Welcome to this 99th issue of our newsletter “Weak Signals and other Trends”. Each week, I sift through hundreds of sources of inspiration to track where we’re heading. If you are a new subscriber to this newsletter, take the time to send me a note and introduce yourself, I love to understand who is reading.
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I am sending this newsletter this Friday from Charlevoix in Quebec, Canada. This is what I noticed this week, thank you for sharing with those who look into the future.
Estelle.
Competitive Intelligence
why perception matters for dataviz accuracy. Creative axes. The Open Secret of Google Search. How to test Google products and features in Labs. How and for what purpose to guess a password by its hash. A browser-based library that claims to be able to visualize up to 1 million nodes, more than a million edges
We have scheduled the dates for 2023 for our courses. “Advanced Search Techniques for Competitive and Customer Intelligence” will be offered on June 5, 2023. Registrations are now open.
Strategic blindspots
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots.
Bill Cohan delves into a real estate crisis. Dow said it was recycling our shoes. Ikea Is Holding Raves As Part of New Customer Experience. Gen Z Funemployment and Rebranded Pensions. To fight teacher shortages, states are launching free apprenticeships. Dupe swap. One in 5 young people in Chinese cities are out of work. The Line Is Blurring Between Remote Workers and Tourists. Underground Tangle of German Wires Drags $1 Trillion Green Push.
Our future
The FAA, the US aviation regulator, published a position paper on ‘flying cars’. The World Work Index report. Letter from Utopia. The Future of Writing Is a Lot Like Hip-Hop. Future space food could be made from astronaut breath. How To Be Paranoid. Sanctuary rolls out Phoenix, a Carbon-based humanoid AI labor robot. Geographic Arbitrage. How a Wayward Arctic Current Could Cool the Climate in Europe .
We keep you updated on those trends and more on Twitter. I wanted to thank my colleague Mitch Joel for some of those links this week.
Weak signals
Weak signals are indicators of a change, a trend or an emerging risk that might become significant for the future. They allow us to run hypothesis, expand our thinking, and challenge assumptions. How will you interpret those in your industry or field of expertise?
Target is letting parents return entire wardrobes. Amazon offers US shoppers $10 to pick up purchases as it targets delivery costs. The fantastical queer world of nisu. An influencer agency is offering people $1,000 to scroll TikTok for 10 hours straight. Lego releases 2,650-piece Pac-Man arcade cabinet. UFOs halt airport traffic in Taiwan and Turkey. Wendy’s tests underground robots for mobile order pickup. Amazon is seeking to patent “statistical techniques” for detecting sensitive data. AI girlfriend.
Down the rabbit hole
This section highlights a subject that lead me to many useful threads, or a single site, that opened many doors: “A rabbit hole is not a distraction. A rabbit hole is your brain trying to tell you to pay attention to something you’re curious about. Ignore algorithmic rabbit holes” ( by are.na)
This week, I discovered an article that kept me awake at night: How a Disaster Expert Prepares for the Worst.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths
Three lessons from Aristotle on friendship. Coloured patches in communication.The fantastical world of nisu. Distress versus eustress. How passive ‘face time’ affects perceptions of employees. Why thunder has different sounds. The paradox of effort. Seven key inventions that changed the world. The glass cliff. How to become a centaur.
Numbers
77%- AI companions can make small talk and help with fall detection for the 77% of Americans who want to age at home.
1/5- Parking lots are about one-fifth of all land in U.S. city centers.
62%- Children Today 62% Less Likely To Play Out Than Baby Boomer Grandparents
1- The world will add 1 billion air conditioners before 2030
Feeling good
Color codes for the royals. The Spanish groves. The language of the cockpit. Where are the sharks?
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