DIY lamps made from plastic bottles are helping solve the world’s electricity woes | Mashable

October 20, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

A project called ‘Liter of Light’ is hoping to bring light to places that need it most, by using DIY lamps made from plastic bottles. Mashable caught up with the founder of the project to hear how it works and find out who can benefit.

One of the immediate impacts of a natural disaster, like the hurricane that recently wreaked havoc in Haiti, is that it’s often followed by darkness. It takes months for aid, and in this case light, to reach the most remote places.

On a daily basis, more than 1.5 billion people face similar darkness, or at best the dim glow of candlelights or kerosene lamps, whose fumes are poisonous.

Some of these communities are extremely remote and have no access to electricity. Others have access to electricity, but opt out of using it because it’s so expensive.

The problem goes far beyond the lack of light. It extends to long-term issues about security, independence, health and access to education.

An open source project called ‘Liter of Light’ is trying to change this by using plastic bottles to make simple solar-powered lights.

How New York City Is Working To Merge Government With Innovation | Co.Exist

October 19, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

With a budget that is many millions of dollars in the red, the New York City Housing Authority—North America’s largest low-income landlord—doesn’t have a lot of cash to spare. So it’s not ideal that the electricity and heating bills for its more than 2,000 buildings are much higher than they should be. The agency, abbreviated NYCHA, estimates its spends more than 40% more on energy than a typical apartment building in the city. But tackling such a large and sprawling problem and encouraging energy conservation—especially when, in many NYCHA buildings, residents don’t pay their own electric bills—isn’t straightforward. “When you’ve been doing something one way for a decade, it’s really hard to step back and see the opportunities in a different light.”

So the agency approached Mayor de Blasio’s Office of Tech and Innovation with the problem, and out of that came two new open innovation challenges launched on Tuesday. Their aim is to ferret out ideas, from the private sector, for reducing electric bills without taking away residents’ control of their own apartments and, in a smaller number of buildings, reduce steam heating bills.

How Banks Are Losing Clients to Their Own Employees | Bloomberg

October 18, 2016October 17, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Morgan Stanley could do little but watch as a team of advisers overseeing $2.2 billion in assets quit last month to start their own shop, the latest in a string of departures that have shifted billions of dollars in assets away from big Wall Street banks.

After months of secret and meticulous planning, 13 employees in Wichita, Kansas, left on a Friday with phone numbers and e-mail addresses for 800 clients, and then spent a frantic weekend on the phone trying to get them to switch to their upstart. It all depended on a gift from Morgan Stanley: Years earlier, the bank had signed away its right to sue.

Here’s How Much a Millennial Needs to Save Each Month to Retire With $5 Million | Entrepreneur

October 18, 2016October 17, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

How much will you need to retire?

Well, in 2014, Matthew Illian, a member of the Investment Committee at Marotta Wealth Management, Inc., wrote that “Someone retiring now in 2014 with $1 million at age 65 can safely withdraw $43,600 a year. However, [because of inflation], today’s 20-year-olds will need over $7 million to have that same lifestyle when they retire. In 1970, they would only have needed $166,000 in retirement to have a similar purchasing power for the rest of their life.”

Immigrants Fuel Innovation. America Should Not Waste Their Potential | WIRED

October 18, 2016October 17, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

NOE ARRIVED IN the United States after a treacherous two-month journey to flee El Salvador. He hiked through the jungle, rode on top of trains, slept on the streets of Mexico City, and trekked through the desert. Eventually he made it to San Francisco.

When Noe enrolled in high school, he discovered a passion—and a valuable talent—for chemistry and calculus. I met Noe at College Track, an organization that supports underserved youth through high school and college, where I’m a counselor and mentor. Noe graduated with a 4.2 GPA and was accepted to UC Berkeley. He graduated from there a year ago with a degree in architecture and economic policy, having benefited from California’s commitment to provide undocumented students with access to financial aid. But instead of beginning his career as an architect, he is working as an apartment manager in exchange for rent—because his undocumented status bars him from putting that world-class education to work for his community.

Addicted to Spending? Here’s How to Become a ‘Recovering Spender’ | The Simple Dollar

October 17, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Imagine waking up every day with an insatiable urge to shop. The second you get a chance, you check the racks and sales, desperate for the perfect gift, the perfect blouse, or anything to make your shopping trip worthwhile.

As you leave the store with a bag full of stuff, you’re over the moon with familiar feelings of euphoria and accomplishment. Unfortunately, this feeling is rather short-lived; soon, you’ll need to buy something else – something better – to maintain your glow.

For a lot of people, this is what addictive and compulsive spending looks like. Instead of getting high on drugs, addicted shoppers get high on the thrill of the chase and the excitement of buying something new.

6 Productivity Myths You Should Stop Paying Attention to | Life Hack

October 14, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In this digital age, there seems to be an abundance of information. We want to know so much about self-improvement and how to meet our career goals. The truth however is that, amidst all the information there are lies that distorts the facts.

To reach your goals and be more productive, you have to be better informed and follow strategies that deliver results rather than become a victim of the many “How To’s” out there.

So yes, we want to adopt the right tools in our profession to get more done and to reach our goals. But however even with the right tools, your effort to become more productive can be thwarted. Here are 6 productivity myths you should learn to avoid and the actual facts related to the truth of the situation.

These Are the Risks Every Entrepreneur Needs to Take | Inc.com

October 14, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Entrepreneurs love to view risk as binary. The more you put on the line, the greater the potential for reward. Go on, take that second mortgage so you can pour more cash into your business. Mine your life savings for a few more months of runway. The thrill, the adrenaline, the glory come from being at the precipice of either winning or losing it all.

That’s a terrible way to navigate your company. It’s misguided, toxic, and, unfortunately, all too common. It’s what happens when the notion of risk is distorted–compressed from a spectrum to a single, indivisible point.

Here’s Why Google Should Reward Content Marketers (And SEO Practitioners) For Less Content, Not More | Adrant

October 13, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

For a long time there’s been a love-hate relationship between SEO practitioners and and content marketers and, sadly, isn’t going away anytime soon. But, there may be a solution and Google is front and center. But, first, let’s take a look at the history between SEO practitioners and content marketers.

Yesterday: War

Throughout most of the ’00s, SEO and quality content were fighting an all-out war. All SEOs could think about were keywords, keywords, keywords. Content creators were driven by advertising, PR and branding considerations saw keyword insertion and other SEO tactics such as padded word counts as self-defeating ploys guaranteed to render published content unreadable, unpersuasive and undermining of the company brand.

Why ‘Hoppy’ Beer May Be Better for Your Liver | Live Science

October 13, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The hops found in beer not only add flavor, but also may lessen the damaging effects of alcohol on the liver, a new study in mice suggests.

In the study, the researchers gave mice regular beer with hops, a special beer without hops, or plain ethanol (alcohol). After 12 hours, the mice that were given the beer with hops showed less buildup of fat in their livers than the mice that were given ethanol. In contrast, the mice that were given beer without hops had about the same level of fat accumulation in their livers as the mice that were given ethanol.