Happy Nuke Day!

Here's a fun little ditty to put a smile on your face right before the holidays. This Google Maps Mash-up shows you how much damage various types of nuclear weapon blasts would do in your neighborhood. But it won't tell you if you can survive the blast by hiding in a 1940's fridge.

There's Hope for the Music Industry! And it's not Nickleback.

Israeli computer scientist Yuval Shavitt has developed an algorithm for the web that predicts which songs will become chart-topping hits. It monitors p2p file-sharing sites like Gnutella to see which songs are being passed around most frequently. Mr Shavitt has already begun working with record labels and says they've had a 30-50% success rate in identifying which early recording will become commercial successes.

I think this is a pretty good idea. For one thing it might help get more innovative songs airplay because risk-averse labels have more confidence in their potential. Maybe you've noticed, but in recent years labels have relied on traditional market research to choose releases and that means they pass over songs that are risky, raw and creative. This, unfortunately, means we get to listen to Nickleback over and over again on the radio.

And perhaps a bigger positive about this software is that it might eventually kill labels off altogether. Instead of licensing this to labels, Mr. Shavitt should let the public use it (subscription or ad-based revenue model) so we can know which songs are the most-shared and most popular. Then, who needs a label at all?

Ideas are Everywhere

A dip in this Tokyo pool looks fun. Perhaps a local entreprenuer might see this and wonder if there's a market opportunity for a new pool.

Ideas are everywhere, keep your eyes open and you'll see them.

Scary Technology Plays your Thoughts as Images

According to the US Science Journal, Japanese researchers have found a way to stick sensors on your head and project images you're thinking of onto a monitor. In other words READ. YOUR. MIND.

As a market researcher I'm intrigued, but as a human I'm tempted to run off and live the remainder of my years alone in a Ted Kaczynski cabin complete with the wirey beard and flannel shirt. Here's a summary from the Pink Tentacle.

Researchers from Japan’s ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories have developed new brain analysis technology that can reconstruct the images inside a person’s mind and display them on a computer monitor, it was announced on December 11. According to the researchers, further development of the technology may soon make it possible to view other people’s dreams while they sleep.

The scientists were able to reconstruct various images viewed by a person by analyzing changes in their cerebral blood flow. Using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine, the researchers first mapped the blood flow changes that occurred in the cerebral visual cortex as subjects viewed various images held in front of their eyes. Subjects were shown 400 random 10 x 10 pixel black-and-white images for a period of 12 seconds each. While the fMRI machine monitored the changes in brain activity, a computer crunched the data and learned to associate the various changes in brain activity with the different image designs.

Then, when the test subjects were shown a completely new set of images, such as the letters N-E-U-R-O-N, the system was able to reconstruct and display what the test subjects were viewing based solely on their brain activity. For now, the system is only able to reproduce simple black-and-white images. But Dr. Kang Cheng, a researcher from the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, suggests that improving the measurement accuracy will make it possible to reproduce images in color.

“These results are a breakthrough in terms of understanding brain activity,” says Dr. Cheng. “In as little as 10 years, advances in this field of research may make it possible to read a person’s thoughts with some degree of accuracy.”

The researchers suggest a future version of this technology could be applied in the fields of art and design — particularly if it becomes possible to quickly and accurately access images existing inside an artist’s head. The technology might also lead to new treatments for conditions such as psychiatric disorders involving hallucinations, by providing doctors a direct window into the mind of the patient.

ATR chief researcher Yukiyasu Kamitani says, “This technology can also be applied to senses other than vision. In the future, it may also become possible to read feelings and complicated emotional states.” The research results appear in the December 11 issue of US science journal Neuron.

Smart Janitors are Smarter than Dumb Doctors

This chart shows the mean IQ score by profession (sorry, marketers are not broken out specifically but it does mention "Managers").

I guess this is confirmation that I made the right choice by not going to Sexton School. It's also interesting to see the top percentiles of janitors have the same IQ as the bottom quartile of MDs.

It's not on the list but I bet "Shamoo Trainers" would have the highest mean IQ. I mean, you're pretty smart if you recognize just how sweet that job is.

=sum(ACDC:MSExcel)

The viral marketing concepts that work are the ones that surprise you. I bet never in your life would you associate AC/DC with Microsoft Excel but, well, there it is. AC/DC's new video from their new album as run through macros in Excel. I'm sure this was Angus' idea. He seems like a real Excel jockey.

Is Your Business Ready for its Close-Up?

Technology is a lens that helps us see trends, culture and groups of people on a micro rather than a macro level. We can now subscribe to a Podcast about Madisonian Constitutionalism that someone in Toledo makes in her basement. We can join a web forum called "Boomer Quilters against Drunk Drivers". We can peek at the latest work from an artist who specializes in making portraits out of Jelly Belly's.

Although these are somewhat extreme examples, all are extremely niche ideas. Business has gone increasingly niche over the past 10 years too. Here are two examples of just how focused some businesses are:

BoxCycle is a San Francisco start-up that helps you find cardboard boxes. If you've ever needed boxes to move, you know what a pain it is to either pay a fortune for them or go box scavenging behind retail stores. BoxCycle lets retailers with extra boxes list them on its site so you can pick them up either for free or paid.

Element Bars lets energy bar consumers custom design their own energy bars online. You can make it chewy, crispy, "oaty", with nuts, with dates, with cherries, with extra protein, with extra vitamin D etc.

Both of these business are targeting a very specific type of customer with a very focused product. This approach is becoming a core competitive advantage by essentially eliminating any competition.