Category: Tools and Information

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

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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.

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

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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.

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How To Increase Business Efficiency Even More | Getentrepreneurial.com

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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.

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30 Cool New Products from Amazon Launchpad | Small Biz Trends

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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

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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.

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Open Source Won. So, Now What? | WIRED

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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.

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This Company Has Built a Profile on Every American Adult | Bloomberg

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Forget telephoto lenses and fake mustaches: The most important tools for America’s 35,000 private investigators are database subscription services. For more than a decade, professional snoops have been able to search troves of public and nonpublic records—known addresses, DMV records, photographs of a person’s car—and condense them into comprehensive reports costing as little as $10. Now they can combine that information with the kinds of things marketers know about you, such as which politicians you donate to, what you spend on groceries, and whether it’s weird that you ate in last night, to create a portrait of your life and predict your behavior.

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‘renegade’ is the pen that recycles plastic bottles into 3D printed sculptures | Design Boom

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‘renegade’ is the pen that recycles plastic bottles into 3D printed sculptures

‘renegade’ was born with the aim of being the perfect solid tool to eliminate overpriced 3D printing filaments and to save the environment by directly recycling and reusing household plastic waste for 3D printing. the sustainable technology specializes in one thing, and one thing only — it prints models by recycling plastic bottles, files, and bags. it does this providing a great 3D printing experience with no compromises. 

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8 Pieces Of Advice That Are Useless To People With Depression | Life Hack

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Depression is often seen in completely different lights by those who have suffered from it and those that have no. If you’re fortunate enough not to have encountered depression in your life, it can be difficult to help despite your best efforts. The advice lovingly provide are often ineffective due to the misunderstandings they contain.

If you really wish to help people with depression, you must develop a deeper understanding of the condition. This is the only way you can help guide your loved ones out of the darknesses. Avoid using these common pieces of advice which unknowingly cause more harm than good.

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How to Build an Awful WordPress Website Nobody Gives a Fig About | All Business

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Wish to screw up your WordPress website like never before? Wish to be on the Google hit list sooner than later? Wish to make sure zero visitors cross your website way?

Okay. It’s easy. Simply make sure that your WordPress theme is never updated. Choose to build your business website on WordPress.com. Never moderate comments and embed only poorly coded plugins. These tactics and more will ensure that you are on the path to building an awful WordPress website nobody gives a fig about.

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