Boyfriend Arm Pillow Ladies! Sick of sleeping alone? Lost all hope of meeting Mr Right? Why not settle for Mr Right Now? (Or at least his left arm.) Thanks to the good folks at Japanese bed linen maker Kameo Corporation, headquartered in the sleepy city of Fukuoka, you can now doze off on your very own…
An Aussie swimming coach sells training secrets to the Chinese and it hits the front pages of the tabloids. Fair enough. But our precious intellectual property has been flowing the wrong way for generations. Rowan Gilmore contemplates a troubling epidemic. The Olympics may be a distant memory, but we still keep our favourite recollections. One…
If it’s true that necessity is the mother of invention, I never want to get in a car with either Bernhard Mattes or Gottfried Flik behind the wheel. Mattes and Flik are the proud authors of US Patent 6784792, a “Method and device for recognition of a collision with a pedestrian” (issued August 2004). That’s…
BI-GOODNESS is a bi-monthly column dedicated to the quirky, generally funny and often dangerously impractical inventions and business concepts that occasionally come our way. It is a tribute to the one-eyed entrepreneur, the nutty professor and dot-com jockey in each of us. If you’re like me, there’s a reasonably good chance you haven’t worn a…
Yes, the combination of bugs, electricity and the Australian way has always brought pleasure and pain to the Christmas season. That’s why we have chosen to honour US patent 5107620, the electrified table-cloth as our Bi-Goodness this February, as we meander back to work, with fond memories of backyards, BBQs and buzzing flies.
It’s probably fair to assume that when Lionel Richie sang “Dancing on the ceiling”, he was on an altogether different trip to William A. Calderwood of Peoria, Arizona, author of US patent 4888836 (1989) – “Lighter-than-air furniture”.
BI-GOODNESS is a bi-monthly column dedicated to the quirky, generally funny and often dangerously impractical inventions and business concepts that occasionally come our way. It is a tribute to the one-eyed entrepreneur, the nutty professor and dotcom jockey in each of us. There are many benefits to getting old. Wisdom, adult progeny, comfortable clothes. In…
BI-GOODNESS is a bi-monthly column dedicated to the quirky, generally funny and often dangerously impractical inventions and business concepts that occasionally come our way. It is a tribute to the one-eyed entrepreneur, the nutty professor and dotcom jockey in each of us. Shakespeare might have been talking sex when he wrote that alcohol “provokes the…
It’s time to reach beyond the wayward solitary invention of a wayward solitary inventor to embrace an entire conceptual school of wayward invention: the artful Japanese science of Chindogu.
Inventors are lone wolf types, too often misunderstood and under-appreciated. So is it any wonder that their inventions sometimes reflect their sense of isolation and defiant self-reliance? It speaks to the credo: ingenuity conquers all (love is overrated).
Illustration: Sam Griffin BI-GOODNESS is a bi-monthly column dedicated to the quirky, generally funny and often dangerously impractical inventions and business concepts that occasionally come our way. It is a tribute to the one-eyed entrepreneur, the nutty professor and dotcom jockey in each of us. US Patent 7,051,371, filed in August 2003 Beachwear has come…
“Innovation” is a woolly beast. It has many disguises and aliases. To get face-to-face and down and dirty with innovation is no mean feat.
BI-GOODNESS is a bi-monthly column dedicated to the quirky, generally funny and often dangerously impractical inventions and business concepts that occasionally come our way. It is a tribute to the one-eyed entrepreneur, the nutty professor and dotcom jockey in each of us. In this virtual world where expert Xbox gamers gain B-grade celebrity while swathes…
One of the great misconceptions about patents is that they can only be obtained on an invention of a tangible item. However, patents can also be obtained for how a business function is performed, provided certain criteria are met. These patents are known as “business method patents”.
Illustration by Sam Griffin Are you under the pump at work? A soothing massage could be just the ticket, if only you could find the time. What if you could take matters into your own hands (or, hand)? Well thanks to a flash of inspiration by Brent Gunnon from Washington state, USA, now anyone can…
The path from start-up to success story can be a challenging journey. These two Victorian innovators are taking the path less travelled, turning good ideas into profitable international businesses, and they’re not looking back!
Before he abandoned his palaces for a hole and then a cell, Saddam Hussein had a reputation for being a bit of an adrenaline junky. And it wasn’t just his penchant for torture, public executions and foreign conquest. Reportedly, he liked to unwind by spending a day fishing with mates. They would sail out to…
Before he abandoned his palaces for a hole and then a cell, Saddam Hussein had a reputation for being a bit of an adrenaline junky. And it wasn’t just his penchant for torture, public executions and foreign conquest. Reportedly, he liked to unwind by spending a day fishing with mates. They would sail out to…
BI-GOODNESS is a bi-monthly column dedicated to the quirky, generally funny and often dangerously impractical inventions and business concepts that occasionally come our way. It is a tribute to the one-eyed entrepreneur, the nutty professor and dotcom jockey in each of us.
As the person responsible for commercialising all new technologies emanating from the Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisation, Nigel Poole knows all about transforming ideas into companies. From where he sits, Australia’s so-called “commercialisation gap” is receding, with seed investment culture and managerial experience the keys. He’s a busy man with busy ideas and a penetrating vision for Australia’s future as a knowledge nation.
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