Centives

Alison Griswold looked at how a start up’s name can affect its success:

• According to researchers startups with fewer than four words in their name are 50% more likely to succeed than those with long names.
• Short names in general seem to lead to success. People with shorter names usually have higher salaries.
• For firms short names can be sharp and memorable, leaving a lasting impression on customers.
• New companies are also fond of intentional misspellings with dropped vowels and the addition of ‘ly’ to the end of names – such words do well in search engine results.

See how the region that a company is from can affect its success, and read more over here.

Source: Slate

While Spiderman is a Marvel Comics character, Sony Pictures has long held the film rights for the hero, preventing him from appearing in Marvel movies . That’s about to change write Marc Graser and Brent Lang:

• Marvel and Sony have come to an agreement which will allow for Spiderman to show up in Marvel movies.
• This could mean that web slinger may make an appearance in future Avengers installments, as well as cameo appearances in other Marvel movies.
• Sony agreed that it wouldn’t make a dime from Spiderman’s appearances in Marvel films – the publicity and exposure for the character will be payment enough.
• Andrew Garfield will be recast, and a new, younger Spiderman to return the character to his high school roots will be found.

Read details about the agreement here.

Source: Variety

Sean Hollister believes that we’ll soon live in a world where digital screens have replaced mirrors:

• On cars dashboard cameras can provide a much better view of what’s behind the driver than side or rear view mirrors.
• In bathrooms a digital mirror could help men shave by zooming in on their stubble.
• Those who apply makeup may prefer digital mirrors that can provide advice and feedback as they make adjustments.
• Digital mirrors could show a person what they look like in different outfits before they put them on.
• Also? We’re all just sort of used to it, but real mirrors reverse everything when we look at them. Future generations may find that unacceptable as digital mirrors will be able to eliminate the effect.

See some photos that show why cameras are superior to mirrors, and read other parts of the argument here.

Source: Gizmodo

Los Angeles has the worst congestion in all of America. The Economist took a look at how this changes purchasing incentives:

• Becker Automotive Design builds customized vans that give LA’s elite ways to kill time as they wait in traffic.
• Features include flat screen televisions, touch-screen computers, wireless internet, seats for a family, and even bathrooms.
• One fitness obsessed customer wanted a stationary bike nailed to the floor so that they could work out in traffic.
• The cars are decadently luxurious on the inside, but look dull on the outside so as not to attract the attention of fans – as the traffic would make it impossible to get away from them.
• The basic model costs $150,000, and the cost can go as high as $500,000 for armour which is popular with Middle Eastern and African customers.

Read more about the vehicles, and other famous clients here.

Source: The Economist

American President Barack Obama has requested $5 million in his budget to develop a 6^th generation fighter plane. Patrick Tucker looked into what features it may have:

• BAE systems has released some concepts for future planes, including one that can 3-D print replacement parts for itself mid-air, and another that can split up into multiple planes to carry out specialized tasks such as surveillance and battle in a war zone.
• The air force may want lasers on the plane since lasers could theoretically be better and more cost effective at shooting down multiple small drones than conventional weapons.
• The plane may also carry its own drones which it can deploy and act as a mother ship to.
• There’s a chance the plane won’t have a human pilot. They’re heavy, make mistakes, and complicate plane design.
• While the plane will be fast it won’t try to break speed records, since a warplane won’t realistically be able to outrun a missile. Instead any extra power could be used to drive the plethora of onboard sensors that are expected on the jet.

Read about the cognitive electromagnetic weapons the fighters will feature, why stealth won’t be a high priority, and more over here.

Source: Defense One

Oreos are popular. Svati Kirsten Narula looked at just how popular:

• $3.28 billion worth of Oreos were sold in 2014. This is triple the amount made by the next highest selling cookie in the world.
• Their popularity is in part due to the cookie’s versatility. Deep fried Oreos are now fairly common at state fairs, and sports stadiums are experimenting with Oreo churros.
• There are a myriad ways of eating them too – from twisting them apart, to dipping them in milk, to licking the cream off.
• The company behind them has a smart social media strategy. There are more people who like Oreos on Facebook than there are people who like Starbucks.
• Its makers dares to experiment. You can get Red Velvet Oreos, white fudge ones, peanut butter cup ones, cool mint ones, and even root beer ones.
• They also tailor to local tastes. In China you can get green tea Oreos and in Mexico there is a “Trio Chocolate” version that has the standard crème filling, and then different creams lining each of the cookies.

See some charts that show just how completely Oreo dominates the cookie category, how it’s growth has climbed over time, and read more details here.

Source: Quartz

Bourree Lam looked at the humdrum of waiting in line:

• Americans spend about 37 billion hours waiting in line every year.
• Some have come up with ideas to get rid of queues. One involves allowing giving the last person first priority. Eventually those at the back of the queue would leave, killing the line.
• Most try alternate strategies. To make waiting in line bearable shops sometimes offer free Wi-Fi, or perhaps have impulse buys by the cashier so buyers can continue to shop as they wait.
• Some places want to encourage lines. Seeing a queue of patrons outside a restaurant, for example, can boost its reputation.
• Behavioural science has shown that waiting in line can actually make people value things more because it leads people to think that the wait was “worth it”.
• You could also always just pay somebody to wait in line for you. Though you may provoke revolt among your would-be queueing companions.

Read more about lines, why economists hate them, and why Chipotle has too many of them over here.

Source: The Atlantic

Bradley Berman took a look at technologies that could help prevent motor accidents with cyclists:

• Jaguar is using sensors embedded in the car to use lights, sounds, and a set of vibrations that feel like a tap on the shoulder to let a driver know if a bicycle is approaching.
• The company is also looking into making the door handle vibrate if somebody is about to open the door in the path of an oncoming cyclist.
• Volvo uses “Cyclist Detection” technology to automatically brake if a collision with a bicycle is imminent.
• Volvo is also experimenting with analyzing data from Strava, a popular bicycle app. If an accident is predicted then both the cyclist and driver are informed through a helmet flash and a heads up display warning.
• Ford is developing a custom sensor for bikes to analyze their pitch, yaw, and other performance statistics. It could then use this data to see where crashes most frequently take place and encourage cities to introduce bike lanes or speed limits in those areas.

Read more about the technologies you may soon see in your cars and bikes, and why they won’t be that expensive here.

Source: readwrite

The United States government is looking into purchasing a new set of Boeing 747-8s to serve as the President’s personal jet: Air Force One. Marcus Weisgerber looked into some of the iimportant factors that had to be considered before the decision:

• A new Presidential jet can only be bought by a President in their second term since the political uproar over a President buying a jet for themselves in their first term would be massive.
• Hence President Eisenhower bought planes that President Kennedy got to use, and the current Presidential planes were bought by President Reagan and first used by the first President Bush.
• The second President Bush tried to buy new planes in his second term but disagreements over what to purchase meant that the project was pushed back.
• Since a plane can only really be bought by a two-term President, it’s imperative that the government replaces the ageing planes now since it could be decades before another President gets two terms again.
• The government could have bought the smaller two engine 777 to be the President’s air-limousine, but the sheer size of the 747 makes a political statement and ensures that the American President’s plane stands out wherever they go
• The extra engines on the 747 can also help power all the bells and whistles that a Presidential plane get.
• These features include the ability to refuel mid-air, a walk-in refrigerator, and missile evasion capabilities.
• The decision to buy new planes seems to be driven by the fact that the current planes that serve as Air Force One are no longer in production, thus making it incredibly difficult to find spare parts.

The full article has many more details, talks about some of the other features that the future Air Force One will have, why there are disagreements over whether to get two or three planes, and why the even more massive Airbus A380 was never a contender. Read it here.

Source: Defense One