In today’s podcast for trendwatchers, Cathi Bond has more examples of the niche subscription trend we’ve been talking about. This time, it’s niche Brazilian bread (via PSFK). For more on niche subscriptions, check out Cathi’s story on Spark here.
Just in time for New Year’s resolutions, Nora Young points out Rajesh Shetty‘s Metrics that Matter. For inspiration, or a long dark night of the soul, check it out here and see how you’re doing going into a new year.
Meanwhile, Nora Young points to Gizmag’s piece on tiny robots called Kilobots that Harvard is making available for sale. Gizmag wondered whether it might be feasible for regular folks to get them. Nora thinks they might make a lovely Christmas present (hint, hint). Note: after we recorded this episode of The Sniffer, Gizmag updated their story, saying that they would sell for about $2,000 for 10 ‘bots. Pricey, but cool. On a more serious note, Nora points to the more general trend in robotics research away from modeling humans or mammals and towards swarming of flocking behaviour. They reminded Cathi of the robots in Minority Report:
