Ready, aim, fire

There’s nothing quite like the smell of fresh ink and crisp new pages, especially when they’re brimming with ideas and inspiring stories. Like that of 42 Below founder Geoff Ross, who shares his adventure to the top, while outing the ‘experts’ who scoff at creative businesses and acknowledging the everyday Kiwis who dared to say yes. And Timaru’s Geoff Vuleta, now making waves in New York with the concept of buying and selling something most of us would struggle to put a dollar value on: ideas.

We have a chat to the brains behind Sticky Pictures, the master storytellers who recently cracked the big time with The Six Dollar Fifty Man and learn just what goes on at film festivals like Sundance. We also explain why the conservative banking industry can’t afford to sit on its laurels, what they need to do to keep up and what it means for us—the consumers.

Meanwhile, Celsias, our sustainable business supplement, looks at why the environment is key to the economy, how cleantech offers opportunities for New Zealand to forge ahead and how a diverse range of industry figures is leading the way with a new set of rules. It’s not just about riding the green wave, either; as those spearheading the industry movement explain, it’s in the best interests of businesses both large and small, too.

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Bet the Icehouse on it

As Forbes magazine points out, some of the biggest companies in the world (Google, anyone?) were conceived in cramped garages and dark basements. It makes for a great rags-to-riches story, but a better option for budding entrepreneurs is to hook into a technology incubator. And on Forbes‘ list of ten incubators changing the world is our very own Icehouse—the only non-US based hub to garner a mention. Then again, perhaps it’s not so surprising: since its 2001 inception it has launched 75 companies and raised $50 million for them through its angel-investor network, the largest in New Zealand.

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A sight for sore eyes

A tenth of schoolchildren in Mexico need help seeing the blackboard but won’t wear them due to the stigma of wearing glasses. Thanks to a new initiative, though, they now have access to the kind of specs kids actually want to wear—for free. The plastic frames are highly customisable, with five basic shapes, seven colours and three sizes. And they can be taken apart to mix and match parts, not to mention the fact that they’re nearly impossible to break.

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Trust us, we're advertisers

You know how basically every infomercial ever made shows some poor stupid consumer struggling to do without, er, whatever gadget’s being peddled? Well, here’s all of them in one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08xQLGWTSag

Calling all filmmakers

Speaking of video compilations, the Looksy project is putting together the biggest collaborative film ever, with a $10,000 prize up for grabs. Shoot a 3-4 minute film answering the question “What does your digital world look like?” and submit it for inclusion…but the sooner the better, because if less than 50 entries are received by July 31, the jackpot falls to just $1000. Money raised from the film will be split between the community and charitable causes. It doesn’t end there, either; Looksy hopes to come out with with a solid group of artists who might create films for commercial purposes in future.

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Rewriting the rule book

Change can be a scary thing, especially to those set in their ways. But as Les Mills mogul Phillip Mills explains, the short-term economic crisis is nothing compared to the ecological disaster we’re setting ourselves up for. The average Kiwi business already has access to expertise and tools to minimise their footprints. It’s about creating better, more sustainable opportunities with fewer risks and less wastage. And Mills, along with other industry leaders, is writing a new set of guidelines which even the most cynical capitalist will find difficult to fault.

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Power walking

Some scientists are on a quest to create sneakers that do more than just get you from Point A to Point B. According to Louisiana Tech University, the technology is based on circuits that can convert a piezoelectric charge (generated by certain materials in response to applied stress) into voltage for charging batteries or powering electronics. The target audience? Well, anyone who wants to recharge on the road, really. Nice idea, but we’ll believe it when we see it.

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Life in miniature

Blink and you’ll miss it—street artist Slinkachu’s work involves painting teeny-tiny train set characters, left around the mean streets of London to fend for themselves. The Little People Project, he says, is meant to encourage city-dwellers to become more aware of their surroundings. “The scenes I set up…aim to reflect the loneliness and melancholy of living in a big city, almost being lost and overwhelmed. But underneath this, there is always some humour.”

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Pushing the boundaries

There’s nothing worse than insipid or intrusive advertising that does neither product nor consumer a favour. Which makes it all the easier to appreciate the ads that do make an impact—the ones which get people talking and linger in your mind.

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Fresh perspective

Of all the things you can do with Google Maps, I can safely say this never  once crossed my mind. Here’s a car chase sequence shot using images from Google Maps, and what’s more, it looks surprisingly slick. http://vimeo.com/9411892

Quote of the week

“We all have a part to play, whether you’re just changing your light bulbs or changing minds in the boardroom.”

— Phillip Mills on the power of one