said to feed up to 500 people.

Included in the room's accouterments are: a chocolate fireplace & hearth, chocolate logs, chocolate decorations and lick-able sugar wall paper.

Tasty Room [Shiny Shiny]

TrendHunter: Movies will now be a treat for the eyes, ears… and nose.

A Japanese cinema screening Colin Farrell’s latest film, The New World, will enhance the film by filling the theatre with a variety of fragrances. The smells will waft from machines located at the back of the theatre. For example, floral smells will accompany love scenes. (Woo-hoo! What a turn-on.)

This is only the beginning. Other cinemas will soon be able to download programs to control scents for other films.

The company producing the theatre machines actually launched a home version last year. Costing approximately US$900, the machine provides aromatherapy for work or relaxation. The machine must be topped up with various liquids to produce the scents.

Smell-o-vision in Japanese Cinemas [TrendHunter]

vnunet.com: Levi Strauss is to introduce a new range of 'iPod jeans' featuring built-in headphones, joystick and docking cradle. The RedWire DLX range is designed for men and women, and has a special side pocket with a white leather patch to store an iPod. A four-way joystick on the watch pocket allows the user to play/pause, track forward/back and adjust the volume without removing the player. Retractable headphones have been built in, as has a docking cradle that allows users to look at their iPod screen and control it via the jeans.

Levi's to launch iPod jeans [vnunet.com]

UpTownBella: It’s a common problem for stylish women on the go—they have the cute outfit, the cute luggage…and the not-so-cute laptop bag. UpTown Bella ends this dilemma with a collection of laptop bags that combine fashion and functionality. Now savvy career women can tote their laptop, cell phones, gadgets, iPod, ID, and boarding pass with ease and style. Every UpTown Bella bag is well-thought out, with functional pockets and compartments to hold everything imaginable—from a BlackBerry to cosmetics.

UpTown Bella solves the travel problem of juggling your laptop, boarding pass, cell phone, and ID when going through airport check-in. While most laptop bags sacrifice either style or functionality, UpTown Bella is a collection of stylish, luxurious and multifunctional laptop bags for female executives who want it all. The creator, Gabby Chan, is a business woman who saw the need when her and her style-conscious friends couldn’t find laptop bags that were practical for business yet agreed with their fashion sense. Every UpTown Bella bag must meet their strict criteria: it needs to look good; it needs to be multifunctional and designed for everyday use; it needs to make airport security a breeze; and it needs to have practical features.

UpTownBella - http://www.uptownbella.com

Chip Chick: USB connectors have been turning up everywhere these past few months - on beverage chillers, plastic frogs, and other unusual places. In recognition of this trend, a bunch of industrial designers got together and created an exhibit chock full of eccentric places to put a USB connector. For example they placed USB connectors on hand cuffs, a door handle, a lock, a bra, a sink, and on a bunch of other items. Who knows, maybe one day USB connectors will actually show up on a lot of these items.

The USB Bra [Chip Chick]

Iconoculture: A front pack for a furry baby? The PetPocket straps to a pet owner's shoulders just like a baby pack, to tote Mr. or Ms. Fluffball wherever their adventures take them. For owners who can't get enough face time with their furkids, it brings critters a lot closer to their heart than a carrier or a handbag.

On-the-go pet owners who want to keep their furkids close and comforted like carry-along help, especially in a stylish leopard print. In the ever-expanding pets-as-people realm, there's no shame in overpampering or anthropomorphizing.

PetPocket puts furkids front and center [Iconoculture]

MutualWin: Today's apartment complexes, gyms, credit card companies, vacation destinations, airlines, retailers, tax consultants and a wide variety of other businesses extend lucrative offers to encourage customers to refer friends to their business. A new Internet site, MutualWin, www.mutualwin.net, connects consumers so that they can take advantage of a wide range of referral offers, fulfilling the site's slogan, "It's a Mutual Win!"

California entrepreneur K. Michael Bernstein, a seasoned Silicon Valley executive with a Masters in Logistics Management, developed the site. "This revolutionary Web-based listing service signals the arrival of a new type of
free opportunity portal on the Internet," Bernstein explains. "Like-minded consumers nationwide can use the site to cash in on offers extended by all kinds of businesses," he adds.

MutualWin - http://www.mutualwin.net

Marketing Magazine: Shakespeare in the Park plays, gospel concerts, bird watching, tree hugging, historical walking tours, jogging and picnics are not the first things that spring to mind when you think of cemeteries and funerals. But for Mount Royal Commemorative Services, on Montreal's Mount Royal, it's all part of bringing life to an industry long known for its deadly dull marketing.

Armed with research by Pollara, which found the single biggest thing consumers want from the funeral/ cemetery industry is information, "we decided to (use) our marketing efforts to say we're committed to educating Montrealers and consumers about the funeral and cemetery profession," says Tim Thompson, director of marketing for the non-profit cemetery and funeral complex. "We took the approach of trying to demystify the business."

Thompson, who worked in sales in the Montreal radio business for 17 years and had a brief stint in 1996 as vice-president, sales and marketing of the Montreal Alouettes, came to Mount Royal to set up its sales and marketing division.

Friendly Funerals [Marketing Magazine]

Entrez PubMed: Chinese biomedical scientists are now developing a new approach to medicine by combining traditional Chinese medicine and Western biomedical science. This is the current medical trend in China. Some significant results have already been achieved. For instance, in treating fractures the traditional dexterity in coaxing broken ends of bones into alignment has been successfully adopted, and x-ray has been used to check whether there was accurate bone union. Heart diseases are treated with Western drugs in combination with Chinese herbal medicine, and the results are encouraging. Ancient theories such as Fu Chen Pei Ben (to strengthen the patient's vitality) are applied, for instance, in cancer therapy, i.e., to stimulate the patient's appetite and to improve his general condition with herbs while being treated with Western anti-cancer remedies. However, the Chinese admit that this process has only just begun.

A new medical trend in China [Entrez PubMed]

Indiantelevision.com: Clear lime brand of PepsiCo India, 7UP, has unveiled its curvaceous new packaging Curvy. Promoting the new packaging is 7UP's popular brand mascot Fido Dido in company with Bollywood siren Mallika Sherawat.

Says Pepsi Foods Pvt Ltd, India executive marketing director Punita Lal, "We are pleased to present the new 7UP 'Curvy' bottle which spells style, aesthetics & differentiation. A unique, packaging solution with stylish contours, 7UP Curvy is unlike anything we have seen so far in India. We are positive that the cool new 7UP 'Curvy' bottle will enhance consumer connect with the youth".

7UP launches Mallika MMS campaign to promote new 'Curvy' packaging [Indiantelevision.com]

Springwise: Proving that every industry can benefit from innovation, Eye Candy Caddies' mission is to make golf sexy. Similar to Models At Work, the temp agency that we wrote about last year, Eye Candy only works with models and other very pretty people.

Caddies can be hired for GBP 150 and travel expenses, which covers 18 holes and an after-links drink at the club house. Not just eye candy, every caddy completes a special training program to learn the finer points of golf etiquette, including essential rules such as "Never laugh at a bad shot", and "Encourage and applaud where necessary."

Appealing to a desire for glamour, prestige and a bit of fun, the service is a hit with corporate golf events. Considering the continued popularity of golf around the world, and the sport's strong ties with business, whether for wooing clients or informally closing deals, glamour caddy services should take off in many markets.

Glamour on the Greens [Springwise]

Bornrich: The Milan furniture fair contest focused on how the coffee rituals will evolve in the future. The first prize winner is the “Nespresso Card” that is a personal chipcard, which holds coffee preferences for registered individuals. The card enables you to access your favorite coffee anytime, anywhere. The second prize winner is an interesting concept of InCar coffee machine featured here that is designed by Thijs van Cuyk and Lavrans Laading of the Netherlands. The gadget fits conveniently into the centre console of a car and can also double as an armrest when you aren’t using it to make lattes. So, now you can have as many cups of hot coffee as you wish even when you are driving!

Caffine innovation [Bornrich]

BizReport: Zillow, which provides free, anonymous home value estimates, has struck a deal with Microsoft Corp. to offer detailed pictures of homes using the software company's "bird's-eye" mapping technology.

The technology, which is the same offering found on Microsoft's Live Local mapping site, provides photographic search results that are, in some areas, close-up enough to make out individual cars or the state of a neighbor's hedge.

Such pictures could be useful for would-be home buyers eager to know if their prospective abode abuts, say, a lovely park, or a wrecking yard.

Zillow.com Offers Photos of Homes, Regions [BizReport]

Playfuls.com: If music truly is the universal language, then millions of music hopefuls are sure to be talking about the new Cingular Mobile Music Studio available exclusively on MySpace. Announced at CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment 2006, Cingular's Mobile Music Studio is a first-of-its-kind platform that offers hundreds of thousands of unsigned artists and bands on MySpace the tools needed to turn their self-produced music into ringtones.

As the leading lifestyle portal and social networking community, MySpace has more than one million bands and artists using the site to connect and engage with fans. Together with InfoSpace Inc. , a long-time Cingular partner and a leading provider of mobile content, Cingular's Mobile Music Studio will help these artists generate even more exposure and excitement for their music. The Mobile Music Studio is just one more example of Cingular's leadership in the convergence of wireless and music.

Currently, the Mobile Music Studio is being trialed by approximately 75 unsigned MySpace bands and artists. Through Cingular's Mobile Music Studio, located on a dedicated page on MySpace, these unsigned artists will first be guided through the licensing and production process led by InfoSpace.

Cingular and MySpace To Give Unsigned Artists a Cool New Way to Connect With Fans [Playfuls.com]

TrendCentral: You may have heard about YouTube and the viral video craze that’s become one of the hottest Internet trends since the birth of social networking sites. Two major viral video portals you may not know of yet are Channel 101 and Channel 102. Think of these sites as the localized, viral video equivalents to American Idol. Here’s how it works: anyone can submit a TV show pilot (up to five minutes long). Every month the shows are screened for live audiences in Los Angeles (Channel 101) and New York (Channel 102), and viewers can vote on which shows to renew and which shows to cancel. The top five shows then become the “prime time” lineup, while the losing shows are cancelled forever. At the next month’s viewing, the prime time shows test new episodes against a new selection of pilots, and so on.

The New TV [TrendCentral]

TrendHunter Magazine: Designed with the fun, colour and passion that life offers in mind, omondieu!’s saucy line of floral jewelry has been making waves with the style set since its inception in 2004. Worn by such celebrities as Lenny Kravitz, Nicole Ritchie, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck of The View, omondieu! has generated major buzz from Hollywood to Berlin - and everywhere in between.

“There is a hint of romantic, a touch of being free, and yes, bold and daring femininity in our lines,” says founder and lead designer Angela Gwinner. “We are designers, but foremost women who believe in making statements. It’s a reflection of the self and, more so, a reflection of lifestyle.”

As a Canadian currently residing in Germany, Angela is inspired by secret gardens the world over with all omondieu! rings handmade in Europe. Bringing with her a Canadian sense of natural beauty and relaxed style, Angela’s jewelry translates into chic and unique creations - from elegant silk poppies in pink and red affixed to rings to wild dahlia brooches.

Flowers for the Fingers [TrendHunter Magazine]

DailyCandy: You like it hot. Hot and steamy. Spine-tingling, really. So much so that it takes you to a place far, far away.

Mind out of the gutter, please. Focus. We’re talking about a shower, here. Namely, a shower behind an Izola shower curtain.

Inspired by a passion for photography and art, the vinyl curtains were created to bring a little something extra to your time in la toilette. Step behind a romantic cityscape of Paris, Rome, or Venice. Or, if your tastes run a little more abstract, hang a limited-edition piece from the likes of Patrick McMullan, Faile, or Christopher Makos — whom Andy Warhol once crowned the most modern photographer in America.

The Great Escape [DailyCandy]

Entrepreneur: Beasley is the creator of table golf, a new game that combines golf and billiards into one. Beasley dreamed up the game in 1999 while serving a sentence. As he watched a golf tournament get rained out on TV, he wondered what golfers did on rainy days. Armed with his idea and some crude blueprints he had drawn, Beasley left prison three years later, in November 2002.

After inviting a few of the neighborhood kids to test out his new game, Beasley hit the road, showing his creation to local pool halls and sporting goods stores. Beasley were his game caught the eye of a representative from The Price Is Right, as well as his current manufacturer, Eagle Industries Ltd. Beasley expects 2006 sales of more than $5 million.

Tee for Two [Entrepreneur]

News & Star: For those dismayed by Anita Roddick’s “sell-out” to L’Oreal and who have sworn never to darken the Body Shop’s doorstep again, the hunt is on for alternatives.

There was a time when “ethical beauty” was a bit of an oxymoron. To be ethical, it seemed, a product had to be worthy, unglamorous and look and smell as if it was made of sand and sawdust.

Things have changed radically (due in part to the dramatic rise of the Body Shop in the Eighties) and there are now many ranges suiting all sorts of budgets offering good quality, effective and even luxurious products and most are available in a health food shop, salon or chemist near you.

Plenty of ethical alternatives now that Body Shop has ‘sold out’ [News & Star]

AVING: If you drop by a show house for an apartment in Korea, you will see that you can read a book without turning pages using RFID technology.

If you have a book, desk, and a display equipped with RFID chips, now you can read the whole contents through a large display just by putting the book on the desk ; antenna reads the chip information and delivers them to the display. Of course, you can actually use your hands - if you want - for a touch screen or a remote control. Absolutely royalist is'nt it!!

Read a book without turning a page? [AVING]

Born Rich: Dutch cigar producer, Royal Agio Cigars is adding two of their new products, Panter Coffee and Panter Coffee Wooden Tip to their royal range of cigars. The new products will be launched at the TFWA Asia Pacific show in Singapore in May this year. According to the company, both products combine the pleasant flavour of cigars with the full taste of coffee. The cigars are made with a selected blend of quality tobaccos and are said to have a mild taste. The cigars are available worldwide in a pack of five cigars.

Royal Agio Cigars To Launch New Flavors [Born Rich]

INDYSTAR.com: Like a growing number of homeowners paying extra attention to the space over their heads, Cronin likes to incorporate the ceilings into his room design. "It's the biggest space you have to work with," says Cronin, who designs sound studios. Cronin's not the only one with an overhead fixation.

"Ceilings are huge," says decorative painter Kathy Wear, whose work with interior designer Joni Wohlfahrt has won home show awards in the Nashville area. "For so long, ceilings were just white. Now you very rarely see white ceilings. It started with color and has worked its way to finishings."

Designer Marcia Knight says fancy ceilings aren't entirely new. The Biltmore, the Vanderbilt homestead in Asheville, N.C., built in 1895, has many fabulous ceilings, she points out. But what is relatively new is outfitting ceilings atop really tall walls, which can tower 18 to 24 feet in some of the grandest new homes. In terms of aesthetics, it's almost necessary.

"If you have walls that go straight up, you don't want to go to a flat top," she says. "It would be pretty boring."
"People want something unique," Wear says. "They don't want to go crazy on walls, which can overpower a room. They'd rather concentrate on the ceiling as the main focal point."

Look up! There's cool stuff on the ceiling [INDYSTAR.com]

Trendwatching.com: Codes for consumers, not producers, is one thing, but in an open source, CUSTOMER MADE world, what about codes by consumers? Check out Singapore based Tagit, who have developed a universal decoding engine which runs on an open platform, meaning that all types of digitized codes, from the QR Code and the humble 2D DataMatrix to Tagit’s own proprietary Tagit.Code can be decoded. But that's not all: the DIY side of the business is Tagit’s KoolTag: “You can create a KoolTag for any message you want to communicate to your friends. If you want your girlfriend to see a special secret image, or if you want to share a private video clip with your friends, all you need to do is to create a KoolTag on this site, print it out, email it or just stick it on a t-shirt to attract attention. All that's needed is a cameraphone to capture the KoolTag which lets you see the private content. KoolTag is free!”

INFOLUST [Trendwatching.com]

Truckblog: Those of you who actually take your truck down to the tracks on the weekend will certainly appreciate Jiffy-tite® Quick-Connect fluid fittings. Their lightweight, high flow valve technology in the plug and socket assembly automatically interrupts the flow of fluid when disconnected to protect against hazardous gas leaks or potential hot oil spills. Designed by racers for racers, each fitting is tested and proven to have a 100% leak proof seal, even at 200 psi. Offering the best of safety and performance, they are available for most fluid applications: fuel, oil and water, and they look really cool too.

Jiffy-tite Quick-Connect Fluid Fittings [Truck Blog]

Iconoculture: TiVo is going even more consumer-happy by offering TiVo KidZone, a “safe” place where kiddies can connect only with programming that meets parental approval. TiVo’s offering isn’t just a no-brainer blocking service. KidZone automatically filters TV content based on families’ personal values. Soft on cartoon violence in general, but touchy about lewd language? Or just can’t stand the Wiggles? Set your preferences, and TiVo keeps the offensive out. While KidZone could be a gouging opportunity, the special service isn’t priced as an add-on. Beginning in mid-2006, it will be part of the general TiVo package.

TiVo KidZone filters TV content via parent-programmed “values” [Iconoculture]

BizReport.com: The move by PayPal, a unit of online auctioneer eBay Inc., marks a big step in further bridging the worlds of electronic commerce and brick-and-mortar stores, by giving consumers a pay option via telephone.

PayPal Mobile lets consumers instantly buy goods and services, such as compact discs, DVDs and apparel, by sending product codes via text message.

PayPal signed up News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, NBC Universal's Bravo, Viacom Inc.'s MTV, and the NBA Store for its Text to Buy service.

"The promise of mobile commerce has never been stronger," PayPal's chief Executive Jeff Jordan said as he introduced the service in a keynote speech at the CTIA wireless show.

Jordan cited the popularity of online payments and the prevalence of mobile phones as reasons why consumers are more open to making payments using their cellphone than eight years ago when PayPal first tried offering a mobile payment service.

MTV, NBA store in PayPal cellular text deal [BizReport.com]

Yanko Design: Who has never dreamt of a tent that could erect itself without any help? – Just throw 2Seconds into the air and it will open up on its own before even reaching the ground. It is the spring hoops that enable this. The idea was to pre-assemble the different eleme