Welcome to this 78th 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 week from Montreal, Canada. This is what I noticed these past couple of weeks, thank you for sharing this newsletter with those who look into the future.
Estelle.
Competitive Intelligence
About social listening ( in French). A tool for measuring the number of people in a crowd of different area and density. A tool tool focused to enumeration and capture of website files metadata. Backlink discovery. Find finds other sites belonging to the same owner or company. Bot The Flag to point it at any Tweet, analyse the bios of everyone who’s ‘liked’ the Tweet in question, pulling out data on flags. Discmaster lets you sift through 11 terabytes of CD-ROM and floppy disk archives.
Strategic blindspots
Looking at the familiar with “alien eyes” allows you to unlock new business model opportunities while avoiding risks stemming from strategic blindspots.
Mapping the world's real estate bubbles. What if Apple made an e-bike? Submarine cable map. ‘Pay-to-play’ galleries. Building Your Personal Brand Has Its Drawbacks. This Below-the-Radar Niche Is Self Storage’s Hotter Cousin. The World Risk Report.
Our future
How Deere plans to build a world of fully autonomous farming by 2030. The prison of trends. Why 'Human Upgrading' Is The Ultimate Luxury . 2022 Report: Trust in Technology. Is the race to invent new particles pointless? The rush for semiconductors students. Everything dies, including information. Top food trends 2023. What CEOs talked about in Q3/2022. Microsoft report reveals new trends, productivity paranoia, in the hybrid work era. By assessing metrics of innovation, interest, investment, and adoption, McKinsey has prioritized 40 technologies into 14 leading trends.
We keep you updated on those trends and more on Twitter.
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?
Cybertruck Will Double as a Boat. Would You Swim with a Robot Dolphin? Boots launches new symbol to identify menopause-friendly products. Swarming bees may potentially change the weather. Have you clicked with a 35mm camera? Redesigning school yards. ‘Sleeping Assistants’ Are Talking Chinese Insomniacs to Sleep. Rare nickel sells for $4.2M at auction. Investors Watch Alternative Data After China Delays GDP Release.
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 investigated The Good Country Index, which “ measures what countries contribute to the world outside their own borders
On our radar
I have been following for a while the rise of alternative data. As I am preparing a keynote discussion on strategic blindspots for young executives in the banking industry next month, these links come handy as the financial industry is adapting credit score calculations to the economic situation: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac to use alternative credit scores. Equifax announced it would begin including utility, cable and telecommunications payment data in credit reports sent to mortgage companies. Can Your Netflix or Xbox Accounts Help You to Get a Mortgage? Fannie Mae launches pilot program to include on-time rent payments in credit reports. Human behaviour intelligence driving next-gen credit decisions. Uils wants to lend LatAm’s rideshare drivers cash based on their driving record.
Hodgepodge discovery
Articles for curious minds and the polymaths
Recovering Hidden Texts. Inside the proton. Une brève histoire du clavier. The Secret Lives of Leonardo da Vinci. The emojis of the 19th Century. Counting Happiness . Neuroscience explains why you're afraid of the dark.
I like new words, this week I discovered: Umarells.
Feeling good
The massive umbrellas in Medina Haram Piazza. Nightdrive. Migrating birds. The clip interrogator.
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