UpLamp Turns Your Smartphone Into a Smart Gesture-Controlled Bedside Lamp | Cool Business Ideas

June 13, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

We use our smartphones for everything. From talking to texting to general surfing, our phones transform our lives into a connected universe of bliss. However, what if our smartphones could transform something as simple as a plastic shell, into a lamp? With UpLamp, the newest design from Product.

UpLamp uses your smartphone’s LED light to light up a plastic shell made of glowing resin, effectively turning your smartphone into a smart lamp. UpLamp comes with a companion app, enabling smart features such as:

Etsy Brings Together Small Designers, Big Retailers With “Open Call” | Small Biz Trends

June 13, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ 1 Comment

What if you could pitch your products to a dream retailer like Nordstrom?

Etsy, known for being an innovative online marketplace for consumers to source handmade and other items from independent designers for their homes, wardrobes and more, is set to help members of its Etsy Wholesale community do just that. The company is bringing together small designers and heavy-hitting retailers from across the country via its Open Call program.

Now in its second year running, the Etsy Open Call program brings together buyers from top retail stores in the country and fresh talent from the Etsy Wholesale community through a series of live and online events to create pathways for valuable business partnerships.

Why Bumble’s Anti-Bullying Open Letter to a Male User Is Totally on Brand | Entrepreneur

June 10, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

On Bumble, women seeking men have to initiate the conversation. The app, which aims to prevent sexual harassment, does not enable men to make the first move. But that’s not where Bumble’s advocacy for women ends.

The dating app’s women-first approach prompted Ashley Helmbreck to message one of her matches, Connor, with a benign question, “How’s it going?” Connor responded, “Great, thanks and yourself?” Ashley followed up with, “Pretty slow at work” and “What do you do?”

Instead of providing a straight answer, Connor immediately took offense. That’s when the conversation took the turn that prompted Bumble to defend Ashley with an open letter shaming him for his behavior.

Airbnb Is None Too Pleased About San Francisco’s New Crackdown | WIRED

June 10, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

AIRBNB IS SPEAKING out against tough new legislation in San Francisco that would require short-term rental sites to police their own listings for properties that violate city regulations.

This week, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted 10-0 to toughen short-term rental laws already on the books. The city already requires hosts renting out their places on Airbnb to register with the city, though that’s proven difficult to enforce. But with a bulked-up progressive majority following the election of Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who campaigned on housing affordability, the board decided it needed to crack down harder. The new rules demand that Airbnb and sites like it only publish listings that include an official registration number that shows the property is officially approved by the city as a short-term rental. Sites that don’t comply could face fines of up to $1,000 daily for each listing in violation.

The divorced couple who built a global shoe company | BBC News

June 10, 2016June 10, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Jodie Fox says that when she started a successful business with her then husband Michael, it was both “amazing and equally difficult”.

The Australian couple had set up their company, Shoes of Prey, in Sydney in 2009, three years after they had married in their early 20s.

Together with co-founder and old college friend Mike Knapp, they launched their e-commerce website that allows women to design their own shoes. The company then makes them at its factory in China, before mailing them out to anywhere in the world.

While the business is continuing to grow strongly, and so far more than six million shoes have been designed on its website, the Foxes’ marriage broke down under the strain of working together, and they divorced in 2012.

Sears May Sell Its Best-Known Brands|Bloomberg

June 8, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Once upon a time, Sears was the Amazon.com and Walmart of U.S. merchandising. Customers could order just about anything for delivery—even a kit to build a 10-room colonial-style house—from the Sears catalog, a compendium of the American dream with a reach into the rural parts of the country that helped make Sears, Roebuck America’s largest merchant. Sears helped create the shopping mall in the 1950s, working with developers to build the retail centers that grew with the exodus to the suburbs. And when customers needed financing, it created a massive credit arm that paved the way for the MasterCards and Visas of today.

“They stood like a colossus on top of the American retail market—bigger than the next four companies combined,” says Craig Johnson, president of consultant Customer Growth Partners. That was as recently as the 1980s. “Now they’re a 98-pound weakling.”

Foreign Qualification: What It Takes to Do Business in a Different State | All Business

June 8, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Whether you’re looking to expand your company’s physical presence or intending to secure the most favorable business tax and legal environment for your company, you may be considering doing business in a different state.

It can get a little confusing as you try to make heads or tails of what requirements apply to you. I field plenty of questions on the topic from plenty of business owners!

If you’ve been considering expanding your LLC or corporation into a state beyond the one your company is incorporated in, you may likely need to register your business in that state—a process known as “foreign qualification.”

Are ‘Hands-Free’ Phone Calls Really Safer for Drivers? | Live Science

June 8, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Talking on your phone while driving — even if you use a hands-free connection — is still dangerous, a new study from England finds.

Conversations of any kind can be distracting if they require a driver to use mental imagery, according to the study.

“A popular misconception is that using a mobile phone while driving is safe as long as the driver uses a hands-free phone,” Graham Hole, a psychology lecturer at the University of Sussex in England and an author of the study, said in a statement. “Our research shows this is not the case.”

14 Signs You’re Not Drinking Enough Water | Life Hack

June 7, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

There’s not much in this world more refreshing than a tall, ice-cold glass of water. I don’t think there’s anyone alive that can deny that sometimes, a simple glass of water can be more satisfying than a cup of coffee or a can of soda. Despite this, too many of us don’t drink enough water on a daily basis. By depriving ourselves of the world’s most natural resource, we are continuously damaging our bodies. If you experience any of the following, you can improve your situation by starting with a glass of H2O.