Category: Business

Impact Lab > Business
Analysis, Business, Science & Technology News

How Target knows when it’s shoppers are pregnant

target

Target tries to hook parents-to-be at that crucial moment.

You share intimate details about your consumption patterns with retailers every time you go shopping. And many of those retailers are studying those details to figure out what you like, what you need, and which coupons are most likely to make you happy. For example, Target has figured out how to data-mine its way into your womb, to figure out whether you have a baby on the way long before you need to start buying diapers.

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Big Problems, Business, Health & Fitness, Latest Trend

Counterfeit drugs becoming big business around the world

counterfeit drugs

American authorities are afraid more counterfeits will find their way into this country, putting patients’ lives at risk.

New fears are raised that the multibillion-dollar drug-counterfeiting trade is increasingly making inroads in the U.S. after the discovery that a fake version of the widely used cancer medicine Avastin is circulating in the United State.s

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Analysis, Business, Great Videos, Internet, Science & Technology News

Facebook has a reputation problem: poll

Facebook is used by nearly 850 million people each month and roughly 480 million people use it every day. With a user rate like that and an upcoming $75 to $100 billion initial public offering, one might think Facebook is not only a highly visible company, but also one of Corporate America’s most reputable.

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Business, Global Warming, Green Friendly, New Viewpoints

How to start your own hybrid car rental company

Ali_of_simply_hybrid_with_honda_hybrid_civic_2012

Ali Salman of Simply Hybrids

In 2007, Ali Salman was a Vice President of Marketing at Beverly Hills Rent-A-Car in LA. He was becoming dismayed at how dirty the beaches were and how smoggy the skyline was near his home in Orange County. He began to get upset and thought someone should do something to improve the water and air quality in southern California. He then remembered the Chinese proverb: “it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.”

He took that message to heart and decided to open up his own green business, a car rental company called Simply Hybrids. Five years later, business is booming and growing at an annual rate of 26%. TreeHugger spoke with Mr. Salman about his hybrid car rental business and how he got to where he is today…

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Business, Internet, Science & Technology News

MySpace signs up 1 million new users in a month

myspace

Chris Vanderhook, left, and Tim Vanderhook, right, at Myspace headquarters in Beverly Hills.

It may be too soon to tell if MySpace can become culturally relevant again.  But, Tim and Chris Vanderhook, the two young investors who bought the faded social networking site from News Corp. in June 2011 now have some semi-solid reason to hope.

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Analysis, Business, Economy, Latest Trend, top 10

Top 10 fastest growing jobs in the U.S.

vet

6th fastest-growing job in the U.S. is veterinary technologists & technicians

In January, the economy added nearly 250,000 jobs, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg. The economy is expected to add more than 20 million jobs by 2020, a 14.3% increase from 2010 in the number of people employed, according to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many of these jobs will be focused in a few key industries.

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Breakthrough Thinking, Business, Current Events, Economy, Historical Perspectives, Money Talk

Crowdtilt Launches To Become The “Kickstarter For Any Group”

crowd567890

Kickstarter has spawned a whole new generation of funding potential.

Inherently, we like doing things in groups, as it makes our experiences more social. It’s not about what we’re doing so much as who we’re doing it with that makes our experiences enjoyable. Group messaging took off two years ago, overrunning SXSW, as a better way to keep groups of people engaged; Kickstarter has grown like a week thanks to the power of the crowd lending legs to fledgling projects that need quick capital to get off the ground.

A new startup launching today called Crowdtilt is taking a page out of Kickstarter’s book, riffing on “crowdfunding,” but instead choosing to call itself “groupfunding” or a “Kickstarter for groups of friends.”

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Analysis, Breakthrough Thinking, Business, Latest Trend, New Viewpoints, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News

Dismantling of our Power Industry Infrastructure

Futurist-Thomas-Frey-at-US-Dept-of-Energy-Event-with-Matt-Wald

Photo of me demonstrating an unuual thermoelectric generator
with NY Times Correspondent Matthew Wald

Futurist Thomas Frey: On Wednesday I was invited to speak on a panel at the 2012 National Electricity Forum, an event sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, in Washington DC.

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Business, government, Science & Technology News

Cable companies lobby FCC to increase your bill and limit competition

cableproviders

Currently cable companies must deliver broadcast channels in a way that enables tuners to display those channels without any extra hardware.

Cable companies are suffering from flat and declining cable TV subscription numbers.  So now cable companies are lobbying the FCC to force every cable subscriber to rent cable boxes or cable cards even if they don’t want or need them now.

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Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.