Author: knjohn

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Review: Far More To Offer Than Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus | Forbes.com

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The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has been my phone of choice for the last year. I’ve used a lot of others, like the LG G3, which I’ve also loved. But I’ve ended up back on the Note 3 every time. That, to me, is the best indication that the Note range is perfectly designed for my needs.

So who should consider a Note 4? Well, my first advice would be that if you have a Note 3, the upgrade is going to be small for you. You’ll get a better screen, nicer design and some nice health and fitness tools, but it’s not a revolution – more an evolution. So those on two-year contracts shouldn’t fret if they’re going to have to stick with the Note 3 for another year.

But for those looking to go down a new route, switch from an iPhone or smaller Android, is the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 worth it?Spoiler: yes, without doubt.

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How the World’s Top Health Body Allowed Ebola to Spiral Out of Control | Bloomberg

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Poor communication, a lack of leadership and underfunding plagued the World Health Organization’s initial response to the Ebola outbreak, allowing the disease to spiral out of control.

The agency’s reaction was hobbled by a paucity of notes from experts in the field; $500,000 in support for the response that was delayed by bureaucratic hurdles; medics who weren’t deployed because they weren’t issued visas; and contact-tracers who refused to work on concern they wouldn’t get paid.

Director-General Margaret Chan described by telephone how she was “very unhappy” when in late June, three months after the outbreak was detected, she saw the scope of the health crisis in a memo outlining her local team’s deficiencies. The account of the WHO’s missteps, based on interviews with five people familiar with the agency who asked not to be identified, lifts the veil on the workings of an agency designed as the world’s health warden yet burdened by politics and bureaucracy.

“It needs to be a wakeup call,” said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University in Washington. The WHO is suffering from “a culture of stagnation, failure to think boldly about problems, and looking at itself as a technical agency rather than a global leader.”

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Branding Made Simple | Businessweek

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Why did Google GOOG whip Yahoo! YHOO so decisively? How did Apple AAPL become the world’s most valuable company? Why have we all heard of Intel INTC? The answer is simple. Or, to be more precise, simplicity.

The ability to distill highly complex business concepts into simple consumer propositions is one reason why Google, Apple, and Intel are three of the most valuable brands in the world. Google’s breakthrough insight was to make everything about its brand and user experience clean and simple, unlike Yahoo and other search engine companies that thought a busier page somehow communicated more value. Apple rejected complexity in everything from its operating system to product design to advertising. And Intel created a five-note musical signature and two-word catchphrase to make us all believe that a computer was better if it had “Intel Inside.”

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The Great TV Unbundling Has Begun. But Be Careful What You Wish For | WIRED

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The distant dream of a la carte television has never seemed closer to reality. On Thursday, just a day after HBO said it would launch a new online streaming service that doesn’t require a cable TV subscription, CBS announced the launch of CBS All Access, a service will let users watch unlimited CBS content, including some live television, on multiple devices for just $5.99 a month.

It’s still too early to proclaim the death of the traditional cable TV bundle. And yet, the two announcements signal a drastic shift in the way both cable companies and networks—so often adversaries of internet TV services like Netflix and Aereo—now view the changing television landscape. Tech savvy consumers and cord cutters have been urging these companies to unhinge themselves from the traditional cable package for years. But now that they are, the question is: are consumers really ready for it?

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Going Green for a Professional Clean | Greenpacks.org

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By now most people know how to “green up” their household cleaning supplies. They know, for example, that adding some baking soda, dish soap and vinegar to a spray bottle filled with water makes a pretty great all-purpose cleanser. They know that the easiest way to clean a bathtub is with a grapefruit and kosher salt.

When it comes to industrial cleaning, though, most people get a little bit lost. It’s easy to search for environmentally friendly cleaning companies but hard to figure out who actually knows what they are doing. After all, these companies probably aren’t employing people to stand around and create gallons of cleansers out of water, vinegar, baking soda and dish soap! Plus, these companies often use different terminologies for the same idea.

There are, luckily, a few common things that separate the good green industrial cleaners from those who are just hoping to make a quick buck off of the trend. They are also, if you are in the industrial and professional cleaning business, things that you can do to ensure your customers that your company truly is green.

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Bond limbo: How low can rates go? | Cnn Money.com

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Investors are running away from stocks as fast as they can.The Dow plunged more than 350 points shortly after the opening bell Wednesday while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each dropped more than 2%. Stocks rebounded later in the morning but the sell-off worsened as the day wore on. The Dow was down more than 400 points by mid-afternoon. Strangely enough though, it seems that investors are still bullish on America in spite of the market volatility. They are doubling down their bets on U.S. Treasury bonds.

The rate on a 10 Year Treasury plunged Wednesday morning to 1.86% — its lowest level since May 2013. Yields fall when investors are buying bonds. The yield moved back above 2% later on during the day. So rates still have a relatively long way to go before they approach their all-time low of 1.39% from July 2012.

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Google Expands Google Express Service With More Cities and Merchants | Adweek

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Google is hoping that if you’re going to shop local, you’ll go with Google Express. This week, the company officially rebranded its former Shopping Express service—which allows people to order items from area retailers for same-day or overnight delivery—and said it was expanding the program to three more cities.

Chicago, Boston and Washington, D.C., are now part of the same-day delivery service area, on top of New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Northern California residents will still be able to enjoy overnight deliveries and adults in the Bay Area can now purchase alcohol via the service. Google also has added regional and national merchant partners, with the number of available merchants varying by location.

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Dishes That Wash Themselves | White Spaces.com

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Design company Tomorrow Machine has changed the household dynamic forever. By looking at plants such as the lotus leaf, the Swedish firm has created a series of self-washing plates, bowls and cups. The cellulose-based surface actively repels dirt, water and grease so the need for hot soapy sinks is now obsolescent.

Created as a collaboration between Tomorrow Machine and research company Innventia following a challenge from the Swedish Forest Industries Association. The self-cleaning tableware is coloured in a blue and white marbling after being pulped and heat pressed into shape. The lightweight material won’t crack or break and is coated with a super-high heated wax recently developed in Stockholm by the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, so all food scraps simply slide off.

This type of invention may be the resolution to the ageing argument of who’s turn it is to do the dishes, but what if you have something super greasy? Or maybe a toffee? Do they slide off without even a rinse?

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Twitter Launches Mobile Payments Before Facebook But Apple May Have the Last Laugh | Inc.com

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smartphone-on-table-1725x810_27958Both Twitter and Facebook are competing with other tech giants, including Apple, Google, PayPal and the leading credit card companies to own the emerging mobile payment sector, which is immensely popular with consumers and has proven fertile territory for startups. More specifically, the leading technology companies are seeking an advantage in so-called peer-to-peer payments, which are typically smaller payments sent from one person to another. Individuals could use such payments, for example, when they are splitting a bill or to wire money.

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