Fast Company: A few years ago, a new sexual classification emerged on the scene. As funny as I thought it was when I first heard the term "metrosexual," I think it's even funnier that it stuck around. Oh no, metrosexuals weren't just a passing fad --people now comfortably identify themselves as such. Now it appears there is a new name for members of the fashion-forward jetsetting set, "Jetrosexuals." Also known as "flash-packers," jetrosexuals revel in fashion and travel.

Applied to individuals who travel worldwide in search of fashion bargains, jetrosexuals are known for having their passport ready to go at a moment's notice, and an eye for stylish, cheap faux couture clothing. Most commonly found travelling from the US to Asia in search of a bargain, jetrosexuals are known to carry little more with them than an iPod and the latest issue of Vogue.

Apparently, the new trend is being fueled by two things: Ridiculous airline discounts that chop $1000 fares to Asia to less than $50 from gateway cities, and the booming Asian textile industry.

And it's not just the jetrosexuals who are evolving -- the money spent on textiles and fashion in Vietnam has brought about dramatic change in the economic and cultural landscape of Hoi An. Although still conjested and plagued with poverty, this city is now known as a tailoring hub. It all started years ago when European and American designers began outsourcing the production of their fabrics to Asia.

What's the Deal With Jetrosexuals? [Fast Company]

New Business Ideas/Opportunities Featured In This Issue:

TRENDS & INSIGHTS
Smoothies War
The new fast food fight is on a rather healthier battlefield. Warnings about obesity and increased awareness of the importance of eating five fruit a day have fuelled a surge in healthy eating. The UK smoothie market is worth £100m and doubling yearly.

ONLINE & SOCIAL NETWORKS
Veeker Video Peeks
You may soon hear people saying "VM me" rather than "IM me". Veeker is a free video messaging service that enables a camera phone owner to shoot video and instantly share it with friends.

Google Patents
Forever the word magnet, Google is hoping to piggyback off creative minds with its latest offering, Google Patent Search. One can kill some serious time at www.Google.com/patents. Entering "The Motley Fool" spits back 19 entries.

FASHION
Happy Warholiday
LVMH, the luxury conglomerate with Vuitton and Dior in its stable, will build a contemporary art museum in Paris. MAC cosmetics serves up burlesque glamour girl Dita von Teese at a swank dinner at Art Basel Miami. The mutual admiration between art and fashion is turning into a full-on love fest.

Fashionable Message
COTAM (Clothing of the American Mind) was one of the first labels to jump on this trend, by using quirky graphics and text to convey strong political and social beliefs. Now we’re seeing even more brands use text and images to lend deeper meaning to their threads.

CONSUMER GOODS
VO Gloves
Vaughn Outdoor (VO), makers of the CZiP design that frees winter athletes from the inconvenience of taking gloves off at inopportune times, announces the launch of 15 new VO glove and mitten designs with the hands-free access.

Inverted Christmas Trees
Hang a shining star upon the lowest bough -- the world of Christmas trees is being flipped upside-down. The latest trend in artificial Christmas trees seems to be the "inverted" style.

GADGETS
Nicostopper
The Nicostopper is an electronic cigarette dispenser in which you can fit a maximum of 10 cigarettes at a time. Once the ciggies are in, you program the intervals at which you would like to take a smoke.

SPORTS & GAMES
Ridewire Thrill
The Ridewire system is an innovative new ride and training system that is capable of performing the manuevers and thrills found in surfing, snowboarding, wakeboarding, and other action sports. It is a standalone unit that can be ridden anytime.

PUMGO
The PUMGO, one of the hottest toys, is all about the core. "Just balancing alone on the PUMGO works your core strength, in addition to the pumping back and forth, because you have to distribute weight from one foot to the other while staying centered with your upper body which means your abs have to fire every time to stabilize your torso."

MEDIA & PUBLISHING
Eupinion
The Eupinion (EUrope oPINION) is the innovated and unique newspaper (digital media concept software), based on real citizen journalism concept. The main goal is to build a community of top columnists, writing on any global issue.

HEALTH & BEAUTY
Facials Good Enough To Eat
It's the newest trend among Scottsdale spas - pureed perishables used to attract upscale clientele. Spa owners say newly discovered healing benefits in foods like caviar, coffee and chocolate are helping spagoers stay young and beautiful.

FOOD & BEVERAGE
Frozen Organic Baby Food
Metro-area parents have a fresh new – and local – choice when feeding those important first morsels to their wee ones. Nice Cubes, maker of frozen organic baby food, is now available in all area New Seasons and Whole Foods locations as well as Food Front market co-op.

TECHNOLOGY
Hug Shirt
The Hug Shirt is perfect for people in love that are distant from each other, it basically offers the possibility to recreate a hug feeling and not on a virtual kind of way. The shirt works with Bluetooth + a Hug Me java software + a cellphone and in order for the other person to receive the hug, he/she must be wearing a shirt as well.

Eraserable Paper
Erasable paper works when combined with a special printer. A certain wavelength of light reacts with the coating on the paper to create the image. Xerox researchers say erasable paper is best used for pages you don't need to keep around like emails, daily calendars, and fax cover pages.

AGRICULTURAL & ENVIRONMENTAL
Useful Garbage
"Recycle your unwanted clutter or anything you deem as being useless- excluding your Partner! Visitors can ‘Dump’ anything they want to get rid of - for someone else to ‘find’ and take off their hands. From antiques and art to cars, TV’s and furniture - anything goes for free!
Read more

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

E-commerce Guide: A new e-commerce site called Buddy Shopping that lets consumers peruse products online simultaneously with friends launched today with the promise to offer a viable new channel for Web shop owners.

Though there are features specific to the site that e-tailers can take advantage of — which we'll cover after we explain how the site works — most online shop owners won't have to do a thing to be included in the Buddy Shopping service. That's because consumers are searching online the way they regularly do, so any marketing efforts, such as organic or paid search, will still lead them to you. The difference is that they are able to do so with others in real-time.

The site, dubbed a "social netshopping" service by CEO Todd Kelly, combines e-commerce, social networking, instant messaging and the sharing of merchandise.

Who's Your Buddy? A New Social Shopping Site [E-commerce Guide]

The Herald News: Forget swimming lessons and soccer, the latest trend in extracurricular activities for children ages 4 to 16 is cooking class. And not just any cooking class. There are culinary summer camps, cooking birthday parties, private cooking lessons, plus a plethora of new cookbooks for the young chef who aspires to be the next Rachael Ray or Bobby Flay.

"Part of what we are seeing is a trend in 'eatertainment' with all the cooking shows,'' says Stephen Hengst, spokesman for the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.

Indeed, kids even make up a large part of the audiences for cooking shows, says Mark O'Connor, a spokesman for the Food Network, noting that at book-signings and public events, kids flock to see celebrities like Ray and superstar chef Emeril Lagasse.

"Based on our Web site traffic, message boards, mail questions and telephone calls, we know that there are a major amount of kids watching from as young as 5 up to 15 years old," O'Connor says.

For the parents of budding chefs, getting kids in the kitchen for something other than meals is about capturing a bit of nostalgia, says Hengst. "They used to cook with their mother or grandma, but life is so hectic they don't have time to do the same for their kids." So they send them, or go with them, to cooking class.

Kids savor new trend: cooking classes [HeraldNewsOnline.com]

New Scientist: A Californian company called Outland Research hopes to put high-tech intelligence into sports shoes. This is because feet often need different kinds of support, depending on whether they are walking, running or playing sport. Conventional shoes that are ideal for some activities are unsuited to others.

Inventor and company founder Louis Rosenberg hopes to change all this with reconfigurable footwear. The soles of his new shoes have several hollow bladders, connected via narrow tubes, and filled with a deformable and electrically-activated liquid – such as an ester or amide of a phosphorous-based acid.

Normally, the liquid flows freely through the tubes, letting the bladders self-adjust as the foot rocks from heel to toe and rolls from side to side. But, when current from a battery or a piezo-electric generator is fed through the tubes, the liquid hardens restricting flow and making the bladders firmer.

Smart Soles Invention [New Scientist]

BBC: In the 80s, fast-food burger joints flooded UK town centres. By the 90s, coffee shops took their place on every street corner.

But now that the noughties are well established, the new fast food fight is on a rather healthier battlefield. Warnings about obesity and increased awareness of the importance of eating five fruit a day have fuelled a surge in healthy eating. The UK smoothie market is worth £100m and doubling yearly.

London's Crussh, which opened its 15th branch just off Oxford Street in October, is the UK's biggest smoothie chain. The firm, now eight years old, expects to turn over more than £5m this year.

Smoothies: the new coffee wars? [BBC]

The Hamilton Spectator: LVMH, the luxury conglomerate with Vuitton and Dior in its stable, will build a contemporary art museum in Paris. MAC cosmetics serves up burlesque glamour girl Dita von Teese at a swank dinner at Art Basel Miami. And suddenly, dead artists are at the centre of a major holiday campaign and a luxury designer product launch.

The mutual admiration between art and fashion is turning into a full-on love fest.

For the holidays, Barneys New York launched the ultimate art meets fashion marketing blitz working with the Warhol Foundation on Pop Art windows, shopping bags, a special pair of Levi's, even actual cans of Campbell Soup at $12 each.

Portraits of the artist by schoolchildren are being exhibited and sold in stores to benefit local arts programs.

"Everyone has been talking Warhol -- two documentaries, skyrocketing auction prices, the imminent Edie Sedgwick movie. It was the perfect year for us to have a Happy Warhol-iday," said Simon Doonan, the store's creative director.

"Everybody wants to be cool and groovy and there is this nagging feeling that nobody was more
cool and groovy than Andy."

Art and fashion hold a 'Happy Warholiday' [The Hamilton Spectator]

fibre2fashion.com: Vaughn Outdoor (VO), makers of the CZiP design that frees winter athletes from the inconvenience of taking gloves off at inopportune times, announces the launch of 15 new VO glove and mitten designs with the hands-free access.

To advance the line for the ’07 season, VO teamed up with Wendall Tremblay of WTC Consultants for sales, marketing and counsel on VO glove research and development.

The product designs were tested by the U.S. Military in Alaska and Afghanistan under extreme weather conditions.

VO gloves also received the Riri Sportswear Accessories Award of the 2006 ISPO BrandNew competition, the world’s largest young entrepreneur contest in the sports equipment industry.

USA : VO glove designs to be on display at SnowSports Trade Show [fibre2fashion.com]

Reveries: Forever the word magnet, Google is hoping to piggyback off creative minds with its latest offering, Google Patent Search. Users of the free service can sift through more than 7 million registered patents.

One can kill some serious time at www.Google.com/patents. Entering "The Motley Fool" spits back 19 entries.

The patent offerings may not have the same kind of mainstream appeal as Google's more conventional services, but it means that there are incremental pages to serve -- and that should translate into incremental revenue.

Google's on the Patent Offensive [Reveries - extra texture]

Popgadget: If smoking de-addiction is one of your new year resolutions AND you are serious about it, check out the Nicostopper from Fagor.

The Nicostopper is an electronic cigarette dispenser in which you can fit a maximum of 10 cigarettes at a time. Once the ciggies are in, you program the intervals at which you would like to take a smoke. Not only will you be allowed to take the cigarettes out only at the pre-defined intervals, but, like a discerning grandmother, the Nicostopper will also flash “self-help” messages each time to make you feel guilty as well. The trick, of course, lies in sticking to the device alone to dispense your cigarettes. And we're hoping that the $300 you would have to shell out for it might be a good enough incentive.

Nicostopper can help you quit smoking [Popgadget]

Daytona Beach area upstart Slingboard Sports introduces "Ridewire". The Ridewire system is an innovative new ride and training system that is capable of performing the manuevers and thrills found in surfing, snowboarding, wakeboarding, and other action sports. It is a standalone unit that can be ridden anytime, anywhere on engineered indoor, outdoor and mobile mount systems. Ridewire is generating a buzz due to its unique, innovative design, lack of restriction and if all safety systems are used it can be a safe and thrilling zero-impact activity for both adrenaline junkie and individuals looking for a fun new thrill ride.

Slingboard Sports

Marketer Media: The Eupinion (EUrope oPINION) is the innovated and unique newspaper (digital media concept software), based on real citizen journalism concept. The main goal is to build a community of top columnists, writing on any global issue (politics, business, fashion and trends, sports etc). We are based in Slovenia -- EU, but our services are available to news publishers and writers worldwide. As a business, Marketer Media generates revenue by providing advertisers with the opportunity to deliver measurable, cost-effective advertising that is based on new D2D or D2C concepts. Advertisers use our advertising program to promote their products and services with direct targeted advertising.

Eupinion [Marketer Media]

TrendCentral: While fashion has always been used as a form of self expression, we’re seeing an increase in the number of clothing labels that go beyond aesthetics to make a statement. COTAM (Clothing of the American Mind) was one of the first labels to jump on this trend, by using quirky graphics and text to convey strong political and social beliefs. Now we’re seeing even more brands use text and images to lend deeper meaning to their threads.

Swedish subscription-based t-shirt label T-post’s “94% News, 6% Cotton” tees feature unique, descriptive graphics, complete with a printed text explanation on the inside of the shirt. Each design is based on a current news item, keeping people informed and fashionable at the same time. LA-based Acrylick aims to make fashion “with a positive message”, featuring t-shirts with designs that are accompanied by an explanation of the meaning behind the design.

Brands with something more to say [TrendCentral]

East Valley Tribune: It's the newest trend among Scottsdale spas - pureed perishables used to attract upscale clientele. And local spagoers are eating it up, spending up to $240 for a single treatment.

"Right now, I am just seeing everything that you can possibly eat in a spa treatment," said Lisa Kasanicky, chief executive of Arizona Spa Girls, a local spa directory Web Site.

Spa owners say newly discovered healing benefits in foods like caviar, coffee and chocolate are helping spagoers stay young and beautiful. But others say it's mostly hype.

For instance, the antioxidants in fruits like pomegranates and cranberries are supposed to reduce wrinkles and improve skin. They are both common ingredients in facials and body scrubs.

"Probably the hottest food right now is pomegranate. Pomegranate is the new green tea for spa treatments because of all the antioxidants," Kasanicky said. "But honestly, it's probably better if you just ate it."

Regardless, the unusual is becoming so usual at the spas that Scottsdale's Convention and Visitor's Bureau took notice and compiled a list of some of the more exotic resort spa treatments.

The list included everything from a coffee-grounds body wrap to a massage using warm golf balls.

"Spa is becoming more and more of an everyday thing in people’s health and wellness routine," said Laura McMurchie, vice president of communications for the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"People are looking for more exotic and different types of treatments," she said.

Facials good enough to eat latest trend at spas [East Valley Tribune]

dBusinessNews: Metro-area parents have a fresh new – and local – choice when feeding those important first morsels to their wee ones. Nice Cubes, maker of frozen organic baby food, is now available in all area New Seasons and Whole Foods locations as well as Food Front market co-op.

Nice Cubes is the first local brand of frozen organic baby food to be made available in the Portland area. Its launch underscores the nationwide growth trend in the organic baby food market, jumping 18 percent from 2004 to 2005 and double the overall growth of organic food sales according to marketing research firm A.C. Nielsen Co.

Made with only the finest of ingredients, Nice Cubes frozen organic baby food offers delicious mixed-ingredient purees made for babies seven months and older. The well-balanced meals introduce babies to wholesome combinations of fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes in five yummy flavors.

“The idea for Nice Cubes came one day when I ran out of my own home-made baby food that I would freeze in ice cube trays,” said Katie McNamara, founder and president of Nice Cubes. “My only choice was jarred baby food and I found it difficult to feed my children something I could barely bring myself to taste.”

Because Nice Cubes is frozen, a greater portion of nutrients, fresh flavor and color are maintained. In contrast, the processing and preserving of jarred baby food exposes ingredients to extreme levels of heat, breaking down nutrients and the overall flavor of the food.

Nice Cubes is also conveniently portioned into four-ounce servings in shallow square trays, stacked three high to form a cube shaped carton. A single flavor carton costs $4.95.

Metro Moms Have Fresh New Choice in Organic Baby Food [dBusinessNews]

Uber-Review: The Hug Shirt is perfect for people in love that are distant from each other, it basically offers the possibility to recreate a hug feeling and not on a virtual kind of way.

The shirt works with Bluetooth + a Hug Me java software + a cellphone and in order for the other person to receive the hug, he/she must be wearing a shirt as well. It was nominated as one of the best inventions of this year by the Times Magazine so that is probably a good thing, or not…

Hug shirts don’t have any assigned phone number, all the data goes from the sensors Bluetooth to your mobile phone and your mobile phone delivers the hug data to your friend’s phone and it is seamlessly transmitted Bluetooth to his or her shirt!

The Hug Shirt [Uber-Review]

The Daily Collegian Online: Hang a shining star upon the lowest bough -- the world of Christmas trees is being flipped upside-down.

The latest trend in artificial Christmas trees seems to be the "inverted" style, in which the tree is either hung from the ceiling or supported by a weighted base on the floor.

Local Christmas vendors are clamoring for the inverted evergreens. College Gardens Christmas Shoppe, 2481 Commercial Blvd., began carrying the "umbrella" and "mushroom" trees this year due to their bizarre appearance and ability to intrigue customers.

"They're very unusual and most people have never seen anything like them," owner Steve DuBois said. "People like the way the ornaments hang and the fact that more presents can be fit under the tree."

Although the shock factor of the holiday trend is attractive, DuBois said, upside-down trees are a hard sale.

"Everybody loves them and are curious about them," he said, "but you don't sell a lot."

Christmas trend flips fake trees on their heads [The Daily Collegian Online]

TrendCentral: You may soon hear people saying "VM me" rather than "IM me". Veeker is a free video messaging service that enables a camera phone owner to shoot video and instantly share it with friends. Videos are sent directly to the Veeker site, where, similar to Flickr, the creator can opt to keep it private or to share with the Veeker community. The “Veeks” or “video peeks” can also be viewed in other blogging and social networking sites that accept embed codes.

Veeker [TrendCentral]

PR Web Release: The PUMGO, one of the hottest toys at the 2006 New York Toy Fair, was built for non-stop fun. But does all that fun mask a greater good?

The PUMGO is all about the core. "Just balancing alone on the PUMGO works your core strength, in addition to the pumping back and forth, because you have to distribute weight from one foot to the other while staying centered with your upper body which means your abs have to fire every time to stabilize your torso", said Rick Mayo. Recently, Rick Mayo, who 15 years ago founded the first personal training center in Atlanta, North Point Personal Training, evaluated the PUMGO.

Not surprisingly, the legs benefit the most from the PUMGO workout. "It will work your gluts because your knees have to bend to balance yourself, the four quadriceps muscles, your hamstrings because you have to lean forward, and even a little bit of calf work as you shift your body weight between your heels and toes in order turn," said Mayo.

The fun factor makes another appearance when it comes to calorie burning. While the PUMGO won't fire the heart up like running it will keep it beating in the aerobic, or prime fat burning, zone. To reap the benefits of that zone, however, you need to stay on the board for about 30 minutes.

Mayo believes fun is a key factor in exercise saying "the most positive thing about the PUMGO is that it is interesting and fun so it keeps people on it for a longer amount of time because it is something they enjoy."

PUMGO - The Latest Sports Toy For Kids And Good Christmas Gift [PR Web Release]

13WHAM-TV: Photocopier paper that erases itself hours after it's been used? It's in the works.

Xerox researchers are testing it at a lab near Toronto Canada. The Xerox Research Center of Canada is one of five global centers. The Center in Canada focuses on the future of the document, inks, toners and imaging. It’s also the place where self-erasing paper was developed.

The paper looks ordinary enough, but what you can't see is what makes the technology cutting edge. Dr. Paul Smith said, "It doesn't use toner or ink....in 16 to 24 hours it turns from black to colorless again."

Erasable paper works when combined with a special printer. A certain wavelength of light reacts with the coating on the paper to create the image.Xerox researchers say erasable paper is best used for pages you don't need to keep around like emails, daily calendars, and fax cover pages.

Researchers found that two of every five pages are kept for less than a day, and then recycled. So, Xerox says, its product will reduce paper waste.

This is still a research project, which means it will be years before it will lighten the load of the recycle bin.

Hot New Product - Very Cool Paper [13WHAM-TV]

New Business Ideas/Opportunities Featured In This Issue:

CONSUMER GOODS
Growing Clothes For Growing Kids
Ziprips are a line of stylish adjustable separates that grow up (down, actually) with kids 1 to 6. Each article comes with a larger insert that keeps Ziprips a perfect fit for up to three sizes.

Rapping Paper
Though not quite in production yet, Si Hill Design has been getting a lot of praise for his clever (w)rapping paper that features the instantly recognizable lyrics to popular rap songs.

Eco-Pots
Combining sustainability with eco-chic, the eco-pots have a smooth finish and come in a variety of shapes and natural colours, in both decorative and grower lines developed by Sweetwater Nurseries.

Motorola Vending Machine
Forget pushy sales clerks or waiting for online orders. Instead, opt for robotic arms. Motorola is rolling out Instantmoto vending machines that will sell cellphones and other celly stuff at malls and airports across the country.

HEALTH & BEAUTY
Dental Hygiene
Zenith Dental introduces Kolorz, a new hygiene line that includes a Topical Anesthetic Gel, Prophylaxis Paste, and Foam and Gel Fluoride.

RETAIL
What’s The Deal?
With thousands of discounts, miles, points and cash back rewards from credit cards, frequent flier programs and associations, DealMine.com guides shoppers how to take advantage of the programs where they belong as well as learn about new programs.

ADVERTISING
Scented Bus Stops
Arcade Marketing Inc., in tandem with the California Milk Processor Board, is putting up a new type of advertisement at bus stops that emit the smell of chocolate chip cookies.

SERVICES
Your Own Photostamps
Vanity postage. This pretty-easy-to-use website will generate official US postage stamps featuring a photo or illustration of your choosing (works well with iPhoto for instance).

Babyplanners Services
As Babyplanners state on their website: “your dedicated babyplanner takes care of all aspects of life concerned with the upcoming arrival: we help you decide what you need and when you need it.”

Airport Weddings
New at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol: weddings to go. Whether a couple met on a flight to Bangkok or just wants to be able to go straight from ceremony to runway for their honeymoon, Schiphol offers travellers the opportunity to get married at the airport.

ENTERTAINMENT
Video Production On Youtube
Entrepreneurial young South Florida Latinos post their creative homemade videos on YouTube.com which became YouTube’s second-most-watched comedy video within 24 hours of its appearance on the website.

Indoor Skate Board
No more yelling "Stop riding your skateboard in the house!" or "You just ran over the cat -- go outside!" With the Tuck n' Roll upholstered vinyl skateboards, you can safely cruise the hallways and in your house.

HOMES & LIVING
Garden Offices
For everyone who'd like to escape office politics and the daily commute, iscape manufactures and sells purpose-built garden offices. Both are multi-use outdoor living spaces, but the Miana was specifically designed to be used as an office.

DESIGN
Convenient Reading Chair
With the Bibliochaise, you can pick off your books right from where you are seated. Because this chair-cum-library is designed to hold 5 linear metres of books and a book-lover as well.

E-COMMERCE
Demand & Supply
Amie Street which is an independent music site uses demand-driven pricing; where the community dictates the pricing of the tracks. All tracks start out at zero and can rise to 98 cents depending on sales.

BEAUTY
Coloured Hair Down There
Betty Beauty is the name of a hair coloring made especially for pubic hair. Apparently many hair salons have made the practice of providing women with a brown bag of hair coloring to match the coloring they just got put on their heads. Nancy Jarecki decided why not sell a product like this over-the-counter.

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

Reader Mark Nagurski alerted us to the Ebay of dumped and useless items, Useful Garbage. From the website:

"Recycle your unwanted clutter or anything you deem as being useless- excluding your Partner! Visitors can ‘Dump’ anything they want to get rid of - for someone else to ‘find’ and take off their hands. From antiques and art to cars, TV’s and furniture - anything goes for FREE!

Connect with Dumpers and Finders of useful items by logging into MY Account or Registering. When ‘Dumping’, simply post your photos or a video together with a description of the item. If you cannot do either, just post your description. When you ‘Find’ an item, ask the dumper further questions or make an offer to obtain the item.

In turn, we all contribute to minimising landfill disposals, street and neighbourhood waste and the item is in the possession of someone who can make the most of it and use it again and again and again!"

Useful Garbage

Cool Hunting: Vitamin Living's The Powder Seat allows you to use your snowboard as the seat of the bench. The board attaches to the legs of the seat via suckers to keep the board protected. It can also be flat-packed for easy storage.

It is also a great way to display your board all the year round, not to mention a space-saving way to store it during off-season. The Powder Seat is simply a base that suckers onto the underside of the board making it into a sturdy seat. There are two different base designs available, the Trident, with two sleek metal tripod legs (pictured), or the Blade, which is a streamlined single metal structure. £99 from Vitamin Living.

Strange New Products: A pharmaceutical company, Warner Chilcott, announced today the availability of a new chewable birth control pill with a refreshing spearmint flavor.

The product, called "Femcon Fe", is billed as the first and only FDA-approved chewable birth control pill. The company says that one of the leading causes of oral contraceptive failure is not consistently taking these pills everyday. By making it chewable, and tasty, it'll allow women to have more fun.

On a serious note, the Warner Chilcott also says that a chewable form will provide an alternative to women who experience "breakthough bleeding" with traditional birth control pills.

Birth Control Breath Mints [Strange New Products]

TrendCentral: A growing trend in the UK, brides are the latest consumer group to go socially conscious. Many brides-to-be don’t want to shatter their fantasy diamond with the reality that the diamond industry is often linked to funding civil war and child soldiers in African countries such as Angola, Sierra Leone, and Congo. Thus, young couples are opting for ethical “conflict free” rings. UK jewelry company Cred is committed to providing a fair trade alternative for conscious couples. Becoming the ultimate marriage status symbol, the company only works with small scale mining communities like Oro Verde where human rights and fair labor standards are carefully monitored. There is even a rumor that fashion designer Katherine Hamnett is launching an ethical engagement ring.

Conscious Weddings [TrendCentral]

The StarPhoenix: The Fly PenTop Computer is the latest LeapFrog Enterprises product for 8 -13 year-olds. This is the same company that brought us the Leapster hand-held gaming and learning tool.

However, this is no simple pen -- or paper. The pen, slightly larger than an ordinary Bic, is also a talking computer.

The paper is, well, almost magic.

Get this. Take the Fly Pen, draw the numbers zero through 9 plus the appropriate symbols, and presto -- a calculator. Way cool! The creators of this product have made interactive teaching fun.

To underline the point, let's talk about the Spelling module. This comes with grade-specific words for the user. In this case, we're looking at the Grade 4 level. We'll pick a selection of words, use the Fly Pen and write them on the paper provided. This is done by using the pen as a basic writing tool, but also as a computer-generated teacher. Tap the paper with the ink end and it tells you the instructions to follow.

Learning was never this 'cool' [The StarPhoenix]

Tosh is about the souvenirs you always wished you could find. In the words of the founders:

"We founded tosh in 2004. Having travelled to almost a hundred cities in over 40 countries, we've always found it near impossible to find anything original, stylish or affordable worth buying. (And, we hasten to add, this was not through a lack of trying!)

Whether it's Prague, Perth or Penang, it seems that in the age of mass tourism, everything has started to look the same. The same "hand made" ornaments (in China that is!) The same tiresome t-shirts.The same faded postcards. Nothing original, nothing quirky.

Enough, we said! It's about time someone created some stylish and affordable mementos of all the places we've been. So we did!"

tosh

Williamsport Sun-Gadget: The minty-fresh smell of Planet Dog’s Orbee-TUFF balls may just send anyone (even the dog) into the holiday season. I think it’s more the shape than the smell that is special about these toys.

My favorite kinds of Christmas lights are the really big, fat bulbs. They are reminders of lights my grandma and gram used to hang outside during the holidays.

Now dog owners can bring that nostalgic look to their pup’s toy bin.

The Obree-TUFF Bulb with a Treat Spot is a minty- flavored holiday toy for any type of dog who enjoys play.

The bulbs are made from the Orbee-Tuff award-winning material that is doggie-durable, buoyant and bouncy. The bulbs come all sizes for all dogs and in festive red, green and even glow-in-the-dark. They come complete with a silver threaded base. Hollow in the middle, the Treat Spot can be stuffed with favorite treats to keep your dog busy during your holiday fest.

These plush squeakers are embroidered with the words “naughty” and “nice” on each with silver thread. Who needs to wrap these. The two plush toys come packed with holiday glee with decorative “tinsel” in a clear reusable satchel with drawstring closure.

Also, remember during this holiday season that Planet Dog is committed to canine philanthropy. Planet Dog is proud to help spread cheer and goodwill to dogs that serve and support their best friends. A portion of every Planet Dog purchase goes directly to the Planet Dog Foundation, Planet Dog’s non-profit, to support canine service programs.

retro dog toys perfect for the holidays [Williamsport Sun-Gadget]

Gizmag: This new concept in near zero emission transportation could be just what you’re looking for, though we suspect that parking might be a problem. Seriously though folks, if you have a big dog that often takes you for a walk, here’s a great way to harness all that energy and travel the bike paths of your city at the same time. The manufacturer and inventor Mark Schuette of Oregon claims the human is in total control of the speed and direction of the dog powered scooter because the dog is harnessed inside of the frame and subject to its steering (with 90 degree turns easy) and braking force.

Dog-powered Scooter [Gizmag]
Video: Dog-powered scooter draws attention at Venice Beach [Google Video]

Iconoculture: Adjustable-waist pants solve fit issues width-wise, but Mom's only recourse against growth upspurts and dryer-induced shrinkage used to be cuffs or cut-offs. Ziprips represent yet another practical solution from mompreneurs.

Ziprips are a line of stylish adjustable separates that grow up (down, actually) with kids 1 to 6. Pants, skirts, dresses and overalls are designed with inserts that quickly add or remove extra length from hip to hem. Each article comes with a larger insert that keeps Ziprips a perfect fit for up to three sizes.

The adjust-for-growth concept has proven popular with toys and furniture . But like most products, convenience and customization come with a price.

Mix and matchable, Ziprips are anything but basic. Fashion-forward Eurasian designs appeal to hip mamas who already buy unique boutique brands. To strictly price-driven parents, the cost may offset any inherent practicality.

Ziprips fit growing kids [Iconoculture]

Cool Hunting: Though not quite in production yet, Si Hill Design has been getting a lot of praise for his clever (w)rapping paper that features the instantly recognizable lyrics to popular rap songs. The pun of the gift wrap itself is as funny as it is to read the familiar words in print. The UK-based designer's prototypes include the old school, Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" (pictured left, click for detail), NWA's classic "Straight Outta Compton," the embarrassment of Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" and House of Pain's "Jump Around," all in different two-hue colorways.

(w)rapping paper [Cool Hunting]

Dental Economics: Zenith Dental introduces Kolorz, a new hygiene line that includes a Topical Anesthetic Gel, Prophylaxis Paste, and Foam and Gel Fluoride.

To develop this new product, Zenith went to gourmet food industry experts to develop products with a superior taste and smell. Care has been taken to assure that these products contain no controversial sweeteners such as aspartame or saccharin. Kolorz contains Sucralose®, a safe, noncaloric sweetener, and Xylitol, a natural sweetener found in fruits and berries. Both of these are safe for diabetics. In order to prevent allergic reactions in patients with Celiac disease, all Kolorz products are gluten-free.

You will be very impressed with the taste and smell of the variety of popular flavors. Be sure to try this one. Order from your dealer or go to www.zenithdental.com for more information.

Top gear for the long run [Dental Economics]