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truth / fiction So today in the Trib there's an article about AirTroductions, a personals service for airline travelers. From a 2005 Business Week article on the service (archived on their press page): "Airline flights are one of the few situations where you find yourself wedged against a total stranger for hours at a time. It might as well be someone you like. With that in mind ... AirTroductions.com aims to match like-minded fliers for business networking, book discussions, romance -- whatever it is you want from a seatmate." It's kind of strange to see this idea appear in reality, because I had my fictional character Fletcher cook up this idea five years ago, in an Imaginary Year entry entitled "A Million-Dollar Idea." I thought this idea was dumb at the time I wrote it, and still do, but somewhere, Fletcher is tearing what's left of his hair out. Teeth-whitening mints, the other get-rich-quick idea that Fletcher pushes (in November 2002), still seems not quite to have made it to the market yet, although Confectionery Market Report 2006 has this to say: "The sugar confectionery sector has ... been struggling in the face of a falling under-15 population. However, suppliers have looked elsewhere for inspiration and have developed ranges that target demand for oral-health products, including teeth-whitening and breath-freshening in the mint and gum subsectors." You heard it here first.

Thursday, May 11, 2006 2:45 PM   Comments: Post a Comment