Centives

Put down the razor and join the revolution. Beards are back writes Vanessa Gera:

• The norm for being clean-shaven is largely a result of ethos learnt during World War Two where soldiers were expected to shave.
• Counter-cultural groups such as hippies and hipsters have thus always been proud of the beards they sport.
• However after the financial crisis beards became more mainstream as people looked to get a fresh start on life by reinventing themselves.
• Actors, athletes, and the fashion elite of Paris are leading the way with the facial hair they’re sprouting.
• The general public is also encouraged to put down their razors through events like “Movember” where men grow beards and moustaches to raise awareness for men’s issues.
• They are this generation’s tattoos; if enough people adopt them, then society will likely go back to its razors and wait for the next big thing.

Read more here. And see our earlier coverage on how stubble is bankrupting the shaving industry here.

Source: Yahoo

Bottled beers were long associated with class and sophistication while cans were best left to the lower masses. This is no longer true writes Svati Kirsten Narula:

• Consumption of canned beers first rose during the depths of the financial panic as incomes dropped.
• Since then however craft brewers have driven the popularity of canned beers. Brewers like them because cans don’t let any light in or oxygen out, preserving the concoction.
• There used to be concerns about a metallic taste back when cans were made of tin and lead. Modern aluminum cans with water based polymer linings no longer have that issue.
• Cans are also more convenient: they are more often recycled, can be taken to venues such as sporting events where glass is banned, and are easier to manufacture.

Read about the beer that started it all, the role that marketing plays, and more over here.

Source: Quartz

Mini-bars: the epitome of everything that is wrong with the travel experience? Or the model that should really define it? Scott Mayerowitz writes that hotels seem to have concluded it is the latter:

• Hotels are now charging for things such as guaranteeing that you get a King sized bed (or two Queen sized ones), or for early check in.
• Receiving a package can add fees as can storing luggage in the lobby.
• Hotels make $2.25 billion in such fees, just 2% of revenue, but it’s basically pure profit.
• Resorts have even found a way to make minibars worse. In addition to charging you $5 for a coke, they may charge you a 20% “administrative fee” for using the service.
• Being smart and buying your own snacks to store in the fridge? You may well be charged for that as well.
• And overpriced snacks are no longer limited to a hidden cupboard. They’ll be strewn about the desks and drawers to tempt you.

Read other fees you may end up paying, how staff are becoming better at negotiations, and more over here.

Source: Yahoo

Belinda Lanks wrote about a restaurant that encourages diners to eat alone:

• In Amsterdam one man has launched a restaurant with only single seater tables.
• The idea of the restaurant is that having company takes away from patrons being able to truly appreciate their food.
• In keeping with this theme, the interior of the restaurant is raw and unfurnished to keep the focus on the food.
• For similar reasons the restaurant also doesn’t offer Wi-Fi.
• So that patrons aren’t bored waiting for their food alone, they are encouraged to read books while they wait.
• Four course meals costing $48, including a drink, are served.

Read more about the restaurant how it works, and where it might end up next over here.

Source: Businessweek

Via: Marginal Revolution

This is how it begins. Robot security guards may well soon be guarding our nuclear facilities. Soon Skynet will have everything in place…Rachel Metz wrote:

• Knightscope is a startup that is building a security robot called K5.
• The robocops are equipped with four cameras, license plate recognition ability, microphones, and a weather sensor that can monitor things such as carbon dioxide levels and ambient temperature.
• If they detect anomalous behaviour like somebody walking when or where they shouldn’t, it’ll let a remote security hub know.
• Its battery lasts a day, and the system is set to automatically recharge itself when required.
• While K5 isn’t armed, if somebody tries to detain it it’ll sound an ear-piercing alarm that will perhaps dissuade the assailant and alert human security to the problem.
• If a victim needs help they can tap the top of the robot to alert emergency personnel.
• There are several use cases for K5. It could be an escort on demand service for people on college campuses.
• Knightscope plans to charge $6.25 an hour for the robot’s services, or, roughly half the hourly wages that guards currently earn, in a bid to compete against them.

Read about the drone, how it works, why it’s still far from prime time, and more over here.

Source: MIT Technology Review

Qatar is running an online auction for special vehicle license plate numbers. Elysia Windrum reported on some of the more astounding numbers:

• Of the 19 license plate numbers being auctioned, number 333355 has attracted a bid for $55 million – and may go higher.
• To put things in perspective, one could purchase about 20 of the Bugatti cars depicted above for that amount.
• The BBC reports that the allure of an easy to remember number is such that in the past people have taken out loans to bid for appealing numbers.
• Qatar set a Guinness World Record in 2006 when it auctioned off the telephone number 666-6666 for $3.7 million.
• Winners of the license plate auction will have two days to pony up the cash or be fined $5,492.

Read about the auction, how it works, similar promotions and more over here.

Source: Doha News

Via: BBC

Uri Friedman took a look at the money being ponied up by the US in the fight against the group commonly known as ISIS:

• The first airstrikes against ISIS began roughly 100 days ago, and the US has spent about $800 million on the campaign.
• This comes out to $8 million a day, or $300,000 an hour to fight the extremist group in Iraq and Syria.
• This is a bargain compared to the $200 million a day that the US spent during its 13 year campaign in Afghanistan.
• Analysts note that if the US wants to destroy rather than merely degrade the terrorist group it will have to massively expand its military and financial commitment.

Read about the confusion over when the battle against ISIS truly began, different ISIS battle scenarios, and difficult questions facing the American government here.

Source: The Atlantic

Joe Pinsker wrote about a piece of financial art:

• An artist started a project where he trained rats to make predictions about the foreign exchange markets.
• Movements in the value of foreign currencies were translated into musical notes. Rats were then trained to predict the next musical note. If they got it correct they got a treat, if they got it wrong they got a minor shock.
• After a few months rats with low rates of accuracy were removed. The good predictors were then cross-bred to create offspring that turned out to be even better at making predictions.
• One second generation rodent trader had an accuracy rate of 57% – better than many of the world’s leading fund managers.
• The rats have their own (mock) corporate website and claim to be headquartered in the Cayman Islands.
• Those looking to find the nearest rat for instant riches should note that the rodents get tired after about 20 trades, severely limiting their use.
• Moreover this was an art, not a science project. It did not go through tests for statistical significance, or have its method scrutinized. The correlation is likely a coincidence.

Read more about why the rats may outperform humans, why this should be treated as satire, and what the artist thinks about it all over here.

Source: The Atlantic

Tim Fernholz wrote about some business research sponsored by DHL:

• The map above depicts the volume of phone calls between countries.
• The average international phone call travels over 4,000 km.
• The average person spends 152 minutes a year talking to somebody in a foreign country – up from 88 minutes in 2005.
• 7.7% of all international phone calls are from the US to Mexico and 3.2% are from the US to India.
• 41% of all calls go from developed countries to developing ones while just 9% go the other way.

Read more about popular non-US telephone connections, why this shows that the earth isn’t flat, and see an alternative depiction of the data above here.

Source: Quartz

Jun Hongo wrote about the latest service offered to residents of Tokyo:

• For a 10% service fee those in Tokyo can have a model or actress deliver their food to them.
• The service is intended for corporate customers who want to wow participants at seminars, galas, and other events.
• The models come from those signed up with a major talent agency in Japan. They will engage with customers and provide “polite and attentive service”.
• Orders must be placed three days in advance so that the deliverers have time to study and understand the menu.
• There is a $260 minimum.

Read more about the service, its inception, and how it works over here.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Via: Business Insider, Marginal Revolution