Pixar
Emma Coates, a director and storyboard artist at Pixar, recently tweeted twenty-two rules on storytelling. A favorite rule is #13: “Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.”
Continue reading… “22 rules on storytelling from Pixar”
WordStream has counted no fewer than 21 ways that Google is monetizing mobile.
In 2012, Google had its first $50 billion year. But with its massive investments in mobile, someday it might make that much just on the little plastic and metal devices we carry in our pockets. (Infographic)
Continue reading… “21 ways Google is monetizing mobile”
The presence of human cells made the mice’s brains function better.
Scientists discover that human brains cells transplanted into mice’s brains make the mice smarter. These results shed light on how important a certain overlooked class of brain cells are in human brains.
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Salt intake linked to autoimmune diseases.
In developed countries in recent decades the incidence of autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes, has spiked. Researchers describe in three studies that were published in Nature that the molecular pathways that can lead to autoimmune disease and identify one possible culprit that has been right under our noses — and on our tables — the entire time: salt.
Continue reading… “Salt can trigger autoimmune diseases: Study”
Migrant laborers work late into the evening at a brick kiln in central India.
The lifetime profit on a brickmaking slave in Brazil is $8,700, and $2,000 in India. Sexual slavery brings the slave’s owner $18,000 over the slave’s working life in Thailand, and $49,000 in Los Angeles. These are some chilling statistics on global slavery. (Infographic)
Continue reading… “Global slavery, the chilling statistics”
A remarkable Empire of One business
Rich Burlew created the first The Order of the Stick, a hilarious webcomic that celebrates and satirizes tabletop role-playing games and medieval fantasy, on September 29, 2003. The strip was originally produced to entertain people who came to his website for gaming articles, but it quickly became the most popular feature, leading Burlew to eventually abandon writing articles almost entirely.
The entire comic strip is drawn with simple stick characters, hence the name.
On September 30, 2005, The Order of the Stick began appearing in Dragon, the long-running official D&D magazine, and the strip became profitable enough for him to quit his job as a freelance graphic designer and concentrate on cartooning.
Rich also started self-publishing his comics in book form in 2005, but it became hard for him to keep all of the older books in stock. So in 2012 he decided to do a Kickstarter project with a goal of $57,750. Instead, he raised $1,254,120 from 14,952 backers…
Continue reading… “Rich Burlew’s Comic Book Business Success Story”
CDC microbiologist,holds up a plate that demonstrates the modified Hodge test, which is used to identify resistance in bacteria.
In hospitals across America, deadly infections with bacteria that resist even the strongest antibiotics are on the rise. Health officials have warned that here is only a “limited window of opportunity” to halt their spread.
Continue reading… “Nightmare drug-defying bacteria are spreading in U.S. hospitals”
Can Twitter be used as an informal barometer of public opinion? Surely the constant torrent of often spontaneous, 140-character tweets coming from millions of people should provide a window into what people are really thinking.
Continue reading… “The difference between Twitter users and the rest of America”
Each post is seen by one in three Facebook “friends.”
Do you know who saw the picture you posted on Facebook or what you posted on your timeline? More of your Facebook “friends” saw what you posted than the average Facebook user realizes, according to a study done by data scientists at Facebook.
Continue reading… “Each post on Facebook seen by a third of friends”
Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.
China’s version of Twitter, a microblogging service called Weibo was launched in 2010. Just like Twitter, users are allowed to post 140 character messages with @username and #hashtags. 140 characters in Chinese contain significantly more information content than in English.
Continue reading… “China’s Twitter censorship measured by computer scientists”
If you live in Hawaii, Colorado, or Minnesota then chances are you are happier than those that live in Mississippi, Kentucky, and West Virginia. That’s according to the 2012 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. The report that comes out every year surveys 1,000 people each day for 350 days out of the year, asking them questions about work environment, physical health, emotional health, lifestyle behaviors like exercise and smoking, access to things like health care and food, and overall life satisfaction.
Continue reading… “Top 10 happiest states in the U.S.”
“Internet of Things”
We will soon be able to build apps for our cars, thermostats, refrigerators, and more thanks to the “Internet of Things.” But what happens when attackers get into your company’s system through an ice maker instead of the phishing email we’re all so used to?
Continue reading… “Hacking the ‘Internet of Things’”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.