Carrotmob is a Web 2.0-empowered, open community that promotes social responsibility in a clever fun way. Initiated in California they invite company’s of all kinds – though the most illustrative examples come from retail shops – to behave more social responsible and environmental friendly. The process is guided by the Carrot-mob coaches. If things have worked out fine as a reward – the carrot – www.carrotmob.org invites all their members to go shopping and eating at the now more responsible and environmentally and sane place. Because the carrot mob is often big they can negotiate a better price at the same time.

www.Zopa.com is the first social finance company. Since 2005 it pioneers a way for people to lend and borrow directly amongst each other online. Mission of http://www.zopa.com: giving people around the world the power to help themselves financially at the same time that they help others. Right now http://www.zopa.com is taking off. In Italy, Japan, UK and US to start with.

Shanghai Tang is evolving in China’s first top luxury brand. Soon China will not only be the country where all commodities are produced. It will also be the country where the new luxury goods come from: FRESH and INNOVATIVE Chinese luxury goods and brands are on the rise.

Massimo Voltolina started practising sport only when he was 30. He trains without following rigid schedules: he simply “listens to his body”. At the age of 43 Massimo Voltolina is one of the two Italians that has swam from France to England across the Channel. He is now getting ready for his next adventure: crossing the Adriatic sea.

Xerox introduces Ink that uses ultraviolet light and regular surrounding heat to vanish. By using this ink you can recycle the paper as many as 30 times. As soon as the printing is finished, special molecules begin reacting to the warmth in the surrounding air and gradually let the ink disappear. The technology, which will not be commercially available for several years, will reduce the amount of energy required to print a single page by a factor of 200.

Candles, make-up, sex toys and condoms – what do they have in common? They can provide little pleasures in a great manner – while, often, staying at home. Therefore they can lift up a recession-clever evening at home into, if you are lucky and in the mood, a peak experience.

Sharing costs is becoming an increasingly popular concept. Fractional ownership allows people to enjoy many benefits at a reduced price. It works in many areas. There is fractional aircraft ownership, fractional art ownership (www.artvest.com). actually there is partial ownership all over: cars, racehorses and restaurants. Sharing has never been so hip. Thanks to rise of online social networking, people are sharing just about everything from carpooling duties to their living rooms. 

Conversation is of all times. However, do not underestimate Melbourne today! On any given Friday night you’ll find pods of conversation in some pretty unusual places; Bobby’s Cuts is a tragically cool men’s clothing store selling middle-range skinny black jeans, stripy shirts, hoodies and some masculine ephemera like shaving kits. It’s an epicentre for Melbourne’s ‘young men’ - the new breed of hipsters with a rougher tougher manly edge. On Friday nights, instead of going to the pub as they used to do six months ago, you’ll find a clique of about 10 guys and girls sitting out the front of the street on milk crates having good conversation.

We know Africa as the garbage dump of the Western world. Literally. Western companies pay African countries loads of money to import their garbage. Cars that are not allowed to ride the European roads anymore are massively shipped to Africa. What is not good enough for us, is good enough for them. 
Africans make the best of our stuff and try to recycle as much as possible. This recycling has reached a new peak with the assembly of a functioning four-seater helicopter. It was made from old car parts and parts from a crashed 747. It was built by a 24-year old undergraduate student who got his information solely from the internet, in just eight months time. 

Nokia has rolled out its own stores over that last year and a half, called Experience Centers. But there’s a twist: the 25 Experience Centers around the country aren’t there to sell in the first place. Instead the Experience Centers serve as resources for current customers to learn more about the phones already in their pockets- about one-third of the world’s buyers last year - and prospective customers to demo and scout before future purchases.

This unofficial Israeli group specializes in not taking anything too serious. Ever thriving on creativity, the group was formed a few years back, and has been active ever since in organizing humorous events, parties, and other “puzzling” occasions - from an annual Water War taking place during the hot Tel Aviv summer, to other events such as a demonstration against passion fruit. Passers-by react with anything from confusion to delight. The majority is quite entertained.

With more households in which both partners work, it’s tough for families to coordinate vacation schedules, and weakening job security is making employees reluctant to leave for long. As gas prices and travel costs soar, people are sticking to domestic trips. Many are opting to stay close to home, rediscovering delights in their own backyard.

As middle-class property like cars, computers and phones become more accessible to society’s have-nots, distinctions between the first and third world will grow increasingly murky. The following innovations will help tip the balance: the cheap mobile phone (15 euros) reaching out to 1 billion new owners. The cheap laptop (under 150 euros) accessible to a wide population of poor children and schools - in Libya, Uruguay, Rwanda and Peru. The cheap Tata Motor car Nano (1800 euros) that will lead to a 65% growth of car owners in India to start with. 

Shan Zhai Ji(山寨机), or ‘bandit cell phone’, refers to cell phones manufactured by unauthorized or small-scale factories often located on the South East Coast of China. They usually copy the designs and the functions of branded cell phones and sell it for a much lower price. In fact, Shan Zhai Ji appeared years ago, but starts to gain huge attention only recently. Although at first glance Shan Zhai Ji seems to be vulgar and sometimes ‘out-dated’, compared to Apple, Nokia and the other big names, Shan Zhai Ji is actually considered cool with future growth potential, especially amongst the edgy part of Chinese youth.