While some early adapters may not need convincing to join the cryptocurrency craze, others are left wondering, what exactly is it good for? I can’t put it in my bank, I can’t use it at (most) stores, what can I do with cryptocurrencies? Before we get into the ins and outs of cryptocurrency and how it can be used, first let’s look at some of the similarities and differences between fiat and cryptocurrency.
With an average internet speed of 65.02 Mbps, Maryland has the best environment for multi-person streaming and gaming.
This map by HighSpeedInternet.com shows the states with the fastest and slowest internet connections across the United States.
If you wonder why you never have any time to do anything, you might want to look at the culprit that is causing the time suck: Your smartphone.
Almost everyone uses smartphones nowadays, they have become a major, vital part of our lives. They help us stay connected to everyone we need to. But how do our smartphone screen time habits vary across the US, and across different age groups?
A new study by St Louis-based senior living community provider Provision Living took a look at American’s smartphone habits.
Continue reading… “Americans spend far more time on their smartphones than they think”
The average job in the U.S. will expand its workforce by 7% through 2026, but not all industries will be lucky enough to be adding staff in the future.
About 17% of the 818 occupations the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks will actually lose more workers than they add between 2016 and 2026. The number of metal and plastic machines workers is expected to drop 9% in that decade. While other careers, such as locomotive firers, typists and postmasters will suffer a worse fate.
The following 15 occupations will experience the biggest decline over the next seven years, losing more than a fifth of all their workers:
Continue reading… “Here are the 15 jobs disappearing the fastest in the US”
Japan’s population is shrinking. Last year it fell by nearly 450,000 people. Not since records began in 1899 had so few babies been born (921,000). Before that, 2017 had also set a record. Meanwhile the number of people passing away last year set a post-war record. The figures are part of a larger pattern in which births have declined and deaths increased steadily for decades.
Less noticed is another alarming figure that’s been growing. According to the latest government statistics, the number of abandoned homes in Japan reached a record high of 8.5 million as of Oct. 1, 2018, up by 260,000 from five years earlier. As a proportion of total housing stock, abandoned homes reached 13.6%.
Continue reading… “Over 13% of the homes in Japan are abandoned”
Xiaomi’s India shipments fell by 2% over last year, but the Beijing-based company was still the biggest smartphone brand in the country, followed by Samsung Electronics
Chinese brands rule Indian smartphone market with 66% share: Report Chinese brands controlled a record 66% of Indian smartphone market in the first quarter, led by Xiaomi, a report showed, with volumes rising 20% on the back of popularity for brands like Vivo, RealMe and Oppo.
Xiaomi’s India shipments fell by 2% over last year, but the Beijing-based company was still the biggest smartphone brand in the country, followed by Samsung Electronics, according to Hong-Kong based Counterpoint Research.
Continue reading… “Chinese brands rule Indian smartphone market with 66% share: Report”
What Do US Cord Cutters Miss About Cable/Satellite TV? (% of respondents, March 2019)
At a time when the number of cord-cutters continues to climb, a new report indicates that most folks who ditched their cable TV service don’t miss anything about it.
In a March survey of over-the-top (OTT) video users by programmatic platform OpenX and analytics firm The Harris Poll, 52% of 528 cord-cutters said they don’t miss anything about cable or satellite TV. Live events, sports and news were the programs they missed most.
“Cord-cutters are reacting to the fact that they do not like being forced to pay for channels they do not watch—and they do not like being restricted by device, time or place to access their programs,” said Dallas Lawrence, chief communications and brand officer at OpenX.
Continue reading… “Most cord-cutters aren’t missing cable TV”
A mother uses CBD to treat her son’s seizures. A veteran hopes it will help her wean off opioids. A dietitian says it helps her sleep through the night. Even a pet owner uses it to calm his anxious Saint Bernard. These are just some of the estimated 64 million Americans who have tried CBD, or cannabidiol, in the past 24 months, according to a January 2019 nationally representative Consumer Reports survey of more than 4,000 Americans.
The survey found that more than a quarter of people in the U.S. say they’ve tried CBD—a compound in marijuana and hemp that doesn’t get you “high”—for a slew of mental and physical reasons. One out of 7 of those people said they use it every day.
It’s a funny thing, fear.
Nearly one in five full-time employees in this country has a dream–and that dream is to no longer be a full-time employee.
But there’s something holding back the vast majority of them.
A new survey by cloud-based accounting software firm Freshbooks concludes that 24 million U.S. workers truly want to become their own bosses–but only about two million of them actually managed to quit their jobs last year to launch their own companies.
Remittances sent by immigrants living in the U.S. to their home countries in 2017.
A significant share of immigrants all over the world send part of their paycheck back to help their families in their home countries. When all of those payments are added together, the amount of money on the move every year is enormous and it competes with international aid as one of the biggest financial inflows to developing countries. According to recently published Pew Research Center data based on figures from the World Bank, it is estimated that the collective sum of remittance payments in 2017 came to $625 billion, a 7% increase from 2016 when the total was estimated at $586 billion.
In the United States alone, it is estimated that more than $148 billion was sent to individuals in other countries in 2017. Back in 2004, a study found that over 60% of the 16.5 million Latin American-born adults living in the country at that time sent money home on a regular basis. Pew’s analysis of the latest World Bank figures found that Mexico was the top destination country for U.S. remittance payments by far with over $30 billion sent home. China was a very distant second with $16.14 billion while India had the third-highest volume at $11.7 billion. The cashflow wasn’t just limited to developing countries, however, with South Korea and Germany coming in at number 11 and 12 on the list with $2.83 and $2.80 billion respectively in 2017.
Via Forbes
We believe in data: WeWork’s algorithmically optimized site locations and décor reflect the company’s trust in numbers.
WeWork Wants to Build the ‘Future of Cities.’ What Does That Mean?
The co-working startup is hatching plans to deploy data to reimagine urban problems. In the past, it has profiled neighborhoods based on class indicators.
The We Company, the all-encompassing life-services platform formerly known as WeWork, is entering the booming business commonly known as “smart cities.” Di-Ann Eisnor, the former Google executive who helped grow Waze into a traffic-data juggernaut with 90 million monthly users, will lead the recently rebranded We Company’s efforts to build data-driven products and partnerships with cities and community groups, aimed at tackling barriers to jobs, housing, education, and other problems related to urbanization.
Continue reading… “The Next Player in the ‘Smart City’ Game: WeWork – CityLab”
Majorities predict a weaker economy, a growing income divide, a degraded environment and a broken political system
Public is broadly pessimistic about the future of AmericaWhen Americans peer 30 years into the future, they see a country in decline economically, politically and on the world stage. While a narrow majority of the public (56%) say they are at least somewhat optimistic about America’s future, hope gives way to doubt when the focus turns to specific issues.
A new Pew Research Center survey focused on what Americans think the United States will be like in 2050 finds that majorities of Americans foresee a country with a burgeoning national debt, a wider gap between the rich and the poor and a workforce threatened by automation.
Continue reading… “Looking to the future, public sees an America in decline on many fronts”