4 Productivity Killers – And How You Can’t Avoid Them|Getentrepreneurial.com

May 14, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Straight up, today’s story is some truth telling and what you absolutely need to hear especially if you work from home OR have kids OR run your own business OR work on line. If none of these apply to you, you might find it interesting anyway!

About being productive….

The ironic thing is that when I have enough time to actually take extra time for me and for my various projects – I’m the most unproductive. Is that weird?

If I have a quieter week, you’d imagine I’d be getting all kinds of cool stuff completed right? Wrong.

Just when I breathe out a sigh of ‘thank goodness I have a little extra time this week’, those damn temptations slip in and kill my productivity.

So here’s what the top four killers are and how you can’t do anything to avoid them (aka. What you have to do to survive!!)

Will Beats Help Apple Solve Its Millennial Problem? | Adweek

May 13, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Apple’s rumored decision to purchase Beats Electronics for a vast $3.2 billion has puzzled many across the tech sphere. But, there may be a simple answer: Purchasing the Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre empire may give Apple a slice of the millennial pie.

“I got teens, and they don’t listen to anything unless it’s with those headphones. The association that Beats has with teens is it’s cool. Apple is the brand of your mom,” Jonathan Adams, digital agency iCrossing’s head of media in North America, said.

Adams points out that Apple obviously doesn’t have a brand problem and is still profitable. But, it can’t champion that spritely youthful image that wearing a pair of the bombastic headphones, which have become a fashion accessory, has. And, it seems Apple wants its mojo back, as noted by its tepid dip in the Tumblr waters in March.

Millennials Less Likely to Relocate Than Previous Generations | Mashable

May 13, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ 1 Comment

Yang belongs to the age group, adults under 35, that’s traditionally the most mobile part of an American work force constantly on the move since the 19th century. Now, that’s changing as members of the millennial generation, the estimated 85 million born from 1981 through 2000, prove less restless than their forebears. The standstill may be holding back recovery in the labor and housing markets.

“They remain stuck in place,” said William Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington who specializes in migration issues. “The recent slowdown is really an interaction of demographics and a continued housing- and labor-market freeze. Millennials are mired down, very cautious about buying a home or moving to new areas.”

Hated Stocks Unlock Market as Analysts Prove No Guide to Gains | Bloomberg

May 13, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Nobody saw it coming.

To pick a winning stock at the start of March, you had to find a company that was hated by analysts, adored by short sellers, avoided by institutional buyers and averse to doing just about anything but pay dividends. Shares with those characteristics have generated returns of as much as 5.8 percent even as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index stood still, data compiled by Bespoke Investment Group LLC and Bloomberg show.

The unlikelihood of arriving at such a blueprint after a five-year bull market is taking a toll on asset managers, with more than 80 percent of growth and value funds trailing benchmarks in 2014. For investors coming back to the market just as losses in Internet shares approach 20 percent, it’s a lesson on how little past performance says about the future.

via Hated Stocks Unlock Market as Analysts Prove No Guide to Gains – Bloomberg.

Senate bill shines light on the energy-water nexus | Scientific American Blog Network

May 12, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In the United States, 410 billion gallons of water are withdrawn for use each day. Almost half (49%) of this water is used by the power sector. On the other side, more than 12%of the nation’s energy use is used to meet the country’s water and steam demand.

In other words – a lot of water is used for energy and significant energy is used for water.

This concept is at the core of a new bill in the U.S. Senate, which focuses on the connections between energy and water systems in the United States.

Roth IRAs and the Fear of Future Legislation | The Simple Dollar

May 12, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

When people realize how incredible the deal is for a Roth IRA, they’re often in disbelief. After all, it lets you earn tax-free income in retirement. No federal income taxes, period, on money taken out of a Roth IRA when you’re at retirement age (and at a few other life opportunities, too).

Before we head too far down this road, let’s touch on what a Roth IRA is. I spelled it out in my earlier Roth IRA basics article, but here are the key things you need to know:

The Rise of Generation C | Getentrepreneurial.com

May 12, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Generation Y is a term which is often used to describe those born between 1980 and 1991. This group are the generation of the digital age or the first ‘digital natives’. Generation Y are seen as a powerhouse of potential for the workforce as well as an essential group of consumers. This mobile generation are shaping the future. Following Generation Y is not Generation Z, but Generation C.

Who is Generation C?

Generation C gets its namesake as this generation flourishes on Connection, Community, Creation and Curation. Generation C is not traditional in the sense it is not defined by their age, though are often found to be under 35. Generation C covers all who have embraced technology, shape opinion and lead on thought.

How Submarine Foams Withstand the Crushing Pressures of the Deep Sea | LiveScience

May 9, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Radio signals that may have been emanating from the flight recorder of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 marked the beginning of a new phase of the search for the aircraft and its passengers. Once signals emerged, the investigation expanded to include exploration of the ocean floor to detect the aircraft and recover the block box.

The location of the black box is estimated to be about 15,000 feet (4.6 kilometers) below the ocean surface. The pressure at such depths in the ocean is about 455 times the atmospheric pressure at sea level. The remains of Titanic are located at a depth of 12,500 feet (3.8 kilometers) depth, which has pressure of about 380 atm. The additional 2,500 feet increases the pressure by 75 atm. In addition, the temperature is only 34 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit (1 to 4 degrees Celsius) at such depths.

via How Submarine Foams Withstand the Crushing Pressures of the Deep Sea | LiveScience.

The Coffee Connecting Machine | Coolbusinessideas.com

May 9, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The Singapore Economic Development Board has created one of the most interesting brewing units the world has ever seen: the Coffee Connector. Here’s a machine which removes all awkwardness of initial contact, and as a bonus, gives you and your new acquaintance a cup of hot coffee.

The device senses when two people are standing in front of it, waiting for coffee. Users step up on its platform and enter details such as their names and what topics interest them, e.g., technology, health care and sustainability. As the machine begins to brew, exposed mechanics show the spectacle of coffee-making, creating a mesmerizing conversation starter.

8 Smart Ideas for Overhauling Google’s Homepage | WIRED

May 9, 2014 ~ knjohn ~ 1 Comment

It’s hard enough to get a group of friends to pull off a potluck, yet when members of the after-hours creative group The Letter Society congregate, they manage to take on ambitious tasks like redesigning Google’s homepage.

Each month, this group of designers, who met in college and have held down gigs at motion graphics powerhouse Imaginary Forces, ad agency Leo Burnett, Procter & Gamble, and digital agency Razorfish, choose a subject ripe for a redesign and offer up their creative visions. This month, the team turned their talents towards Google’s search box. “I decided that because we had not done a web-focused project that I would throw us into the deep end by trying to reimagine the most iconic website on the internet,” says Erik Wagner, a member of the society and originator of this project.

Anything that deviates runs the risk of appearing tone deaf.

Redesigning Google’s homepage is a more difficult challenge than it seems. The search giant is known for its spartan starting screen so anything that deviates from that runs the risk of appearing tone deaf. On the plus side, Google’s passion for data driven “design”–whereby 41 colors of blue will be mercilessly A/B tested–has left plenty of white space open to the designers.