National Geographic Is Making Its Super Bowl Debut With a Post-Halftime Ad for Its New Series | Adweek

February 3, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

National Geographic Channel’s first-ever Super Bowl promo is pretty “genius.”

The network, whose parent company is 75 percent owned by 21st Century Fox, will air a 45-second ad directly after Lady Gaga’s halftime show. The spot, created by McCann New York, was just filmed in Prague on Monday of this week.

The spot is a promotion for NatGeo’s first scripted series, Genius, which premieres on April 25. Both the series and the ad star Geoffrey Rush as Albert Einstein. The series focuses on innovators, with the first season featuring Einstein. The show is still in production in Prague. Rush not only gave up his day off to shoot the promo, he learned to play Gaga’s “Bad Romance” on the violin.

How Madden Got So Good at Predicting Super Bowl Winners | WIRED

February 3, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

FOLLOWING AN IMPRESSIVE but not altogether unexpected rally in the fourth quarter, quarterback Tom Brady led the New England Patriots to victory in Super Bowl LI on Wednesday, beating the Atlanta Falcons 27-24. RELATED STORIES Madden 13 Super Bowl Sim Puts the Ravens on Top Madden 12 Makes Gridiron Grinding Greater Hands-On: 5 Ways Madden NFL 12 Changes the Game

Well, OK. Not the real Super Bowl. The simulated one. The Madden one. Every year since 2004, EA Sports has used their NFL-sponsored videogame franchise to predict which team will take the Vince Lombardi Trophy home. Equal parts marketing ploy and artificial intelligence experiment, the digital bowls showcase an intriguing side of sports videogames—and the Madden franchise in particular. They’re not just entertaining games to play with friends over beers in the off season. They’re rigorous, exacting recreations of real-life athleticism. Simulations that might, in fact, run better without gamers than they do with them.

How Accurate Are Punxsutawney Phil’s Groundhog Day Forecasts? | Live Science

February 2, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

As the legend goes, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow on Feb. 2, six more weeks of winter weather lay ahead; no shadow indicates an early spring. Phil, a groundhog, has been forecasting the weather on Groundhog Day for more than 120 years, but just how good is he at his job?

Not very, it turns out.

Punxsutawney Phil was first tasked with predicting the upcoming spring weather in 1887, and the process hasn’t changed much since. The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, takes care of Phil year-round, and on each Feb. 2, members of the club’s Inner Circle rouse Phil at sunrise to see if he casts a shadow. (Contrary to popular belief, Phil doesn’t actually have to see his shadow; he just has to cast one to make his wintery prophecy .)

The Netherlands’ highest wooden apartment building, can change its function like a chameleon | Inhabitat

February 1, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The tenants of Patch22, the highest wooden apartment building in the Netherlands, can design and create their own floor plans thanks to the project’s impressive level of flexibility. Architecture firm FRANTZEN et al architecten designed Patch22 with multifunctionality in mind– the team anticipated different future uses so that the building can accommodate housing units or office spaces, depending on circumstances.

5 Steps to Marketing a Micro-Business | Small Business Daily

February 1, 2017February 6, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Is your small business marketing working as well as it could be? Marketing even the smallest businesses has gotten both easier and more complicated in the digital age. Easier, because online marketing is so affordable; more complicated, because there are so many options to choose from.

To find out how small business owners are keeping up, Vistaprint recently surveyed “micro-businesses” (U.S. small business owners with fewer than 10 employees). Here’s what they found.

Despite their small size, micro-businesses in general have moved into the digital marketing age. More than two-thirds (68.8 percent) say they market their businesses both online and offline. Over half (52.7 percent) say their online presence is “very important” to their marketing efforts, while 30.4 percent say it’s “fairly important.”

Famous Ukrainian Entrepreneurs Share Their Vision of the Startup Environment In Western Europe | The Start Up Mag

January 31, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

They are hungry! They are smart! They are from Ukraine, one of the most advanced Eastern European countries in terms of the development of the IT industry.

A surprising number of young successful startup owners, developers, and entrepreneurs are originating from this country. Some software developers from Ukraine made themselves a name by working for huge corporations, others by building their own companies.

With so many specialists residing in Ukraine, it is clear that if you want to hire software developers who can make a great product for you, looking elsewhere is a waste of time. Ukrainian entrepreneurs have their own vision of the modern market and its rules.

We want to talk about the best young entrepreneurs who achieved amazing success and made their dream come true. What are the reasons for their success and what do they think about the Western market?

Smart Ways to Improve Communication for Better Work Relationships | Business News Daily

January 31, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Work relationships are an important part of your career, and one of the most critical is the relationship between a boss and an employee. Tension between you and your direct supervisor can have a devastating impact on your job satisfaction and career trajectory.

Sandy Mazur, division president of staffing services provider Spherion, said certain workplace policies — and differing expectations around them — can lead to a disconnected, fractured relationship between employees and their managers.

“This year’s (Spherion) Emerging Workforce Study found that despite workers’ demands for greater flexibility and work-life balance, employers are cutting formal work-life balance programs. When it comes to retention, bosses believe the management climate … and the company’s culture are most important, (but) workers believe financial compensation, benefits and earnings growth are most important for retention.”

Business-Friends? 8 Pros And Cons Of Starting A Business With Your Best Friend | Getentrepreneurial.com

January 30, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Starting a business can be a long and stressful road to take, it can also be incredibly lonely. That is why so many people opt to go into business with their best buddies. On paper, it’s a great idea, but we have all heard the horror stories, so what is the best option? Below, you will see four pros and four cons on starting a business with your BFF. By the time you reach the end of this article you will know if it’s right for you.

Pros

Instant trust

In business trusting anyone that you work with is essential, yet that trust often takes some time to build. This can be very uncomfortable for you due to the fact that regularly (especially at the beginning) your livelihood is stake and you are gambling on a stranger to safeguard your dream. With a friend, on the other hand, there is already a strong bond. Having someone on your side that you trust is a very valuable asset.

Yes, there’s going to be a Ferrari Land and it’s everything you imagined | Mashable

January 27, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Ferrari Land — it might sound like fantasy but pretty soon it will be a full-blown theme park packed full of mini Ferraris and some of the fastest rides in Europe.

A maze of super-speed rides in the Italian car company’s signature red, Ferrari Land will open at the PortAventura amusement park in Spain on April 7. While there’s already a Ferrari World in Dubai, this is the first park of its kind in Europe.

Why Other People Wreck Brainstorms (And How To Stop Them) | Fast Company

January 27, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

You’re probably brainstorming all wrong. Chances are you’re using some form of the rules that were initially devised by the adman Alex Osborn that started in the 1950s. His process sounds intuitively reasonable: Get a bunch of people together. Have them throw out ideas without worrying about constraints. Don’t criticize the ideas, just build on them. Don’t worry about how strange the ideas are, just come up with as many as you can.

The problem with these rules for brainstorming is simple: They frankly don’t work. We know now a good deal more about human psychology and brain science than Osborn did, but we’re still brainstorming as though we don’t. Many studies over the years have actually documented a productivity loss from his method of brainstorming. Groups that follow Osborn’s rules come up with fewer ideas—and fewer good ideas—than the same number of people working alone.