Monthly Archives: November 2020

Brain-reading Headset Galea May Make Keyboards Obsolete | Digital Trends

Posted on November 30, 2020 by knjohn | Leave a comment

Conor Russomanno is working on some pretty lofty stuff: He’s building a headset that will be able to noninvasively read people’s thoughts and use them to control the computer interfaces of tomorrow. But right now, his big worry is whether or not he chose the right name for his startup.

“You know,” said Russomanno, the co-founder and CEO of a brain-computer interface startup called OpenBCI, “sometimes I wish that we had named our company OpenMCI — like, mind computer interface or something like that.”

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Tagged Brain-reading Headset, Keyboards Obsolete, OpenBCI

5 Franchise Problems To Avoid | The Startup Magazine

Posted on November 25, 2020 by knjohn | Leave a comment

The US Small Business Administration notes that fast-food franchises make up the most popular business type for new entrepreneurs. Franchises are an easy way to trade on the popularity of an established name. From medspa franchise opportunities to retail businesses, there’s no shortage of supply. However, getting into a franchise relies on understanding what the company expects back from you. There are significant hurdles for new entrepreneurs when negotiating contracts and establishing rules between them and the franchisor. Here, we examine a handful of franchise problems that entrepreneurs should try their best to avoid.

A Terrible Sales Process

Many new franchisees are eager to get people in the door, regardless of how successful those people are likely to be. When you’re selling a franchise, whether it’s fast food or retail, the operator needs to understand how to make it work. While established franchises have massive training programs, these smaller, newer franchises don’t. They’re a lot cheaper to buy into as a result, and the low cost attracts a short of new entrepreneurs. The downside is that these new business owners end up biting off more than they can chew. Restaurant Business Online underlines this problem in their case study of Quiznos’ collapse.

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Tagged 5 Franchise Problems To Avoid, entrepreneurs, franchises

Smart doorbells ‘easy target for hackers’ study finds | BBC News

Posted on November 25, 2020 by knjohn | Leave a comment

Major security flaws in popular smart doorbells are putting consumers at risk of being targeted by hackers inside their homes, according to Which.

The consumer group says devices being sold on marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay, could easily be hacked or switched off by criminals.

It is asking the government for new legislation to safeguard consumers.

Amazon has removed at least seven product listings in response to the findings.

‘He used our smart doorbell camera to track me’

Ring logs every doorbell press and app action

The watchdog tested 11 devices which were purchased from popular online marketplaces in the UK. Brands included Qihoo, Ctronics and Victure.

It found that among the most common flaws were weak password policies, and a lack of data encryption.

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Posted in News and Views

Tagged Ctronics, hacking Smart doorbells, Qihoo, Ring, Smart doorbells, Victure

It’s the Strangest Thanksgiving Ever for Businesses Trying to Put Turkey on Your Table | Inc.com

Posted on November 24, 2020 by knjohn | Leave a comment

This year is different. The Chatham Berry Farm sold out of turkeys on November 13, almost two weeks before Thanksgiving, and the phone continues to ring off the hook with orders the farm can’t fulfill. “The staff here now, we’re kind of calloused over from the steady, revolving door of customers coming through,” says Alexia Baker, a greenhouse manager and longtime jack-of-all-trades staffer.”

The Berry Farm isn’t alone in its newfound turkey fame. As Covid-19 infection rates spike across the country, more Americans are eschewing traditional family gatherings and staying home on Thanksgiving. But they’re still cooking, and their need for provisions–albeit on a smaller scale–has escalated, sending the businesses that cater to the holiday scrambling to adjust to rapidly changing levels of food supply and consumer demand. How they’ve adjusted is instructive for any entrepreneur, especially those eyeing upcoming e-commerce bonanzas like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the rest of the holiday shopping season.

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Tagged Thanksgiving, The Chatham Berry Farm, Turkey

Netflix commits $1 billion to make New Mexico home to one of the world’s largest studios | TechCrunch

Posted on November 24, 2020 by knjohn | Leave a comment

Netflix is committing $1 billion in production spend at its ABQ Studios in Albuquerque, New Mexico, along with plans to expand those studios, the company said.

In an announcement alongside New Mexico’s Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller, Netflix’s chief executive Ted Sarandos said the company would add 300 acres to its existing space in ABQ Studios, creating one of the largest film production facilities in North America.

That means roughly 1,000 new production jobs in New Mexico over the next 10 years, the company predicted, and an additional 1,467 construction jobs to complete the expansion.

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Posted in News and Views

Tagged abc studios, Netflix, new mexico

Google Is Testing End-to-End Encryption in Android Messages | WIRED

Posted on November 23, 2020 by knjohn | Leave a comment

GOOGLE HAS BEGUN rolling out end-to-end encryption for Rich Communication Service, the text-messaging standard the industry giant is pushing as an alternative to SMS.

Abbreviated as RCS, Rich Communication Service provides a, well, richer user experience than the ancient SMS standard. Typing indicators, presence information, location sharing, longer messages, and better media support are key selling points. They lead to things like better-quality photos and videos, chat over Wi-Fi, knowing when a message is read, sharing reactions, and better capabilities for group chats. As Ars reviews editor Ron Amadeo noted last year, RCS interest from carriers has been tepid, so Google has been rolling it out with limited support.

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Tagged End-to-End Encryption in Android Messages, Google, RCS, Rich Communication Service, SMS

3 Ways You Can Level the Playing Field Against Big Business | Entrepreneur

Posted on November 23, 2020 by knjohn | Leave a comment

Too many small businesses are stuck at the bottom of the economic mountain, watching in frustration as larger competitors hog the top, snagging resources and reaping the benefits.

Bigger companies can afford to use quantity discounts to undercut prices. Banks are happy to accept small-business deposits but don’t build strong relationships with credit and loans for their smaller customers.

Even programs marketed for small businesses, such as vendor finance programs and dynamic discounting programs, often benefit the large company that takes the discount. Even government help seems to favor the well-connected. Just see what happened with the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program.

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Posted in Tools and Information

Tagged competing with large businesses, entrepreneur, small business

8 Essential Tools to Manage A Remote Workforce | Getentrepreneurial.com

Posted on November 20, 2020 by knjohn | Leave a comment

Remote work is becoming the new normal for many businesses all over the world. Many managers are now faced with the struggle to manage remote teams for the first time. Managing remote teams is not the same as managing teams in a traditional office setting. The lack of face-to-face interaction may cause communication issues. The need to facilitate collaboration with team members across multiple time zones can get messy. Fortunately, there are tools and resources that help managers stay on top of their telecommuting employees and maximize their production.

To help determine the best tools for your business, we have categorized them by 8 functions.

Video Conferencing

Video conferencing allows remote employees to visually interact with each other. Face to face interaction is important to build a stronger connection between coworkers and allows attendees to communicate via visual cues. When communication is restricted to only verbal or written, a portion of the message could be lost because people communicate with visual cues. Managers have the opportunity to see discomfort or hesitation in their team and can address the issue immediately.

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Tagged Manage A Remote Workforce, remote employees, Tools to Manage A Remote Workforce, video conferencing

Syncpen 2nd Generation | CoolBusinessIdeas.com

Posted on November 20, 2020 by knjohn | Leave a comment

We don’t want to say that the transition to nearly 100% digital functioning has caused us to forget how to literally dot the i’s and cross the t’s, but we have to admit, our handwriting has gotten a bit…sloppy. And although we’re used to typing on keyboards and screens of all sizes, there’s something special about pulling out the pen and paper. That’s why, when they rolled out the SyncPen 2nd Generation Smart Pen and Notebook set, users everywhere were happy to jot down their thoughts the old-school way knowing they could be easily converted into the digital format we have all grown accustomed to.

This pen and pad do it all: Together, they convert handwritten notes, doodles, and sketches into editable digital files, allow capturing 360° angles of notes, enable paperless writing, identify 66 languages, and synchronously record audio with a note. You simply write in the notebook as you would with any notebook. When you’re ready to save or share your notes, you can send them out as a PDF, Word, or JPEG file.

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Posted in Tools and Information

Tagged convert handwritten notes, smart pen, Syncpen 2nd Generation