Chris Ferguson (#100 on our list of the
100 Most Creative People in Business) and other poker pros are in Washington D.C. this week to sweet talk members of Congress into lifting a three-year-old ban against online gambling in the U.S. If their cajoling works, Internet gambling may play a hand in stimulating the economy and raking in billions of tax dollars.
Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs published a report predicting that the U.S. would eventually legalize Internet gambling, in part because an online poker and casino market could rake in up to $12 billion in revenue--a sizeable amount considering that online games in the U.S. generated only $6.6 billion in 2007, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
That also means there's potential for plenty of tax money. A recent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers says the U.S. could raise nearly $52 billion in revenue over the next decade by legalizing--and taxing--Internet gambling.
It's that prospect that's helped the
Poker Players Alliance secure an unlikely ally: Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the Housing Financial Services Committee. "Can we
please not call poker gambling?," Frank reportedly told the audience at this year's World Series of Poker. "Online gambling is illegal because those **** in D.C. can't figure out a fool-proof way to tax the bejesus out of it. Yet..."
In May, Frank--who, according to the
Boston Globe, doesn't play poker or blackjack and has never tried a slot machine--spearheaded a bill calling for the overhaul of The Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Act of 2006.
It was 63 years ago today that the bikini was first unveiled at a fashion show. At the time, the skimpy swim suit was so scandalous that not a single model agreed to wear it down the catwalk--and in the end, designers had to enlist the help of a professional stripper, Micheline Bernardini, to debut their two-piece creation. But bikinis have evolved from shocking to beach friendly to...Earth friendly. The latest eco-friendly collections are made of everything from bamboo and soy to recycled fish nets. Gimmicky? You bet! But it's a bikini, after all--and bikinis have always been about grabbing attention.
1. Deux FM: Soy and Recycled Linen
How it’s Green: Sure, you eat and drink soy products, but now you can also wear them to the beach. The Lulu String Bikini is made of a mixture of soy, recycled linen and organic cotton, and comes with an "eco-friendly pouch" for storage (what makes the pouch eco-friendly is unclear). Other swim suits in the collection are made of recycled silk and vintage fabrics.
Price: $96
2. Eco-Panda: Recycled Fish Nets
How it’s green: Discarded fish nets are melted down and spun into recycled nylon for these colorful swimsuits, which creators claim use "27 % less petroleum resources and create 28% less greenhouse gases" than those made of regular nylon. The linings are created with recycled polyester and the price tags, which are made of organic cotton, double as bracelets.
Price: $68-$84
3. Loyale: 100% Organic Cotton
How it’s green: Both of Loyale’s bikinis are made using 100% organic cotton and low-impact dyes. The teal Barstow Bikini, originally part of the Spring ’07 collection, was resurrected this year at the request of Vogue (Gisele wears it in the June 2009 issue). The swim suit is made locally in New York City, and is one of the top selling pieces of this season’s collection. "You don't have to sacrifice style to make a difference," says Loyale founder Jenny Hwa.
Price: $84 (Hermosa), $120 (Barstow)
4. Anna Cohen: Factory Surplus Fabric
How it’s green: This tiny teal bikini is made from scraps of fabric left over from Olympic speed skating uniforms. Designer Anna Cohen says her mission is to "support environmental and social justice through creating cutting edge design" -- and sometimes that means literally cutting designs and reimagining them.
Price: $164
5. Aaron Chang: Recycled Plastic Bottles
How it's Green: Post consumer plastic, including soda bottles, are recycled into a pure polyester material that Aaron Chang then refashions into bikinis (like the one above, the Secret Garden Bikini), board shorts and other swimwear. According to the company, the process diverts and reduces waste in landfills "without spilling an unnecessary drop of oil."
Price: $99
6. Kelly B: Bamboo-kinis
How it’s green: This company has been making bikinis with organic cotton since the line launched in 2007. But this year, it’s introduced a new element: Bamboo. All of this season’s swim suits (there are three in total) are made from 65% bamboo, 27% organic cotton and 8% spandex.
The road to bike-sharing is paved with broken locks.
Rampant theft and stolen parts have plagued bike-sharing programs since the first one debuted in Amsterdam in the 1960s. But that hasn't stopped cities from trying: Paris' initiative--among the world's most advanced programs--has been mired by theft and vandalism. More than half of the initial fleet of 15,000 custom-made bicycles in Paris have gone missing, and many more have been defaced and destroyed.
And yet, in the two years since Paris launched its initiative, dozens of similar programs started in cities around the world, from Hangzhou to Rio de Janeiro. Bike-shares are the fastest growing form of transportation in the world, according to Timothy Ericson, CEO and co-founder of consulting firm CityRyde. And there's plenty of room for more growth. Ericson expects the number of bike-sharing programs to increase 200% in 2010. This year alone, nearly every major city in the U.S. has drafted some sort of bike-share program.
But cities are still grappling with how to pay for and maintain the fleet. Here's a look at where bike sharing stands today, and where it's headed.
On the surface, nearly all of the world's 100 or so bike-share programs look strikingly similar. Most systems rely on unmanned rental kiosks that are managed by automated computers, and bicycles are equipped with advanced locking mechanisms. Many of the the bikes use customized parts to stave off thieves who are looking for spares.
The differentiating factor in these programs is how they pay for themselves. Most systems, particularly those with more than 500 bicycles, rely on advertising--and the lucrative deals the agencies strike with host cities--to stay afloat. Other programs depend on money from local communities, like Montreal's Bixi. Still others are funded by private investors (London's OYBike). Many of the private programs have disappeared, and the handful that remain tend to be limited to college campuses, business parks or specific neighborhoods. "Bike sharing just isn't profitable by itself," Ericson says.
Ad Value
The three largest bike-share programs--those in Paris, Lyon and Barcelona--are all run by advertising companies. Earlier this year, ClearChannel launched SmartBike, the first comprehensive bike-share program in the U.S., in Washington, D.C. This is the fastest way to get a bike sharing system going.
"In Paris, the city signed the contract, got the program off the ground and opened it up in within six months," Ericson said. "In Montreal, where the program is user-funded, that same process took two years."
Here's how it works: Cities award long-term contracts, sometimes for as many as 15 or 20 years, to advertising agencies, giving them ad space on billboards, outdoor furniture, kiosks and other public areas. The advertising companies, in turn, must set up and maintain a bike-sharing program in the city. But advertising companies have little incentive to maintain the programs once they've secured contracts and ad revenue.
Instead, Ericson and other experts agree, the bike-sharing program of the future will be run by public or quasi-public entities, and won't rely on advertising revenue to keep it going. A case in point: Montreal's Bixi.
City Cycles
Montreal's Bixi, which became one of the newest and most innovative bike-sharing programs, was established in May 2009. In what is likely a first, the system was designed, implemented and is maintained by the city's parking authority.
"We already had a Pay 'N Go parking program, where people could park there car, walk to an automated kiosk and pay for their spot," said Alain Ayotte, CEO of Public Bike Systems, which oversees Bixi. "Ultimately, renting a parking spot and renting a bicycle are technically the same thing."
So far, the program has been cost-neutral, says Ayotte. It's not completely without help from ad revenue: 200 of Bixi's 300 stations feature some sort of advertising. But ad revenue accounts for only 5% of the program's operating costs, compared with the fully ad-funded models in Paris and Washington DC.
Bike to the Future
No one's quite sure what the future of bike-sharing will look like. But Bixi is a good place to start: It doesn't cost the city a dime, runs on solar power, and is portable (the modular system, which can be installed in less than an hour, has been rewarded seven patents).
There are smaller innovations being used around the world as well. Samba, a bike-sharing program in Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana neighborhood, is activated by cell phones. Bicinittà, an Italian company with bike-shares in Genoa and Monaco, offers pedal-assist bicycles to help uphill riders. In Paris, Velib is improving its distribution of bikes by awarding customers an extra 15 minutes of riding time for dropping off bikes at designated uphill stations. That, says Paul DeMaio, a managing member of MetroBike LLC, ensures that buses, trucks and vans won't have to haul bikes to different stations across the city, a process that can cost as much as $3 per bike.
Upcoming advances in bike-sharing will be "more incremental" than the evolutions in the past, says DeMaio. Among his predictions for the future: Seasonal programs like the one in Montreal that can be packed up and moved during winter months; and bicycles fitted with GPS devices to track travel routes and locate stolen bikes.
"That's the key," DeMaio says. "Once transportation planners can figure out where and how far the bikes are going, they have the sort of great juicy data that validates bicycling as a mode of transport."
In January, we reported on the 10 green jobs poised to carry us through the next decade. Five months later, the demand for those jobs is still growing strong--President Obama recently pledged $500 million for environmental job training, and an additional $150 billion to create 5 million new sustainability-related jobs. So what better time to trade in that white collar, blue collar (or no collar) for a green one? Here are six academic programs, each with its own environmental twist, to help get you started.
This dual-degree program allows students to earn an MBA and a Masters in Environmental Studies in about three years. University officials say they "expect that this degree will allow students to use cutting edge management and financial techniques to close the gap between business and the environmental sciences." In addition, Wharton also offers an MBA concentration in Environmental and Risk Management, which focuses on how business impacts the environment, health and safety.
Degrees awarded: MBA and Masters in Environmental Studies
Sample course: Environmental Sustainability and Value Creation Annual tuition: $50,430 (2008-2009)
There are no dilemmas over choosing a major at this liberal arts college, where all 318 undergraduates study the same thing: Human Ecology. The program, which is rooted in "the study of our relationship with our environment," is broad, though, and students have the flexibility to design academic programs that focus on anything from conservation biology to sustainable business to literature and writing. The school, founded in 1972, runs exclusively on renewable hydropower and was the first college in the country to be carbon-neutral.
Degrees awarded: Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Philosophy, both in Human Ecology
Sample course: Issues in National Park Planning, Agroecology of the Yucatan Annual tuition: $31,470 (2008-2009)
Sometimes what's on the inside matters just as much as the solar panels and green roofs on the outside. Students in this green design program learn the ins and outs of crafting eco-friendly interiors, whether it's by maximizing natural lights or choosing environmentally-friendly paint. They create models of sustainable homes, redesign existing buildings to meet LEED standards, and spend time retrofitting historic office buildings in Denver. University officials say we spend more than 90% of our lives holed up in homes and office buildings--all the more reason to revamp from within.
Degrees awarded: BFA in Interior Design
Sample course: Green Design I, Restaurant + Retail Design Tuition cost: $24,840 (2009-2010)
Eco-friendly threads aren't limited to just scratchy hemp T-shirts anymore. Clothing lines today are recycled, animal-free, biodegradable and made of everything from bamboo to soybeans, and students at The Centre for Sustainable Fashion aim to "change the landscape of the fashion industry" for good. The school's movement toward green threads couldn't come at a better time: Analysts are predicting that eco-chic clothing will balloon into a multi-billion-dollar industry.
Degrees awarded: M.A. in Fashion and the Environment
Sample course: New Perspectives on Fashion
Tuition cost: £3,995 ($6,028) for U.K./E.U. students, £11,900 ($17,954) for international students (2009-2010)
Don't expect to land a spot on Top Chef from here, but students do get hands-on experience at farms, in kitchens and in laboratories preparing for a future in sustainable agriculture and holistic nutrition. Undergraduates in the dual-major program take courses like Sustainable Food Production and Nutrition in Health and Well Being, and cap off their studies by spending a semester at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy. Other environmentally-friendly campus programs include an organic dairy farm, local harvest initiative and an organic garden club.
Degrees awarded: A dual-major in EcoGastronomy
Sample course: Food and Society Annual tuition: $11,756 for residents, $25,236 for non-residents (2008-2009)
This sustainable tourism program--slated to debut in fall 2009--will be the first of its kind in the U.S. The degree is designed to advance the world's largest industry, tourism, while "preserving environmental and community attributes" in areas as far reaching as hospitality, recreation, medicine and the arts, according to University officials. In addition, the program will feature "culturally diverse coursework" to introduce students to the opportunities and challenges of tourism in a globalizing world.
Degrees awarded: M.S. in Sustainable Tourism
Sample course: Environmental Factors and Tourism Annual tuition: $2,445 for residents, $12,959 for non-residents (2008-2009)
The president of Samsung’s consumer electronics division has a curious recipe for getting through the recession: buy a TV.
It costs less than a beach vacation, he says, and with Samsung’s new line of LCD HDTVs that use 40% less energy than conventional sets, you can feel good about splurging on eco-friendly entertainment.
“Consumers are starting to say, ‘You know what, times are tough. We’re going to invest in family, we’re going to buy a TV,” Tim Baxter told Fast Company at Samsung’s 2009 Spring Fever Showcase on Tuesday.
Baxter added that customers--presumably those who have benefited from government bailouts--are “using this as a time to trade up” to snazzier TVs.
Some say the economic crisis is a good opportunity for Americans to quit living beyond their means. Baxter is not having it. In his view, you can have your big-screen TV and watch it too.
“46 is the new 32,” he said. “They say that about age, but it’s the same with TVs.”
There are certain parts of childhood we all miss: Recess, picture books, nap time. Today, International Children’s Books Day (on what would have been Hans Christian Andersen's 204th birthday) gives us a chance to relive some of those nostalgic moments with cats in hats, hungry caterpillars, ugly ducklings and other wild things. So we asked a few influential figures in media and education to share their favorite titles--the ones that sparked their imaginations and shaped their lives.
Daphne Durham Managing Editor of Books, Amazon.com
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
“Where the Wild Things Are was my first love--simply told, lushly illustrated, and featuring characters that leap off the page (it is a wild rumpus after all)--it was, and is, the perfect picture book."
Vivian Schiller CEO, National Public Radio
Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown
My favorite children' book is Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown. Most parents gravitate towards Brown's more well known Goodnight Moon, which is indeed a masterpiece. But even after 860 outloud readings, I was consistently moved - and soothed by the rhythmic text and the simple loveliness about the day in the life of animals."
Jan Brett Children's Author and Illustrator
The Tale of Samuel Whiskers Or The Roly-Poly Pudding by Beatrix Potter
"I had a great time trying to imagine that there were rats in the attic using a rolling pin to make a Roly-Poly Pudding. Also, as a six-year-old girl, I felt very grown-up reading 'big words' like wainscot and skirting board. I loved arcane words. Beatrix Potter was a master at using pictures to tell a story; the words gave it an even greater dimension."
Frances Haugen Product Manager, Google Book Search
Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban
“One day Frances the Badger informs her parents she will only eat bread and jam. Very soon though, she realizes how boring eating her favorite food is every day and begs to eat everything again. When I was a kid my mother used to say the book should really have been called ‘Lox and Bagels for Frances’ in homage to my picky eating habits."
Keith Michael Fiels Executive Director, American Library Association
I Had Trouble Getting to Solla Sollew by Dr. Seuss
"Our protagonist is plagued by various irritating creatures that convince him that he must leave in pursuit of the mythical Solla Sollew, 'where they have no troubles, or at least very few.' His epic journey takes him on a series of improbable adventures, involving, among other things, a one wheeled hubble and a camel that bubbles. Needless to say, things do not work out as planned when he finally reaches the nearly perfect Solla Sollew. The story ends with our hero on his way back home, with a new attitude--and a big stick! A perfect parable of life as it should be lived by one of our greatest authors."
What's your childhood favorite? Tap into your inner kid and leave us a comment.
Coming up with innovative ideas is a lot like constructing a good joke. At least that's what Luke Williams, creative director with product-design firm Frog Design, said at Columbia Business School’s BRITE Conference on Thursday.
You begin by understanding people’s expectations of their surroundings. Then, "you take those expectations and turn them upside down" and hope that you end up with a punch line--or "provocation," in business speak--that’s “unexpected but logical in hindsight,” Williams, said during a session about innovating during the downturn.
About 50 session attendees--many of them professionals in business, technology, media and marketing--split into groups, taking 15 minutes to brainstorm ideas to "save The New York Times." Their prescriptions might not have been particularly innovative, but they may muster a laugh:
Observation: People read the newspaper.
Provocation: The newspaper reads the people.
Ideas: “Make the newspaper a collection of Twitter feeds.”
Observation: Customers pay to read The New York Times.
Provocation: The New York Times pays customers to read its paper.
Ideas: “Extra tax rebates from the government for people who read the news…because we want to have an educated public.”
Observation: Readership generates revenue.
Provocation: The paper has no readers.
Ideas: "Lease out the paper's writers and content creators to other corporations."
The key, Williams said, is to allow yourself to be as silly as possible without getting off-track. The provocation must always relate back to the initial idea.
“It’s a stepping stone off one track to another,” he said. “It creates mental instability.” A good provocation will make people laugh out loud, said Williams, but may also ultimately lead to new ideas.
One instance of success, Williams said, began with a simple observation: "Police officers have two eyes." That idea was then exaggerated to form a provocation, "police officers have 100 eyes," that helped lay the foundation for neighborhood watch programs.
So maybe there is hope for this method. But The New York Times might not want to toss out--or rent out--its writers just yet.
But cities are still grappling with how to pay for and maintain the fleet. Here's a look at where bike sharing stands today, and where it's headed.
Here's how it works: Cities award long-term contracts, sometimes for as many as 15 or 20 years, to advertising agencies, giving them ad space on billboards, outdoor furniture, kiosks and other public areas. The advertising companies, in turn, must set up and maintain a bike-sharing program in the city. But advertising companies have little incentive to maintain the programs once they've secured contracts and ad revenue.
There are smaller innovations being used around the world as well. Samba, a bike-sharing program in Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana neighborhood, is activated by cell phones. Bicinittà, an Italian company with bike-shares in Genoa and Monaco, offers pedal-assist bicycles to help uphill riders. In Paris, Velib is improving its distribution of bikes by awarding customers an extra 15 minutes of riding time for dropping off bikes at designated uphill stations. That, says Paul DeMaio, a managing member of MetroBike LLC, ensures that buses, trucks and vans won't have to haul bikes to different stations across the city, a process that can cost as much as $3 per bike.
Coming up with innovative ideas is a lot like constructing a good joke. At least that's what Luke Williams, creative director with product-design firm 
