You are Your Own Supercomputer | Peter Mehit

November 10, 2014January 22, 2015 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Many times when people think about starting a business, they cherish the idea of the freedom and control it would bring, but are often overcome by fear. ‘How will I find customers?’, ‘How do I find the money I need?’, ‘Will anyone really buy what I’m selling?’ are typical of the questions we run through our minds as a wave of fear spills over us leaving us grateful for the job we loathe.

Many of us believe ‘it takes money to make money’, yet many of the greatest success stories are people that had little or no money at the beginning of their journey. We convince ourselves that we need ever increasing amounts of education, but Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, didn’t complete college, Sir Richard Branson never went. Many of the businesses you pass by L.A. freeways are owned by people who possess only high school diplomas.

So what is it? What makes some people successful and others not? We believe it boils down to three main things:

They have a clear idea what they want to make or do to start their business.

They believe they can figure out anything.

They understand, actually or intuitively, how the mind works.

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Internet Should Be Open, No Fast or Slow Lanes, Obama Says | Bloomberg

November 10, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

President Barack Obama called for the “strongest possible rules” to protect the open Internet, advocating stricter controls than a regulator he appointed and causing shares of Comcast Corp. CMCSA and other broadband providers to drop.

“I am asking for an explicit ban on paid prioritization,” Obama said today in a statement, referring to so-called fast lanes for preferred Web traffic. His comments tilt the White House against positions advocated by broadband providers and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler.

Companies led by Comcast, Verizon Communications Inc. VZ and AT&T Inc. T argue that only light regulation is needed to ensure providers don’t block or slow Web traffic, and they say strict rules would squelch investment. Public policy groups want tough regulations that guarantee all websites are treated equally and can be accessed by people increasingly reliant on the Internet.

5 Ways to Get the Appreciation You Deserve | Inc.com

November 10, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Many of us are feeling the pinch every day. More demands. More burnout. More stress. The antidote, in large part, is a simple one: appreciation. When you feel appreciated, odds are that you’ll enjoy your job more, do your best work, and feel the kind of engagement that really connects you to what you’re doing. But for whatever reason, even if you know you’re doing a great job, you may not be feeling the gratitude. It is time to look within.To tap into your own source of appreciation, spend some time with these questions:

1. Am I showing appreciation for others?

If you want people to act a certain way toward you, start acting that way toward others. Begin by recognizing the accomplishments of your team members and colleagues. Stop by their office or send them an email and copy it to their boss. Make appreciation part of your everyday conversation and make it a priority to notice what others are doing right. Start by thinking about your own team. Ask yourself: “What is it that each of them uniquely brings to the table?”

You’ll Never Hear Successful People Say These 15 Phrases | Entrepreneur

November 10, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you want to become more successful as an entrepreneur or in your career, you can start by making a habit of talking and thinking more like the people you know or read about who are already successful. Here are some phrases you’ll never hear a successful person say:

1. “We can’t do that.”

One thing that makes people and companies successful is the ability to make solving their customers’ problems and demands their main priority. If a need arises repeatedly, the most successful people learn how to solve it as quickly as they can.

Global Web Crackdown Arrests 17, Seizes Hundreds Of Dark Net Domains | WIRED

November 7, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

When “Operation Onymous” first came to light yesterday, it looked like a targeted strike against a few high value targets in the Dark Web drug trade. Now the full scope of that international law enforcement crackdown has been revealed, and it’s a scorched-earth purge of the Internet underground.

On Friday, the European police agency Europol along with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security announced that the operation has now arrested 17 people in as many countries and seized hundreds of Dark Web domains associated with well over a dozen black market websites. In addition to the takedowns of drug markets Silk Road 2, Cloud 9 and Hydra revealed Thursday, it’s also busted contraband markets like Pandora, Blue Sky, Topix, Flugsvamp, Cannabis Road, and Black Market. Other takedown targets included money laundering sites like Cash Machine, Cash Flow, Golden Nugget and Fast Cash. And agents have taken from criminal suspects more than $1 million in bitcoin, $250,000 in cash, as well as an assortment of computers, drugs, gold, silver and weapons that they had yet to fully catalogue.

The Dangers of “Free Fill” Programs | Gaebler

November 7, 2014November 7, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In order to get your product into a new store or distributor, you are often asked to participate in a “free fill” program. Giving away product can be a high price to pay for a new customer. Make sure you’ve analyzed the cost-benefit before making this decision.

“Free fills” are programs in which suppliers provides a store or distributor free product to put on the shelf.

Stores and distributors expect their suppliers especially new suppliers to participate in these free fill programs. The idea is that the free product can be offered at a discount and entice customers to try a new product.

Study Shows Americans Believe Anything They’re Shown in a Chart | Businessweek

November 6, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Americans, those healthy, often oblivious consumers of marketing, are perfectly happy to agree with whatever you tell them, as long as there’s a chart accompanying your statement, says new research and charts.

People were more likely to believe a description of a drug’s benefits when it was accompanied by a graph that added no new information, according to a study by Cornell University researchers published this month in the journal Public Understanding of Science.

Bluesmart smart carry on brings luggage into the 21st century | Gizmag.com

November 6, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Let’s face it, air travel sucks. You are crammed in a small cylinder at 35,000 feet with a herd of other people like cattle, noshing on junk food a cranky flight attendant pitches at you while hurrying by. Worst of all, you forgot to charge your tablet and now can’t watch all those Marvel movies you wanted to catch up on. A solution could exist to at least this last problem though, courtesy of a new so-called “connected carry-on” called Bluesmart that packs a built-in battery capable of charging your gadgets many times over.

It is, admittedly, a little weird to think about a suitcase as being technology-enabled. In a world where leaving cell phones and tablets on in airplane mode during take offs and landings was only recently given the green light, the idea of a carry-on that communicates to your smartphone wirelessly through Bluetooth seems quite foreign. It is something those behind Bluesmart swear the travel industry is ready for though, claiming they’ve gotten through airport security many times with prototypes without any problems.

Deadline or Alive Entrepreneurfail | Getentrepreneurial.com

November 5, 2014November 18, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Ravaging through the rough, grunting and seeking out the next victim….Scavenging anyone and anything that comes in the way…

No, we aren’t describing the latest wildlife channel special about predatory beasts in the jungle. We are referring to the angry, stressed, tense new entrepreneurs on a tight deadline. At this stage in the startup journey, fresh-faced founders may get a little anxious, as the viability of their new startups is dependent on each deadline. Sure, you could argue that it is just the passion coming through, but this attitude could cost a new entrepreneur his/her business.

If your actions are making your employees cower in fear of being the next stop in your slaughter trail, these are a few pointers to help you:

One Fugg Luggage for All Sizes | Coolbusinessideas.com

November 5, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Meet Fugu Luggage: the only suitcase that has the ability to adjust from the maximum carry-on size to the maximum check-in size. It also has features like a built in laptop case and foldable shelves to make travel as easy as possible for today’s traveler. Its two shock-absorbent side walls inflate through utilizing either the built-in electric pump, breathing into a collapsible tube, or by attaching an external pump. Live on Kickstarter now.

See more cool business ideas.