Innovative Social Idea: Soccer Ball & Washing Machine Rolled into One

Posted: Monday 8 Feb 2010, under category Ideas

Doing the laundry can be hard work in many developing countries, where people must cover large distances to reach sources of water, carrying the clothes with them. The "Swirl", developed by the German Designaffairs Studio is designed to help people in such places do their laundry. As you will have understood from the picture, it is a ball in which one can put the clothes to be washed, and while children play with it the clothes get washed. A simple but effective way of combining a chore with fun.

So, mothers can load clothes into the swirl, roll it to the water source and fill it, and then let their kids have a go playing with it. Beyond its practical purposes, the Swirl's designers also envisage a social role for their creation: "Swirl aims to enhance a social cultural relationship between women and children, making washing a fun and easy experience. The spherical design allows it to become a playful object which stimulates the user´s imagination on how to play with it. With Swirl doing the laundry becomes easier and fun with just a few steps."

Tip: Inhabitots

Find Free Stuff around You

Posted: Friday 5 Feb 2010, under category Ideas

As a young man who has moved around a lot from apartment to apartment, always trying to avoid buying any furniture and other stuff for each house, I am constantly on the lookout for free stuff. i have even given away my share of stuff - chairs,a couch, an old laptop - when I didn't need it anymore and wanted to get rid of it. Yoink.com is a website with goal of facilating such exchanges.

Using the site you can search for free stuff by item or by location (it's geo-localized). They have even launched a free iPhone app this week so you can check for nearby free stuff on the go wherever you are. It's very simple and easy to use, and completely free.

In fact, looking at the site, I am at a loss to see how the venture, done by Bonobo Labs, makes any money, it seems completely non-for-profit, which would fit with the spirit of such a project. At the moment, seeing as Yoink is fairly new, there is not much stuff listed, but after it grows up a bit this could turn out to be quite an interesting idea.

TV Content with Synchronized Internet Links

Posted: Thursday 4 Feb 2010, under category Ideas

"Bellyvision" is the term for the growing trend of people who surf the interent on their laptops while sitting on the couch watching TV. It's easy enought to image that television and the internet will become more and more integrated in the years to come, and the newly launched Tellylinks.com hopes to cash in on this phenomenon. The idea works like this: while people watch TV the service delivers web links that are relevant to the what is happening in the TV program.

Tellylinks.com launched yesterday on Channel Five in the UK, providing hundreds of links synchronized with what was happening on the show "Numb3rs" which was being broadcast. The venture is the idea of Jeff Henry, the former ITV senior executive, who says of his idea that it "takes full advantage of two-screen entertainment. There will be a period of years where such services will supplement TV viewing, before true convergence with interactive TV where we will also develop a service. This is an editorial play, it is like an Apple iPhone app for the television."

Tellylinks plans on making its money from advertising based on the content that is proposed to users, though it promises never to have more than one ad every fthree minutes.

I can't really decide how much I like this idea, I guess I would have to try it out. Moving TV in a more interactive direction is certainly interesting. Maybe one of our U.K. readers can give us a firsthand account of Tellylinks service?

TLTDI Interviews Muhammad Yunus

Posted: Wednesday 3 Feb 2010, under category Talking Points

Muhammad Yunus, the inventor of microcredit, was in Milan yesterday to give a talk, and he was generous enough to grant Toolazytodoit some of his time to give some advice and insights about entrepreneurship:

Muhammad Yunus: where to focus your entrepreneurship and where to find the money from the lazy guy on Vimeo.

Special thanks to our ace reporter Laura Zanotti.

Green, Fold-away High Chairs Made of Cardboard

Posted: Tuesday 2 Feb 2010, under category Ideas

Here's a great new product for parents, useful, cheap and even green as added bonus. The Australian company Belkiz has designed the "feedaway", a high chair made entirely from recyclable cardboard. It folds up flat and is light (weighing about 1 kilo), safe, and easy to assemble, and so is perfect for travelling and use away from home.

The chair is designed to last through approximately 30 assemblies, and then be recycled. It retails for 39.95 AUD, which would be about 35 U.S. dollars or 25 Euro, at current exchange rates. It is currently only distrubuted in Australia, so this could be an opportunity for American or European entrepreneurs looking for a partner.

Tip: Springwise

Too Lazy To Do It, Live!

Posted: Tuesday 2 Feb 2010, under category Talking Points

We want to invite you all to the first ever Too Lazy To Do It Bar Camp, for an evening full of
fun and ideas. Come find us in an excellent location, the Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti (NABA) in Milan, during the "white night of web design." For those of you who are in Milan, we hope to see you there.

Thursday, February 4th, from 21:30 to 23:00 in via Darwin, Milan.

http://www.duepunto1.it/

Find and List Interesting Things to Do

Posted: Friday 29 Jan 2010, under category Ideas

Ooh.com is cool new website that serves as a free global notice board for activities of all kinds, such as trips, classes, events and vacations. The site is completely free, and there are no restrictions on who can list things, whether they be individuals or companies. A lister can even take bookings and payments for their event directly through the site.

The best thing about Ooh.com however is how easy and fun it is to browse. You can find all kinds of strange and interesting things to do, and as the site grows there will be even more opportunities. It's useful both for the city you live in - you'll discover all kinds of things you wouldn't have heard of otherwise - and for a city that you're visiting, as you can find some unique and authentic activities outside of the normal tourist stuff.

If it takes off the site will also obviously be a great opportunity for entrepreneurs, as a free way to publicize your business's events. For the moment though I am checking out this igloo building and reindeer tour in Sweden...

Tip: Iddictive

Sticking Around #11

Posted: Thursday 28 Jan 2010, under category Talking Points