Would You Fly In A Pilotless Plane? | CoolBusinessIdeas.com

February 4, 2019February 3, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

With many airplanes already pretty much flying themselves, and drone technology continuing to develop, the idea of a pilotless passenger plane is hardly far-fetched. In fact, aviation giant Airbus has been looking into the idea for a number of years.

Speaking at the Digital Life and Design conference in Munich, Germany, on Sunday, January 20, the company’s chief technology officer, Grazia Vittadini, said Airbus is hoping that artificial intelligence will soon be advanced enough for it to make the move to completely autonomous planes, Bloomberg reported.

Groundhog predicts early spring but Twitter refuses to believe it | Mashable

February 4, 2019February 3, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvania groundhog we let decide our seasons for us, is officially predicting an early spring.

On Saturday morning, the famous groundhog awoke at sunrise to celebrate Groundhog Day and did not see his shadow. This, his male handlers in top hats dramatically said, signals an early start to spring and an end to winter. But don’t get too excited.

Amazon posts first $200 billion sales year, but growth is slowing | CNN

February 1, 2019January 31, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Amazon now finds itself in an elite group of companies whose annual revenue can be measured in the hundreds of billions.

The company said Thursday that its holiday quarter sales hit $72.4 billion, up 20% from the same period a year earlier and at the high end of its previous forecast. The strong end to the year pushed Amazon’s annual revenue to an impressive $232.9 billion.

But sales growth is slowing as Amazon (AMZN) runs up against the law of large numbers. Its 20% sales growth for the quarter was well below the 38% growth it saw in the same period a year earlier.

Why Do People Hate Comic Sans So Much? | Live Science

February 1, 2019January 31, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

When Vincent Connare invented the typeface Comic Sans in 1994, he never set out to offend anybody. The typographer designed it for some of the first Microsoft home computers: it was intended for the speech bubbles of an animated cartoon dog that would help people navigate the Microsoft Windows interface for the first time.

“I said, ‘Comic dogs don’t talk in Times New Roman,'” Connare recalled. So, he developed an alternative; a playful, friendly font inspired by comic book type, designed to look handwritten and targeted at younger users. “My original idea was it was going to be used for kids. It wasn’t made for everybody to like it,” Connare told Live Science.

Printing Your Own Fabrics | Business News Daily

January 31, 2019January 30, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Need custom fabrics in a hurry for a company flag at a new location, customized trade show furniture or uniforms for the factory softball team? You can have a conventional loom weave them for you and wait, or you could print them yourself on a wide-format printer right away.

The difference in time and cost is enormous, with the conventional textile route taking weeks or months to accomplish and potentially costing thousands of dollars. If you do it yourself, it can be done in an hour at a fraction of the cost, with the option to tweak the design if you don’t like the results.

6 Mental Exercises For Busy People To Calm the Hectic Mind | Life Hack

January 31, 2019January 30, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The cold hard truth is that we’ve become big, clumsy animals.

We eat too much, carry way too much weight on our torsos. We sit in unnatural positions all day, which makes our steps awkward. But worst of all, we’ve isolated ourselves from nature and now our mental and emotional wellbeing is taking the hit; despite the fact that there’s overwhelming scientific evidence that the more in harmony with nature we are, the better we feel.

One recent study found that walking among trees improved participants’ short-term memory better than walks in urban settings. Another showed that soaking up natural beauty can cure brain fatigue and improve mental health. Elsewhere, researchers found that spending time in forests lowered participants cortisol levels (a hormone used to mark stress), reduced inflammation, boosted immunity, and even reduced the risk of early death.

Cities should purchase from minority and women entrepreneurs | Fast Company

January 30, 2019January 29, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The population of Memphis, Tennessee is 63% black. Over half of the local businesses are black-owned; if you’re a black entrepreneur, it regularly tops the list of best places to start a businesses. But a 2012 study found that black-owned businesses take in less than 1% of all the money spent in the city. Women-owned businesses–particularly those owned by women of color–also struggle.

Part of the issue, says Joann Massey, a businesses consultant who now heads up the Memphis Office of Business Diversity and Compliance, is how Memphis spends its money. Cities contract with vendors for everything from paper and pencils to construction work and technology services. In Memphis, as in most cities, those vendors are typically run by white men.

2019 Tax Refund Chart Can Help You Guess When You’ll Receive Your Money

January 30, 2019January 29, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If anyone tells you that they have the 2019 tax filing season all figured, they’re lying. By all accounts, the upcoming tax season is going to be tricky. Despite a shoestring staff due to the shutdown, new tax forms and new tax rules, the 2019 tax season is still set to open on January 28, 2019. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) claims that the season will operate as close to normal as possible—including issuing tax refunds.

So when are those tax refunds coming? Assuming no delays, what follows are my best guesses for expected returns based on filing dates and information from the IRS:

Weird February Holidays Small Business Owners Can Use for Marketing | Small Business Trends

January 29, 2019January 28, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

January’s going by in the blink of an eye as businesses of all sectors channel their energies into starting the new year as they mean to go on.

The good news is that while it might not be home to a ‘momentous’ holiday like Christmas or Easter, February is brimming with some wacky and wonderful holidays that offer business owners opportunity to promote themselves, extend their reach and ultimately make money.

Weird Holidays in February

Take a look at the following weird February holidays small business owners can celebrate and make money from.

14 Overused Business Phrases We Must Retire (And Better Ways to Communicate) | AllBusiness.com

January 29, 2019January 28, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

There are over 470,000 entries in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, with scores added every year. Yet in business, we tend to overuse the comfortable phrases we’ve become accustomed to, thinking we sound smart. News flash: We don’t actually sound smart.

I’m guilty of it. You’re guilty of it. Your clients are guilty of it. Using these clichés must stop now. Communication (read: good communication) is critical for your business to succeed. It helps you establish credibility among clients and even employees.

I reached out to business professionals across the United States for their number one buzzword pet peeve, and better ways to communicate it. You’ll want to save this list.