Mastercard will support cryptocurrency payments this year | Mashable

February 16, 2021February 14, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Financial services company Mastercard has given fresh credibility to cryptocurrencies this week by announcing it intends to start supporting payments using them on its network this year.

Many people remain very skeptical of crypto, and who can blame them? The price of Bitcoin is far from stable, and then there’s the threat of someone stealing it. Mastercard looks to be taking a cautious approach, however, and being very selective in what it chooses to support.

“We are preparing right now for the future of crypto and payments, announcing that this year Mastercard will start supporting select cryptocurrencies directly on our network. This is a big change that will require a lot of work. We will be very thoughtful about which assets we support based on our principles for digital currencies, which focus on consumer protections and compliance,” explained Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of Blockchain / Digital Asset Products & Digital Partnerships at Mastercard.

If you use this emoji, Gen Z will call you old | CNN

February 16, 2021February 14, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Bad news for people who frequently use the 😂 emoji: It is no longer cool.

In recent weeks, two internet-savvy generations have been clashing in videos and comments on TikTok over the hallmarks of millennial culture that are now deemed uncool by Gen Z. The list includes skinny jeans (Gen Z verdict: set them on fire), side parts (Gen Z verdict: middle part or bust) and perhaps most painful of all, the popular laughing crying emoji that some millennials, myself included, use hundreds of times a day, or more.

“What’s wrong with the laughing emoji[?],” one user asked in a TikTok comment. Another responded: “it’s so off.” On a different video of a woman saying she’s cut back on using it after learning kids don’t, one teen commented: “As a 15 year old I say you should use that emoji bc [because] we sure aren’t going to.”

Pros and Cons of Borrowing From Your 401(k) | businessnewsdaily.com

February 15, 2021February 14, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you’re thinking about borrowing from your 401(k), consider the pros and cons first.

Borrowing against your 401(k) is generally frowned upon, but in some circumstances, it can make sense.
When you take out a loan from your 401(k), you don’t have to fill out a lengthy application, the interest rate is typically lower than it is for a personal loan or business loan, and there aren’t any penalties.
A big downside of borrowing against your 401(k) is that it harms your retirement saving potential. During the repayment period, you are barred from contributing to your 401(k).
This article is for business owners and professionals who are thinking about borrowing money from their 401(k) retirement fund.

How To Bounce Back From a Failure At Work | Life Hack

February 12, 2021February 9, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Let’s be honest and get this out of the way right from the beginning: failing sucks but failure at work can be even worse because it’s in front of people you typically see almost every day. Yet, it is inevitable for all of us to experience failure at work. And as more problems arise that greatly affect our lifestyle, many of us have been facing failure more than expected.

We’re continually making more and more mistakes—way more than any of us I’m sure would like to admit. These situations are worsened even further when the people we work with call attention to our failures at work. It can be very challenging to cope with these mistakes and failures, but doing so is an important part of growth. So, I’m going to give you ways on how you can bounce back from a failure at work.

Instacart Survived Covid Chaos — But Can It Keep Delivering After The Pandemic?

February 11, 2021February 9, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Apoorva Mehta pauses for a moment to consider the past ten months of chaos. A year ago, he was running Instacart as a popular app that was gaining momentum. Then last spring came a massive Covid-fueled boost. Things quickly morphed into a nightmare: striking shoppers, inventory shortages and the challenge of meeting the kind of blistering demand Mehta wasn’t expecting until at least the next presidential election.

As it turns out, the tribulations of March were just the beginning. As the country’s leading grocery delivery app, Instacart is now besieged by a growing number of well-funded competitors. Mehta himself is under pressure to justify a valuation that more than doubled during those 10 months to $18 billion, a highly anticipated public offering and a strategy aimed at proving Amazon—when it comes to supermarkets, at least—has it all wrong. Understated and wonky, Mehta deftly sidesteps any hint of urgency.

The Worst Business Advice We’ve Ever Heard | AllBusiness.com

February 11, 2021February 9, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Business advice can come from anywhere, even from those who have never owned a business. But if you’re a new entrepreneur just starting out, you tend to soak up all the information that you can. The most significant problem is there’s no simple way to tell the lousy advice from the good advice. Sometimes experience is the only way to figure out the difference.

To share lessons they’ve learned in their business careers, 13 professionals from Young Entrepreneur Council reflect on the following question:

What’s the worst piece of business advice you’ve ever heard, and why was it so harmful?

Fascinating eBay Statistics and Facts for Small Business Sellers | Small Business Trends

February 10, 2021February 9, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Founded by entrepreneur Pierre Omidyar in 1995, eBay was one of the first auction sites on the web. In fact, its original name was AuctionWeb. Fast forward over 25 years later. As you can see from the eBay statistics below, the site has become a global marketplace connecting buyers and sellers online.

Perhaps you’ve bought things on eBay, but now are exploring how to start an eBay store or simply becoming an eBay seller. We show you the potential opportunity. Follow along as we explore eBay seller stats, company facts, and volume figures you need to know.

What Is Recruitment? | business.com

February 10, 2021February 9, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Learn what the recruitment process is and how to implement one for your business.

Hiring an employee may seem like a simple job that anyone can do: Post a job opening online, interview a candidate, and then hire them, right? Recruiting new employees should be treated just as any other important business function would, with experienced professionals taking the reins.

Your employees are your company’s most significant asset; a bad hire can cost your business up to 30% of their first-year earnings, so it is important to choose employees wisely.

Study Suggests Most Zoombombing is an Inside Job | Digital Trends

February 9, 2021February 7, 2021 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Last year wasn’t exactly short of threats facing humanity, but “Zoombombing” was an especially 2020 kind of disruption, one that sought to hijack one of the most prominent means of communication by which people stayed in touch with everyone from co-workers to friends and family during lockdown.

Zoombombing, for those unfamiliar with it, works like this: An unwanted participant or participants access a Zoom call without being invited, against the wishes of the participants, and cause problems. One Massachusetts-based high school’s Zoom session was hijacked by an individual who screamed profanities and then shouted the teacher’s home address. On social media, some users reported that their Zoom session had been taken over and used to show pornographic content.