How To Use Low-Code To Scale Your Business | Small Business Trends

September 16, 2021September 14, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

No-code and low-code software tools have garnered much popularity, especially recently. Whether a business is already familiar with the software or has never heard of it till now, learning about how to leverage low-code in a dynamically changing workforce will help SMBs with limited budgets and time restraints meet customization and automation needs.

Businesses have had to digitize rapidly, due to shifts onset from the pandemic. However, allotting resources and money toward software development is challenging for most organizations, especially smaller ones who’ve struggled the most in the last year. According to Gartner, the market demand for software application development will increase more than 5 times through 2021, with more than 65% of application development in 2024 being performed by low code platforms. This means that SMBs need to transition from a reactionary position on no-code and low-code to one that equips their business for the future to innovate and scale.

Cryptocurrency Options in Employee 401(k) Plans | business.com

September 15, 2021September 14, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

87 percent of full-time employees expressed interest in diversifying their retirement investments with cryptocurrency

While major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are now household names, most Americans haven’t bought into this fast-growing asset class. One reason for this discrepancy is because the average American’s exposure to the broader investment market takes place through their employer-sponsored 401(k) plans.

And with so much volatility and so little regulation in cryptocurrency markets, traditionally risk-averse retirement managers have generally shied away from cryptocurrency investments. But fresh data suggest the handful of companies already offering cryptocurrency retirement options are ahead of the curve.

New research on full-time employees preferences suggests that workers are interested in this new retirement savings option. These data suggest there is an untapped well of enthusiasm for cryptocurrency investments through a 401(k) plan; however, there remain variations in attitudes towards cryptocurrency investments depending on one’s age and current investments.

What Apple Forgot to Reveal at its iPhone 13 Event | Digital Trends

September 15, 2021September 14, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Apple’s California Streaming event was full of product reveals, including the new iPhone 13 range, the Apple Watch Series 7, and more. But there were several other announcements I had hoped to see but didn’t — in fact, Apple might have missed a golden opportunity with some of them.

Sure, Apple was always going to save its Mac update for another event later this year. But that’s not what I’m talking about. No, there are some things that felt perfectly timed to make an appearance at the company’s September show, but for whatever reason, Apple decided to keep them under wraps. Here’s what we all missed out on.

How To Build Your Business Reputation From Scratch | The Startup Magazine

September 14, 2021September 13, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Reputation is the lifeblood of any business. Every business, if it aspires to be great, aspires to be seen as a thought leader in the industry; as an experienced company capable of handling any problem thrown its way; and as a business whose excellence is unrivaled. That kind of reputation wins influence, customers and profits. Reputation is the natural consequence of time spent in an industry. After years or decades in an industry, people form conclusions about a business and its leaders. However, a business cannot wait decades for people to form good opinions about it. For new businesses, the need for a good reputation is vital. Yet, having a reputation as a new business is very hard to do. So let’s discuss how you can build your business reputation from scratch.

What bosses really think about remote work | BBC Worklife

September 14, 2021September 13, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Many managers are itching to get staff back to the office, despite employees championing alternative set-ups. Why – and how will this change workers’ futures?

Leaning across their desk to ask a colleague a quick question, spontaneously heading out for a walk-and-talk brainstorm and knowing that everyone’s logged on to a stable Wifi connection. These are just a few of the reasons James Rogers, 26, loves managing their team from the office, instead of the kitchen table.

Fake Walmart news release claimed it would accept cryptocurrency | BBC News

September 13, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Cryptocurrency Litecoin saw a sudden surge in price on Monday over a press release about Walmart accepting it for payment – which turned out to be fake.

The release, published through a legitimate press channel, claimed that Walmart would accept the currency through all its digital stores.

Walmart later told US media outlets the announcement was “inauthentic”.

By that time, several major news websites and press agencies had spread the supposed news.

Apple Won Its Case With Epic Games. Why It Wasn’t Worth It | Inc.com

September 13, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

On Friday, Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rodgers issued a highly anticipated decision in the Epic v. Apple antitrust case. With one major exception, the judge found in Apple’s favor, declaring that the company isn’t a monopoly, and ordering Epic Games–the maker of Fortnite–to pay Apple 30 percent of the revenue it generated when it implemented its own in-app payment (IAP) system in August of 2020.

Still, Judge Gonzales Rodgers had harsh words for Apple, especially about the company’s anti-steering provisions, which prohibit developers from pointing customers to other ways to pay for subscriptions or transactions. She issued an injunction that bars Apple from:

Apple secures first states to support digital driver’s licenses, but privacy questions linger | TechCrunch

September 3, 2021September 1, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Apple’s plan to digitize your wallet is slowly taking shape. What started with boarding passes and venue tickets later became credit cards, subway tickets, and student IDs. Next on Apple’s list to digitize are driver’s licenses and state IDs, which it plans to support in its iOS 15 update expected out later this year.

But to get there it needs help from state governments, since it’s the states that issue driver’s licenses and other forms of state identification, and every state issues IDs differently. Apple said today it has so far secured two states, Arizona and Georgia, to bring digital driver’s license and state IDs.

Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Utah are expected to follow, but a timeline for rolling out wasn’t given.

Facebook Quietly Makes a Big Admission | WIRED

September 3, 2021September 1, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

BACK IN FEBRUARY, Facebook announced a little experiment. It would reduce the amount of political content shown to a subset of users in a few countries, including the US, and then ask them about the experience. “Our goal is to preserve the ability for people to find and interact with political content on Facebook, while respecting each person’s appetite for it at the top of their News Feed,” Aastha Gupta, a product management director, explained in a blog post.

On Tuesday morning, the company provided an update. The survey results are in, and they suggest that users appreciate seeing political stuff less often in their feeds. Now Facebook intends to repeat the experiment in more countries and is teasing “further expansions in the coming months.” Depoliticizing people’s feeds makes sense for a company that is perpetually in hot water for its alleged impact on politics. The move, after all, was first announced just a month after Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, an episode that some people, including elected officials, sought to blame Facebook for. The change could end up having major ripple effects for political groups and media organizations that have gotten used to relying on Facebook for distribution.

4 Building Blocks for a Successful Remote Employee Onboarding Process | Entrepreneur

September 2, 2021September 1, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

After the catastrophic pandemic in 2020, this year is giving hope to professionals and organizations across the world. Companies are implementing new trends and practices to ensure that their business processes are not hampered in the future.

One of these practices is that of onboarding remote employees.

Although the remote working trend arrived many years ago, it has skyrocketed in the past two years. As professionals, we were forced to work from home and companies had to resort to virtual workspaces. HR managers had no option but to onboard employees remotely.