Monthly Archives: October 2012

PredictGaze pauses screens when consumers look away

October 30, 2012 – 11:07 am

by Janelle Gergen WHAT’S HAPPENING Who needs a remote to pause a show or movie? Camera-lens-driven media service PredictGaze can be used to pause TV programs automatically when the viewer walks away (GizMag.com, 12 October 2012). PredictGaze uses a standard webcam to detect faces and can tell when no one is watching. It resumes the […]

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Shipping-container boutiques and hotels in Brazil are hip and green

October 30, 2012 – 11:05 am

by Patricia Bittencourt Rudge WHAT’S HAPPENING Shipping container are appearing in cool locations around city centers in Brazil, but these aren’t just any metal boxes. In 2008, entrepreneur André Krai decided to adapt shipping containers as boutiques selling top brands like Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch and Tommy. The Container Ecology Store flourished, and today has […]

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TOGETHER APART

October 30, 2012 – 10:56 am

by Hans Eisenbeis Many thoughtful people have argued that the Internet has not brought us together, it has separated us. Separated us into passionate, backslapping cliques where we only read articles that agree with our opinions, only interact with people who share our beliefs, and only watch media that comports with our worldview. This, they […]

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Lunar Design gets creative to help consumers prepare for a quake

October 23, 2012 – 11:37 am

by Nissa Hanna WHAT’S HAPPENING Natural disasters are serious matters. But must preparedness efforts take a dire tone? San Francisco-based design firm Lunar’s SF Prep concept is geared to help unready 20- and 30somethings overcome their emotional and logistical inertia with an approachable and creative system. Turning the traditional earthquake kit into an interactive and […]

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Is Alzheimer’s actually a form of diabetes?

October 23, 2012 – 11:33 am

by Tory Davis WHAT’S HAPPENING While the theory that Alzheimer’s is actually a diet-based form of diabetes has been floating around the medical community since 2005, a story published in the September 2012 issue of New Scientist, “Food for Thought: What You Eat May Be Killing Your Brain,” makes the idea hard to refute (Opinionator.blogs.NYTimes.com, […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Consumer Trend, Food/Beverage, Health | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

QR codes make digital memorial to British dead

October 23, 2012 – 11:29 am

by Rebecca de Vaux WHAT’S HAPPENING A funeral company in Poole, Dorset has developed a digital way of bringing back the life stories of deceased people, with a swipe of a smartphone (Guardian.co.uk, 5 September 2012). Customers of Chester Pearce Associates can upload text, videos and photos to a tribute page in memory of their […]

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FASHIONABLE JAPAN

October 23, 2012 – 11:24 am

by Becky Sun Beauty writers know to watch Japan, the home of sometimes wacky and sometimes wonderful trends. On October 18, 2012, in the US, the National Geographic Channel aired an episode of Taboo on Japanese “bagel heads” — just what it sounds like, thanks to saline injections in the forehead. Three weeks earlier, when […]

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“Skinny diabetics” are on the rise

October 22, 2012 – 9:22 am

by Raya Jewell WHAT’S HAPPENING Based on recent CDC estimates, healthy looks (like a slim figure or a six-pack) can be deceiving. One in ten adults today is diabetic, and if current trends continue, one-third of all US adults will be diabetic by 2050. Of these adults, a surprising number are young and of average builds, […]

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French girls window-shop for men

October 22, 2012 – 9:19 am

by Lindsay Paterson WHAT’S HAPPENING French dating site Adopte un Mec (Adopt a Guy) is opening pop-up shops around France and flaunting its product range (i.e. available men), in the shop windows (LeParisien.fr, 15 September 2012). Men who are registered with the site are displayed as though they were life-size dolls, in giant plastic boxes […]

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The xx offers the album leak as work of art

October 22, 2012 – 9:15 am

by Robert van Alstyne WHAT’S HAPPENING Blogger-loved Brit band the xx cleverly parlayed its high online profile into an elegantly executed digital marketing campaign for sophomore album Coexist. Rather than go the traditional route and share a full stream of the album with the usual big media suspects like NPR, the xx gave the details […]

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CLICKS TO BRICKS

October 22, 2012 – 9:10 am

by Nissa Hanna Over the past year, Iconoculture has extensively covered the evolving dynamic between online and offline shopping. So far, much of the action has been in the realm of brick-and-mortars going cyber. That’s why the recent opening of Piperlime — the exact reverse — caught our eye. The e-retail site is known for […]

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For extra reassurance of freshness, Brazilians can watch their sushi being made via live video feed

October 9, 2012 – 2:56 pm

by Jeff Somaio WHAT’S HAPPENING Japanese food, made popular by a steady stream of immigrants for about 100 years, is a favorite in Brazil. But when it comes to the delivery of sushi, Brazilians are worried about food hygiene. To reassure customers, Kimitachi is letting them watch the entire process online (Estadão.com, 9 September 2012). […]

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Gym rats weigh in on fitness teachers at RateYourBurn

October 9, 2012 – 2:52 pm

by Cree McCree WHAT’S HAPPENING Physique 57′s Katie Mitchell? “Total rockstar of a teacher.” Chris Griffin at Equinox? “James. F*ing. Bond.” But skip Danielle Wettan’s Crunch class: “Maybe I signed up for karaoke by accident?” Fitness buffs weigh in on their instructors’ prowess (or lack thereof) at RateYourBurn. Burners rate teachers on intensity, cardio and […]

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Does that car come in brown?

October 9, 2012 – 2:46 pm

by Stefania Revelli WHAT’S HAPPENING Silver, white and now brown. After nearly phasing out a few years ago as a preferred car color, brown is making a comeback (Yahoo.com, August 2012). According to Jane Harrington, global color manager of PPG, brown evokes feelings of stability, authenticity and comfort that are reminiscent of appreciated lifestyle indulgences […]

By Iconoculture | Posted in Consumer Trend, Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off
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