The buzzwords reflecting the frustration of China’s young generation | BBC News

June 21, 2021June 20, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

_118826694_gettyimages-1215935424 In China, the rat race begins almost the minute you are born – from getting into a good school to getting that prestigious job. But millions now want to break free of this cycle, with two words shedding a light on the frustration felt by the younger generation.

When Sun Ke graduated from college in 2017, he went to Shanghai to pursue a dream shared by many from his generation – a good career, a car, perhaps even a house.

The 27-year-old didn’t expect it to be very difficult. His parents managed to start from scratch on their own, and now own several properties in their hometown, a small town near Shanghai.

How Toms Tweaked Its Purpose Without Losing Its Power | Inc.com

June 21, 2021June 20, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Your company’s mission is only as good as your execution, and being flexible to changes over the years is critical to executing successfully. This lesson was something that the team at Toms learned over the years, the Los Angeles-based company’s chief strategy and impact officer, Amy Smith, said at Inc.’s virtual Purpose Power Summit this week.

In 2006, Blake Mycoskie founded the buy-one-give-one pioneer Toms with a mission of making shopping for shoes a charitable action. The model–for every pair of shoes purchased, another is donated to a person in need–became popular, and other mission-driven brands followed suit. However, the company retired this famous program in 2019 to instead donate a third of company profits to different charities and partners with the goal of making a larger impact.

Daily Crunch: Google’s first retail location opened today in NYC | TechCrunch

June 18, 2021June 17, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Google recently discovered a bug in its Android app that could have allowed an attacker to quietly steal personal data from a device. The company caught it, plugged it and confirmed that it had no evidence that anyone’s data was compromised.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) has revived a bill that would establish a new U.S. federal agency to shield Americans from the invasive practices of tech companies operating in their own backyard.

The AI-powered defense company founded by Oculus founder and seller-to-Facebook Palmer Luckey has landed a $450 million round of investment that values the startup at $4.6 billion just four years in.

The Best Web Browser Is Vivaldi—and It Just Got Even Better | WIRED

June 18, 2021June 17, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

REMEMBER WHEN WEB browsers were useful tools? Remember when you could follow sites you liked, check your email, and see your calendar, all without leaving the browser? Or, I should say, remember when you could do all that without Big Tech feeding your personal data into the yawning maw of surveillance capitalism?

I remember those days because I am still living in them, thanks to a web browser you might not have heard of: Vivaldi.

Passengers Furious After Southwest Airlines Leaves Thousands Stranded: ‘I Just Want to Go Home’ | Entrepreneur

June 17, 2021June 16, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Passengers across the country are furious after hundreds of delays and cancellations hit Southwest Airlines flights due to internal technical difficulties.

The popular airline was hit with two separate issues this week that left thousands of passengers stranded and disgruntled.

On Monday, Southwest faced connectivity issues with a third-party weather supplier used on flights, delaying over 40% of the company’s total flights for the day.

Why Leveling Feet Will Become Your Best Investment Yet | Getentrepreneurial.com

June 17, 2021June 16, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you are the owner of or simply thinking about starting your own business, then leveling feet might become your next big investment. Leveling feet are essential for production environments, where heavy machinery and equipment are important for your business´ day-to-day operation.

If you are a machine manufacturer, then leveling feet are also important, and will be important to ensure safe operation and low-maintenance costs.

But what are leveling feet?

Leveling feet are, quite simply, feet for machinery and equipment that ensures, that the equipment or machinery in question is completely level.

Bang & Olufsen Outdoor Speakers | Cool Business Ideas

June 16, 2021June 15, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Denmark’s luxury hi-fi brand Bang & Olufsen has unveiled a new outdoorsy member of its portable speaker range called the Beosound Explore, which rocks an eye-catching aluminum shell for durability and IP67 waterproofing for all-weather adventuring accompanied by B&O’s signature sound.

“We created Beosound Explore to be our toughest speaker that can withstand the outdoor elements,” said the company’s Christoffer Poulsen. “The speaker is dust- and water-proof, embodied in a scratch-resistant type 2 anodized aluminum surface. The exceptional sound quality for its size makes Beosound Explore the perfect companion for any adventure.”

Residents can swim across 100-ft-high Sky Pool to neighboring high rise | New Atlas

June 16, 2021June 15, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Vertigo-inducing swimming pools seem to be in fashion at the moment and following news of the Brooklyn Point tower’s infinity pool in New York City, London now boasts its own one-of-a-kind swimming pool, too. This one goes much further in its pursuit of thrills though, as it invites visitors to swim between two high-rise buildings in a clear acrylic box.

The Sky Pool was designed by HAL Architects and involved engineers Arup and Eckersley O’Callaghan, plus acrylic fabricator Reynolds Polymer Technologies. The project is part of London’s Embassy Gardens, a mixed-use residential development alongside the US Embassy building by Kieran Timberlake.

Apple to let you sign up for services with Face/Touch ID instead of passwords | Mashable

June 15, 2021June 13, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Passwords are hard to remember — especially if you use a lot of online services and try (which you should) to use a strong, different password for each one. But the days of trying to think of yet another password to sign up for a new service may be behind us.

In a WWDC developer session titled “Move beyond passwords,” Apple engineer Garret Davidson shows a new feature, allowing users to sign up for new online services using Face ID or Touch ID instead of a password.

A robot is killing weeds by zapping them with electricity | CNN

June 15, 2021June 13, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

On a field in England, three robots have been given a mission: to find and zap weeds with electricity before planting seeds in the cleared soil.

The robots — named Tom, Dick and Harry — were developed by Small Robot Company to rid land of unwanted weeds with minimal use of chemicals and heavy machinery.

The startup has been working on its autonomous weed killers since 2017, and this April launched Tom, its first commercial robot which is now operational on three UK farms. The other robots are still in the prototype stage, undergoing testing.