The Espresso: Edition 114
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Wednesday November 2 2011

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Letter From The Editor- Edition 114

True Leadership

You just know that on any given day somewhere around the world the biggest corporate brands are running leadership programs for their senior people. I once saw 'Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf the leader of Operation Desert Storm speak on leadership. Schwarzkopf was seen as being one of our great leaders and possibly still is. He said that when he was going through the ranks he was given the role of taking command whilst his commander was away on assignment. He said "I've never done this before what do I do?" His commander said "Just remember Rule 13 and 14". Rule13, when put in charge, take charge. Rule 14, do whats right. When I saw the CEO of one of Australia's airlines openly give himself a 2 million dollar pay rise when only a week earlier there was a story of 1000 staff being laid off it made me think of 'Stormin' Norman. Do whats right. What a way to lead an organisation, from the front. Give yourself a 2 million dollar pay rise and then give 1000 people the flick. Yet this organisation would undoubtably spend hundreds of thousands on leadership programs when the leadership is not coming from the top. An old greek fisherman taught me a fish rots from the head and this fish rots big time. If you lead a family, an organisation, a small company  or a tribal community the one thing that is paramount to any leader is to do whats right. You can do all the courses, write all the articles, wear the bling, drive the car and have the corner office but at the end of the day nothing counts more than doing the right thing. Do whats right. Clearly the story above is not the spirit!

Travel

The Best Travel Advice

Ask a Nomad is an app for the iPad that allows you to tap into a global knowledge network to provide travel answers, inspiration and local assistance for you whilst travelling. The catch is that the information comes from like minded travellers from around the world. The iPad allows you to ask questions anytime and anywhere and get answers on travel and other destination questions from people who have been there and done that or just have an opinion to share. Once you have created an account you can even store questions and answers offline allowing you to access them when you dont have access to the internet. Ask a Nomad believes that the best advice you can get on a destination comes from from those who have really bee threre and done that. Pretty cool idea that works on the crowd-sourcing vibe and sure to find a market with eager travellers who dont trust the traditional methods of advice. 

Social

Sleep On It

We all know the feeling of sleep deprivation when we are travelling. You can't sleep on the flight, you are in transit and all you want to do is find a bed to catch up on a few hours shut eye. Trying to do it in a strange airport or train station when you are surrounded by noise, strangers, danger and theft is not particularly comforting. However Sleepbox is an innovation that may help you with catching up on sleep. Sleepbox is a Russian invention which essentially is a small pod that is placed in the transit area of train stations, airports and even hostels. They are secure, contain a bed,  have free Wi-Fi, control the light levels, have an alarm system and even automatically clean their sheets so you can be assured of having a clean, safe sleep. They are a pretty cool, sleek concept and for around $15 (US) dollars per hour, you are sure to be able to find an affordable way to catch up on some shut eye. Hostels are now adopting the Sleepbox as a stylish concept for backpackers to use when on the move. Maybe a good place to chill out when your Russian. 

Cosmetic

Slide Over... You Stink

We have all sat next to somebody on the bus or train who just plain stinks. The UK based Odegon has a plan to fix that. Odegons nano-pourus fabric tags which get ironed or sewn into clothes provide long lasting odour free wear for your fabric. With no chemicals and no fragrance Odegon's iron on Odegon tags provide an environmentally solution to body odour. These things are designed to be stuck under your arm and the soft tags you iron on are made from a special nano- pourus material that traps odour molecules hiding the odour and leaving behind a fresh, clean smelling armpit. For those fashionable (and smelling) Espresso readers they even come in different colours and three different sizes. 

Street

Cool Sunnies

There was a time when, if you were doing a difficult grinding manoeuvre on the half-pipe and it went all wrong and you snapped your favourite skateboard it was all over...trash time. But now the artists at Shwood have come up with an interesting concept where they use broken skateboards, take the wood and make them into sunglasses. The Shwood sunglasses are handcrafted entirely from broken skateboards which leaves it with a very unique look and feel. They use top quality lenses from Carl Zeiss imported from Italy  so all in all they sound cool, functional and like they are on to a good idea. 

Religion

Pop-Up Pew

We are not sure that we have ever done a story on religion in The Espresso so when we came across this story it was a good time to start. We have talked about the pop-up concept in retail, massage, restaurants and service industries. Now we present the pop-up church. The brainchild of self proclaimed philosopher Frank Los, the Transparent Church is an inflatable pop-up church that is currently being used in the Netherlands. Known as the Transparent Kerk it includes an inflatable steeple and can hold up to 30 people. The church is now making its way around the Netherlands working at festivals and even some corporate events. It really does prove that there is no end to what can be done if you just put your mind to it.
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The Espresso is a weekly free newspaper designed specifically for those who want to look at things differently.

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Gary scours the world to find interesting tips, tools and news to give you a new or different perspective on the world around you.