NEW IDEAS AND TRENDS (old)

Wig Out at the 3D House of Virtual Hairpieces

by Steve Levenstein

Let's HairTry! Aderans' new virtual toupee shop allows balding men to try on a variety of trendy hair styles and, curiously, eyeglasses from the comfort of their computer chairs. It's the eerie 3D imagery that really makes you wig out, however.

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Eco-friendly Pasta Pot's Hourglass Figure Makes Less Waste, More Taste!

by Steve Levenstein

This eco-friendly pasta pot has an hourglass figure that cooks long pasta in less time, uses less water, and allows less CO2 to escape into the environment. Less waste, more taste!

CareBuzz.com: A Modern Business Approach to Senior Services

by Beth Graddon-Hodgson

CareBuzz.com and Workingcaregiver.com demonstrate a growing business trend in the senior services industry. They prove that just because their target market is of the elder generation, doesn't mean they can't have a modern approach to senior care business.

Russian Joint Research Program on Stem Cells: Expected Next Year

by M Dee Dubroff

Russian and Belarussian scientists have united in the name of stem cell research in a joint project slated to last for three years. The necessary documents will be ready early in 2009. Read all about this major scientific breakthrough.

Businesses of Convenience: 2008's Most Weird and Wacky Vending Machines

by Beth Graddon-Hodgson

Vending machines offer the consumers the convenience of finding products and services at hand wherever they go. Many companies are profiting on this growing business trend, and are branching out beyond the typical candy and soda vending to provide some very unique and wacky services. Learn about the top 5 vending machines that exist in 2008!

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Men's Premium Bra Offers Hope for Japan's Overly Endowed

Men's Premium Brassiere Offers Hope for Japan's Overly Endowed

by Steve Levenstein

Show us your moobs! Well, at least show them off with the new Men's Premium Bra from Wishroom. It's no joke either, Men's Bras are the number one ranked seller at Japan's Rakuten online store.

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Social Network Mixi's Up Designer Ramen

Cup Noodle Creativity Channeled Into Designer Ramen

by Steve Levenstein

Social Networking - is there anything it can't do? Mixi, Japan's largest social networking site, and cup noodle maker Acecook have combined for a tasty collaboration that is cranking out new instant ramen flavors and cool slogans to advertising them.

Invasion Of The Robot Snatchers Coming To A Nursing Home Near You

by Boomer Babe

Guess what? We don't have to worry about growing old alone. We will have robots to take care of us... the kind that can become any person you authorize it to be, kind of like a medium to communicate with the living.

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Baseball Knuckles Under as Japan League Drafts Teen Girl Pitcher

by Steve Levenstein

A league of their own? Not in Japan at least, where 16-year-old female knuckleballer Eri Yoshida has just been drafted by a Japanese pro baseball team. The boys of summer - plus one girl - will take the field in April 2009.

Nightlife for the Nine-to-Fivers

by Beth Graddon-Hodgson

A growing business trend allows even those with strenuous careers and familial obligations to get into the nightlife scene, while still getting to bed at a reasonable hour.

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Top Ten Geeky Gifts for Christmas

by Ron Callari

Do you have a special geek in your life? Someone who gets off on Google’s most current algorithm, who has memorized all the lines of the 716 episodes of Star Trek, and enjoys reading computer technical manuals on their days off? If so, then what do you gift these cerebral types when Christmas rolls around? Well, check out the Top Ten Geeky Gifts for Christmas 2008, and shop to your heart’s content! Yes, Einstein, there is a Santa Claus!

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Ex Boyfriend Jewelry.com: Getting Rid of Bad Memories and Jewelry from Exes

by Beth Graddon-Hodgson

Ex Boyfriend Jewelry.com, "You don't want it. He can't have it back". The name and slogan are fairly self-explanatory; Ex Boyfriend jewelry allows people to hock the gifts bought for them by their ex-flame after the relationship sizzled and burned.

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Look Mom, No Hands! Faceless LED Watch is All Band, No Dial

No Face Time for Hiranao Tsuboi's Designer LED Wristwatch

by Steve Levenstein

Watch this space, but don't look for a face. Hiranao Tsuboi's faceless LED wristwatch is all band and no dial, a curious concept but one that ensures you're not the only one watching your watch!

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Zubka Uses Social Trends to Connect People with Jobs and Offers a Commission

by Beth Graddon-Hodgson

Zubka is a social networking site that connects people with jobs, and allows individuals to earn money during the process. It's a business that plays upon the rapidly growing trend of networking sites and brings a sense of ease to the lucrative industry of recruiting.

Adult Diapers Come Out of the Closet in Japan

Japan's Seniors Cheer Adult Diaper Fashion Show

by Steve Levenstein

Adult diapers have not only come out of the closet, they're taking center stage! A recent Tokyo runway show shines the spotlight on what has become a $500 million per year business in Japan. Could it happen here? Depends...

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Truly, Madly, Sexy Sinks

by Toby

Christian Kaldewei, founder of Kanera, has a distinct goal right now: to create the most sensuous environment he can to receive the life-giving resource of water into your bathroom basin. It's a poetic concept and, as water becomes a more and more precious commodity, Kaldewei's sinuous basins seem like iconic monuments to the resource we need most.

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Twitter Drawers Collection Tweaks Twitter to a T

TDC's Twitter Wallpapers are Fun, Fab & Free

by Steve Levenstein

The Twitter Drawers Collection, or TDC for short, offers twitterers from Japan and elsewhere a free way to add a unique Japanese accent to their tweeting.

Sarah’s Smash Shack: Consumers Relieve Frustration by Breaking Stuff

by Beth Graddon-Hodgson

Finally, a service that allows you to relieve frustration, without the guilt that comes from damaging your own property.

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Box Cycle Establishes a Simple & Effective Concept: Consumer Distribution of Recycled Boxes

by Beth Graddon-Hodgson

Box Cycle takes a simple, environmentally conscious business concept, and makes it a success by offering a buy and sell service for recycled boxes to consumers.

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11 Not-Too-Tacky Novelty Lamps Make Fun Holiday Gifts

by Toby

As more sophisticated technology has made lighting design a central focus of interior design, a lamp is not just something to improve sight in the dark; lighting is its own statement, expressing style, mood... even humor! Mood and play lamps are totally welcome in modern interior design, as long as they're not too tacky. Some of them even make useful gifts...