Category: Tools and Information

Please don’t use your wall as a projection screen | Digital Trends

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The biggest reason to get a projector is because its image can be, well, big. When you first experience watching a blockbuster movie, or playing a game, or cheering on your local sports team in your living room with the picture taking up most of your wall, it’s exciting and intoxicating. But if you’re watching that wall-sized picture on the literal wall, you’re not only visually doing yourself (and the money you spent on an excellent projector) a disservice, you’re affecting the projector’s performance. Potentially to a drastic degree.

Now, if you’re using a pico projector or something that’s designed for its portability that only costs a few hundred dollars, by all means use a wall for some quick temporary viewing or to have on in the background. But if the whole idea was to replace your TV with a projector, it’s important to understand why you should stop using a wall as your screen surface.

Read More

How to watch Saturday’s partial solar eclipse | Digital Trends

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The moon will be passing in front of the sun on Saturday in a phenomenon known as a “partial solar eclipse.”

As the name suggests, it means that unlike a total solar eclipse, a part of the sun will still be visible, but the spectacle is still worth enjoying if you’re in a location from where it can be viewed.

Those places include parts of North America, Europe, Africa, northern Asia, small parts of South America, throughout Greenland and Iceland, as well as much of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.

Read More

Shaping a Bright Future: Key Skills for Aspiring Communication and Public Relations Professionals | The Startup Magazine

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Key Takeaways

  • Understanding foundational skills is crucial for future success in communication and public relations.
  • Developing soft skills can significantly enhance career prospects.
  • Staying updated with industry trends can set professionals apart in competitive markets.

In today’s whirlwind pace of today’s digital and interconnected world, communication and public relations have emerged as pivotal players in steering public perception and cultivating essential relationships. For those eyeing success, acquiring and honing the right skills is non-negotiable and a key part of public relations professional development.

Read More

Tech for Good: 10 Female Leaders Making a Positive Impact  | The Startup Magazine

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

When it comes to startups, females are making strides on a number of fronts.

For example, the United States has seen a surge of women choosing the path of entrepreneurship. According to the 2024 Impact of Women-Owned Businesses report there are 14 million women-owned businesses, employing nearly 12.2 million people and generating $2.7 trillion in revenue. This makes up a total of 39.1% of all U.S. businesses.

Data also suggests that female entrepreneurs have a powerful influence on other areas of the workplace. A landmark global study found that female-owned businesses empower other women and employ more women on average than male-owned businesses.

Yet despite these positive changes, gender-based discrimination in the corporate workplace is actually on the up after years of progressive change. The Young Women’s Association found that workplace discrimination against women hit a three-year high in 2024.

Read More

Best Portable Chargers (2025): iPhones, iPads, Laptops and; More | WIRED

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

PORTABLE DEVICES HAVE a Murphy’s law-like ability to run out of power at the least convenient moment: as you step on the bus, right in the middle of an important meeting, or just as you get comfortable on the couch and press Play. This is why you need the best portable chargers handy, to make all those situations a thing of the past.

There are hundreds of portable battery packs, and picking one can be confusing. To help, we’ve spent years working our way through all of them. This obsession started when WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson lived off-grid in a vintage RV, powered primarily by solar panels. But even if you’re not living in an off-grid solar setup, good power banks will come in handy. These are our favorites. Be sure to check out our Best MagSafe Power Banks guide for Apple-specific portable chargers, and our Best Portable Power Stations guide if you need more power.

Read More

Apple’s iPhone 17 might come with a big selfie camera upgrade | Mashable

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Apple might be preparing for a big selfie camera upgrade on the iPhone.

According to analyst Jeff Pu (via MacRumors), all the devices in the iPhone 17 lineup (that includes the iPhone 17, the iPhone 17 Pro, the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and the rumored iPhone 17 Air) will have a 24-megapixel front camera.

That’s a pretty big upgrade given that the currently available iPhones all come with a 12-megapixel camera. Other details are absent, though Apple sleuth Ming-Chi Kuo previously said that the camera will “significantly improve the image quality”.

Read More

How Ann Arbor’s sustainable energy utility could impact future power grids | Fast Company

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

An experiment is underway in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that could change how communities generate and distribute power in the future.

The city, with voters’ strong support, is launching its own sustainable energy utility. This new utility won’t replace DTE Energy, the local investor-owned power company, or even use DTE’s wires.

Instead, Ann Arbor will slowly build out a whole new modern power system, starting with installing rooftop solar and battery storage and reducing energy usage in individual homes and businesses whose owners opt in. The city then plans to expand by connecting homes and neighborhoods into microgrids and by using community solar and networked geothermal to allow broader access to clean energy.

Read More

Strategies for Reducing Financial Stress | AllBusiness.com

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If there’s one lesson that Covid-19 has taught us, it’s that unexpected disasters can and do happen. And for the more than 25% of Americans who currently live paycheck to paycheck, an unexpected job loss, drop in income, or large medical bill can be enough to send your finances over the edge and cause an enormous amount of financial stress on you and your family.

Fortunately, there are several things you can do to regain control of your finances and reduce the stress caused by a plunging bank balance. Find the road back to financial freedom with these reliable financial disaster management tips.

Read More

How Tariffs Affect Small Businesses—Plus Tips on Navigating Them | AllBusiness.com

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In early March, Goldman Sachs downgraded its prior economic forecast for gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2025 from 2.4% to 1.7%. According to Jan Hatzius, Goldman’s chief economist, “The reason for the downgrade is that our trade policy assumptions have become considerably more adverse.”

CNBC reports, “Goldman is warning that tariffs could raise consumer prices and tighten financial conditions, while leading companies to delay investments.”

David Kelly, the chief global strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management wrote, “The trouble with tariffs, to be succinct, is that they raise prices, slow economic growth, cut profits, increase unemployment, worsen inequality, diminish productivity and increase global tensions. Other than that, they’re fine.”

Read More

Zoho Unveils Projects Plus, a Unified AI-Driven Project Management Platform | Small Biz Trends

~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Zoho Corporation has launched Projects Plus, a new AI-powered project management platform designed to enhance efficiency and collaboration for mid-sized and enterprise organizations. The platform integrates four key Zoho applications—Projects, WorkDrive, Analytics, and Sprints—allowing businesses to leverage data-driven insights, streamline workflows, and facilitate collaboration in real-time.

The introduction of Projects Plus follows a year of substantial growth for Zoho Projects, which saw a 20% year-over-year revenue increase in 2024. Additionally, the company reported a threefold rise in user migration from third-party project management tools, with 55% of new users transitioning from Microsoft Projects and JIRA.

Read More