Microsoft buys AI scheduling tool Genee to make Office 365 smarter | TechCrunch

August 22, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Microsoft has picked up another productivity app — announcing the acquisition of AI-powered scheduling tool Genee. In a blog post today the software giant said it will be plugging Genee into its cloud productivity suite, Office 365. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“As we continue to build new Office 365 productivity capabilities and services our customers value, I’m confident the Genee team will help us further our ambition to bring intelligence into every digital experience,” writes Rajesh Jha, CVP of Outlook and Office 365.

Genee launched in public beta a year ago, offering an end-to-end scheduling tool that integrates with calendar apps and email providers to take the strain out of arranging meetings.

What Your Company Needs to Know About Point of Sale Compliance | CoolBusinessIdeas.com

August 19, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Understanding the basics behind point of sale (POS) compliance can be something of a chore, but it is key to making sure you select the right POS system for your business. A good point of sale system can be way more than just a cash register and a payment terminal. Indeed, a terrific POS can help you with inventory management, referral programs, rewards programs, and other elements of customer relationship management. However, without substantial compliance, your POS can be something you never want it to be: a liability.

In this article, we are going to look at three elements of POS compliance and how they can help to keep your customers safe. These elements are PCI, PAYware Connect, and EMV.

Judge rejects $100 million settlement between Uber and drivers | Money CNN

August 19, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

A federal judge has rejected a proposed $100 million settlement between Uber and its drivers.

The deal between Uber and drivers in California and Massachusetts did not compensate drivers enough, the judge ruled.

The April settlement was three years in the making. Its rejection could force Uber to dig deeper to reach a deal.

The lawsuits had charged that the drivers should be treated as employees, rather than independent contractors. That would have entitled the drivers to a variety of benefits, including overtime and health insurance. It also might have put Uber on the hook for some of the drivers expenses, such as gas and tolls.

This is how Apple will make your home smarter | Mashable

August 18, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

It’s worth wondering if we’d be further along in our quest for the ultimate smart home if we had never called it a Smart Home.

The idea that an entire dwelling could achieve something approaching sentience in one-fell swoop was always ludicrous. While our homes represent a singular idea, they’re comprised of a million competing ones. Invariably it’s a hodgepodge, an eclectic mix of design, decor, gadgets and interfaces.

We buy what we like and what we think will fill a utility gap. The refrigerator is purchased for one reason, while the electric stove is for another. Our dish washing machine might be from Kenmore while our clothes dryer is from Samsung.

We buy one set of shades for one room and a different set for another.

In the early days of the smart home revolution, manufacturers tried to sell consumers on a cohesive idea: turnkey systems installed by professionals with a centrally managed interface that only a Mensa candidate could figure out.

South Korea gaming: How a T-shirt cost an actress her job | BBC News

August 15, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The “Gamergate” controversy which roiled the world of video gaming has hit a new level. The name was coined as a row over whether Western gamers were mostly male and anti-women. Now, a similar row is rocking South Korea, arguably the country with the strongest culture of gaming in the world. As the BBC’s Steve Evans reports from Seoul, it all started with a slogan on a T-shirt.

On the face of it, the slogan “Girls do not need a prince” doesn’t seem that controversial.

In many parts of the world, it would pass as the kind of thing any young woman might wear without prompting a second look.

But when the actress, Kim Jayeon, tweeted a photograph of herself wearing the garment, she generated a storm and lost herself a job.

Cooked Medium Rare? This ‘Bloody’ Burger Is Actually Vegan | Live Science

August 11, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

There’s a new “bloody” burger in town, but this one is entirely vegan. The juicy patty contains exactly zero animal products, but because of a bright red molecule called heme, it looks like a hamburger served medium rare, said the burger’s creators, Impossible Foods.

The new delicacy, called the Impossible Burger, contains a number of ingredients, including wheat protein for chewiness, coconut oil for its fatty flavor and potato protein to help the burger cook like meat, Impossible Foods (IF) said. But the star ingredient is leghemoglobin, a protein that occurs naturally in the root nodules of soybean plants, the company said.

Health IT Costs Hit $32K Per Doctor Annually | Forbes

August 10, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

With electronic health records and the move to population health spreading across the U.S., physician costs to keep up have reached more than $32,000 per doctor annually.

Doctor-owned multi-specialty practices spent more than $32,500 in 2015 on new health IT, staff, maintenance and related costs last year, according to a new analysis from the Medical Group Management Association. The news isn’t so great for doctors, who have watched their health IT expenses climb more than 40% since 2009 before government rules and related financial repercussions began pushing them into the digital age. Divya Shroff, associate chief of staff at the Veterans Administration Hospital, left, shows medical students the facility’s electronic medical records system in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 9, 2009. (Bloomberg photo: Joshua Roberts)

“While technology plays a crucial role in helping healthcare organizations evolve to provide higher-quality, value-based care, this transition is becoming increasingly expensive,” Dr. Halee Fischer-Wright, chief executive of the Medical Group Management Association said in a statement accompanying the analysis. MGMA drew responses from more than 3,100 doctor practices across the country for its figures.

Yahoo launches a TV watching site, Yahoo View, in partnership with Hulu | TechCrunch

August 8, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Yahoo this morning is making a play for cord cutters with the launch of a new TV watching site called Yahoo View, featuring Hulu’s free content. The site will now become one of the only ways to watch Hulu’s TV shows and movies for free, as the company is planning to wind down its free version in favor of its subscription services – a plan that was already in the works ahead of the Yahoo partnership.

Yahoo [disclosure: Yahoo and TechCrunch are now both owned by Verizon] and Hulu have had a long-standing relationship for years, which saw Yahoo acting as a distributor of Hulu content, but this particular deal has been in the works for around six months.

And while Yahoo now has the status of “preferred partner,” it’s not an exclusive distribution partner – Hulu content is also available through a number of other sources, including Comcast, and on websites that carry its player, like People.com, EW, New York Magazine, and others.

Will China’s ‘elevated bus’ really work? | Money CNN

August 8, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The test run of a futuristic elevated bus cruising over the top of cars in China has generated a lot of buzz. But can it really work?

Experts say the massive vehicle faces a raft of challenges, and even if they’re overcome it will be many years before any of the country’s congested cities adopts the new transportation system.

“This is a unique idea to encourage people to improve the quality of transportation,” said Daizong Liu, China transport program director at the World Resources Institute. “But there are many related concerns.”

“Safety is the most important,” he said. “How would cars drive and turn under the bus? If there is an accident, how would you move passengers and vehicles out from underneath?”

Comcast Is Facing a $100 Million Lawsuit Over Its Service Plan | WIRED

August 3, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

YOU DON’T NEED us to tell you that Comcast has a bad reputation when it comes to customer service. For seven years in a row Comcast ranked at the bottom of 24/7 Wall St.’s annual customer satisfaction poll. Now the company’s business practices may land it in court.

This week Washington state filed a $100 million lawsuit against Comcast, accusing the company of 1.8 million violations of the the state’s Consumer Protection Act. The state isn’t suing Comcast for bad customer service per se, but for the sorts of misleading claims and practices that have given Comcast such a poor public image. (Comcast denies any wrongdoing.)