v.19 n. 08 – Released February 20, 2015
Here is a cool way to lift your greenery off the counters and windowsills – Well Light. Designed by Toronto based studio Object Interface, this light fixture doubles as a planter. The shape of the lampshade is ideal for the plants to receive enough sunlight, while the body of the lamp is made of cast aluminum with an acid etched glass diffuser. The Well Light pendant lamp comes in black, white, or a combination of the two
YouTube will launch a new, child-friendly version of its service for mobile devices on Monday. USA Today broke details of the news, which we’ve confirmed with sources at the company.
The app will initially be available for Android and in the U.S. only, but the move is telling of the Google-owned company’s ambition to develop its service beyond just being the world’s largest repository of online videos. It already has its ‘Music Key’ service, and an ad-free version is reportedly on its way also.
The kids app will surface content suitable for youngsters, as you’d expect, and TechCrunch understands that it will include a number of parental control features, such as a limiter that restricts the time of each session, and a sound toggle for muting and unmuting videos. The app will ship with content from a range of partners from the entertainment industry, including Jim Henson TV, DreamWorks, National Geographic, and a range of high-profile YouTubers.
Two weeks ago, Elan Lee got a call that made him feel like he was living in the movie Jaws. It was about two weeks into the highly successful Kickstarter campaign for his new card game Exploding Kittens, and one of his potential suppliers called “to see if you were still interested in that order for 500 decks of cards.” By that point he already knew he was going to need about 500 thousand.
“I had flashes,” Lee says, “to that scene where Roy Scheider (Brody) sees the immense great white for the first time and says in a stupor “you’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
When Exploding Kittens—a tabletop card game that’s essentially Russian Roulette with cats—ended its Kickstarter run tonight, it had raised more than $8.7 million. (They’d initially asked for $10,000.) For context, that’s about $3 million more than Rob Thomas scared up to make a friggin’ Veronica Mars movie. It got more than 200,000 backers—more than any other Kickstarter project, by a longshot—and is the most funded game in the site’s history. “Until Exploding Kittens came along, we hadn’t seen the Internet at large descend on a project and embrace it at this crazy scale,” says Luke Crane, Kickstarter’s lead for games projects.
More and more employees are putting in a full day’s work without ever leaving the comfort of their home, new research shows.
More than 35 percent of the chief financial officers (CFOs) surveyed said the number of work-from-home and other remote-work opportunities at their companies has increased in the last three years, and just 3 percent said they’ve seen a decline, according to a study from the staffing firm Accountemps.
Staying up to date in today’s constantly shifting business world is not easy, but being aware of SME trends as they are happening can put small business owners ahead of the curve. Spotcap, the fastest online credit platform, reveals the six most important global trends which entrepreneurs need to follow to stay on the ball with industry challenges.
Big data is not just for big businesses anymore and will have a significant impact on the pace-setters of the small business sector. Entrepreneurs can seek to leverage large amounts of data across multiple delivery channels to uncover patterns in consumer behavior. Analyzing big data can help organizations to change the way they make decisions. According to a survey from IBM, 75 percent of all small business owners are increasing their investments in data analysis tools. These shrewd investors will reap the benefits of news features that allow them to sift easily through masses of valuable data and plan their next move accordingly.
Like any minor, Mintz has had to lean on her parents for some help. Her father — who runs a private equity firm — is the registered owner of her business. He’s helped front money for legal fees but says he fully expects a “return on investment” as with any business venture.
But Nannies by Noa is all her brainchild. The idea came about as a result of a challenge, made in jest by her mother: Find a better babysitter for their family. (Mintz was critical of their own.)
She did just that — and then she starting helping her mother’s friends find nannies.
“I found it fun to get to know a family and their needs — and find a babysitter who matched that,” she said. It was the summer of 2012, before she entered 7th grade.
How many licks does it take to get to the center of a lollipop? Science now has an answer to the famous question asked in the iconic Tootsie Roll Pop commercial: about 1,000. And you can take that number to the bank — it’s based on a sophisticated mathematical model of how flowing fluid dissolves solids.
Treadmill desks are one of those products that so well reflect the problems in our culture that their existence is almost a parody. Yet they are real things that exist and some people swear by them.
There is indeed evidence that treadmill desks can boost health and even our productivity and focus at work (see: “Treadmill Desks Aren’t Just Healthier, They’ll Also Boost Your Work Performance”). But, as a new study shows, those benefits may not be all they’re cut out to be. Further, they may not be worth the cost and difficulty of getting treadmill desks set up in the first place.
Good news. If you’re self-employed, a sole proprietor, or a freelancer, there are a number of travel and business-related expenses you can take advantage of to help reduce your taxable income. Keep in mind: in order for a travel expense to be deductible, you have to be away from your “tax home” (AKA your regular place of business).
So, when are you considered traveling away from your “tax home”? You are away from your tax home if:
Your job duties require you to be away from the general area of your tax home, substantially longer than an ordinary day’s work, AND . . .
You need to sleep or rest to meet the demands of your work while away from home.
