How To Avoid Spilling Coffee

May 6, 2012 in Daily Bulletin

At a fluid dynamics conference two researchers noticed that conference-goers had significant amounts of trouble preventing their drinks from spilling. Seeing as this was a fluids dynamics conference this struck them as somewhat ironic, writes Jon Cartwright, and inspired the two to research how best to avoid spilling coffee. Their findings include:

  • The researchers asked experiment participants to walk at different speeds with a full mug of coffee in their hands, in a laboratory that was specially equipped with cameras designed to track the sloshing of the liquid.
  • They found that mugs have natural frequencies that are related to a person’s leg movements as they walk.
  • The research suggests that individuals should leave a gap of about one centimeter between the top of the liquid and the top of the mug to avoid spills.
  • The most effective way to avoid spills is to watch your coffee as you walk – that almost guarantees no spills.

To read about the technologies that coffee mug manufacturers could employ to make their mugs more spill resistant, why they probably won’t, some of the limitations of the study, the “Nobel” prize that they might win, and more details about how the study was conducted, click here.

Source: Science Magazine

The Angolan Miracle

May 6, 2012 in Daily Bulletin

The BBC discussed the current state of Angola:

  • Angola’s civil war ended ten years ago and this year the economy is on track to grow by 8%.
  • A $100 million investment project will mean that Angola will receive high-speed 4G services before most of the West
  • The local Porsche dealer is struggling to keep up with demand.

To read many more interesting facts including the still high rates of poverty, click here.

Source: BBC News

The Secrets Of McDonald’s

May 5, 2012 in Daily Bulletin

McDonald’s has left its competitors in the dust. What explains the transformation of a chain that has traditionally been associated with unhealthy food in a time of increasing health awareness? Keith O’Brien discusses:

  • By one estimate McDonald’s has 17% of the fast food market – almost as much as the next four (Subway, Starbucks, Burger King, and Wendy) put together.
  • The average McDonald’s restaurant in the United States has $2.6 million in sales.
  • In 2011 sales were double that of the industry’s projected growth.
  • Sales of the Big Mac role 10% last year.
  • McDonald’s advertising budget is estimated to be $2 billion – by far the largest in the United States.
  • McDonald’s now sells more chicken than beef – a nutritional transformation that has helped improve its image.
  • Drinks, driven by the McCafé, are now a $9 billion a year business for McDonald’s.
  • McDonald’s current President started off cooking French Fries in the night shift. She is a mother and has tried to leverage that to connect with mother bloggers.

To read more about how McDonald’s relates to Ikea, the McDonald’s channel, the location that epitomizes everything about McDonald’s new strategy, the successful twitter strategy that turned into a debacle, and the ironic green award that the company won, click here.

Source: New York Times

The Travel History Of The Queen Of England

May 5, 2012 in Daily Bulletin

The current Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II, is probably the most well-travelled monarchy in history writes Cordelia Hebblethwaite. But what stands out is the countries that she hasn’t visited:

  • The Queen’s husband is from Greece but she has never visited the country as a queen due to Greece’s complicated history with her husband’s family.
  • The Queen has not visited Israel due to political tensions involved with the legitimacy of Jerusalem as capital of Israel.
  • She has visited only two countries in Latin America and while that will probably soon expand she is unlikely to visit Argentina because of the tensions created by the Falklands war.

To read other examples, why she has never visited Egypt, what it means for the Queen to visit a country, the people who plan these visits, and the places she chooses to go to during her holidays, click here.

Source: BBC News

The Most Expensive Nannies In The World

May 4, 2012 in Daily Bulletin

When Adam Davidson wanted to find a nanny for his children he wondered if his child would benefit if he hired a nanny that was more expensive than the $15 that the standard nanny charged. What he found surprised him:

  • One elite nanny in New York City had a salary of $180,000 a year. Her $3,000 a month apartment on Central Park was also paid for by her employers, and she earned a Christmas bonus.
  • To make this much money a nanny must be willing to be available 24/7. The rich people who hire such nannies are paying so that they don’t have to worry about their children’s care, which means that the nanny can’t have other plans.
  • Other ways that a nanny can improve her market value include being able to speak another language such as French or Mandarin. Skills such as being able to wash a horse, steer a yacht, and manage an art gallery are also valued.
  • Some rich families want their kids to start networking early – and one way that they can have their children play with other affluent children is by hiring an elite nanny who has other elite nanny contacts who work for high profile families.

To read more about one of these nannies, whether we should compare the pricing of nannies to wine or to an auto tune-up, and why scientists haven’t conducted studies on the effectiveness of nannies who receive more pay, click here.

Source: New York Times

What Is The Most Shop-Lifted Food?

May 4, 2012 in Daily Bulletin

Ben Popken discussed the results of the WorldWide Shrinkage Survey. Some highlights include:

  • Cheese is the most shop-lifted food in the world.
  • However a lot of the cheese is likely being stolen for resale to other places such as restaurants and markets.
  • Cheese is easy to steal because it comes in small packages. It is also difficult to trace once you remove the label.
  • Other popular items for shop lifters include meat, candy, and infant formula.

To read the lengths that one store owner went to, to protect his cheese, as well as more about what shop-lifters like to carry, click here.

Source: The Consumerist

The End Of The Rhino?

May 1, 2012 in Daily Bulletin

We might see Rhinos go extinct in our lifetimes write David Randall and Jonathan Owen. Highlights of their report include:

  • Rhinos could go extinct as soon as 2025.
  • This is because Rhino poaching has sharply increased. In 2007 13 Rhinos were killed. In 2012 the world is on track to see 600 Rhinos killed.
  • There could be as few as 11,000 Rhinos left in the world.
  • The poaching is happening because of the high demand for Rhino horns for Chinese medicine and jewelry.
  • The price of Rhino horn is £40,000 a kilo – more than gold.
  • Countries have been using automated drones and sonar devices to detect poachers.

To read more about the role that arms and humans trafficking plays in the problem, the elephants that are also being killed, and why a military solution might be the only option, click here.

Source: The Independent

Dating The Avengers

May 1, 2012 in Editorial

There came a day, a day unlike any other… when Earth’s mightiest heroes found themselves united against a common threat… to fight the foes no single superhero could withstand… on that day, The Avengers were born. – Nick Fury

But even the mightiest superheroes need partners that will stand by them. Centives decided to take a look at these leading ladies. We ran Google searches on the superheroes and their partners and analyzed the ratio of partner search results to hero search results. They are summarized in Read the rest of this entry →

Mr. Potato Head And Pester Power

April 30, 2012 in Daily Bulletin

Jon Kelly took a look at adverts designed specifically to appeal to children, and the popularity of one toy in particular:

  • 60 years ago Mr. Potato Head was the first ever toy to be marketed on television to children instead of their parents. It was a revolutionary idea at the time.
  • The original Mr. Potato head did not have a potato body – kids were to use a real potato. The potato body didn’t come until a decade later.
  • In the wake of anti-smoking campaigns the pipe was dropped from Mr. Potato Head toy sets in 1986.
  • Advertizing toys to kids has become widespread and this has led to complaints from parents that toy manufacturers rely on “pester power” or the “nag factor” where adverts try to convince children to nag their parents for the things they see on television.
  • The toy makers say that they act responsibly, especially since their most effective ads draw children into a fantasy world, rather than those that get children to nag their parents.

To read more about the advertizement that depicted cartoon characters being led to a butcher’s shop, what the Mothers’ Union has to say about it, when Mr. Potato Head found Mrs. Potato Head, how effective the advertising campaign was, and the person who invented the toy, click here.

Source: BBC

What It Takes To Join The Billion Dollar Club

April 30, 2012 in Daily Bulletin

With Instagram being valued by Facebook at $1 billion, Patrick Moran took a look at what it took to start your own billion dollar company:

  • To be valued at a billion the conventional wisdom is that it must have revenue of around $100 million.
  • However the market seems to be willing to tolerate lower annual revenue if the revenue is growing and recurring.
  • Recurring revenue is easiest in the world of software where the “Software as a Service” model is becoming dominant.
  • In Software as a Service customers pay a periodic (weekly/monthly/annual) fee for a service rather than pay a high up-front cost. The aim is to lock your customers into long term contracts.
  • A growth rate of 20% is healthy. A churn – the rate at which you lose customers – of about 2% is acceptable.

To read more details about these requirements, why it’s important to get Instagram out of your mind, what Oracle, Microsoft, and IBM have yet to get, and the importance of paying top dollar for sales and marketing, click here.

Source: TechCrunch