Beautiful Stranger: Anomic Technological Superpower ‘Suddenly Obsessed With Make-Up’!

The financial value of South Korea's #beauty industry was estimated at a stunning €10bn in 2017, with the country's strengths in #media and #technology serving to increase Koreans' focus on self-presentation #KBeauty

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 1, 2018

While #women make up the vast majority of #beauty industry customers, the men's cosmetics business in South #Korea was estimated to be worth almost €1bn in 2017, with some companies recording extraordinary double-digit growth

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 1, 2018

Analysis: South #Korean beauty products are notable for their excellent presentation and packaging, which even by the high standards of the sector is worth studying in some detail; affordability is also a distinct advantage

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 1, 2018

According to some observers, the #technology being utilised in #Korean #beauty products is 12-14 years ahead of that being used in their United States counterparts, which means that their export potential is truly staggering

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 1, 2018

To watch: South #Korea's #hallyu wave is beginning to seep into domains far beyond soap operas and smart devices; the next step is to influence global culture on a conceptual level https://t.co/59v5SE8OfJ

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) April 14, 2018

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Crash Development: Lahore’s Orange Line Crosses Red Line!

#Pakistan's first and long-awaited #metro line is scheduled to begin operations on 23/03/2018, but there remain misgivings over the project which have attracted international concern and resulted in a drawn-out court battle #UNESCO

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 5, 2018

#Lahore's Orange Line metro project passes perilously close to no less than 11 historical monuments, including the stunning Shalimar Gardens UNESCO World Heritage Site – a location that would be an #Instagram favourite if #Pakistan's soft power had not imploded in recent years

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 5, 2018

The siting of #Pakistan's first metro project – placing a high-capacity line in a historical district where the sane option would be a mixture of #tram, #lightmetro and pedestrian access – does not bode well for future projects, which may be marked by similar incompetence #Lahore

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 5, 2018

To watch: #Pakistan has fallen so drastically behind #India and #Iran in urban public transportation that its biggest city – Karachi – does not possess a single #metro line, a situation which is so untenable that it might bring about meaningful change https://t.co/RcN4cgFw2w #edu

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) March 5, 2018

Don’t Stand So Close to Me: Global Commerce Hub Abandons Romance! #London

Time Out City Life Index: just 20% of Londoners are now married, meaning that the vast majority of the city's inhabitants are facing a #lifetime of #relationship instability and/or drought, and sending social theorists back to the #library #London #marriage

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 21, 2018

According to Time Out's City Life Index, 40% of people in #London are in a relationship but not married; 25% are single and active in the dating market; and the remaining 15% have effectively opted out of #romantic #relationships altogether #love #UnitedKingdom

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 21, 2018

#London has a famously laissez-faire attitude to #sex, with the average Londoner waiting just 2.4 dates before extreme escalation, but the city's single adults – all 2,888,944 of them – have never been more numerous; levels of sexual #satisfaction may be falling off a cliff #edu

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 21, 2018

To watch: while the #relationship formation situation in #London is poor by #international standards, the rest of the #UnitedKingdom is arguably far worse; a political and cultural backlash, albeit ill-defined and inconsistent, seems almost inevitable https://t.co/yDPYyaeW3R #edu

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 21, 2018

Valentine’s Day Massacre Revelation: #FBI #Cruz Tip-Offs ‘Lost in the Files’! #schoolshootings

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has admitted that it did not act on two tip-offs pertaining to Nikolas Jacob Cruz, the suspected perpetrator of the Valentine's Day massacre carried out at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida #FBI #UnitedStates #NikolasCruz #edchat

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 19, 2018

Vice Media: the FBI received a tip in 09/2017 from a video blogger who noticed a #YouTube comment left by 'Nicholas Cruz', who said: 'I'm going to become a professional school shooter'; Cruz's YouTube videos included violent threats which are, if anything, even more explicit #edu

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 19, 2018

The second tip-off which the FBI failed to act upon was received on 05/01/2018, and included 'information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting' #schools

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 19, 2018

Cruz – who was identified as the perpetrator of the #schoolshooting by school security camera recordings – spent some of what are likely to be his last moments of freedom in Walmart, Subway and McDonald's: a tragic metaphor for the American Dream #education #edu #educators #USA

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 19, 2018

To watch: the insane velocity of #SchoolShootings in the United States means that 2018 is set to be a record year, with 12/month anticipated by statisticians; concrete #legislation addressing the root causes of urban US #violence seems as distant as ever https://t.co/r3Ot2YfSDi

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 19, 2018

Food Fight: Obese Oil Kingdoms ‘Stretching the Limits of Credibility’!

The rich-poor gap in the Gulf Cooperation Council has widened to possibly unsustainable levels, with food waste now becoming a serious concern for political as well as moral reasons #GCC #UAE #Oman #SaudiArabia

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 7, 2018

Waste Disposal Organisation (Oman): catering companies + hotels in #Oman throw away food worth around 46m OMR/€95m every year; at the same time, charity organisations state that >30,000 people are listed as not earning enough to feed their families #ZeroHunger #edchat

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 7, 2018

Meanwhile, according to a Saudi Arabian government minister, the KSA wastes food to the tune of c.50bn SR/€11bn every year; the King Saud University estimates that the wastage is especially bad during #Ramadan, despite #SaudiArabia's food banks

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 7, 2018

Conversely, #Dubai has distinguished itself by setting the ambitious target of becoming the first city in the region to achieve zero food waste; the #UAE's level of wastage is presently around AED 13bn/€2.8bn, doubtless due to its vast tourism + hospitality sectors #GCC

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 7, 2018

To watch: the gargantuan political cleavages which have opened up between some #GCC countries mean that these Gulf Cooperation Council states are using their powerful media holdings to expose each other's flaws, with implications for legitimacy + stability https://t.co/3vtyy5nKsh

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) February 7, 2018

Increasing the Feel-Good Factor: Why Cities Worldwide Need to Map Aura

Regular readers of this blog will now doubtless be aware of this company’s view that the domain of video games is criminally under-utilised – not just for what it offers more generally to our shared broader culture, but in terms of the many brilliant ideas generated within the gaming framework which have clear potential for non-virtual adoption. And it is the Maxis classic Sim City 3000 (‘SC 3000’) – a title that continues to inspire devotion long after its original 1998 iteration – that we wish to presently draw your attention to.

Sim City 3000 is a remarkable piece of software for many reasons, but its Health, Education and Aura (‘HEA’) department – headed up by the inimitable Randall Shoop – is arguably the most brilliant innovation in the entire game; the key lies in the last letter of that acronym. As well as city data maps containing information on everything from schooling provision to traffic density, SC 3000 also has a chart detailing the presence (or otherwise) of ‘aura’, which is defined by the corresponding Electronic Arts game manual as ‘good feelings for the city [as a whole]’: areas of high aura are denoted by (deep) shades of blue, while low-aura neighbourhoods are coloured red; the angrier the shade, the uglier the vibe.

Focusing on something as seemingly touchy-feely and subjective in an era of big data may seem anachronistic. But as any urban dweller knows, different parts of the same city can vary enormously in how they make people feel; these reactions can be predicted with such consistency that they are more or less reflected in concrete indicators such as property prices.

Moreover, it is – at least in large part – no real secret what makes for high-aura areas: beautiful buildings, plentiful green space and easy access to cultural and recreational amenities will all go a long way towards giving residents, workers and tourists alike not just an added spring in their step, but an attachment to a location which goes beyond the merely functional. It would therefore be possible to build up a pretty accurate picture of existing zones of aural import, and then set about exporting replicable elements to the bywords for urban blight.

Municipal authorities around the world should be under no illusions: cities which prioritise the spread of good vibes are not indulging in a trendy fad; they are making their assets more internationally competitive and ensuring that the people who inhabit their urban areas actually want to stay there. Whether directly or indirectly, the time for the aura map to migrate from digital fiction to policy reality has come.

Emergency on Planet Earth: Mexico Earthquakes ‘Latest of Many’!

The pair of deadly Mexican #earthquakes on 07/09/2017 (Puebla) and 19/07/2017 (Mexico City) constitute yet another warning to govt. agencies

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 24, 2017

#Governments worldwide are not taking the matter of #emergency preparedness seriously, with horrifying results for civilian populations #edu

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 24, 2017

Most notably, #China has built a number of #nuclear power plants in areas of high seismic activity – a catastrophe waiting to happen #edchat

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 24, 2017

Meanwhile, much recent #construction in #Istanbul may struggle to withstand the force of a serious #earthquake, which could affect millions

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 24, 2017

To watch: a #powerful #earthquake in a vulnerable #location could yet topple a seemingly entrenched #government #edu https://t.co/VCEC7jFWsq

— ッ MEDIOLANA® EDU (@Mediolana) September 24, 2017