 Staples Inc. is the first office supply retailer to start offering 3D printers for sale to consumers...the model offered is a 2nd gen Cube 3D printer, available in iPod like colors (see pic). It sells for a George Washington under $1300, and right now has free shipping. Some cool features include ability to print in a choices of 16 self-proclaimed "vibrant" colors, it comes with 25 designs and allows you to print plastic models in recyclable ABS or compostable PLA (polylactic acid type that is biodegradable) in sizes up to 5.5" x 5.5" x 5.5" (hence the Cube name). It works right out of the box...and the Staples website offers a handful of accessories to fuel your new printing addiction, once you get started. Check out the Cube 3D Printer more at: http://www.staples.com/Cube-3D-Printers/product_SS2044291
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
Mahatma Gandhi
Here's a couple Boise State University related business links
Here's the First Half:
Today, Dr. Vincent Kituku of Kituku and Associates, gives a motivational business seminar called "Overcoming Buffaloes at Work and In Life". Dr. Kituku is known here locally for using his upbringing in Kenya and applying his learnings from his native culture to help people and businesses better themselves. There are two sessions, a morning one and an afternoon one.
Dr. Kituku has commissioned two former Bronco football players to speak at his uplifting event. Kellen Moore, now a quarterback on the Detroit LIons roster, is the keynote speaker and Doug Martin (a.k.a locally "The Muscle Hamster") of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is the guest speaker. But ya gotta be in Boise today to catch it!
For Moore ;) info, click on the link below:
For the Second Half:
Most people know Chris Petersen as "Coach Pete". As the current head coach of Boise State's football team, he has made a career out of winning (his 84-8 overall coaching record and 5-2 bowl record speaks for themself). He is the co-author of a new book entitled "Wise Beyond Your Field: How Creative Leaders Out Innovate to Out Perform." The other author is Nancy K. Napier "& The Gang"...Napier is a professor at the same college Coach Pete works.
From a newspaper book review, it sounds like Coach Pete and BSU is using innovative ways to help their players focus and to decrease boredom when educating and training the players. Expect to read about some principles that coach Pete drums into BSU's players in order to achieve excellence on a weekly and yearly basis!
Amazon's digital K (Kindle) version is only $2.99, less than the price of a polish dog at a chilly fall home opener...hardbacks run about $15 and can be bought at Amazon, Bronco stores or the BSU campus bookstore...
Here's a shout out to J.D. who turned 18 today! We love you and God Speed!
 For you swimsuit edition fans, I'm an SLA Model, not a Sports Illustrated Model!
Savor this link below, a robotic challenge for inventors
Nabisco challenges inventors to come up with the best way to separate the cookie from the cream on a, what else, Oreo cookie...Jeanne Moos from CNN reports:
I'm partial to the one using an exacto blade extension arm to slice off the cream from the cookie, which is held on the mini-Ferris Wheel...it just kind of looks cooler and not over engineered like the others!
 The Corkcicle's Second Unintended Benefit - Maybe will keep wine from coming out of bottle after accidentally knocking over! Or maybe they just did a sideways product shot, so you can read the Corkcicle name easier on the product! Anyone remember the movie Johnny Dangerously? It was a breakout comedy film for Michael Keaton that came out nearly 30 years ago...and had some funny use of a foreign villian character, a Mr. Roman Moronie (played by Richard Dimitri), attempting his best attempt at English foul-mouthedness. Based on the vid clips available on YouTube, it looks like Roman Maronie's "Slip" Mahony-type expletives have become cult-like now on YouTube. The reason I mention this movie, is that there is a new product called the Corkcicle (pictured above). It is basically an icycle shaped cooling device, that one can place down the open neck of a wine bottle to keep it chilled without having to put back in the refrigerator. I'm kind of pressed for time on the review, so check out John J. Staughton's review of it on the inventor based website, InventorSpot. So what does the new Corkcicle wine chilling product have to do with the 1984 movie Johnny Dangerously? If you watch the YouTube video clip above, you'll find out...The new product name sounds like another word in Roman Moronie's repertoire, that he could have used to contiue his foul-mouthed rant... As in "You Fargin' Corkcicle!!"
I promise to do some more serious and in-depth new product reviews, just been real busy as of late!
 Coming This Fall - This is an Example of Some Excellent Design, Not Found Too Often These Days don't forget to take it for a visual test spin:
Toy consultant Shannon Eis demo's the 2012 Holiday Toys to David Letterman. Dave is up to his regular hijinx, including bashing Toy A into Toy B...then crashing Toy C (while personally riding) into the Late Night Christmas tree, as a segue to commercial.....The below video clipped out the first toy presented by Shannon, which is basic but kind of cool...they are called Robo Fish (you'll see on left of screen upon video start)...They are battery powered semi-realistic looking robotic fish...only downside is they run about $15 each ($19.99 on Toy R Us) and according to Shannon, have battery life of about 2 days... There's a buzz kill for Johnny or Suzie, come December 27th...
 Invention USA's Host Von What's His Name and Replacement Host Scotty Ziegler Ok...maybe i was a little tough on my review of co-host Garrett Lisi from Invention USA, when the show first aired a year ago on the History Channel...I gave him a hard time, as he seemed a little stiff on air, like acting wasn't his thing (thank god we can't all be reality stars).
But now..What?? He's gone?? Season 2 just kicked off with a new co-host, Scotty Ziegler, next to original host, what's his name Von Riegsen. So I guess I owe my first impressions of the new co-host from the first airing a couple nights ago. He seems like a cross between Guy Fieri and Billy Idol, and has an inverted color Joe Perry hair thing going on (black skunk band down the middle of whitish shockwave hair). It looks like he was brought in to amp things up, give it a dose of testosterone with some 5 hour energy drink to compete with other reality show offerings on their own channel or their nemesis, Discovery Channel. The bio for Ziegler on the History Channel's website, as well as his own (www.vaultsandiego.com) says he is an inventor, so I tried looking up his patents on the USPTO website. The one and only patent filing that popped up with his name listed as inventor, was a design patent for a new license plate and he was listed with 5 other co-inventors...It has a basic license plate cover design with a heart in the middle top, which doesn't really make innovation explode off the page. I'm guessing he did some design work on it for a company, and the company kindly added him due to his design contribution. History Channel's site says he owns "a slew of patents"...maybe I didn't find them because they fell under a different name than Scott Ziegler or Scotty Ziegler, which is all I tried searching under. Scotty seems more of a designer/artist than inventor, and from the looks of his website, a very good artist. I guess my beef is that the word inventor gets thrown around pretty loosely these days. Most independent inventors bear their unique badge of honor adorned with all the knocks and scrapes of trying to protect their idea while at the same time making their vision become reality.
Riegel Von whats his name, gets a makeup makeover...with newly darker-dyed brown hair and beard and some conservative clothes every now and then to offset his cool outback-style hat. He seems still a little stunned that his inventor buddy, Gilligan Lisi, is no longer on the show. And History Channel decided to change one of the hosts and start season 2 (six episodes I'm guessing, probably the second half of H.C's original 12 episode commitment) with no apparent explanation?..Is Garrett ok? Regarding the show, it seems basically like the same setup as Season 1. Except now, if only one of the hosts (instead of both) give approval for a new product idea, they will go forward trying to find a manufacturer to take the product to market. Episode one features the Trong (tongs for eating messy foods like chicken and barbequed ribs) and the RESQ Pod (a self preservation, cocoon-style pod for use in tsunami's or floods).. Again, the show seems to be featuring averagely innovative products with marketability problems. There may be a market for the product, it is just too small and not worth the initial large capital investment for a manufacturer to pursue.
Check out the new revamped show on History Channel http://www.history.com/shows/invention-usa or tune in for what they say is the Season Premiere tonight Wed, Nov. 28 at 10/9c, although the first episode just aired on Monday.
Also, check out my blog on the show from Season 1http://www.newproductconsultant.com/1/post/2011/12/invention-usa-not-ready-for-prime-time-products.html.
With the prez election finally over and Black Friday right around the corner, it's about time to start getting serious about shopping for Christmas 2012. The inside scoop says that the new Furby release from Hasbro is awesome!! Time to introduce a new generation of youngins born in the the new millenia to the craze of the late 90's... It is going for roughly $54 plus tax at retailers including Walmart, Target, K-Mart and Toys R Us...or go to Jeff Bezos' small little non-brick and mortar store called Amazon and get yours delivered to your door for FREE with Super Saver Shipping...and without tax if you're lucky enough to live in a state that Amazon doesn't do business or have a warehouse in. The new Furbys come in a lot of fun offerings with different colors and names...My personal fave is the (white) Yeti!
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