Category: News and Views

9 jobs robots could replace in 2015 | Mashable

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Walking through the city, I find myself thinking about all the jobs a robot could do.

A robot could probably stand in for my coffee truck guy, though I doubt he’d smile, call me “buddy” and ask if I said “three sugars” or “no sugar.”

A robot could probably take over for that guy spraying down the street every morning — though I often wonder why we need anyone doing that at all.

Could a robot drive that taxi, which just deposited a woman on Fifth Ave.? Probably, though I bet it wouldn’t be as good at multi-tasking. I’ve watched taxi drivers snack, take a call and quiz me about my work all while driving above the speed limit. A robot might simply drive at 25 MPH.

These are not idle thoughts. In two separate reports over the last two years, researchers predicted that the rise of the robot worker was imminent. In the UK, Deloitte and the University of Oxford predict that 10 million unskilled jobs could be taken over by robots. Last year, Oxford Research predicted that 45% of the U.S. jobs across a fairly wide spectrum of industries could be automated and taken over by computers by 2033.

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Shopping Ads Test: Is Google Stealing Traffic Again? | Small Biz Trends

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How would you feel about paying more for your Shopping Ads on branded search terms?

A new Google Shopping test, spotted recently by Andy Taylor at RKG, actually directs branded search traffic to a Google Shopping results page, rather than back to your website or your own Shopping Ads.

In this test, the Anthropologie shopping results are organized by category in the top right. The “Shop from anthropologie on Google” link takes the user to a Google Shopping page. In fact, clicking on any content (images or categories) in that ad box will deliver the searcher to the category on Google Shopping, not the Anthropologie website.

In the example RKG found, at least, all of the products on the results page were offered for sale by Anthropologie, the brand from the original query. However, Ginny Marvin at Search Engine Land found this additional test result – querying “David Yurman” and drilling down into the “Rings” category surfaced shopping results from multiple retailers:

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Cheap phones! Consumers win, Investors lose | Money CNN

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This is a great time for anyone looking for a new smartphone or tablet — or to switch from one wireless carrier to another.

That’s because the big four U.S. telecom companies are pummeling each other silly with price wars and discounts on new products. Check out some of these offers on Twitter.

Sprint (S) is asking people to “Bring us your Verizon or AT&T bill. We’ll fire up the chainsaw and #CutYourBill in half!”

T-Mobile (TMUS) recently tweeted, “Fa-la-la… oh forget it. The Note 4 is at @Tmobile for nothing down right now! GO GO GO!

Ma Bell is urging customers to “Switch to AT&T & Get a $150 Bill Credit with AT&T Next line.”

And Verizon (VZ, Tech30) is touting this. “Huge 16MP camera. Tiny price. Get the Samsung GS5 for $199.99 w/ $50 mail in rebate (2yr activation req’d) #GoodMore”

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Employers Will Have to Raise Wages. They Just Don’t Know It Yet. | NYTimes.com

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SalaryAmerican employers are the equivalent of a shopkeeper who has a “Help Wanted” sign permanently on display in his window, but never actually hires anybody. None of the applicants who come in offer the perfect mix of skills, experience and willingness to accept low pay that the shopkeeper is looking for.

That’s one way of reading some key measures of the labor market, updated Tuesday, that shed light on what afflicts the economy and where things will go from here.

According to the latest Labor Department data, employers had 4.8 million positions they were looking to fill in October. That’s up 25 percent in the last year and 125 percent since the start of the economic expansion in mid-2009.

But for all these vacancies, actual hiring isn’t in a similar boom. The number of people hired is up only 12 percent in the last year and 33 percent over the five-year expansion.

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The SBA and Betide | Jim Ely

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betide

bi-TYD

To happen.

From Old English tidan (happen), from tid (time).

Betide is often shortened to tide or tidings.  Such as when Luis Van Pelt declared in a Charlie Brown Christmas: “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy!”

______________________________________________

TIP OF THE WEEK

Good tidings for the restaurant industry.

Driven by stronger sales and traffic and a more optimistic outlook among restaurant operators, the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) posted a solid gain in October. The RPI – a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry – stood at 102.8 in October, up 1.8 percent from its September level. In addition, the RPI stood above 100 for the 20th consecutive month, which signifies expansion in the index of key industry indicators.

According to the SBA, restaurants obtain more SBA 7(a) loans that any other business type.

If you would like a copy of the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index for October let me know.

Continue reading “The SBA and Betide | Jim Ely” →

The 10 Communication Commandments That Drive Reputation And Business | Forbes

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imagesI have come to a bold realization this week: Researchers predict that reputation score will soon matter more than credit scores for individuals and businesses in the burgeoning “reputation economy” now emerging online.

However, a new SaaS software company, The World Table, believes the issues of bad or insufficient reputation are entirely fixable. All it would take is adherence to 10 easy rules. The curator of these practices is my personal friend Randall Paul who has quietly been refining these principles (along with a new technology platform) together with co-founder and partner Bryan Hall over the last several years.

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The Next Big Thing You Missed: New Apps Instantly Convert Spreadsheets Into Something Actually Readable | WIRED

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TS_Wired_IMG80801Dave Story is building a mobile app that can instantly transform an Excel spreadsheet into something you can actually read.

It’s called Project Elastic, and he unveiled the thing this fall at a conference run by his company, Tableau. The Seattle-based company has been massively successful selling software that helps big businesses “visualize” the massive amount of online data they generate—transform all those words and numbers into charts and graphics their data scientists can more readily digest—but Project Elastic is something different. It’s not meant for big businesses. It’s meant for everyone.

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Buying Girl Scout Cookies Online: Thin Mints Finally Reach the Web | Businessweek

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Buyers in the Girl Scout cookie market are of two types: people who are pressured, on behalf of a co-worker’s daughter, into purchasing three boxes of Thin Mints, and people who desperately want to buy three—OK, six—boxes of Thin Mints but can’t find a girl scout fast enough or persuade her to accept your credit card.

If you’re the first type of cookie buyer, the Girl Scouts of the United States of America can do nothing for you because, frankly, Thin Mints are delicious and you shouldn’t need any additional persuasion to buy them. But if you’re in the second camp—the person who can’t find cookies—the scouts understand your cookie-related pain and want to help. “The No. 1 reason people say they don’t buy our cookies is they couldn’t find a Girl Scout,” says Kelly Parisi, chief communications director of Girl Scouts of America. “We needed a new way to approach the consumer.”

That’s why this year, you’ll be able to buy Girl Scout cookies online.

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