Why Downtime and Work-Life Balance Are Critical for StartUp Success | The Startup Magazine

May 22, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

What Is Down-Time and the Work-Life Balance?

The work-life balance equation is all about having a balanced approach to work and play – in other words, working hard and playing hard. The constant hustle that we have all become accustomed to is simply not good for our long-term mental health and well-being. The increase in startup failure caused by owner burnout has become more common than ever and, as such, the importance of downtime relaxation is more often than not cited as the solution. Understanding this is the first step that should be followed by determining how much time you intend to put aside for yourself and then choosing what you intend to do.

US debt ceiling: Joe Biden urges Republicans to compromise as talks resume | BBC News

May 22, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ 1 Comment

President Joe Biden and top Republican Kevin McCarthy are due to meet at the White House on Monday for talks on lifting the US debt ceiling.

The pair spoke on the phone on Sunday as the president was traveling back from the G7 summit in Japan.

The two sides remain at odds over budget cuts demanded by the Republicans as a condition for raising the ceiling.

The debt ceiling is a spending limit set by Congress that determines how much money the government can borrow.

Montana just banned TikTok | TechCrunch

May 18, 2023May 17, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte just signed the nation’s strongest restrictions on Chinese-owned social media app TikTok into law.

TikTok has faced mounting pressure in the U.S. from Congress and state legislatures alike in recent months, but Montana’s actions escalate those threats considerably, even if the issue of enforcement remains an open question.

“Today, Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party,” Gianforte said.

Elon Musk Says Remote Work Is ‘Morally Wrong’ | Entrepreneur

May 18, 2023May 17, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you’re reading this while working remotely, Elon Musk is judging you.

In a recent interview with CNBC, the tech CEO came down hard on work-from-home culture, saying he thinks it’s “morally wrong.”

Musk, who told Tesla workers last year to return to the office or “depart Tesla,” has long been vocal about his belief that people are more productive in person. However, on Tuesday, he said it’s not only about productivity, it’s also a “moral issue.”

6 takeaways from the OpenAI senate hearing | Mashable

May 17, 2023May 16, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Apparently, one of generative AI’s extraordinary capabilities is unifying politicians, the public, and the private sector in regulating it.

We saw that today in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing(opens in a new tab) about how to govern AI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, IBM chief privacy and trust officer Christina Montgomery, and NYU emeritus professor Gary Marcus testified in front of the privacy, technology, and law subcommittee about what to do now that generative AI has been freed from Pandora’s Box. Altman was open and cooperative, even advocating for regulation of ChatGPT and generative AI. But that seemed to have a disarming effect on the subcommittee, who asked mostly softball questions.

Use it or lose it: Google says it will delete inactive accounts | CNN Business

May 17, 2023May 16, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you haven’t logged into your Google account in a long time, you better use it or lose it.

Google announced Tuesday it will start deleting accounts that have been inactive for at least two years, a move that the company says is intended to prevent security risks.

The updated policy takes effect immediately, but Google said it will not begin deleting accounts until December. The company plans to send out multiple warning notifications to users and to conduct the purge of inactive accounts in phases.

The first accounts on the chopping block will be those that were created and then never revisited by the user, Google said. The policy also will only impact personal accounts, leaving organizations like schools and businesses untouched.

A man’s rare gene variant may have shielded him from devastating form of early Alzheimer’s | Live Science

May 16, 2023May 15, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

A newly discovered genetic variant protects against a particularly devastating form of early Alzheimer’s disease, raising scientists’ hopes of finding treatments that can prevent or slow the progression of this and other forms of the disease.

The discovery is only the second gene variant reported to protect against autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease (ADAD), a form of Alzheimer’s caused by an inherited genetic mutation. People with ADAD begin to show signs of dementia in their mid-40s and rarely survive past the age of 60, study co-author Dr. Joseph Arboleda-Velasquez(opens in new tab), a biomedical researcher at Harvard University, told Live Science.

The patient at the heart of the new study was a male member of a Colombian family that researchers have been following for a long time because they’re known carriers of the genetic mutation that causes ADAD. This man carried that gene, but instead of succumbing to early dementia, he remained healthy into his late sixties and developed only mild Alzheimer’s disease by age 72. He died at 73 years old of non-dementia-related causes.

EMV Technology: What Small Merchants Need to Know | Business News Daily

May 16, 2023May 15, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

EMV chip cards have become the bread and butter of in-person card payment. So why aren’t you accepting them yet?

EMV technology powers credit and debit cards that include payment chips alongside the traditional magnetic stripe.
The liability for credit card fraud stemming from non-EMV transactions lies with merchants, not credit card companies.
The primary benefits of EMV ― fraud reduction, mobile add-ons, easier customer payments ― substantially outweigh the challenges of implementation.
This article is for small business owners interested in accepting EMV payments through credit card chips.

9 Inflation Tips for Startups | AllBusiness.com

May 15, 2023May 14, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The United States experienced historic inflation in 2022, and it paved the way for the surge of price increases that followed into 2023. Meanwhile, people continue to become entrepreneurs. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 5 million applications were filed to form new businesses in 2022. And now, many of these companies are facing an impending recession—or an economic squeeze at the very least.

For these fledgling startups, it’s important to proactively combat the rippling effects of inflation to stay afloat. From reassessing margins to cutting costs, the following inflation tips can help startups and entrepreneurs lessen the impact of economic headwinds.

Why You Should Pay Employees to Stop Working for You | Business.com

May 15, 2023May 14, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Learn what voluntary severance is and when you should offer it.

The past few years have been somewhat tumultuous in terms of the labor force. The pandemic led to a massive wave of layoffs, which was followed by a rapid — and somewhat chaotic — rehiring of workers. Now, as businesses face high levels of inflation, a looming recession and economic uncertainty, many employers are rethinking those recent hires and starting to make cuts again.

An obvious and common way to cut labor costs is to lay off workers. According to the Layoffs.fyi database, more than 1,000 tech companies made layoffs in 2022, resulting in more than 150,000 employees being laid off. However, layoffs aren’t business owners’ only option when it comes to reducing their workforce. One alternative is to offer voluntary severance — paying your employees to quit.