Amusing Shoes, School Scans, & Lumbar Work 🩰

But despite this obvious vice, people are pining for remote work. Google searches for “remote work” have also been consistently high since the pandemic with no signs of significant dips. 

While during the early days of the pandemic, people were probably just searching “how to do remote work”, the reasons for the searches have obviously changed today. 

Google doesn’t offer any answers to why the increase in these search. Neither does it need to. Because we already know!

By now, most office workers know all about virtual meetings and the importance of establishing work-life boundaries. And so perhaps more people are searching for remote-friendly jobs as employers get serious about trying to lure—or straight-out order—workers back to the office. Perhaps workers are looking for arguments and evidence they might use to convince their bosses to let them stay remote.

These Google search trends are reminders that remote work isn’t going anywhere—and so neither is the battle with maintaining good posture.

The safety fear coupled with increased spending in security tech has brought many startups into the limelight.

• Startup invisaWear has created discreet panic buttons that can be attached to clothing and accessories.
• The Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools introduced walk-through weapon scanners created by Evolv Technology, a Massachusetts startup. Cost: $5 million for 52 scanners at 21 high schools.
• The CrisisAlert system created by CENTEGIX has been used to get help in thousands of emergencies in Florida schools. 

ZeroEyes - a startup founded by U.S. military veterans - scans school camera feeds, looking for guns. It uses machine learning to train its system to recognize about 300 types of assault rifles and other firearms.

In 2021, the school shooting industry was worth an estimated $3.1 billion, and is expected to grow at least 8% annually. And it’s about to get an influx of cash with the new bipartisan gun control bill signed by President Biden that gives $1 billion to schools for creating “safe and healthy learning environments”.

A little streetwear label is creating shoes from unused or defective amusements that come off the manufacturing line as misfits. And when we say amusements we mean that Plastic Soul is about 15% sex toy. The rest is non-bleach EVA, a petroleum-based foam that’s difficult to recycle.

The shoe is the brainchild of David Teitelbaum, founder of Rose in Good Faith, and Chad Braverman, chief operating officer for Doc Johnson, the adult toy company his father founded in 1976

Process: The company grinds down the sex toy defects into millimetre-sized cubes of thermoplastic elastomer, a mix of rubber and plastic that lends itself to injection moulding. They then add a natural cork insole for extra support.

That’s how the $130 slip-on shoes are made.

Mission: It’s more than sustainability. Over two years in the industry, Plastic Soul’s shoes are not just a garden variety publicity stunt but a way to promote sex positivity through fashion.