the sniffer

 

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In this trendwatching podcast, Nora Young looks at some new research that backs up what Cathi and Nora have been feeling: according to the study Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future, lots of people engaged in scholarly research engage in skittish ‘power browsing’ rather than sustained deep research, and this behaviour crosses generations (via The Guardian)

Meanwhile, Cathi Bond tells us about the ergoskin shirt, designed to help people recovering from back injury.  Are we likely to see these kinds of applications for sports or just general ’smart clothing’ uses? (via Medgadget)

 

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In this trendwatching podcast, Cathi Bond finds this puzzle alarm clock, and this alarm clock that’s superloud and shakes the bed! (Both at bimbambanana) And this bible inspirational clock (via UrbanTrend).  A sign that we are all really sleep-deprived?

Meanwhile, Nora sees a couple of recent notes about VOIP: Reuters reports that Japan Communications is going to start offering VOIP as part of their regular mobile phone service, and Skype is set to offer unlimited calls to land lines in 34 countries, and unlimited calls to a smaller list of countries for cell phones….all for $10/month, according to the New York Times.

 

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In this trendwatching podcast, Nora Young talks about the virtual desktop, Jooce.Cathi Bond describes the community-based art of the British art group, Proboscis.Nora Young refers to this Cscout article on time-based products at McDonald’s in Japan. 

 

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In this trendwatching podcast, Cathi Bond points to two cool turntables: one, designed like a tiny VW van that ‘drives’ around your vinyl, and one, that converts vinyl to mp3s. (via ubergizmo)

Meanwhile, Nora Young talks about some of the trends she spotted on a recent trip to South Beach.  She visited the Marimekko store, and took Cathi’s advice and went to the Base store, much cooler than the generally cartoonish, rawk star aesthetic of South Beach (though she does like Ed Hardy and bought some of his running shoes a few years ago).

Cathi also tips us off (via Gizmag) to what happens when your inner environmentalist meets your inner machismo: the electric muscle car by Dodge

 

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In this trendwatching podcast, Nora Young takes the new search tool, seachme, out for a spin.  She thinks it’s part of a bigger trend towards ’snapshot’ displays that let you better manage masses of data.Meanwhile, Cathi Bond on a product she found at medgadget:  this new, commercially available test, that looks for genetic markers associated with bipolar disorder.  Cathi thinks it could be part of the basket of tools used to evaluate the condition; Nora’s worried these tools are not reliable, but thinks they’re part of the trend towards body monitoring.Also, a quick update.  About a month ago, Cathi and Nora discussed wi-max, and wondered why it wouldn’t be a good solution for the west. They’ve got more info from a trusted source. 

 

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In this trendwatching podcast, Cathi Bond talks about a concept for how to solve London’s booming population requirements, without resorting to urban sprawl: this “Super Tower” at popularchitecture.com

Meanwhile, Nora Young looks at an interesting concept from Simon Fraser University: the ladybag lets you know if you’ve forgotten to put your daily must-haves (phone, wallet etc) into the purse.  Nora thinks it’s an intriguing example of some of the applications of RFID technology that we may see in the future.  (via trendhunter)

 

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In this trendwatching podcast, Nora Young talks about this Guardian article on the future of work. It’s a look at a new study that suggests ‘work life balance’ is being replaced with ‘work life integration’. Nora and Cathi wonder whether, in spite of all the great tools for remote collaboration out there, creative collaboration really just works better face-to-face.

Meanwhile, Cathi Bond has been checking out these fancy digs in the Chelsea district of Manhattan.  Click on ‘play movie’ in the en suite sky garage to take a look at the, er, en suite sky garage.

 

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In this trendwatching podcast, Nora Young talks about her obsession with Simon Carter accessories.  Nora and Cathi Bond continue their conversation about wireless connectivity in the developing world with this Business Week story about Tata’s plans to create an enormous WiMax wireless internet mesh that will serve over 100 Indian cities.

Meanwhile, Cathi Bond continues to spot the trend of body monitoring devices and cell phone apps with MiCoach 

It’s a cellphone that takes your heart rate and offers you words of encouragement when you train.

 

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In this trendwatching podcast, Cathi Bond looks at intriguing research into A.I. applications for Second Life.  Nora Young has some background with this New York Times magazine article into what seems to be a similar type of research with sociable robots.

Nora has a look at Nike’s sexy new running shoe Trash Talk, made from stitched together scraps (via Core77).  She wonders whether, aesthetically, we’re starting to see that re-purposed/sustainable look take off, citing local Toronto designers like Matthew Simpson and Susan Harris.  Cathi says it’s really connecting with the older, sustainable design of quilting.

 

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In this trendwatching podcast, Cathi Bond talks about the Mindwire V5

It delivers a mild electric jolt to simulate kicks and punches in video games. Nora says…why?

Meanwhile, Nora found this cool video at the New Scientist blog. A company called The Audeo works with connecting the nerve impulses to computer systems. In this case, through trained thought, users can effectively ‘think’ their speech to their vocal cords, and have it translated into speech via computer. Check out the video!