More Than 13,000 People Are on the Waitlist for This Tiny Pop-up London Restaurant Where You Can Eat Naked | Entrepreneur

April 21, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

More than 13,000 people have signed up to eat at a pop-up eatery in London set to open in June, and the the wait list keeps growing. The restaurant, called The Bunyadi, will serve grilled meats and vegan alternatives on handmade clay plates with edible cutlery by candlelight. Cell phones are not allowed. It’s all very caveman-like.

The goal of the restaurant is to harken back to pre-modern times, giving overstimulated, overwhelmed citizens of our hyper-technological, fast-paced world a chance to reconnect with their more animalistic roots.

Also, clothing is optional.

Treasury Picks Tubman for $20 Bill, Hamilton to Stay on $10 | Bloomberg

April 20, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Abolitionist Harriet Tubman will appear on front of the $20 bill, replacing former President Andrew Jackson and becoming the first woman featured on U.S. paper currency in modern times, a Treasury official said, in a design overhaul that will leave Alexander Hamilton on the $10 note.

The decision is the latest chapter in a 10-month-old controversy that erupted after Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew tried to address gender imbalance on U.S. currency notes. He opened up the selection process to the public just as the current face on the $10 bill was enjoying a resurgence in popularity, and outrage ensued.

How Gorilla Glass Works | HowStuffWorks

April 20, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The manufacturing company Corning has developed a product it calls Gorilla Glass. The company designed the glass for our electronic lifestyles. As we carry around computers, tablets, smartphones, MP3 players and other devices, we risk damaging them through everyday use. Corning’s Gorilla Glass stands up to abuse with scratch- and impact-resistant qualities. And Corning’s approach allows the glass to be incredibly thin, meaning it won’t interfere with capacitance touch screens or add significant weight to a device.

The Real Reason AI Won’t Take Over Anytime Soon | Live Science

April 19, 2016April 20, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Artificial intelligence has had its share of ups and downs recently. In what was widely seen as a key milestone for artificial intelligence (AI) researchers, one system beat a former world champion at a mind-bendingly intricate board game. But then, just a week later, a “chatbot” that was designed to learn from its interactions with humans on Twitter had a highly public racist meltdown on the social networking site.

How did this happen, and what does it mean for the dynamic field of AI?

Stanford Is About to Have the Dopest Map Collection on Earth | WIRED

April 19, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

WHEN YOU VISIT the David Rumsey Map Center at Stanford University’s Green Library, if you can, take the stairs. Yes, you’ll have to spiral up three flights, but the wallpaper will give you plenty of excuses to take a break. Like: a Grand Canyon panorama, a birds-eye view of Manhattan, and a Buddhist world map featuring the imagined spiral of headwaters for the region’s three great rivers high in the Himalayas. There are more, but don’t dally too long. The stairwell is barely a prelude.

The Center itself is classroom-sized, and packed with approximately 150,000 historical cartographic artifacts. Many are stored in wooden cabinets that take up an entire wall. Along the other walls are globes galore, banquet table-sized plats, and massive, many-paneled digital touchscreens capable of calling up millions of megabytes of high-resolution historical maps stored on Stanford’s servers.

Dunkin’ Donuts loyalty app stirring up trouble for Starbucks? | Fast Casual

April 18, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Dunkin’ Donuts is hoping to cash in on rage-filled, under-caffeinated Starbucks fans with its new DD Perks Rewards program. Coincidentally — or not — it launched today a new version of its mobile app for “quick, easy and secure payment.”

Guests who join DD Perks using the special code “STARS” through April 21 will earn an automatic 125 points towards a free any-size beverage, plus an additional 125 points during their second and third visits when purchases are made using an enrolled Dunkin’ Donuts card, said Sherrill Kaplan, VP of Digital Marketing & Innovation at Dunkin’ Donuts, “Our guests are the cornerstone of our brand, and we are committed to continuing to exceed their expectations.

Although numerous Starbucks customers posted angry Tweets when the coffee giant previewed the changes in February, their anger is again percolating via Twitter, since the official changes took place this week.

Millennials Are Discovering Art by Ditching Museums for Instagram and Pinterest | Adweek

April 15, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

It was bound to happen sooner or later. For the first time, social media has nudged museums aside as the primary venue by which American consumers discover works of art.

According to a survey released this week by online auction site Invaluable, nearly 23 percent of Americans find artwork that appeals to them on social media channels such as Instagram or Pinterest. By contrast, 20 percent discover artwork by going to museums and nearly 16 percent by visiting brick-and-mortar galleries.

The findings are significant not just because Americans drop an estimated $150 billion on arts and entertainment each year, but because it suggests that millennial buyers seem far more comfortable buying art online as opposed to the staid and starchy world of galleries and auction houses.

Behind the scenes at Smashburger | Business Insider

April 15, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The fast-casual better-burger business is thriving, as companies like Shake Shack, Five Guys, and Smashburger expand across the US. But to succeed in the burger industry in 2016, you need to have a special something.

With locations in 32 states and seven countries, Smashburger is preparing to take over the burger business from coast to coast. The one thing that sets Smashburger apart from the competition: the smashing process that allows the chain to make a hamburger completely different than anything else on the market.

PODCAST: Laura Wass on Entrepreneurship, Creativity and How to Dress Beyoncé | Page19

April 15, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In this newest episode of the Blinkist Podcast, our guest producer, Emily, talks with an old friend who’s brought her small business from twinkle of an idea to globally recognized, Beyoncé-worn recognition.

Emily and Laura Wass of WXYZ jewelry talk entrepreneurship, what it takes to bring a business from fledgling to flight, and the importance of ritual. I’m also in there making awkward jokes, as usual, and the Book Doctor makes another house call—this time, hitting closer to actual home.

Rock – Record Store Day 2016: The Ultimate Guide | Rolling Stone

April 14, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

On Saturday, April 16th, Record Store Day will flood music outlets around the country with new releases, reissued classics and thousands of fans looking bring these coveted titles home. This year, everyone from Big Star to Justin Bieber is getting in on the act. The full list of 2016 RSD offerings includes more split singles, vintage treasures and strangely colored vinyl than any single person could possibly consume, so we’ve broken it down into a few tidy categories and selected the most essential offerings in each.