Everyone Secretly Hates Your “Friendly Reminder” Email | Fast Company

June 26, 2017June 25, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

How many times have you gotten this type of message? “Just sending a friendly reminder to please . . .” And how many times have you sent it?

You might think that “friendly reminder” emails are a nice attempt to be professional while disguising your actual annoyance at whoever’s holding you up from finishing something. In other words, it’s just a non-confrontational way to ask for something that’s late.

Well guess what? That’s all a misguided fantasy and it’s making everybody you email with secretly resent you. You need to stop doing it–immediately. Here’s why, and what to write instead.

Are Your Password Security Habits Improving? (Infographic) | Entrepreneur

June 26, 2017June 25, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

From the French presidential election to Gmail, a number of incidents have unfolded this year revealing how vulnerable our online security is. That’s why it’s more important than ever to make sure you go above and beyond to secure your digital privacy. And that can be as simple as changing your password every once in awhile.

Software company Digital Guardian recently surveyed 1,000 people to uncover their password security habits. The good news? Overall, the company found that internet users’ password habits were improving. Although with the amount of password-protected accounts people have today, being savvy about your security can be difficult. Around 42 percent of respondents reported having more than 10 password-protected accounts, with nearly 29 percent saying they were unsure or had “too many to count.”

When Did People Start Using Money? | Live Science

June 26, 2017June 25, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes you run across a grimy, tattered dollar bill that seems like it’s been around since the beginning of time. Assuredly it hasn’t, but the history of human beings using cash currency does go back a long time – 40,000 years.

Scientists have tracked exchange and trade through the archaeological record, starting in Upper Paleolithic when groups of hunters traded for the best flint weapons and other tools. First, people bartered, making direct deals between two parties of desirable objects.

Amazon Buying Whole Foods: An Industry Shudders | Fortune.com

June 23, 2017June 23, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

For years, Amazon has been the specter looming over retail, as once-dominant department stores and specialty chains fell on harder and harder times. But up until now, the e-commerce titan has managed to irrevocably alter the industry without making much of a dent in retail’s biggest moneymaker of all—the $800 billion grocery business.

That changed on June 16 when Amazon announced its intention to acquire Whole Foods, the upscale supermarket chain that played a pivotal role in taking organic and natural foods mainstream. Whole Foods itself may have been under duress, pressured by an activist investor and softening sales, but the healthy-food movement and the meticulously curated store experience that it pioneered is alive and well. “Amazon is placing its bet on the future of the food industry,” says Errol Schweizer, a former Whole Foods executive who is now an industry adviser, “and they see Whole Foods as the leadership.”

Franchisees talk do-over: What they wish they knew before opening their franchise | Fast Casual

June 23, 2017June 23, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Amal Agha knew about business and finance when she opened her first franchise, a Rita’s Water Ice in New Jersey. What she and her partner/husband didn’t know was how much of being a franchisee involves managing people, and hiring and retaining employees proved to be the biggest challenge.

“We wish we had had more training on staffing up and being prepared on what employees will put you through,” Agha shared during a panel session, “What I wish I knew before buying a franchise,” at the International Franchise Expo held last week at the Jacob K. Javits Conference Center in New York City.

Here’s What Publicis’ CEO Has to Say to Critics of His One-Year Ban on Award Shows | Adweek

June 23, 2017June 23, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

CANNES, France—Publicis Groupe’s Arthur Sadoun knows he’s pissed off a lot of people this week, and he’s keenly aware that his competitors are pouncing on it. But he’s holding firm to his controversial decision to ban award show entries across his network’s many agencies for one year.

In a candid interview with Adweek in Cannes, the newly elevated CEO responded to his critics while also sending a message of commitment to his 80,000 employees.

“It’s a tough decision to make, clearly,” he said. “But we believe if we’re really committed to creativity, which we are, it’s time to reinvent the tool that will celebrate and foster creativity tomorrow. This is what we’re doing.”

Movavi Convenient Screen Capture Studio Done For MAC | CoolBusinessIdeas.com

June 22, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you are wondering how to record videos on the gadgets you use, we have the answer. It is obvious that there are times when you want to record a clip or a video or whatever is on the screen to view it later. You no longer need to stress on finding a way out. The Movavi Screen Capture studio there isa long list of multiple things that you can do. The features are quite easy to use. This technology serves a lot of problems and ensures new possibilities.

Art Fight! The Pinkest Pink Versus the Blackest Black | WIRED

June 22, 2017June 22, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

HOW MUCH MORE black could Vantablack be? The answer is none. None more black.

This stuff is the blackest black. It is so black that it makes reality look Photoshopped. Perception of depth and dimensionality disappears into a scotoma of darkness. You look at Vantablack, but nothing looks back at you.

That’s not why Vantablack caused an uproar last year. It was supposed to be a specialty product for aerospace and optics. But then engineers at the English company Surrey NanoSystems, the place that invented Vantablack, figured out a cheaper, spray-on version.

Suddenly it wasn’t just for techies anymore. Now, theoretically, it could be for anyone. Even artists. Before 2016, Vantablack was a technology. After that, it was a color. And people take colors very personally.

Uber’s Travis Kalanick Said To Resign As CEO Amid Investor Backlash | Forbes

June 21, 2017June 21, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Uber CEO and co-founder Travis Kalanick, who took a leave of absence from the company just last week after months of turmoil, has now reportedly resigned in the face of mounting investor anger.

The New York Times broke the news late Tuesday, reporting that five major investors in the ridehailing giant demanded Kalanick resign immediately as chief executive officer. The group included Benchmark, a venture capital firm that’s represented on Uber’s board by Bill Gurley, the Times said. Two people with knowledge of the matter, that the newspaper didn’t identify, confirmed the ultimatum given to Kalanick.

That demand was delivered to Kalanick in a letter titled “Moving Uber Forward,” a copy of which the Times obtained. Spokespeople for Uber didn’t immediately respond to a Forbes request to confirm his departure.