OzoneAI wants companies to pay you for your data, upending the ad model | TechCrunch

October 3, 2019October 2, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Imagine this. Instead of giving away your personal data so web giants can show you ads, you cut out the middle person and allow advertisers to pay you directly for your data.

It’s a novel idea for a new startup that bills itself as a “data privacy” company.

OzoneAI says it preserves users’ privacy by allowing them more granular controls over who gets their data. In the startup’s utopian vision, companies can skip over the major advertising giants like Google and Facebook and buy access to anonymized data from the users themselves. That could mean companies buying your Spotify playlists, your Amazon wish list, or your access to your social media. The user is paid for the access, and the company gets to use the data for better targeting their ads.

Microsoft Surface Duo, Surface Neo, Surface Phone: Details, Specs, Release Date | WIRED

October 3, 2019October 2, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

No matter what you do, do not call the new Surface phone a phone. You can call it a Surface, a mobile product, a dual-screen device, a new kind of 2-in-1, a pathway to the all-important cloud. But Panos Panay, Microsoft’s chief product officer, doesn’t want you to call it a phone.

Never mind that the thing slips in and out of the pocket of Panay’s salt-and-pepper tweed blazer exactly the way a smartphone would. Or that one of the earliest scenes in the marketing video for the thing, with its slow, fetishized swirls of the gadget, shows a woman picking it up to her ear and saying “Hello?” the way you would with, well, you know. Or that Panay himself admits he makes what are universally known as a “phone calls” from it.

11 Affordable Employee-Morale Boosters | Entrepreneur

October 2, 2019October 1, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

You can’t manufacture an employee’s positive morale. What you can do is influence components of their daily work environment. Leaders hold the cards to creating a culture in which every individual’s positive contributions are recognized and rewarded.

Gallup has consistently reported that engaged and motivated employees are committed, love their roles and care about what happens to the company they work for. When people feel valued, trust is fostered. When companies create flexible work environments, people feel empowered to lead their own lives and careers. When people are given options, the message they receive is that they are valued. Here are 11 ways you can relay that message without breaking your company’s budget.

Why There’s a Breakdown Before the Breakthrough | Getentrepreneurial.com

October 2, 2019October 1, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Have you ever decided you were ready for a big breakthrough and, instead, found yourself in the middle of a big breakdown?

Maybe it looks like this. You’ve decided. You’re finally starting your business or writing your book or launching that new program.

You’ve been getting signs from the Universe that this IS the step to take in order to have that massive breakthrough. You’re excited. You’re committed. And you take that big step.

And, you fall flat on your face.

KFC To Trial Plant-Based Chicken | CoolBusinessIdeas.com

October 1, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The move away from meat is attracting more and more big names, and now the Colonel himself is getting onboard. KFC has announced its plans to trial a plant-based chicken substitute from Beyond Meat, in a one-store, one-day limited test with an eye towards a possible national rollout across the US.

Beyond Fried Chicken, as its known, will be on the menu on August 27 at the Cobb Parkway restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. The chickenless chicken will be available in the form of nuggets and boneless wings, which can be bought on their own or as part of a six- or 12-piece combo meal.

Two guys went to McDonald’s on an air-powered couch | Mashable

October 1, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Even the most adventurous of us can’t muster the energy to get off the couch sometimes.

Fast-food loving, high-flying YouTuber Collin Randle is a flight student and paramotorist — that’s a sport that combines paragliding with a motorized, caged propeller if you haven’t heard of it.

On most days, Randle uses his gear to get around his home base of Salt Lake City, Utah, whether it’s to Burger King or into the mountains. But while he’s usually in the sky, his newest video brings him up to speed on the ground for a special quest to McDonald’s.

Roku has lost 40% of its value as competition heats up | CNN

September 26, 2019September 23, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Roku could be in trouble. Competition from much bigger companies is coming to the streaming market, and investors are bailing out of Roku’s stock.

Shares of Roku (ROKU), after a huge run up this year, plunged nearly 20% Friday after an analyst issued an extremely gloomy report. Roku stock was up 1% on Monday. The stock has now lost a third of its value since Apple (AAPL) unveiled its streaming service, Apple TV+, would cost only $4.99 a month. Roku’s stock is about 40% below its all-time high on September 9.

American Women Continue to Spur Business Growth | Business News Daily

September 26, 2019September 23, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Small businesses are a major part of the American economy, and women appear to run them better. Small businesses fuel job growth, generate taxes and make up a large percentage of American businesses overall. While immigrants and other groups have carved out a large portion of this segment of the economy, a newly released survey suggests an even bigger demographic contributes to the small business landscape: women.

The ninth annual State of Women-Owned Businesses Report estimates that approximately 42% of all American businesses are owned by women. That block of businesses generates $1.9 trillion and employs 9.4 million workers. According to the study, commissioned earlier this year by American Express, women with “diverse ethnic and geographic backgrounds started an average of 1,817 new businesses per day.”

How to Turn a Bad Attitude into a Positive One | Life Hack

September 25, 2019September 23, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

These days, the phrase “bad attitude” gets thrown around quite often. You use it regularly and barely stop to think what it actually means. It’s just the nail technician has some bad attitude when you asked her to redo your toes. Your younger sister has a bad attitude when you offered her to put her phone down while you are having a conversation. Your boss has a bad attitude because the deal did not go through.

With the ease that the label “bad attitude” gets applied these days, it is unlikely that you catch yourself saying “I have a bad attitude today.” Though having it is something that you rarely consciously admit to yourself, your own bad attitude is more impactful on you than the attitude of anybody else around.

Staying in a company of people with a bad attitude is something you can choose. It’s similar to an elevator that stinks when you walk in. You suffer for a couple of floors but then you walk out. And soon enough, you manage to erase the unpleasant encounter out of your mind.

Why Today Is the 1st Day of Autumn in Earth’s Northern Hemisphere | Live Science

September 25, 2019September 23, 2019 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Happy Equinox!

This morning (Sept. 23) at 3:49 a.m. EDT (0749 GMT) marked the official celestial beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.

Although beaches have long been closed in many parts of the United States and there’s already been a meteorological shift from summer into autumn, today marks a special transition in which the sun crosses the celestial equator, or the projection of Earth’s equator onto the sky, from north to south. While the north gears up for chillier days, the south is welcoming springtime.