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Xerox Goes Green

Xerox announced the arrival of it's new "green" printing paper dubbed the Xerox High Yield Business Paper.  The new paper uses half as many trees as regular paper, is 10 percent lighter than the alternative, and requires less water and chemicals. The paper also needs uses less fuel to produce.   Using 90 percent of the tree (compared to the 45 percent used in traditional printing paper) and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent, the High Yield paper will also cut consumer shipping costs due to its lighter weight. 

Xerox is targeting high volume consumers who generate massive amounts of paper with a short shelf life such as direct mail centers, financial statement and business form producers.  The next step will be to introduce it to office markets for widespread use. 

A paper product that's good for the environment and the bottom line - what self respecting business could refuse?  Place your orders America and keep an eye on the Xerox stock while you're at it

Things That Should Have Never Survived The Millennium...

There is so much good out there these days.  We're loving the new ideas and new technologies that make our days more efficient and more fun (hello iPhone!).  We're seeing a global awakening toward sustainability and a raising of political awareness.  We're looking forward to this fall which will bring the end of low-rise skinny jeans, pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks, and a Fresh Start for back to school. 

But.  There is also a great deal of junk out there that has got to go.  We polled the bright, diverse minds of our CPG staff and came up with the following list of...

THINGS THAT SHOULD HAVE NEVER SURVIVED THE MILLENNIUM

Styrofoam

Bumper stickers of any kind

George Bush

Ventriloquists

Tanning beds

Competitive eating,

Bars with parking lots

Anne Geddes photographs

Clip on hair extensions

Velveeta

Private health care

Paris Hilton

Lazy email/text abbreviations (R U going 2 B L8?)

High fructose corn syrup

Short-sleeve dress shirts

U.S. Electoral College

Lying about your age

Psychic hot lines

The paparazzi

Tur-duck-ens

Born again pedophiles

Toupees

Cigarettes

to be continued...

Wii + Second Life = New Training Simulator

 

Nintendo games have made the Wii controller a satisfyingly realistic controller for pretend tennis, golf and baseball. But how about using it to practice doing surgery, applying pesticides or operating a nuclear power plant?

Real-world simulations like these are perfectly suited to Nintendo's Wiimote, says MIT research fellow David E. Stone. In fact, he claims the motion-sensitive controller is "one of the most significant technology breakthroughs in the history of computer science."

For Stone, the Wiimote is the key to building realistic training simulators within the virtual world of Second Life. He is helping companies and universities do that through his WorldWired consultancy. Clients include a company interested in training workers for its power plants, a manufacturer of medical devices and pest-control firm Orkin.    

More at   http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2007/07/wiimote

Last Days on the Levee

Live on the Levee comes to a close this weekend with a blow-out schedule of events.  We'll see you down by the Arch for Modesto's Spanish tapas on Saturday night at Sauce Cafe and full-tilt fireworks on the riverfront.  Let's go out with a bang everyone.

Friday, August 3: 
6:30 p.m. Madahoochi
7:30 p.m. Robert Randolph & The Family Band

Saturday, August 4
6:30 p.m. Lucky Shy
7:45 p.m. John Michael Montgomery

Stand Up and Cheer

This is how far we've come?  Thousands of years of growth, discovery, and evolution...for this?  Never.  Help is on the way.  Take a look at the fantastic new technology in the works that will forever eliminate carpal tunnel, lower back pain, and the craning neck syndrome.  Proudly brought to you by TED...get on your feet everybody.

For more information - check out TED.  Innovation & Technology

Let The Sunshine In

In the green room... an interesting piece of sustainable innovation was introduced this week.  The New Jersey Institute of Technology unveiled a new polymer-based paint that can be applied to plastic sheets which will then function as solar panels.  Here's the shake down on how it works- when sunlight hits a solar cell, the energy will create positive and negative charges.  If separated and sent to different electrodes, it will produce a current.  If the cells can be linked electronically, they will form a "panel".    The cell developed by NJIT is 50,000 times smaller than a human hair, but conducts currents much more efficiently than electrical wires.

Though still in its beta stage, this solar paint has potential to eliminate enormous energy costs by allowing individuals to create their own power stations.  In the future, hybrid cars could be operated by solar energy created from a panel on the roof  of the vehicle.  It brings a whole new meaning to the term "sunroof".

For more information check out Fullerene single wall carbon nanotube complex for polymer bulk heterojunction photovoltaic cells.  We dare you to say that one three times out loud.

Reinventing the Wheel

Translucent dolphins and multimedia reinvent the idea of the carousel...a new attraction scheduled to open in Battery Park (NYC) in 2008 takes a fresh approach to an old-fashioned carnival ride.

Instead of garishly painted horses, the seats will be translucent fiberglass molded into dolphins, turtles, clownfish, and other marine life. And unlike a traditional carousel, which spreads out from a center column like an umbrella, these creatures will be supported from below on a turntable, allowing unobstructed 360-degree views. All this will be housed in a nautilus-shaped structure featuring 93 SmartGlass windows that darken during the three-minute ride to simulate the experience of diving to the ocean floor. The final touch: Multiple projectors will fill the interior with images of marine life that slowly change to match what you'd actually see during a descent.

More from WIRED:   

http://www.wired.com/culture/design/magazine/15-07/st_nydive#

by Tracy Collins, Sr. Vice President Creative, Design, and Innovation

Get Creative. Get Blogging.

Do You Tweet?

Tweets or microblogs, popularized by Twitter and its main competitor, Jaiku, are short, quick text updates about your current thoughts and activities. Part of the next level of the ultra-hot social networking movement, tweets are made via text messaging, instant messaging, and the web. In March, Twitter won the 2007 South by Southwest Web Award in the blog category, and recently was named as one of Time Magazine's Top 50 Websites for 2007.

In Good Company

With membership reportedly doubling every two to three weeks, companies and public figures are finding Twitter a useful tool to quickly get their message out. Amazon, the BBC and The New York Times all tweet, as does John Edwards, who gets credit as being the first presidential candidate to use Twitter, which was quickly followed by others. There are estimates of up to 7 million current users with over a million tweets a day. 

But Twitter's For Kids

Your kids might be microblogging already, but how can you tap this growing trend in your organization?

• Brainstorming - Need fresh ideas for your next project why not have your traditional brainstorming session via microblog, you could literally let your entire company contribute. 
• Comment/Suggestion Box - Have an idea for your company? Just throw it out and get an instant gauge of interest. 
• Status Updates - Give your client instant updates of your progress on their projects. 

Other Microblogging Resources

Jaiku – Pronounced like Haiku with a J, it is Twitter’s main competitor, and allows direct commenting on other’s microblogs.

Pownce – Still its early stages, but has heavy buzz as the next generation of microblogging, group communications, and social networking.

Find out more or join the Twitosphere today by going to http://www.twitter.com.  Featured post by Erik Lutenegger, Web & Technology Specialist.

Meet Me At The Fair

Fair St. Louis was an overwhelming success with over 100,000 revelers for food, fireworks, and the iconic Cyndi Lauper at sunset.  Many thanks to our crack team of producers who worked tirelessly through the heat and humidity to bring this wonderful event to life.  Happy 4th of July, St. Louis!