Group Mentality
Filmmakers, musicians and entrepreneurs are taking group funding to the next level

Crowdfunding … sure, you’ve heard of it, but have you heard that it’s working? Almost half (46 percent) of funds seekers on Kickstarter.com in 2011 actually convinced people—primarily perfect strangers—to pay for their creative endeavors. Kickstarter raised just under $100 million in pledges last year, bringing to fruition 12,000 projects, primarily in film, music, design and art. The trend has fans in Washington, too. The Entrepreneur [...]

BlackBerry Turnaround?
RIM is facing an onslaught of issues as it struggles to right itself—but there are some surprising signs that the company will evolve with the market

Since last fall, when millions of BlackBerry owners were unable to send or receive emails or messages for several days, the drone of negative buzz surrounding Research in Motion (RIM) has grown to a roar. The cries of detractors reached such a fevered pitch that co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis [...]

Bonjour from America
Some U.S. business interests are packing their bags for France

With the grand opening of Le Huffington Post creating waves around the Web (Arianna Huffington made the provocative choice of Anne Sinclair, journo wife of embattled ex–IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, to oversee it), it seems an opportune time to look at other businesses making an entrée into Français. In the fall, not one but two e-readers entered the French market: the U.S. giant Amazon Kindle and its [...]

Why We’re Fat
Scientists are giving us new ways of looking at fat, and they’re not pretty

After watching waistlines expand throughout the U.S. and France over the past three decades, we warned that 2012 would be the year that global “fat phobia” takes hold. That’s not an altogether bad thing: Our hyper-awareness, even fear, of flab may have finally slowed its spread in the U.S., where obesity rates appear to be stabilizing at last. Childhood obesity gets the bulk [...]

Love in the Time of Passwords
There’s a new source of peer pressure on the block as teens in love share their passwords

Coughing up the password to an email address or social media site is the newest test of young love. With this top-secret data in hand, modern high school sweethearts scour one another’s exchanges for clues about faithfulness—often storing ammunition for post-breakup warfare while they’re at it. Adults, too, grapple with the issue of disclosing passwords to [...]

Fits and Fresh Starts
Technology startups must be nimble or they’ll go quick

Not so long ago, the founders of Fab.com were glumly coming to grips with the public’s apathy toward Fabulis, their first online effort. But instead of tucking their tails between their legs, the men went on to create a serious success story with Fab.com (which saw 175,000 users and $60,000 in sales on the very day it launched—and is now at 1.7 million members and nearly $50 [...]

Stolen Tweets
A recent rash of account hackings are ticking off celebs and begging the question: How secure is Twitter?

Newly single Ashton Kutcher tweeted about sleeping over with a girlfriend; the Huffington Post tweeted its affection for the New York Post; “Modern Family”’s Eric Stonestreet tweeted about miracle diet pills; and singer Nicole Scherzinger tweeted her support of Ron Paul, as did bands No Doubt and Rise Against. If any of these tweets left you scratching your head, it’s [...]

Mother’s New Little Helpers
More moms are relying on medication for a good night’s sleep

Always a hot topic, the problem of insomnia factored heavily in our 2011 American Audit—it turns out people are carrying the problems of their days into their (sleepless and worry-filled) nights. In the U.K., too, one in three is plagued by sleep problems, now the most widely reported mental disorder. Mothers, it seems, are particularly vulnerable to slumber issues these days. They’re sleep deprived [...]

The Millennial Commitment Blues
Employers, biz owners—and marketers—are still trying to get a grasp on just what Gen Y wants

Might Millennials be the most perplexing—and intriguing—demographic group ever? Made up of 18- to 34-year-olds, they’re bound by few commonalities; one being a fondness for social media and another, an overarching fear of commitment. This commitment issue is big news these days, as scorned bosses, lovers and advertisers everywhere ponder what went wrong. Some of the most common things Gen [...]

Bickering Over Bikes
As the number of urban bicyclists grows, something else is increasing in tandem: controversy

Biking: a boon to the environment or urban nuisance on wheels? It depends on whom you ask. Turns out that the growing number of bicyclists in cities around the world are subject to a bit of a backlash—call it a “backpedal.” And nowhere are the complaints more loudly heard than in New York City (natch). In the Big Apple, bikers have [...]