Virtually No Institutional Investors Are Happy With Activist Hedge Funds Right Now | Bloomberg

August 29, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The ongoing squabble between billionaire hedge fund luminaries William Ackman and Carl Icahn over Herbalife Ltd. distracts from a large warning sign for activist managers: they’re failing to live up to the expectations of institutional investors.

The August edition of research provider Prequin’s Hedge Fund Spotlight shows that 100 percent of institutional investors surveyed indicated that returns on their activist hedge fund investments had fallen short of their expectations.

Activist funds have been one of the worst-performing strategies among hedge funds from July 2015 through the midway point of this year, though funds tracked by Preqin have booked five straight months in positive territory through July 2016.

Can Vitamin B-17 Really Kill Cancer? | Life Hack

August 26, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Even if you are a health-conscious person who is aware of the importance of a healthy diet and taking vitamins and supplements, chances are, you probably have not heard of vitamin B-17. However, in spite of an FDA ban on this vitamin, there are many in the medical community who believe in the health benefits of this nutrient, especially in regards to a potential cure for cancer. Read on to find out why.

Why Does the Moon Turn Red During a Total Lunar Eclipse? | Live Science

August 25, 2016August 24, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

An oversized ruby-colored sphere rising in the sky as a total lunar eclipse turns the normally pallid moon scarlet is enough to make some people swoon. And perhaps with good reason, as the fiery glow is the most dramatic of the three types of lunar eclipses (the other two are called partial and penumbral).

In addition, perfection is a must: A total lunar eclipse happens only when the sun, Earth and moon are perfectly lined up.

So when the moon tiptoes into the outer portion of Earth’s shadow, becoming totally bathed in the darkest part of that shadow, why isn’t the result a “lights out” for the sky? Why instead does the moon become engulfed in a light-orange to blood-red glow?

Protect Yourself From Common Credit Card Scams | All Business

August 25, 2016August 24, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Credit card fraud is growing over the Internet, email, traditional mail, and telephone. “Phishing” is when scammers send out fraudulent emails asking for your personal information, such as your credit card number or bank account number. Never respond to these—delete them immediately.

In a similar phishing scam, someone may phone you pretending to be your bank, the fraud department of your credit card company, or another organization, and may ask to “verify your information” or “verify you are in possession of your card.” They often ask for your 3-digit verification code on the back of the card or ask for the first 12 digits of your card (they may already have the last 4 digits from a discarded receipt). Reputable companies do not call and ask for this information. If you did not initiate the call, do not give them any information and hang up immediately.

Sexual Harassment Policies: Why Even Small Businesses Need Them | Business News Daily

August 24, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Sexual harassment is a big problem in the modern workplace. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and state agencies handled a total of 11,364 sexual harassment charges in 2011 (the most recent combined reporting data). Of those cases, 26 percent were decided in favor of complainants, with employers of all sizes paying out $52.3 million in victim settlements in that year alone.

Sexual harassment can happen to, and be committed by, workers of any professional level or gender. It is a form of discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which states that it is unlawful to harass a person in the workplace. However, this federal regulation applies only to employers with 15 or more employees, and even businesses that pass that threshold are not legally required to have an official sexual harassment policy.

Preventing Cybercrime: It’s About Awareness | The Startup Magazine

August 24, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Security expert Emma Philpott has said: “There’s a lot of great talk, but most SMEs do nothing about cyber security. It’s shocking.”

The threat of cyber security is one that is very, very real to SME’s. In fact, despite the tales of the large corporations being victims of cyber-attacks – it appears its predominantly small- medium businesses that are being targeted. In 2015 a government report found that 74% of small businesses reported a breach in security.

Small businesses are often guilty of falling into the trap of feeling that they aren’t likely to be targeted due to their size and that hackers or cyber criminals couldn’t possibly be interested in what they do – but in reality, it’s the opposite that is true.

How To Increase Business Efficiency Even More | Getentrepreneurial.com

August 19, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Efficiency is everything when it comes to building and growing a business. It not only saves time, money, and effort, it improves results across the border. Although this blog has already touched upon how to build better business efficiency by enhancing ergonomics, communications and data entry, employee productivity, weekly goals, and qualifying clients better, there is still much more you can do to improve your company’s productivity and cost-efficiency.

Here are 4 more ways to improve efficiency in a business by leveraging the power of technology.

30 Cool New Products from Amazon Launchpad | Small Biz Trends

August 18, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you happen to be browsing on Amazon’s site and you’ve wondered how many items are available from the online mega retailer, click right here. As of this posting, there were 366,874,689 items being offered for sale, which is quite daunting if you’re looking to introduce a new product and compete with the hundreds of millions out there. Granted there are many departments, but even a simple search for watches turns up more than two million items.

In order to give startups a leg up when breaking into this vast online marketplace, Amazon introduced Launchpad last year.

Crowdfunding sites like such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo and accelerators like Y Combinator have partnered with Amazon to identify products with the greatest potential and placed them into the Launchpad product listing.

Source: 30 Cool New Products from Amazon Launchpad

Canadians Support A Basic Income–But Not If Taxes Have To Go Up | Co.Exist

August 17, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Canada is one of a small but growing number of countries considering a basic income guarantee. In March, a key parliamentary committee said the government should be studying the idea. Several members of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet support basic income (the Liberal Party manifesto endorsed it, though it wasn’t in the election platform).

And, most importantly, Ontario has announced a full pilot, and Quebec has a minister investigating the potential. With the Liberals in power in seven of Canada’s 10 provinces, “potential exists for pan-provincial support for a guaranteed minimum income if Ottawa and provincial governments work together,” says Global Risk Insights, a news site.

Open Source Won. So, Now What? | WIRED

August 17, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

THE GOVERNMENT IS now a little more open. This week, the White House released its first official federal source code policy, detailing a pilot program that requires government agencies to release 20 percent of any new code they commission as open source software, meaning the code will be available for anyone to examine, modify, and reuse in their own projects. The government agencies will also share more code with each other, essentially adopting open source practices within their own governmental universe.

It’s the latest in a long line of high-profile victories for the open source movement. As recently as a decade ago, the worlds of both government and business worried that using open source software would open them up to bugs, security holes, and countless lawsuits. But despite these early fears, open source came to dominate the digital landscape. Today, practically every major piece of technology you interact with on a day-to-day basis—from the web to your phone to your car—was built using at least some form of freely available code.