5 Ways to Get Out of a Bad Mood (Backed by Psychology) | Life Hack

June 9, 2020June 8, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

There is nothing worse than being caught in a bad mood, especially when it seemingly comes out of nowhere. It can be caused by one thing, one off comment, a snide look, or an empty coffee cup, and the negativity overwhelms us and throws us into a bad mood.

But now that you find yourself in one, it’s pointless to continue to stay there. Being in a bad mood is okay for a short time, but you don’t have to stay in a bad mood. It isn’t productive or conducive to you being happy and living your best life.

An enormous swarm of locusts could descend on East Africa | Fast Company

June 9, 2020June 8, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

As COVID-19 cases grow in East Africa, massive swarms of locusts are also growing—with a new wave of breeding insects poised to put nearly five million people in the area at risk of hunger and famine.

The locust outbreak began last year, likely driven in part by the fact that climate change is causing heavy rainfall and warmer temperatures that help the insects thrive. But it could soon become much worse. By the middle of June, according to a new report from the International Rescue Committee, a new round of hatching could result in swarms that are 8,000 times larger than swarms earlier this year.

How to Successfully Market Your Business With Voice Search | AllBusiness.com

June 8, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Just a few short years ago, voice search was a bit of a novelty. But similar to other technologies, voice search has matured to the point where marketers can no longer ignore it. To be competitive, it’s become necessary to include voice as an essential component of your marketing strategy. Here’s what you need to know.

1. Voice search is highly accurate

In the past, if you wanted relevant answers from a voice recognition technology, well—good luck with that. But today, machine learning systems can compete with people in terms of accuracy. Google’s voice recognition, for example, boasts a 95% word accuracy rate for English.

These improvements mean that, while you can trust good voice systems to match customers with the right products, services, or information with increasing degrees of nuance, leading businesses already have set customer expectations for delivery. Translation: buyers aren’t going to tolerate subpar systems.

How Free Accessibility Plugins Create Fresh Problems for Small Business | Small Business Trends

June 8, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ 1 Comment

Problems with Free Accessibility Plugins

A 2018 statement by the Department of Justice confirmed that ADA requirements to make your business accessible to customers with disabilities applies to your internet presence as well as your physical stores. Recent headlines about the Supreme Court ruling against Domino’s Pizza for running an app that can’t be used by blind pizza-lovers only underlined the importance of this issue.

Web accessibility should concern every small business owner

Web accessibility isn’t just for the big fish to worry about. Disability activists, tired of waiting for companies to comply with web accessibility guidelines like WCAG 2.0, are increasingly sending lawyer demand letters and initiating lawsuits against small businesses that have an online store or simple web presence that doesn’t comply with ADA title III requirements for web accessibility.

Kitty Hawk Has Scrapped One of Its Flying-car Projects | Digital Trends

June 5, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Kitty Hawk is done with its Flyer single-person flying machine, saying this week that it’s learned all it can from the project.

Led by Google co-founder Larry Page and Sebastian Thrun, who helped to launch Google’s autonomous car unit (now Waymo), the California-based company said it will turn its attention to developing its more advanced — and more powerful — Heaviside electric aircraft.

Flyer first hit our radar in 2017, around the time that the idea of small “flying cars” for urban transportation really began to gain traction.

How Video Conferencing Software Makes For More Productive Teams | The Startup Magazine

June 5, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Half the battle of keeping your team productive is finding an easy, accessible platform to communicate on. Email chains often become confusing, and in-person meetings can be tedious and uncomfortable. So, what’s a modern team to do in order to circumvent these issues and maximize its productivity? Online conferencing tools are a good place to start.

Using video conferencing software allows you to connect with team members all over the world with no extra costs via HD video and audio feeds hosted completely online.

Forget the old landline conference calls, endless email chains, and audio-only services. Here’s how video conferencing makes for a more productive team overall.

Coronavirus: ‘I may lose it all, but there’s no help for me’ | BBC News

June 4, 2020June 3, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Layla Barnes is one among many thousands of small business owners left financially and emotionally devastated by more than ten weeks of government-imposed lockdown.

She was forced to close her Doncaster-based beauty therapy and training business which was profitable in February before lockdown began.

Yet the government’s excluded Layla, 30, and her limited company from any form of crisis-related support, forcing her onto benefits of £408 per month.

Be Careful With Cares Act Taxes | Inc.com

June 4, 2020June 3, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

With many businesses operating under constrained financial circumstances because of the coronavirus pandemic, finding available cash to pay current operating expenses can be difficult. Although the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (Cares Act) provides assistance to cover expenses such as payroll, rent, and insurance through both the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and the Paycheck Protection Program, many businesses are finding that these sources of funding aren’t adequate to meet their current needs and they are facing a cash shortfall.

University entrepreneurship — without the university | TechCrunch

June 3, 2020June 3, 2020 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Across the country, university campuses are in limbo.

The California State University system has committed to online classes in Fall 2020. Northeastern University is reopening as normal. UT Austin is taking a hybrid approach: in-person classes until Thanksgiving break, then online classes during flu season.

This presents a special set of circumstances for university entrepreneurs. The traditional resources and networks are nonoperational. But time and focus, historically the most scarce resources for ambitious students, is now at an all-time high.