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Issue 169

October 2012

The Power Of Pinterest

  • Pinterest, the social media phenom, has created the web's new design paradigm--and maybe the greatest selling engine ever devised.

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Features

  • Good Design Is Good Business

    Legendary IBM CEO Thomas Watson Jr. said these words almost 40 years ago. In 2012, they're finally the guiding spirit of our innovation age.

  • Innovation By Design Awards

    The finalists are revealed. Check out who made the cut and learn more about the Innovation By Design Awards event.

  • Co.Design 50

    The Co.Design editors have chosen a group of people who are pushing the boundaries of design into promising new directions.

Now

  • Racing A Disease

    In the effort to squash the spread of disease in sub-Saharan Africa, time is precious--and often wasted, because official reporting has historically taken place with paper and the postal service.

  • Textiles Get Techy

    Textiles and innovation aren't two words that generally go hand in hand. That's about to change, according to the folks at the European Center of Innovative Textiles (CETI), in Lille, France.

  • The Recommender

    Check out what they're loving this month.

  • How To Build A New Set Of Wheels

    When a snowboarding accident left Patrick Mayer wheelchair-bound, he learned firsthand the difficulties of navigating in the snow.

  • What's Popular On Tumblr?

    New York startup Undercurrent aims to track engagement with its new tool, Numblr.

  • To Sell Products, Brands Go On A Roll

    Hendrick's Gin reaches the terminus of a cross-country voyage this month, but it wasn't the only one crowding the roadways this year.

  • Modeling On A Mission

    This month, two small-market fashion week events are aiming to counter the industry's often-shallow image.

  • Standing Up To The Dangers Of Sitting Down

    Get off your butt! We asked leading "sitting disease" experts when to stand at work and when to take a load off.

  • Your Company Name Goes Here

    One of the largest deals, for the New York Giants and Jets' MetLife Stadium, was $400 million over 25 years. Now cash-strapped cities want in. Here, some recent deals:

  • Fast-Food Sellers Go Upmarket And Others Come Down

    As fast-food chains go upscale, full-service restaurants, in an effort to attract younger crowds, are making grab-and-go food.

  • What Ever Happened To Predictability?

    Think you can predict the future? Good luck. In his new book The Signal and the Noise, statistician Nate Silver--who called the 2008 presidential election with near perfection--says to question your faith in many trusted prediction methods.

  • Selling Chick Flicks To Guys, And Guy Flicks To Girls

    Allow us to generalize: Girls love Twilight, and boys love toy cars. So will this month’s launch of a line of toy cars based on the Twilight films sell?

  • Intimate Social Media

    For their final project, five New York University grad students created Listserve, a mailing list where members opt to receive one email a day from a randomly selected stranger.

  • Conference Calendar: October 2012

    Events you don't want to miss this month.

Next

  • Coor's Light Cold Reception

    MillerCoors knew that nothing distinguished its marquee beer from the competition. So it made something up.

  • Japan Powers On

    Japan powers on because the 2011 tsunami hobbled Japan's nuclear plants, the country has had to be resourceful to keep its lights on.

  • Schooling Cyberninjas

    Got a knack for hacking and a desire to save the world? The NSA has a college program just for you.

  • Pocket Butler

    How services for the "Money is no object" crowd could ultimately serve the smartphone-wielding masses.

  • Life After Siri

    Riding high after the success of Siri, SRI is getting back to business as unusual.

  • Beefing Up

    With 1,000+ stores and 2012 revenue projected to top $1 billion, Five Guys stands atop the "better burger" pile. But other shops have new ideas--and are climbing.

  • Screen Passes

    The Tennessee Titans go big so fans don't go home.

  • Dash For The Cash

    An endurance-race organizer put its raucous events under a microscope. What it found were more ways to make money.

  • Progress Report: A Car That Flies

    Project: Terrafugia's Transition Aircraft

Columns

  • In Praise of F2F

    The mobile-fueled communications revolution has been amazing, says Baratunde Thurston, except for one major casualty: real, messy, face-to-face conversation.

Fast Talk

From the Editor

  • The Pinterest Effect

    While the business press is carping about weak economic growth, consumers are spending at a reasonable clip. So does the public know something the pundits don't? Or are regular people deluding themselves about their future?

  • Top Of The Class

    In addition to its original four partners, Coursera will now offer courses from professors at 12 additional universities.

  • Silicon South Bronx

    Majora Carter, founder of the not-for-profit Sustainable South Bronx and one of 2010's 100 Most Creative People in Business, continues to innovate north of Manhattan.