OCTOBER TRENDS

Hi and welcome to the October edition of the trends article. It's back to school, college and work after the Summer holidays so this month's vox pop gives us an inside look into what Scottish Insider Jean Oberlander got up to this last 6 weeks as well as revealing her secret to avoiding boredom in the Summer holidays by reading. She explores a few of her favourite books and why she likes them along with her idea of dream holiday destinations.

We've also got the opinions of over a dozen Insiders on the latest trends and as usual they have not held back in telling us straight what they think. It's a mixed bag this month, sometimes it was a 'Marmite response'; they either loved it or hated it!

What Jean did this Summer

This month's feature introduces you to Jean who loves shopping in Top Shop and Accessorize, is sporty and plays hockey, netball, badminton, cycles, but also loves playing on her Nintendo and Wii and going on the computer. Take a look at the clip below to find out what she did this Summer.

Next month we'll have a peak into the life of another Insider so if you have any questions that you would like us to ask, please get in touch. But in the meantime, here's what this month's Insiders had to say about some new trends...

TOP 5 OCTOBER TRENDS

Exercise that is more Star Wars than star jumps

Star Wars Fans can now combine their love of the sci-fi film with exercise. A group in New York started the craze which is based on martial arts and Jedi moves and also includes some cardio work. A group started practicing and staging combat scenes with light sabers and noticed that they were losing weight (one guy lost over 4 stone in 6 months) and so the exercise craze has started.

RATING; 7/10

COMMENTS;

• 7/10 Good if you like Star Wars
• 8/10 Looks like a fun way to loose weight
• 5/10 Jedi lovers would give it a go!
• 2/10 It's just silly
• 10/10 Awesome- I love it!!!

Tangle Proof Headphones

A guy called Lee Washington did more than just get annoyed when his headphones were in a tangle- he solved the problem. He has created a zip lock system which connects the two wires when not in use thus avoiding any tangling of wires when you are not using them. Like me, many Insiders wanted to know where they could buy them!

RATING; 9/10

COMMENTS;

• 9/10 I love this idea! I listen to music all the time so this would be great. I hate it when my headphones get tangled.
• 10/10 I am loving tangle proof
• 9/10 Yay! At last! Where can I buy them?
• 8/10 it's a cool idea that solves an annoying problem

A way to recharge your batteries that could be winging its way to you

The Boo is a fun, eco-friendly way to charge your batteries whilst having fun. Just put your three AAA batteries in and they will charge up as you throw the boomerang around turning the rotary motion into electric. The centre of The Boo has a small display to indicate charge levels so you'll know when it is fully charged, and the outside is made from silicone to help protect against hard falls. At first it sounds like a good idea until you consider a) the British weather and the opportunity to use it outside, and b) it only takes AAA batteries, not the more common AA size and this was reflected in the comments from our Insiders.

RATING; 5/10

COMMENTS;

• 3/10 It's ok for warm countries but we live in the UK
• 4/10 It's rainy here even in Summer so it will be really hard in Winter to recharge your batteries
• 7/10 Good, but you can only use AAA
• 10/10 Now that IS cool, but you can't use it indoors
• 7/10 I think it's cool but there's a risk you might lose it. Then you could lose your batteries haha.

Swedish LEGO Video Madness

Last month we brought you the LEGO house, this month, it's a video to a track called 8-Bit Trip by a Swedish group called Rymdreglage. It is basically an animation of LEGO that took 1500 hours to construct and film one frame at a time. Take a look at it on this link on YouTube and see if you are as impressed as some of our Insiders or agree that they had too much time on their hands.

RATING; 9/10

COMMENTS;

• 10/10 Oh Wooowww!!
• 10/10 Amazing
• 9/10 Totally awesome
• 9/10 Wooo that was really good! I think it would be cool to make animation out of lego. (:
• 4/10 It's a bit silly
• 3/10 I can think of better things to do with 1500 hours

Hands free Umbrella

Ever been shopping or had loads to carry and not had a free hand to hold your umbrella? Well, now that Autumn (or arguably Winter!) is already here, this may be the perfect accessory- a hands free umbrella...

The 'Shoulderbrella' simply screws onto the bottom of your umbrella then you can wrap it around your shoulder leaving you free to carry your shopping, coffee or mobile whilst staying dry. A great idea but you would have to stay clear of narrow gaps, busy streets with lots of other people you could injure and also have a hand spare in the first instance to put it up and take it down.

RATING; 6/10

COMMENTS;

• 4/10 Definitely not for me
• 10/10 I need this!
• 7/10 It looks funky
• 6/10 You would look lazy and weird with that on you
• 6/10 Wow what a good idea! It would be so handy! (:

A cash machine that finally really speaks your language

5 cash machines have been installed in London that have a facility to choose 'Cockney' when you select which language you would like the instructions in. So if you want a 'speckled hen (£10), a score (£20), a pony (£25), a ton (£100), or a monkey (£500) call off at one of these cash machines.

RATING; 4/10

• 9/10 Haha that's hilarious! I think its a good idea though (:
• 8/10 Hilarious
• 3/10 It's stupid and there is no need for it
• 0/10 The most pointless thing EVER

Mmm! Chocolate tortilla chips!

When I first heard the words 'chocolate' and 'tortillas' together I thought it sounded like a match made in heaven, perfect for when you can't decide which to have (or when you want both!). The corn tortilla chips are coated in Dutch cocoa powder and semi-sweet chocolate and are apparently delicious crumbled over ice-cream. However once you actually think about it, on their own they might not be a match made in foodie heaven and an acquired taste.

RATING; 4/10

• 9/10 Mmm they sound nice, good idea! (:
• 9/10 Sound lush
• 3/10 Eughhh, they sound disgusting
• 2/10 it's an odd match and they are weird

Augmented reality business cards who really remind people who you are

Networking can lead to having hundreds of business cards, but they are soon out of date when you move company or change your telephone number and it can also be difficult to remember who the person actually was who gave you the card in the first place. Well, James Alliban at Sky has invented the first Augmented Reality Card so you can really put a face to a name. It is made up of a 3D grid of coloured panels that when placed in front of a webcam looks like a blocky version of your body is popping out. It sounds like a great innovative solution but it might be a little before it's time.

RATING; 6/10

• 8/10 It's a clever idea but only works if you have a webcam
• 7/10 It sounds cool! (:
• 6/10 It would definitely be more expensive than a normal business card
• 3/10 Crazzzzzy idea
• 1/10 Pointless, what's wrong with normal business cards?

Round Up

We've showcased a few ideas that could have made your Summer just that bit better, but it was the tangle proof headphones and Lego video that impressed our Insiders the most. So finding a solution to a real problem of tangled headphones (and creating the desire to actually buy them!) along with the video that took ages to make but was fun were the winners this month. So it looks like we're not quite ready for cash machines with accents and Augmented Reality Business Cards, but we can always see what next Summer brings, hopefully more sun than this year and even more out there trends.

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