One innovative company shows how consumers can be socially responsible for the things they purchase and consume. It shows how consumers can make purchases and at the same time create a resustainable environment to care for Mother Earth. Ecolibris, a green business worth supporting.
TriplePundit: I admit it. I have an amazon addiction. As a researcher and reporter, I'm committed to buying books. I try to buy used when I can, but sometimes I break down and buy new. I wish I had the option to buy the books I want on recycled paper, but unfortunately, that's not always offered. But now I can buy a planted tree for every book I buy with Ecolibris.
Ecolibris is an innovative triple p company that helps communities and the environment every time you buy a book. For a buck a book, they will plant a tree. Ecolibris has partnered with tree planting organizations in Africa and Latin America to bolster developing communities and aid in enriching their environment.
It is a sad shame that the majority of publishers today do not print their books on recycled paper. There is no logical reason why books should be printed on virgin paper that equals 20 million trees each year. I highly encourage publishers, online booksellers, and retail stores to reconsider the environmental impact of printing books on virgin paper and partner with Ecolibris.
The BBC is planning to invest £25m in children's TV programmes over the next three years, meaning TV Brackets and TV Mounts could be reaffirmed as positive assets to any modern environment.
LCD TV's, programmes and TV Brackets and TV Mounts have taken a battering in recent years with many suggesting that watching TV may encourage laziness. LCD TV's and therefore accessories like TV Brackets and TV Mounts have become staple additions to most homes, but our love affair with the LCD TV has been
changeable. Click here for more info!
Here's another geeky design after we have introduce the 8-bit Icon Watch recently. Well, after spotting so many geeky designs, you can be sure to jump on this cool, geeky bandwagon to hit the market!
The Uber-Review: New Era has some rather pricey game inspired caps on the market. The caps, which feature boldly colored Pacman and Space Invaders motifs might not give you street cred, but they ooze geek cred. All but the most hardcore geeks will probably avoid these, but if any of you out there are looking for a game hat that you can wear in the privacy of your own home, this is it.
The price, unfortunately is $55 per hat, which is what most people would pay for semi-stylish head wear and as much as a new game.
TrendHunter: This is no joke, hitting up a vending machine for marijuana is now possible in Los Angeles!
Herbal Nutrition Center has installed operating machines next to two dispensaries that are open 24/7. Security Guards are present, to keep any people away who might not “meed” the pot, but after you get a perscription from your doctor (for your, uh, back pain) you have to be fingerprinted and jump through some other hoops.
But then, dude you are righteous. Hit the machine and walk away with the finest cheeba you need.
Springwise: Customers of You Bar can choose every ingredient that goes into their nutrition bars: the base, protein powders, nuts and seeds, fruits and berries, sweeteners, seasonings, grains and infusions. One consumer might select cashew butter with shredded coconut, organic molasses and nutty rice cereal, for example; another might choose dates, soy protein, walnuts, ground cinnamon and dried banana. Special requests such as for organic ingredients or "extra crunchy" can also be accommodated. Consumers can choose a name for their specially designed bars, and You Bar will print it on each wrapper. For those feeling overwhelmed by the list of choices, on the other hand, You Bar offers three popular bar styles—"Honey Cashew," "Great Date with Chocolate" and "Breakfast Bar"—that are still customizable, but based on set ingredients. All bars are freshly made to order in You Bar's kitchens; pricing is USD 40 plus shipping for 12 fully customized bars, or USD 30 plus shipping for 12 of one of You Bar's popular styles.
Cool Hunting: From hot canned coffee to warm corn soup, Japanese vending machines do their best to meet all your vending machine needs. This May, Kyoto-based company Fujitaka began selling Sapporo-style canned ramen for ¥300 ($2.67) a pop to nerds in Akihabara, Tokyo's electronics district. Yes, you can buy canned noodles! For the country that invented instant ramen, vending machine noodles must be a godsend! The product is so popular and the demand is so strong that the maker is having difficulty filling orders. This summer, Fujitaka also began selling chilled canned noodles and plans to introduce curry udon and Hakata-style ramen.
Since the noodles are made from konnyaku, they won't go soggy and can be stored for up to three years at room temp. No wonder local authorities have even contacted Fujitaka about stockpiling the canned noodles for emergencies. More than perfect nerd food!
PR Web: QR (Quick Relief) Powder is an exciting product that is now being offered by Select Safety Sales on-line store. It has the ability to stop the bleeding immediately when sprinkled on a wound. A scab forms instantaneously and bleeding stops within seconds. QR Powder is a revolutionary powder bandage that can be used in lieu of a traditional bandage.
QR Powder, when compared to a traditional bandage not only stops the bleeding quicker, but also allows the person inflicted to resume work immediately or to get to a health care facility with less blood loss. QR Powder is also available with an applicator to stop nosebleeds instantly without the need for cauterization. The possibilities are endless; an athlete on the field, a construction worker on the job or a child on the playground.
TrendHunter: Now your child can swing across buildings as Spiderman or sing along with Barney, in Barney! How does this work? It’s pretty simple. Upload a picture of your child to kideo.com and it would be cropped down to a headshot and affixed on a cartoon body. A few days later, you’ll receive a DVD with a cartoon of your child alongside popular characters like Spiderman, Arthur and Dora The Explorer.
Sure it might be a little creepy for you to watch a beheaded version of your child singing a ditty with Barney, but Kideo thinks your child would love it. Kideo’s videos, priced around USD 39.95, are currently only available in English.
Born Rich: eCrate is a modern take on traditional fido carriers from esteemed
industrial designer Peter Pracili. The NYC artist has partnered with Sexy Beast to launch this revolutionary new egg shaped dog crate. The eCrate cage was constructed from 60 individually welded wires and collapses to half its size for easier storage when not in use so you can take it along wherever you go. This modern design is available in chrome, white and black to fit beautifully into any home. Each eCrate ships with a crate liner for $580. And, if you want more comfort for your poocie, custom fit velvet cushions are available in charcoal grey and Sexy Beast’s signature purple. Carry your fido in style.
Appleton Post-Crescent: With a son in medical school, Brenda Kubasta says scheduling was problematic during prime wedding season, and even if they did tie the knot in fair-weather months, waiting wasn't the couple's forte.
"It would've been in summer," noted newlywed Kubasta, who wed husband Jim in December 2006. "The question we asked each other was, 'Why wait?'"
The pair planned their nuptials during one of Wisconsin's chilliest seasons and wound up saying "I do" at a decked-out Paine Art Center and Gardens with amiable above-freezing temps and a festive holiday scene that added to the magic of the wedding.
"Oh, it was absolutely gorgeous," said Kubasta, who'd attended a friend's reception at the mansion previously and fell in love with the venue's Great Hall. When it came time to plan her own ceremony, the season afforded the bride and groom a perfect wedding backdrop.
"It's like everybody does spring and summer," she said. "With the holidays going on and everything, it's such a wonderful time to give thanks, too, and just be grateful for everything you have."
Glistening white floral arrangements, rich colors, velvety fabrics and holiday cheer are just a few reasons brides and grooms go for winter nuptials, local wedding planners say.
"I definitely think there's more you can do with (wardrobe) to enhance it — nice overcoats, the muffs," said Laurie Hughes, sales manager for LaSure's Hall Banquets & Catering in Oshkosh.
Add to it a hearty menu that may include snowflake cupcakes, a hot chocolate fountain, ice sculptures and carriage rides, and it's a wonder any pair opts for June. Hughes said winter weddings are conducive to satisfying food options, as well, whether the bride and groom are craving comfort food like ham or a gourmet buffet featuring bacon-wrapped chestnuts.
"And, I can be a little more flexible with things (in winter)," Hughes said. "We might waive hall rental fees … and we can work a little bit more with smaller groups in winter than I really can for prime wedding dates May through September."
Couples also find winter weddings are convenient for long lists of guests whose schedules are bogged down with summer vacations.
Winter receptions also make for a perfect way to celebrate a union when couples opt for a destination wedding, Hughes said.
Guardian: Six-foot swells are set to break on the Thames at an attraction aiming to tempt the growing ranks of urban surfers to taste the "quintessential California surf lifestyle" in the unlikely surroundings of a disused dock in east London.
From 2011, the world's first outdoor artificial surfing machine will try to rival the Atlantic breakers of Devon and Cornwall using cleaned river water. The plan is to persuade surfers to take to their boards in Newham rather than make the long drive to the West Country, where the surf is sometimes more millpond than Maui.
Trendwatching.com: Continuing the tradition of using shipping containers to house all things pop-up, a spotting from the Netherlands caught our eye. At the Lowlands music festival, jeans brand Wrangler offered festival-goers a much-needed service: laundry. At 18 meters wide and 9 meters high, the Wrangler Laundromat was hard to miss. People dropped off their mud-encrusted laundry and were sent a text message the moment it was ready. No change of clothes? Wrangler came up with a generous solution to that problem, too: they handed out black overalls to anyone who used the laundromat. Like most other pop-up ventures, Wrangler Laundromat is an exercise in experiential marketing, aimed at surprising and delighting consumers in a way that magazine ads or TV spots usually can't.
MobileCrunch: YouMail, a free voicemail service, launched a new advertising program this week that will connect brands with mobile users through text-based advertising. This new feature will add youmail2.jpgshort, non-intrusive 40-character marketing messages to the text alerts users already receive when a caller leaves a new voicemail.
YouMail users currently receive text messages alerting them to new voicemails which include the name and phone number of the caller, and the length of the voice message. The new program allows brands to sponsor these texts by placing a marketing message, limited to 40 characters, at the end of the alert. It is hoped that the new advertising feature will keep YouMail’s service free and allow the company to develop new features.
TrendBlog:Moshi Monsters, a UK based social networking site aimed at children between the ages of 7 and 12 years old, might become Club Penguins biggest competitor “Tweens” can adopt and customize their very own pet monsters. The more they play with their monsters, the “happier” the monsters will be. At the same time playing games on the site earns points, which can be used to buy items for the pet monster. Parents might like this site, because the games and puzzles “created” by the monster teach vocabulary, math and logic. But players can also interact with each other, typing in speech bubbles and leave messages for one another. There is no charge, since the companies hopes to successfully sell Mosh Monster merchandise.
Thoughts From The Sideline: You can always be sure that, the moment we come across a wrist watch that offers particularly innovative design, we’ll feature it here on TFTS, and few wrist watches come quite as distinctive as this Icon Wrist Watch that pays homage to the blocky 8-bit graphics from classic retro console games such as Space Invaders and the original Mario series.
Manufactured from ABS, the Icon Watch offers a watch face devoid of numbers which would have otherwise undoubtedly ruined the overall effect and, in keeping with its deliciously retro appearance, you can forget about additional features such as date display and stopwatch functionality as this watch merely tells the time – pure and simple (and we wouldn’t want it any other way).
Iconoculture: They come in pink, blue, silver and black, but we're not talking Tupperware. Taser C2s are in hot demand at home-shopping parties in Arizona, where instead of trading recipes, suburban housewives take aim at cardboard cutouts.
“We have Tupperware parties and candle parties to protect our food and house, so why not have a Taser party to learn how to protect our lives and bodies?” asks Dana Shafman, who founded Shieldher Inc. to franchise the concept.
The gals don't drink-and-Taser (no alcohol is permitted) and they don't practice on each other. But they do learn how to handle the devices, which can hit attackers up to 15 ft. away with electrical volts that incapacitate them.
Hosts of Shieldher Taser parties, rolling out nationwide in 2008, get a free Taser for every 10 they sell in their homes.
Consumers are more concerned than ever about personal safety. Tasers empower women to protect themselves and their families without bringing firearms into the home.
Amazing Public Speaking Skill - The Hancock Manoeuvre
As the story goes Hancock never really enjoyed public speaking. He was in fact more of a comic actor than a comedian. He had brilliant script writers on his radio and TV shows and was more comfortable speaking the words....
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Can't stand your demanding boss anymore? Start your own business! Before that, be sure to subscribe to our free informative newsletter. BIZNESS! is jointly published by CoolBusinessIdeas.com and GetEntrepreneurial.com What you get in BIZNESS! - the latest new business ideas, small business advice, business tips and info and entrepreneur resources. Everything you need for your brand new business!
Free 20-pages PDF report (worth $38) - "New Business Ideas Report 2007" - included with your subscription.Learn more here.
Here is what everybody is talking about! The Mac Airbook!
CoolHunter: The new year – the time for change – the time for resolutions – the time for the latest announcements from MacWorld in San Francisco. We oohed when Steve Jobs pulled the first iPod Nano out of the small pocket in his jeans. We counted the days until we could feel the new iPhone in our own hands. And just this morning, we marvelled when the world’s thinnest laptop was pulled out of an envelope.
Weighing just 3 pounds, a remarkable 0.16 inches at its thinnest point and merely 0.76 inches at its maximum height, the MacBook Air was born. Typically as laptop computers have become smaller, sacrifices to the size of the screen as well as the size of the keyboard had to be made. Miraculously the new MacBook Air did not suffer on account of its weight loss. The design includes a 13.3 inch widescreen display using LEDs that consume less power and still provide a sharp picture. And forget about cramming your fingers while you’re typing, the MacBook Air has a fullsize, backlit keyboard as well.
But naturally size alone is usually not enough to impress us. Along with the features and programs we would expect to find on any new Apple computer, the coolest new addition is the multifunctional trackpad. Of course we’re used to Mac’s two-finger tap and two-finger scroll trackpad features. What excites us here is that multi-touch innovations created for the iPhone have been adapted for MacBook Air.
Would other Technology Titans jump on this Thinnovation bandwagon to vie for the ever increasing tech savvy consumers' market? Lets see!
TerraPass: Chocolate bars. They're supposed to taste good, but can they also be good? We think so!
Climate Change Chocolate bar is meant to educate while tasting great. It comes in a wrapper with 15 tips for lightening your environmental impact. These helpful hints teach you how to save energy by making small changes to your daily habits. And of course, thanks to Bloomsberry & Co., you can be sure the finest chocolate is attached to these green lifestyle lessons.
Climate Change Chocolate comes with a verified TerraPass offset of 133 pounds of carbon dioxide reductions, the average American’s daily carbon impact. This small offset will be the first taste of a lower-carbon lifestyle for Whole Foods shoppers who decide to take responsibility for their climate change impact.
In addition, the carbon emissions associated with the production and distribution of the chocolate bar has been balanced out.
Crave: For consistent 15 percent tipsters living in municipalities with a 7.5 percent dining tax, generating the perfect 15 percent tip is as simple as doubling the tax. If that's not you, Oh Arithmetic-Challenged One, you've got a bum deal. (See below for a quick computational technique.)
It's for this set, and for diners who frequently split a bill, that Ilium Software developed Tipster. The free, simple app for Palm, Windows Mobile smartphone and Pocket PC hurriedly computes your tax and total.
Tipster calculates tax in 5 percent increments up to 30 percent, and can evenly split the amount owed between up to ten diners, tip included. Working out how much four people should pay on an $86.52 bill with a 20 percent tip becomes instant and headache-free. Just don't try anything funny, like tipping 18 percent.
Pennlive.com: Insulation is key to keeping your house warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It's important to insulate well in order to reduce the amount of energy you use.
The fiberglass traditionally used in insulation batting can irritate your skin, eyes and airways. Traditional insulation uses formaldehyde as a binder ingredient in the manufacturing process. Foam plastic insulation contains petrochemicals. There are new alternatives that won't pollute your air quality or irritate you.
A new insulating product manufactured by Ecovative Design that should hit the market within two years. The product, called Greensulate, is fire-retardant, biodegradable and requires no petrochemicals for its production.
The product is made using perlite, a mineral that is found in potting soil. Mycelia, the roots of mushrooms, are grown to form a web throughout the perlite, forming a solid material.
Born Rich: Enjoy the benefits of a large swimming pool within a small space with the Endless Pool. The pool is designed to generate a counter-current that enables you to adjust your swimming speed from beginner to racer levels. Perfect for relaxation and aquatic-therapies, the Endless Pool kit is small enough to fit inside your home and patio. The pool’s high volume non turbulent bubble-free water flow is wider than your body giving you the maximum benefit for your efforts. It shouldn’t be wrong to call it ‘Treadmill for Swimmers.’ The Endless Pool current is adjustable to any ability and level of fitness from the beginner to the avid competitor. In an Endless Pool, you can do aquatic therapy at the ideal temperature and pace for your needs and at your own convenience.
Test your limits with the Endless Pool [Born Rich]
China View: Printing an old two yuan metro ticket, as well as ancient items such as an iconic iron vacuum flask or a taxi receipt, on T-shirts may seem strange to local people, but for a young Englishman living in Beijing, he has become fairly popular doing just that.
At his store selling original T-shirts called Plastered Eight among some non-descript, low-rise dwellings in South Luogu Lane, Dominic Johnson-Hill, whose Chinese name is Jiang Senhai, is self-proclaimed "creative dictator". In his view, the unique point of his T-shirts are that the images printed on them depict "Beijing from a foreigner's eyes".
Johnson-Hill is not serious about formal design theories. Neither is he restricted by traditional thoughts. He liked to catch those images that locals took for granted, relying on inspiration that flashes across his mind. "My T-shirts are Beijing-born street culture, and people here give me confidence and a self-identify," he said.
According to Johnson-Hill, "I was afraid of selling them then, because I put my heart on the T-shirts and worried that no one would accept them," he said. "But now, most of the customers are local young people. Although 80 yuan (10.89 U.S. dollars) for a T-shirt is still a little bit high for them, as long as they think the idea is good they will take it without caring about whether is an unknown brand."
dallas news.com: Celia Beron, 13, invented Ref for the Deaf, a special bracelet that vibrates for deaf players who can't hear the sound of a referee's whistle or starter gun.
With some help from Celia's father and two graduate students from the University of Texas at Dallas, a good idea from a skinny girl with braces has the makings of a great product.
Supporters see a demand from elementary school gymnasiums to the Special Olympics and beyond.
Her concept pairs up a transmitter with a referee's whistle or starter gun. When either of them goes off, the transmitter sends a signal to the receiver: a vibrating bracelet worn by a deaf athlete.
USAToday: Big restaurant chains are rushing into what could be the future of takeout and delivery food: text ordering. Leading the way are the pizza giants. Papa John's is airing national TV spots to promote the text ordering that it launched in November. Domino's has offered mobile ordering — which requires cellphone Web access — since July. Pizza Hut is about to start promoting both text and mobile ordering.
Quiznos, Dunkin' Donuts and Subway have looked into text ordering. McDonald's is testing it in Seoul. Starbucks tested it in London and at one U.S. store. Papa John's CEO Nigel Travis compares the potential to online ordering, which accounts for 20% of Papa John's sales. "Text is the way forward," he says. He predicts it will account for 3% of sales within two years.
The potential pool of users is huge, considering Americans already send 30 billion text messages a month. Noah Glass, founder and CEO of GoMobo.com, predicts texting could account for 25% of all food takeout orders within the decade.
New business ideas excite you. You're constantly on the hunt for brilliant, smart business initiatives the world has never seen before. The pursuit of "Cool" in every part of the world is your cup of tea. You have the biggest current consumer and business trends inside your head everywhere you go.
If the above describes you, we're looking for you! CoolBusinessIdeas.com is launching a whole new cool business ideas and inspirations hunting network to blog with us on the popular CBI website. Called the Ideas Hunter Network, we're on the lookout for people to contribute new worldwide business ideas and concepts to the CoolBusinessIdeas.com blog regularly. Expect to see the new Ideas Hunter Network early next year.
Have a look at our daily-updated blog to get a feel of what exactly we are looking for.
How it Works
If you're accepted to be part of the new Ideas Hunter Network, you'll be given access to our publishing platform which allows you to post new articles, upload photos and comment freely on the CoolBusinessIdeas.com blog, where 27,000+ people from all over the world visit monthly to get their usual kick of cool new business ideas and opportunities.
Moreover, you'll have your own Ideas Hunter profile on our blog and on the articles you post. Talk about instant credibility, 27,000+ people will recognize you instantly for your new business ideas hunting skills!
Build up your reputation as an authoritative expert with an uncanny ability to discern business trends and spot the next big thing in the business world. Who knows, it may just lead to that next well-paying speaking engagement.
Who Should Join
Whether you're a seasoned ideas hunter or a newbie merely interested in all things cool, as long as you have the passion to blog with us regularly on cool business ideas and trends, we welcome you to drop us an email. We'd love to hear from you!
TrendHunter: It wasn’t enough to have luxurious objects, diamond-encrusted and golden everything. For those who could afford it, the mainstream luxury trend got old, very fast. The Vietnamese market found a way to bring it back to life, however, and I mean that very literally.
Vietnam’s first genetically engineered animals are 108 living seahorses made of gold. At their current age of under two week, the striped, glittering seahorses are still only about the size of matchsticks, but as they grow older, so will their value. They may still be tiny, but are well worth their weight in gold.
They plan on testing these procedure on other animals now that the seahorse experiment has been successful. These glittering animals could really take off; the demand for gold, luxury and sparkles in rising, just as much as the demand for the unique. This covers just about all bases!
The Mobile Technology Weblog: If you are having a hard time copying notes on a whiteboard during a business meeting or handwritten notes of your classmates, it's about time you consider using Qipit.
It is a free mobile online copy service which empowers you to copy any documents using your camera phone and convert it to PDF. You can also share it to other people as an e-mail attachment or fax. No need to strain your fingers from copying grotesque handwritings or photocopying small documents. More importantly, it gives you the power to capture information as quickly as possible.
Productdose: The truly enlightened never stop growing, which makes Shaquille O’Neal truly the Big Aristotle. This mirror won’t measure your spiritual development but will keep track of the slow effects of gravity on your frame.
As you gradually attain the posture of someone’s great-grandparent make note of the many other pleasures your body no longer allows you to do – and dunking a basketball was never one of them.
Gizmodiva: Monsters are hungry all the time and they are ready to eat up anything at a time, but we haven’t possibly heard of a Monster that eats up your money. Gobble and MeMe Money monsters are little chatterboxes that make hilarious and naughty comments after they eat up your precious coins and notes. Some thing like, “Money Money Money in my Tummy, Uurp!” in the tune of an Abba song. When you shove coins inside it mouth, it says, “Mmm…Jingle Jingle in my tummy” Not only this, if you don’t put your daily dose of coins, the monster gets frustrated and nags at passersby saying, “You make Gobble/MeMe angry!” This is just a glimpse of the 20 entertaining comments that it passes.
Here is CoolBusinessIdeas.com's new year gift to all readers!
This free 20-pages PDF ebook (worth $38), New Business Ideas Report 2007, is brought to you by the business ideas hunting team here at CoolBusinessIdeas.com. What is this report about? It is an analysis of innovative and never-seen-before business ideas we've seen worldwide this year. Clearly, entrepreneurs around the world are often inspired by common underlying consumer trends when they are working to bring their new business ideas to fruition. We hope that you'll be able to come up with the next big thing after getting to know some of these interesting consumer and business trends behind 2007's new business ideas.
Some of the case studies included in this free report:
Cell Phone 2.0
The cell phone has evolved from its humble beginnings as a communication tool into a super gadget that offers us many useful services and resources, thanks to enterprising entrepreneurs with brilliant business ideas.
Ultra Luxury
The rich are just getting richer. With millions of dollars to spend, some use their huge riches to support philanthropy efforts, such as Bill Gates who gave away some $29 billion to charities from 2000 onwards. Some just spend their money on whatever they fancy. Entrepreneurs are coming up with new business ideas to entice the luxury-craving uber-rich to throw their money on.
Attention-Grabbing Advertising
Thanks to media saturation, it is now harder to reach your targeted group of consumers through traditional means of advertising and marketing. It’s no longer enough to place ads in TV, radio, print, Internet, etc. You have to look for avenues and places which will surprise your target audience.
New Business Ideas Report 2007 is available for free download here at CoolBusinessIdeas.com.
It has the power to paralyze Assassins Creed and bring Need for Speed to a screeching halt on PlayStation®, Nintendo & Xbox™ games. A gamers worst enemy isn’t a video game villain. It’s just one scratch or chip in a video or computer game disc that can suddenly cause a gamers virtual world to come crashing down. It's voted as the Coolest Time Magazine invention.
Now, scratch-free digital entertainment is possible with d_skin™ Protective Disc Skins™, a break-through product in disc protection that snaps on, plays on and always stays on. d_skin Protective Disc Skins contains a special patented optically clear protective covers that act as a Skin for discs, guarding against scratches. The unique patented Liplock Seal™ snaps onto the edge of any standard-size disc and holds the protective "Skin" tight. The Skins ability to eliminate scratches extends disc life, which helps reduce the high cost of replacing damaged computer and video games. Visit www.d-skin.com for more information today.
d_skin Protective Disc Skins offer music fans, movie buffs and game enthusiasts a safer, longer-lasting method for protecting their purchases. Once discs have been "skinned", there’s no need to store them in bulky jewel cases, CD holders and CD sleeves. If the d_skin disc protector gets scratched, simply toss it and snap on a fresh one. d_skin Protective Disc Skins are designed to protect, computer games, DVD, data discs and music discs. In fact if it is a disc then d-skin can protect it. Visit www.dskin.com.
d_skin, was formed to help bring a stop to the untimely disc death running rampant among CDs, DVDs and video games everywhere. While d_skin Protective Disc Skins can't stop the widespread brutal and careless treatment of discs, it can curb the tragic end result: scratches that cause skipping and ruin discs. So, whether it's teenagers carelessly "forgetting" to put the DVD back in its case, or that sloppy roommate or significant other that just can't seem to find the jewel case for anything, d_skin Protective Disc Skins are the solution to end early disc death.
So, before you scratch your next game, get one of these Protective Disc Skins from www.dskin.com.
DVD
Protect the movies you love and watch them again and again. And, don't worry, d_skin® doesn't alter the quality. Your movies remain perfect, just as they were recorded.
Data
Don't lose critical business files or those priceless family pictures. d_skin® acts as another layer of protection, giving you a first line of defense against scratches.
Video Games
Even when the d_skin® gets scratched by busy little hands, your disc is still protected. Just toss the scratched Skin and snap on a fresh one.
Music
The d_skin® protective layer protects your CDs while they're playing - and when you forget to put them back in their cases!
Strange New Products:The Fizz is a plastic cup that screws on to a plastic PET bottle allowing you to create a mobile ice cream float.
Once you screw the cup to a bottle, fill it up with ice cream, then insert a straw, and finally, squeeze the bottle. This fills the cup with soda, allowing you to sip out a mixture of ice cream and soda.
A Solo Entrepreneur (Solo-E) is a professional who chooses to go into business by themselves (go solo), collaborate with others, grow their business without boundaries and, more than likely, without employees. The Solo Entrepreneur may also be called a free agent, freelancer, solopreneur....
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Can't stand your demanding boss anymore? Start your own business! Before that, be sure to subscribe to our free informative newsletter. BIZNESS! is jointly published by CoolBusinessIdeas.com and GetEntrepreneurial.com What you get in BIZNESS! - the latest new business ideas, small business advice, business tips and info and entrepreneur resources. Everything you need for your brand new business!
Free 20-pages PDF report (worth $38) - "New Business Ideas Report 2007" - included with your subscription.Learn more here.
I4U: If you are really attached to your pet or your car and want to be sure you can find them in the event of a lost dog or stolen car, Zoombak has what you need. Zoombak announced a pair of new GPS trackers today with one intended for use on pets and the other for use in cars.
Zoombak is smaller than a deck of cards and only weighs three ounces. When activated the devices can send location information via text messages and email so you can track and locate your dog or your car in the event of theft. Pricing for the devices will be $199 to $249 and they will be available nationwide in early 2008.
Most seniors are worried about being an entrepreneur and want to avoid making a big mistake that might deplete their retirement savings. The businesses mentioned in my book are just to that point. You can’t make a tragic financial mistake if you have only invested a few thousand dollars. Look for businesses that are service oriented, which frequently require a lot of your time as the main investment but not a lot of your money. You may lose 1000 hours of your time but only a little of your money.
Many businesses go astray when the market for their product and the price they feel they need to sell it for doesn’t materialize. If you have already signed a multi-year, store lease for your sales, you could be stuck with thousands of dollars in rent, utility bills and other fixed costs. If you have a product you want to sell, find a temporary venue such as a public market or a summer festival that you can try selling it at. You may have to pay $200 to $300 for a day or weekend space but you can set up a table to sell your product. If your sales are not overwhelming, you should reconsider making that product into a business. When you sell at the booth, you will get a lot of honest feedback on what customers think of the product and the price. Listen to them; it may save you from a big mistake.
Can you rent some of the equipment needed to operate your business with no long-term commitment. You may have to pay too much to rent the equipment to make much profit, but it will help you gauge your market size and will allow you to determine if you really want to do this for a significant portion of your retirement time.
Go work with someone who is already in the business you want to start. You may have to go a distance away from the location you envision for your business but you can learn a lot from a little on-the-job experience.
Start a hobby business. I’m a rock hound and I envision collecting valuable minerals (gold, rubies, sapphires, emeralds) and fossils and selling them for my retirement business. If my business is not successful, I will probably continue spending my time collecting valuable minerals and fossils and keeping them in my private collection. So in trying a hobby business, I will be doing what I would otherwise do for fun. I might even get some tax breaks for trying it as a business.
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This new weekly column, 101 New Business Ideas for Retirees, is compiled specially for CoolBusinessIdeas.com readers by Stan Spector. See all articles in this column by Stan Spector.
Stan Spector is the author of “Baby Boomers’ Official Guide to Retirement Income - Over 100 Part-time or Seasonal Businesses for the New Retiree”. The book website is at StanSpector.com.
Cool Hunting: With a smell and taste just like the real Ben & Jerry's stuff, these new balms will bring you back to your Lip Smackers days—in a good way. The container looks like a mini ice cream pint and comes in three flavors: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Peanut Butter Cup. Unfortunately, it's currently only available in the U.K. for £4 from Ben & Jerry's.
Inhabitat: What better way to usher in the New Year than with greenmuseum’s first ever environmental art calendar? Through a unique collaboration with Amber Lotus Publishers, greenmuseum.org, the not-for-profit online museum of environmental art, has created a 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper calendar, Environmental Art 2008: Contemporary Art in the Natural World. “To our knowledge, this is the first wall calendar to address the global environmental art movement,” says Sam Bower, Executive Director of greenmuseum.org.
The artworks featured in the Environmental Art 2008 wall calendar were drawn from the global archives of greenmuseum.org. The calendar provides a sampling of some of the latest developments in this field to stimulate the imagination and promote the role of art in the creation of a more sustainable world culture.
The Cool Hunter: Energizer has developed a way to ensure our cell phones will never go flat again. The Energi To Go supplies immediate power anywhere at anytime. The device plugs into all major phone brands and runs on two long-lasting Energizer AA Lithium batteries. The Energi To Go ($20) provides up to nine additional hours of talk time once your own phone battery has lost power – so you’ll never feel anxious or stranded again.
Gadgets-reviews: Have you ever observed that your room flowers are dying? And all because you are a short-minded person when the time comes to water them. It simply takes you weeks? All you need is a flower-like gadget that won't need so scrupulous caring.
This gadget is the moving and grooving flower. Requires no water, no air and even no sun. All she needs is a tune. Just plug in the 35mm jack to a multimedia device turn the maximum volume and watch how the groove and the beat of the music makes the flower go totally crazy.
It also boasts cool speakers which make your flower pump up and down, left and right.
Has a 3 way switch button that allows you to select various tunes and dancing. Select a preferable color, whether pink or yellow or lilac and go nuts.
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Appleton Post-Crescent: With a son in medical school, Brenda Kubasta says scheduling was problematic during prime wedding season, and even if they did tie the knot in fair-weather months, waiting wasn't the couple's forte. 
MobileCrunch: YouMail, a free voicemail service, launched a new advertising program this week that will connect brands with mobile users through text-based advertising. This new feature will add youmail2.jpgshort, non-intrusive 40-character marketing messages to the text alerts users already receive when a caller leaves a new voicemail.
Crave: For consistent 15 percent tipsters living in municipalities with a 7.5 percent dining tax, generating the perfect 15 percent tip is as simple as doubling the tax. If that's not you, Oh Arithmetic-Challenged One, you've got a bum deal. (See below for a quick computational technique.)
Pennlive.com: Insulation is key to keeping your house warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It's important to insulate well in order to reduce the amount of energy you use. 
New business ideas excite you. You're constantly on the hunt for brilliant, smart business initiatives the world has never seen before. The pursuit of "Cool" in every part of the world is your cup of tea. You have the biggest current consumer and business trends inside your head everywhere you go.
TrendHunter: It wasn’t enough to have luxurious objects, diamond-encrusted and golden everything. For those who could afford it, the mainstream luxury trend got old, very fast. The Vietnamese market found a way to bring it back to life, however, and I mean that very literally.
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Most seniors are worried about being an entrepreneur and want to avoid making a big mistake that might deplete their retirement savings. The businesses mentioned in my book are just to that point. You can’t make a tragic financial mistake if you have only invested a few thousand dollars. Look for businesses that are service oriented, which frequently require a lot of your time as the main investment but not a lot of your money. You may lose 1000 hours of your time but only a little of your money. 
