Futurist Thomas Frey: On a recent driving trip, my wife and I became immersed in the audio version of one of Tom Clancy’s last novels titled, “Threat Vector.” Without giving away too much of the plot, a Chinese super-geek villain has hatched a plan to hack into our most secure networks and blackmail people with their darkest secrets to subversively cause chaos and disruption for the American government.
Continue reading… “When Everyone Becomes Blackmailable”
The traditional fee-for-service approach to medicine that can lead to overtreatment and unnecessary medical tests and procedures.
The country’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans say they are spending more than $65 billion annually, about 20 percent of the medical claim dollars they pay, on “value-based” care that rewards better outcomes and keeps patients healthy. This is the latest blow to fee-for-service medicine.
Continue reading… “Blue Cross makes a $65B bet on value-based medical care”
Lucy, a 1 year old Burmese Mountain dog and her owner Alfred Pretrone.
There’s “something special” about Lucy, says Alfred Pretrone about his female companion. She’s good-looking, “chill” and she makes the stress melt away at the end of a long day. But Lucy isn’t Mr. Petrone’s girlfriend. She’s his dog.
Continue reading… “Growing trend among young singles who treat pets like girlfriends and boyfriends”
Democratization of funding is changing the VC landscape.
The venture capital and funding market has changed dramatically over the last ten years. In the past venture capitalists were the go-to-guys in the playground, there are new players giving entrepreneurs with many choices. One used to focus their efforts in the famed VC offices on Sand Hill Road, but today it is happening in every corner and coffee shop around the world.
Continue reading… “Democratization of funding is disrupting the venture capital landscape”
Energy storage
On paper, California’s push to transform the market for grid-scale energy storage is working even better than expected.
Continue reading… “Project proposals nearly double California’s energy storage target”
Can money buy happiness? Only up to a certain point. But just how much you need to get to that threshold really depends on where you live, according to a new analysis by Doug Short, vice president of research at investment group Advisor Perspectives.
Continue reading… “The salary at which money won’t make you any happier in each state”
Shark Tank
Monday was the first of three open calls for contestants on ABC’s Shark Tank, the investing reality show in which entrepreneurs make live pitches for funding before a panel of angel investors. Shark Tank is entering its sixth season, the show attracts more than 7 million viewers each week, placing it among the 10 most popular adult reality shows on television, even though it airs on sleepy Fridays.
Continue reading… “Two-thirds of all televised Shark Tank deals fall apart”
Publishers have failed to adequately respond to the new ways that consumers get information.
About ten years after the commercial debut of the Internet, America’s newspapers posted record high advertising sales of $49.4 billion in 2005. This lead many publishers to think their businesses would not be seriously affected by the digital revolution. But they were wrong.
Continue reading… “The ongoing newspaper crisis by the numbers”
Cathay Pacific
At an awards ceremony at the Farnborough International Airshow on Tuesday Cathay Pacific was named the world’s best airline. The award is decided by the votes of millions of travelers. Here is the Top 10:
Continue reading… “Top 10 airlines for 2014 named at World Airline Awards”
The U.S. has made great strides in promoting and installing solar energy systems.
In the U.S., Solar energy is on the rise. In President Obama’s State of the Union address in January, he recognized this shift, saying that, “We’re becoming a leader in solar … every four minutes, another American home or business goes solar; every panel pounded into place by a worker whose job can’t be outsourced.”
Continue reading… “10 American cities that are leading the way in the solar energy revolution”
Content stored online simply do not have the same Fourth Amendment protections as physical data.
A judge in New York, a couple months ago, ruled that US search warrants applied to digital information even if they were stored overseas. The decision came about as part of an effort to dig up a Microsoft user’s account information stored on a server in Dublin, Ireland.
Continue reading… “Online storage isn’t protected by the Fourth Amendment”
Thousands of luxury cars are being abandoned every year since Dubai’s financial meltdown.
Dubai over the last several years has been facing an unusual problem of high end sports cars being abandoned and left to gather thick layers of dust at airport parking lots and on the roadside across the city. If you’ve ever been to Dubai or anywhere in the United Arab Emirates, you will have noticed they have a serious car culture out there, with a particular preference for the latest and greatest in high-end super cars. (Pics)
Continue reading… “Abandoned luxury cars become a big problem in Dubai”
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