Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy | The Simple Dollar

December 9, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The core principles of personal finance success are really, really simple. Spend less than you earn. Find smart ways to cut spending, especially on big stuff. Invest the extra money, first in an emergency fund, then into paying off debt, then into diversified investments. That’s really it – everything else is just nuance.

The thing is, you can say something very similar about other life changes. For example, the core principles of physical health success are really, really simple. If you’re wanting to lose weight, eat fewer calories than you burn. Exercise allows you to burn more calories and makes day-to-day physical activity easier. That’s pretty much it – everything else is just nuance.

But here’s the thing. 76% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. More than two thirds of Americans are overweight.

The truth is that just because things are simple doesn’t mean that they are easy to achieve. If simple meant easy, then we’d all be millionaires and at a perfect healthy weight.

Simple just doesn’t mean easy.

‘Spell-check for hate’ needed, says Google’s Schmidt | BBC News

December 8, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Technology companies should work on tools to disrupt terrorism – such as creating a hate speech “spell-checker” – Google’s chairman Eric Schmidt has said.

Writing in the New York Times, Mr Schmidt said using technology to automatically filter-out extremist material would “de-escalate tensions on social media” and “remove videos before they spread”.

His essay comes as presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton again called on Silicon Valley to help tackle terrorism, specifically seeking tools to combat the so-called Islamic State.

74 Years Later, Sunken Pearl Harbor Plane Still Filled with Mystery | Live Science

December 8, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

A ghostly, sea-life-encrusted airplane that has been resting at the bottom of Oahu’s Kāne‛ohe Bay for three-quarters of a century was recently photographed underwater by archaeologists in Hawaii.

The U.S. Navy plane, a Catalina PBY-5 “flying boat,” went down during the first few minutes of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Just before bombing the Pearl Harbor naval base, Japanese planes dropped bombs on the nearby Naval Air Station on the east coast of Oahu. The recently photographed plane was one of 27 Catalina PBY planes to be destroyed in that preliminary attack.

The Beginner’s Guide to the Hashtag | Mashable

December 8, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you’re a social media novice, hashtags — those short links preceded by the pound sign (#) — may seem confusing and unnecessary. But they are integral to the way we communicate online, and it’s important to know how to use them (even though some people, like Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake, are not the biggest fans). Plus, they can be a lot of fun.

On Twitter, the pound sign (or hash) turns any word or group of words that directly follow it into a searchable link. This allows you to organize content and track discussion topics based on those keywords. So, if you wanted to post about the Breaking Bad finale, you would include #BreakingBad in your tweet to join the conversation. Click on a hashtag to see all the posts that mention the subject in real time.

Preferential Treatment? Bosses Must Find Middle Ground | Business News Daily

December 7, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Although business leaders shouldn’t treat all their employees the same, they shouldn’t show too much favoritism to their best workers either, new research finds.

Treating some team members much better, or worse, than others can adversely affect a team’s performance. However, treating everyone the same can also harm performance, found a study recently published online in the journal Personnel Psychology. Researchers said the key is finding a middle ground.

Wal-Mart Sues Puerto Rico Over ‘Astonishing And Unsustainable’ Tax Increase | Forbes

December 7, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Wal-Mart Puerto Rico, Inc. (Wal-Mart PR), the Puerto Rico arm of the venerable Wal-Mart chain, has filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in a bid to overturn certain new tax laws the retailer says are discriminatory and violate federal laws and the U.S. Constitution. The case is Wal-Mart Puerto Rico Inc. v. Zaragoza-Gomez, 15-cv-3018, U.S. District Court, District of Puerto Rico (San Juan).

According to the complaint, more Puerto Ricans work for Wal-Mart PR than for any other private employer in the Commonwealth: Wal-Mart PR operates 55 Walmart Stores, Walmart Supercenters, Sam’s Clubs, Super Ahorros, and Amigos stores, employing nearly 15,000 people in Puerto Rico. Wal-Mart PR also asserts that it collects more sales tax on behalf of the Commonwealth than any other company or entity, collecting approximately $100 million in sales tax annually.

The Real Obstacle To Becoming A VC Is Financial, Not Gender, Inequality | TechCrunch

December 4, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Start your own venture firm. That’s the advice that one of the industry’s first female VCs, Kathryn Gould, gave to other women, and it came to mind yesterday as I watched an interview given to journalist Emily Chang this week by longtime Sequoia Capital investor Michael Moritz.

Chang asked Moritz about Sequoia’s responsibility to hire women, as Sequoia has no female investment partners on its U.S. investment team.

Adjusting his collar uncomfortably, Moritz said he’d like to think that the firm is “blind to somebody’s sex, to their religion, to their background.” He added that there is, in his view, a pipeline problem to explain the dearth of women at Sequoia. “I think the issue begins in our high schools, and where women particularly in America and also in Europe, tend to elect not to study the sciences when they’re 11 or 12. So suddenly the hiring pool is much smaller.”

Until Death Do Us Part: Will Your Business Die With You? | All Business

December 4, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

What is the value of your company without you? If you are a sole proprietor or partner in a fairly small or family-owned business, you can be sure that a great part of your enterprise’s value is what you bring with you to work every day.

Your company’s worth hinges on your knowledge, connections, experience, and reputation. This means that many people, including your employees, customers, and family members, depend upon you.

Since most companies are not completely liquid investments, it is likely that without you, these dependents would need some cash to fill the void.

You’re Probably Not Rich Enough to Opt Out of the Internet | WIRED

December 4, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

LAST MONTH AT the Techonomy conference in Half Moon Bay, California, a group of technologists explored the ethics of developing web services in the age of artificial intelligence. How much do people really understand about the information they’re giving up in return for a service, an audience member asked, and can they choose not to give up that data?

The question was met, at first, with a quizzical silence. Data is the fuel that makes the Internet work. Without it, online services aren’t as personal, or as useful. Then someone on the panel remarked that, of course, a user has to give up data, but it’s her choice. She could choose, instead, to opt out.

But could she? Can anyone?