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There are a lot of roads just sitting there in the sun, doing nothing with all that energy. Why not use them to collect it? Introducing the Solar Roadway, a road built out of solar panels.  The road is made of three parts: a hard-wearing translucent top-layer with the solar cells, LED lights (for road markings) and a heating element (to keep off snow and ice); an electronics layer to control lighting and communications; and a base plate layer that distributes power to nearby homes and businesses (and perhaps electric vehicle charging stations). Plus, there’s a channel at the edge to collect and filter run-off water (including anti-freeze and other chemicals that normally leeches into the ground).  More…

There are a lot of roads just sitting there in the sun, doing nothing with all that energy. Why not use them to collect it? Introducing the Solar Roadway, a road built out of solar panels. 

The road is made of three parts: a hard-wearing translucent top-layer with the solar cells, LED lights (for road markings) and a heating element (to keep off snow and ice); an electronics layer to control lighting and communications; and a base plate layer that distributes power to nearby homes and businesses (and perhaps electric vehicle charging stations). Plus, there’s a channel at the edge to collect and filter run-off water (including anti-freeze and other chemicals that normally leeches into the ground). 

More…

Does wealth lead to innovation? Our list finds that median household income doesn’t determine startup success. Why? “There is a reasonable hypothesis that areas that are fertile for startups are fertile at a point in time, such as Detroit in the 1890s,” says Ed Glaeser, Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard. “Startups come, they succeed, and then it becomes progressively less friendly as the area becomes wealthier. A few dominant firms emerge and they eventually end up pushing out startups. Areas then have to find a way to reinvent themselves.”

Does wealth lead to innovation? Our list finds that median household income doesn’t determine startup success.

Why? “There is a reasonable hypothesis that areas that are fertile for startups are fertile at a point in time, such as Detroit in the 1890s,” says Ed Glaeser, Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard. “Startups come, they succeed, and then it becomes progressively less friendly as the area becomes wealthier. A few dominant firms emerge and they eventually end up pushing out startups. Areas then have to find a way to reinvent themselves.”

Inside the making of Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Taco Since it launched in early 2012, Taco Bell has sold more than 450 million Doritos Locos Tacos. But its creation started back in 2009 with a trip to Home Depot. To show executives how the companies could fuse the flavor of Doritos with taco shells, the dev teams “basically went out to Home Depot to buy a paint-spray gun, and then sprayed [Doritos] flavoring onto our existing yellow corn tacos,” recalls Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed. “It was pretty funny watching people from behind glass spraying our tacos with a paint gun. But it was enough for us to know conceptually that we had a big idea.” In order to create the DLT, the teams had to consider everything from seasoning mechanics to the taco’s structural integrity throughout 2010 and 2011. “Frito-Lay wanted what’s called a ‘teeth-rattling crunch,’ so they wanted it to snap and crunch more than the current Taco Bell shell snaps and crunches,” Creed says. “So we had to get that formula changed, then we had to find a way to deliver the flavoring, and then the seasoning. I mean, it was actually important that we left the orange dusting on your fingers because otherwise, we’re not delivering the genuine Doritos [experience].” Keep reading…

Inside the making of Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Taco

Since it launched in early 2012, Taco Bell has sold more than 450 million Doritos Locos Tacos.

But its creation started back in 2009 with a trip to Home Depot. To show executives how the companies could fuse the flavor of Doritos with taco shells, the dev teams “basically went out to Home Depot to buy a paint-spray gun, and then sprayed [Doritos] flavoring onto our existing yellow corn tacos,” recalls Taco Bell CEO Greg Creed.

“It was pretty funny watching people from behind glass spraying our tacos with a paint gun. But it was enough for us to know conceptually that we had a big idea.”

In order to create the DLT, the teams had to consider everything from seasoning mechanics to the taco’s structural integrity throughout 2010 and 2011. “Frito-Lay wanted what’s called a ‘teeth-rattling crunch,’ so they wanted it to snap and crunch more than the current Taco Bell shell snaps and crunches,” Creed says. “So we had to get that formula changed, then we had to find a way to deliver the flavoring, and then the seasoning. I mean, it was actually important that we left the orange dusting on your fingers because otherwise, we’re not delivering the genuine Doritos [experience].”

Keep reading…

Jawbone, maker of the UP activity monitoring wristband, announced today that it will acquire BodyMedia to bolster its efforts in the wearable technology space. The UP device currently tracks more than a billion steps and 610,000 hours of sleep every day, but the acquisition of BodyMedia, a company which has been doing similar work in the space since 1999, will open the company up to a swath of new data. Just how much data? Its monitors have collected more than 500 trillion body sensor data points.  More…

Jawbone, maker of the UP activity monitoring wristband, announced today that it will acquire BodyMedia to bolster its efforts in the wearable technology space.

The UP device currently tracks more than a billion steps and 610,000 hours of sleep every day, but the acquisition of BodyMedia, a company which has been doing similar work in the space since 1999, will open the company up to a swath of new data. Just how much data? Its monitors have collected more than 500 trillion body sensor data points. 

More…

Fab.com, the fastest growing e-commerce site on the web, wants to develop original products, and is asking designers and students to submit their ideas. 

Despite Fab’s ongoing success as a third-party retailer, the company is looking to pivot once again, away from the flash sale model and toward developing Fab as a design brand. The ultimate goal, according to co-founder Bradford Shellhammer, is to become “the world’s alternative to Amazon and Wal-Mart.”

The competition will serve as a testing ground for Shellhammer’s ideas about co-creating products with designers. Want to submit your stuff? Have a look at some of Fab’s other previous products.

The Holy Trinity Of Startup Success: Purpose, Culture, Reward Management consultants would have you believe that making a ham sandwich requires a PhD. But building a successful business can actually be boiled down to 3 pretty basic concepts. Author and entrepreneur Trevor Blake maintains that the key to having a successful working environment is a combination of purpose, fun, and sharing rewards. Read the story here.

The Holy Trinity Of Startup Success: Purpose, Culture, Reward

Management consultants would have you believe that making a ham sandwich requires a PhD. But building a successful business can actually be boiled down to 3 pretty basic concepts.

Author and entrepreneur Trevor Blake maintains that the key to having a successful working environment is a combination of purpose, fun, and sharing rewards.

Read the story here.

Let Marissa Mayer Do Her Job “People are looking at you as a role model as well, looking at you as an example,” Savannah Guthrie told Marissa Mayer on the Today Show. “Has that been difficult to deal with?” Looking slightly flustered, Mayer repeated a response she had given to a previous question about her age: “Again, I haven’t spent a lot of time looking at it or even thinking about it. I’ve really been focusing on the products and what we need to do.” It’s understandable that Guthrie took an opportunity to ask that rare bird, the female CEO of a large tech company, questions about her unusual situation. But it’s also understandable why Mayer consistently returns boiler-plate responses to such inquiries. Responding to them could send her down a rabbit hole that runs deep: What’s her opinion of stay-at-home mothers? What’s she doing about the income disparity between women and men? Should paid maternity leave be mandatory? How is she supporting women in the developing world? Will she be lobbying for this bill that creates better work conditions for women this year? And when can we expect her book about women in the workplace and the subsequent dates on a speaking tour? Mayer’s male peers at big technology companies—Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates—aren’t bothered with this line of questioning. (“Mr. Jobs, is it difficult to be seen as a role model for men?” Sounds wrong, doesn’t it?) And it’s not just because they’re men. It’s because they’re busy running companies.

Let Marissa Mayer Do Her Job

“People are looking at you as a role model as well, looking at you as an example,” Savannah Guthrie told Marissa Mayer on the Today Show. “Has that been difficult to deal with?”

Looking slightly flustered, Mayer repeated a response she had given to a previous question about her age: “Again, I haven’t spent a lot of time looking at it or even thinking about it. I’ve really been focusing on the products and what we need to do.”

It’s understandable that Guthrie took an opportunity to ask that rare bird, the female CEO of a large tech company, questions about her unusual situation. But it’s also understandable why Mayer consistently returns boiler-plate responses to such inquiries. Responding to them could send her down a rabbit hole that runs deep:

What’s her opinion of stay-at-home mothers?

What’s she doing about the income disparity between women and men?

Should paid maternity leave be mandatory?

How is she supporting women in the developing world?

Will she be lobbying for this bill that creates better work conditions for women this year?

And when can we expect her book about women in the workplace and the subsequent dates on a speaking tour?

Mayer’s male peers at big technology companies—Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates—aren’t bothered with this line of questioning. (“Mr. Jobs, is it difficult to be seen as a role model for men?” Sounds wrong, doesn’t it?) And it’s not just because they’re men. It’s because they’re busy running companies.