Author Archives: Simone

Fiction Challenging Reality

By Simone | Published: September 3, 2011

This morning I came across a fascinating piece investigating the present state and future potential of prosthetics: This video was created by the Eyeborg Project and was commissioned by Equare Enix to promote their new game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which follows Adam Jenson, an essentially transhuman character with some enviable prosthetics. While the Eyeborg Project, the character of [...]

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Gaming Relationships

By Simone | Published: August 10, 2011

I have often seen people reference the process of securing a significant other as a game, but rarely have I seen actual relationships presented as game-like exchanges. To me, it seems as though the thrill is in the chase, and once a couple settles, things get dull and boring. Perhaps that’s a major problem that needs to [...]

Posted in Practices, Products | 2 Comments

Brave New World Audio Recording

By Simone | Published: August 6, 2011

One of my favorite science fiction books of all time is Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. The novel describes a ‘dystopian’ future in which humans are vat grown and conditioned to function perfectly within a set strata of society with perfect, blissful happiness.  Everyone lives and looks as though they’re seventeen until the day [...]

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Efficiency-Boosting Tech & the End of Boredom

By Simone | Published: July 10, 2011

I was watching this video on Tesco’s smart idea of making it possible for people to buy groceries on their phones while waiting for trains… … when it hit me just how much modern tech enables us to maximize every second of our lives. This Friday night, for example, I found myself stranded for an [...]

Posted in Practices, Present | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Mexican Pointy Boots and Modern Pelts

By Simone | Published: April 16, 2011

While I’ve fallen down the gamification rabbit hole and have spent the past month and a half studying game mechanics and funware instead of blogging, I still have an eye out for fun new trends and the like. One of my favorites is the Mexican pointy boots trend.  About two years ago now, a bunch [...]

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Is the Singularity Going Mainstream?

By Simone | Published: March 13, 2011

The technological singularity is without a doubt a major point of focus for many futurists who believe in the world-changing breakthrough will come to pass.  Though I am accustomed to encountering the term “singularity” only in science fiction, I have noticed it popping up in the media more and more. One example of the singularity [...]

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Today's & Tomorrow's Trend Spotting Tools Belong to the Masses

By Simone | Published: March 12, 2011

I wrote a couple weeks back about a shift in the trend spotting industry.  In so many words, I think we are shifting away from referring to designated experts when it comes to trends and moving toward a democratized world of trend spotting and analysis. I pointed out that much of this is made possible [...]

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The New Era of Trend Spotting

By Simone | Published: January 27, 2011

I have had trouble writing about the trend spotting industry lately because while researching it over the past year, I learned that “coolhunters” have generally morphed in to “trend spotters” which have evolved into trend analysis agencies, which are now generally becoming full-service consultancies that simply incorporate trend spotting into their overall offering, be it [...]

Posted in TREND SPOTTING / COOLHUNTING | 1 Comment

La Carmina & the Pirates

By Simone | Published: January 3, 2011

Three months ago, blogger/author/journalist/TV host La Carmina and Japanese-English translator Naomi Rubin launched a new business: La Carmina and the Pirates, which is configured not only to provide cool hunting and trend spotting services, but also TV and film fixing, on-camera hosting, social media assistance, translating, and travel-guiding.  Right as the company launched, La Carmina and Naomi graciously [...]

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Food Trend Alert: Hot Pot Cooking at Home

By Simone | Published: December 29, 2010

Hey, kids.  Just because I’ve been a bit silent on the blog front doesn’t mean I haven’t been researching.  More is coming down the chutes soon, but for the time being, I thought I’d toss out some fun thoughts on a potential food trend: in-home hot pot cooking.  Mmmmm.  Steamy. The photo above originates from [...]

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