Bitcoin was a terrible investment this year, but that hasn’t stopped non-profits from asking for them anyway. Wikipedia, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Khan Academy and now even Burning Man will take those bitcoins off your hands in the form of a tax-deductible donation.
Continue reading… “Bitcoin is now Tax Deductible”
San Francisco to Los Angeles in 35 minutes flat—that was the dream of the Hyperloop.
Back in 2013, Elon Musk introduced the world to this dream with a 60-page white paper. The paper caused a stir. The idea—a levitating, solar-power, supersonic train—was both pure geek porn and a transportation revolution in the making. It definitely captured people’s imagination.
Continue reading… “How Elon Musk’s Hyperloop will Change Transportation”
It’s been a fast-paced year for 3D printing, with more capital, more companies, and more big ideas than ever. Behind the scenes, we’ve witnessed no fewer than 50 new ventures raising money in the 3D printing sector. That doesn’t include more than 40 crowdfunding projects on Kickstarter alone.
Continue reading… “The Big Trends in 3-D Printing”
In the tech industry, we celebrate raising money as a victory second only to that of a successful exit.
And while I recognize that venture capital is often an unavoidable requirement for growing a business, most entrepreneurs, and the tech community at large — who often seem to push people into raising VC — would be better served viewing it as a necessary evil as opposed to an absolute win.
Continue reading… “Trading in your Soul for Venture Capital”
American families are grappling with stagnant wage growth, as the costs of health care, education, and housing continue to climb. But for many of America’s younger workers, “stagnant” wages shouldn’t sound so bad. In fact, they might sound like a massive raise.
Continue reading… “The Shrinking Income of Young Americans”
Audi’s new Tesla Model S rival will offer a
280-mile all-electric range with room for a whole family
Audi has revealed that an all-new, all-electric family car with a 280-mile range is currently under development. Technical development boss at Audi, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg revealed that the model, which is set to rival the Tesla Model S, will arrive in 2017.
Continue reading… “Audi to come out with an Electric Car that Rivals Tesla”
The last decade was a boom time for patent trolls. Their names and lawsuits made the news; This American Life dedicated two hour-long episodes to them. The number of defendants in patent troll lawsuits increased sixfold from 2003 through last year. But now the tides seem to be turning for them: After growing very rapidly since 2009, the number of lawsuits filed by “non-practicing entities” will be significantly lower this year compared to 2013. Although the level of litigation will still be at a historic high, is this indicative that they are finally being reigned in?
Continue reading… “Preventing Patent Trolling”
An incredible 56.1% of ads on the internet are not seen by humans, according to new research released today by Google.
“With the advancement of new technologies we now know that many display ads that are served never actually have the opportunity to be seen by a user,” said Google group product manager Sanaz Ahari in a blog post.
Continue reading… “56.1% of Paid Online Ads are Never Seen”
The topic of job displacement has, throughout US history, ignited frustration over technological advances and their tendency to make traditional jobs obsolete; artisans protested textile mills in the early 19th century, for example. In recent years, start-ups and the high-tech industry have become the focus of this discussion. A recent Pew Research Center study found that technology experts are almost evenly split on whether robots and artificial intelligence will displace a significant number of jobs over the next decade, so there is plenty of room for debate.
Continue reading… “Technological Automation of Jobs Debate”
Venture capitalists invested a record amount in agriculture and food startups in the third quarter this year, totaling $269 million across 41 deals. Conservis, for example, raised $10 million to offer farmers a real-time view of operations. FarmLogs raised $4 million to deliver apps that help farmers increase their productivity and profitability by identifying the crops most likely to sell. In November, Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors and Flextronics Lab IX launched Farm2050, a collective to support “ag-tech” startups whose solutions boost global food production.
Continue reading… “Internet of Things Innovations in Agriculture”
The latest report from Nielsen shows the growing change in how consumers are watching their favorite shows. Last quarter, the number of people watching traditional television dipped by 4-percent, but those watching shows through online streaming services skyrocketed by 60-percent. This is in comparison to the same quarter (Q3) last year, and it is anticipated the increase in streaming video adoption will impact traditional TV. This news comes shortly after Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings predicted that traditional TV will be effectively dead by 2030.
Continue reading… “Nielsen Report: Streaming Increases while TV Ratings Falter”
Audrey Watters: “The business of ed-tech” is also the “politics of ed-tech.” The business and the politics of ed-tech together dictate almost all the other trends that I’ll cover in this year-end series. MOOCs. Big data. Learning analytics. Privacy. Competency-based education. Buzzwords.
One way to identify the dominant ed-tech trends is to look at what venture capitalists are funding. Another is to look at what government policies are demanding. The state of Maryland, for example, said this year that it would need to invest $100 million in technology upgrades in order to be ready for the new online testing mandated by the Common Core State Standards.
New hardware. New infrastructure. New curriculum. New expenditures. So… who benefits?
Continue reading… “Coding Education & Tech Trends of 2014”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.