“NeighborFavor, a site that lets college students earn cash by helping each other with their shopping. Focusing primarily on fast food and grocery delivery, NeighborFavor lets college students see where their friends are going shopping and then request that one of them pick something up while they’re out. Along the way, they must indicate not just what they need and when they need the items, but also how much of a “tip” they’re willing to pay for that convenience. Once a neighbor has accepted the request and delivered the needed items, payments are made via PayPal and neighbors can rate each other’s performance. A 3-digit PIN is assigned to each favor to ensure that payments are made accurately as agreed.”

Filling The Void™ is about finding a solution when you can’t do, or get, what you really want. The Human Truth is: “It’s what I do to get by.”™ That’s a sentiment I remember very well from college days. NeighborFavor is plugging into the needs of students. It’s a company that helps them deal with what they lack, which is usually: time, food and money.

It’s a clever subscription service that sends the new (and probably overwhelmed) parents a pack of useful items at various stages of the child’s growth.

“Only items recommended by real parents get chosen for Citrus Lane boxes, the company says; no paid product placement is allowed. Each box features a theme appropriate for the child’s age. For example, when baby is one month old, Citrus Lane’s gift box focuses on welcoming baby home, while month eight is all about making dining out with a baby less stressful and more fun. Boxes start with newborns and go all the way up to when the baby is 18 months of age. Whatever the stage, each one includes four or five useful baby products that are top-rated by Citrus Lane’s community of parents along with parenting tips tailored to the child’s age and stage. Boxes are available in three, six or 12-month gift subscriptions for USD 25 per month or USD 250 per year.”

The thing is, I’ve been to new parents houses/apartments and no matter how organized they are, it always looks like a Toy’s R Us bomb has hit it. Well meaning friends and family inundate them with “stuff”.  The Human Truth™ of the Filling The Void™wave is: “It’s what I do to get by.”™ I think this is a great way to help overwrought couples “get by” in a way that brings true relevance and helpfulness to gift giving.  Parenthood aside, I think that’s something we are all looking for right now, relevance and helpfulness.

Really?  That seems like such a huge percentage!  I’m finding it hard to think of anyone I know that doesn’t have one!

Anyway, they were making the point that Macy’s was really smart for doing a “how-to” YouTube video explaining the program to less tech savvy customers.

They also made sure people could still participate in the program by texting.

The Human Truth™ of Filling The Void™ is: “It’s what I do to get by.”  The popularity of “How-to” videos is an indication that people are willing to seek out help and educate themselves.  Innovation and being “on trend” is very important, but so is making sure your customers are able to follow you.  If your great idea for new technology doesn’t have an easy to understand, step by step guide …then I would suggest you “fill that void”.

While it may be a gimmicky product, it’s one that actually has an audience. I remember a few years ago living in Japan and seeing about thirty types of tissues. Everything from luxury ones for colds to skin rejuvenating, which is partially why these don’t really phase me as bizarre. In fact, if you look at “the times” we’re in, I’d say tear absorbing tissues are a pretty great idea.

Customers bring in their gold, either in store or mail it in through their online program and wait for an assessment letter. Once the gold has been evaluated they are given an opportunity to accept or decline the offer.

What I find interesting here is that I felt as if the Cash 4 Gold commercials were a scam when I first saw them, and I know a lot of people still do. However, when the Tesco name is attached to the same service it’s taking the unknown stigma out of the mix and making this service not only more accessible but also acceptable.

There are entire television segments devoted to the game, and with the arrival of Starcraft II on the market, the theory of how addictive the game is has been brought up again. Which is why, in this study, they were looking at possible ways to treat an addiction to escapism. And it turns out they think they’ve found something. A dose of Bupropion, a heavy one might I add, has seemingly decreased a players desire to log on by around 35%.

Is it possible that aside from the video game and Internet addiction boot camps seen overseas that a new drug will be rolled on the market for gaming and online addictions? And beyond that, how long before it could hit stateside, after all we seem to love diagnosing every facet of our humanity, why not this?

The first phase would probably be getting people to admit they are addiction to a virtual space; which could prove difficult. But you never know, all that facebooking and tweeting may one day be slowed down not by willpower, but by medicine. Social media may become medicated media.

$8.25 gets you ten minutes of amazing, mind blowing, filthy………..gaming. With a girl.

The service is only for the Xbox 360 at the moment, so anyone want to take bets on how long it is before someone sets up achievements for this thing?

To me this seems like exactly what Jesse Schell at GDC 2010 was talking about. He fears for our culture because it sounds (and even feels like, in my humble opinion) that we’re hurtling towards a Brave New World scenario, one where our lives begin to be dictated by the scores and achievements set by corporations and companies. “The 21st century will be a war of attention,” he says.

“We will have to choose sides.”

UPDATE: Apparently the demand has been so high for this borderline prostitution that plays on the social insecurities and stereotypical desperation that gamers have been working so hard to rid themselves of that the service is currently unavailable.

He raps.

He does semi-cheesy rap songs that look like they’re created on Sony Vegas on his laptop at home. His lyrics are clever and laden with pop culture references, and the beats sound like they were produced on a Casio keyboard.

He’s also quarantined in a hospital room for antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis.

Many people would curl into a ball, cry, get depressed, demand more drugs-hell, any number of things other than create rap videos.

This guy has taken exactly what life has given him and made the most of it. So what, exactly, is stopping hospitals from fostering this kind of growth? Create hospital based YouTube channels for patient content- hospitals could actually create revenue based off of this. Make the program voluntary, obviously, and allow for a limited number of outlets- Maybe even some classes to learn how to do it yourself. It would not only promote disease awareness (and perhaps indirectly, disease prevention) but also create a better understanding of what people go through within the hospitals. It could be something as little as a video diary, or something as big as a rap video.

The technology is out there, and I’m sure there are people spending the day in bed, wishing there was something else for them to do. Why not embrace it? Why not invent an entire new way of coping and dealing with time at a hospital?

Here’s Christiaan’s video. Enjoy.

So what’s the solution?

If the plan goes through, The city of Detroit will bulldoze 1/4 of it’s roughly 139 square mile metropolitan area. The other interesting thing is that, since no new industry is breaking down their door to get in, it will most likely get turned into agricultural land. Detroit will go from being the Motor City to a larger farming community. This would change the face of Detroit, as well as open new avenues for other cities. Desolate and blighted areas would be seen as opportunities instead of urban failures and rotting carcasses.

As for the people, they would get moved to newer areas where the city can actually afford to police them and put out fires. They effectively get a new beginning in a place that isn’t so……dead.

The American mythos is the narrative of the individual. The words independence, liberty, personal freedom, and individualism come to mind when we characterize core American values. That is why that when we see people making drastic changes to their lifestyle due to economic realities we have to wander; are we witnessing a fundamental change in American culture?

A recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle reports on the growing trend of people deciding to find a roommate, rent a room or share space in order to cut costs and make ends meet.

Here are some statistics and facts from that article:

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey showed a jump in cohabiting in 2007, the most recent survey year. In California, the number of “family households” with a roommate stood at 228,500 in 2007, up 9.6 percent from 2006. In “nonfamily households,” 674,000 reported having roommates in 2007, a 9.4 percent increase from the previous year.

9.4% is nothing to scoff at!

Craigslist, the online classified ad giant, says that its roommate-wanted postings over the past 12 months are up 60 percent for the Bay Area, and up 85 percent within San Francisco.

We have heard the stories from our grandparents…6 kids in one bed…my grandfather claimed that his family was so poor that they had to sleep in their Cadillac…Groooaaan! But, this is happening in the here and now.

There is nothing insignificant about Americans giving up private space and independence just to get by. True, in other parts of the world people have become accustomed to living and crowded conditions, but here in America, even the carpool lane on the 405 is conspicuously empty.

Let’s face it; there is no prohibition like financial prohibition!

If the economy doesn’t turn around in the near future, most economists are becoming increasingly cynical these changes will be lasting. For better or worse our culture is re-examining itself. It is important to take stock of the many ways the recession is impacting the cultural landscape in order for us to understand the ways that our businesses and services must change to accommodate the needs of the new American lifestyle that is currently evolving.