Challis Hodge’s UXblog

Finally, WiFi is showing up in the shopping malls. I believe there are huge opportunities for social shopping and networking services in the mall environment.

You can now surf the Web wire-free in the outdoor commons areas at Stony Point Fashion Park. The shopping center in South Richmond Virginia is the first mall in the Richmond area - and most likely in Virginia - to create a Net-friendly zone. Taubman Centers Inc., the mall’s owner, today began providing free Wi-Fi technology that allows customers to connect to the Internet via a laptop computer or personal digital assistant while visiting the center. “We think there is real interest in providing this service,” said Deidre P. Goodrich, marketing director at Stony Point and its sister center, Regency Square. “Our desire is to evoke a feeling that Stony Point Fashion Park is a meeting place for family and friends and having Wi-Fi is one more amenity that creates that,” she said.

In the current issue of the journal Smart Materials and Structures, researchers describe just how a spider manages to stick to ceilings in apparent defiance of gravity. The adhesion is based on van der Waals forces, which create electrostatic attraction between the tiny hairs on a spider’s feet and a surface. Apparently a spider can produce an adhesive force 170 times its own weight. Obviously many marketable applications for an adhesive based on the van der Waals forces.

Read the paper abstract: Getting a grip on spider attachment: an AFM approach to microstructure adhesion in arthropods

A brand is a brand, no? If we wear something to define ourselves, to make a statement, can that product be without a brand? Can a brandless product be marketed? Adbusters seems to think so.

Adbusters has been doing R&D for more than a year, and guess what? Making a shoe - a good shoe - isn’t exactly rocket science. With a network of supporters, we’re getting ready to launch the blackSpot sneaker, the world’s first grassroots anti-brand, with a ground-breaking marketing scheme to uncool Nike. If it succeeds, it will set a precedent that will revolutionize capitalism.

THE NEXT STEP
Is it possible to take Phil Knight’s billion-dollar marketing momentum and, in a quick judo-like move, slap him onto the mat with the power of his own PR thrust? Read about our Kick Ass Marketing Strategy, and find out how you can Get Involved.

Microscission, a new technique of administering medication developed by MIT researchers, uses a stream of gas to deliver drugs through the skin. It uses minuscule inert crystals of aluminum oxide to remove the rough outer layer of skin and create tiny holes called microconduits that medication can move through. It could provide a less painful alternative for many patients, including those suffering from Diabetes, who frequently prick their fingers to test their blood sugar.

Later this year Australian Wool Innovation plans to start marketing “hot socks” based on a “smart textile” developed by New Zealand company Canesis Network. Conductive fibers will be woven into the socks in the areas where the feet are most likely to get cold. There will be no noticeable difference to the wearer. Powering the sock will only require a 7-volt battery, which will give about three to four hours’ warmth in the first iteration of the socks.

We all know the Man in the Moon, but how often do you look into your morning coffee and see a face staring back? Cafe owner Chris Phillips chose an unusual medium to create art - the cafe lattes he serves by the trayful at his Richmond cafe.

Whether you’re looking for the warmth and elegance of the nineteenth century, or the fun, funky look of the “Fab Fifties”, Elmira has vintage-styled appliances to suit your tastes, d�cor and cooking style. And you won’t have to sacrifice convenience or performance. Elmira appliances are strictly 21st century tech!

Royal Philips Electronics, Sony Corporation and E Ink Corporation announced the world’s first consumer application of an electronic paper display module in Sony’s new e-Book reader, LIBRI�, scheduled to go on sale in Japan in late April. This “first ever” Philips’ display utilizes E Ink’s revolutionary electronic ink technology which offers a truly paper-like reading experience with contrast that is the same as newsprint. [View Image]

The Electronic Paper Display is reflective and can be easily read in bright sunlight or dimly lit environments while being able to be seen at virtually any angle - just like paper. Its black and white ink-on-paper look, combined with a resolution in excess of most portable devices at approximately 170 pixels per inch (PPI), gives an appearance similar to that of the most widely read material on the planet - newspaper. Because the display uses power only when an image is changed, a user can read more than 10,000 pages before the four AAA Alkaline batteries need to be replaced. The unique technology also results in a compact and lightweight form factor allowing it to be ideal for highly portable applications.