When we read books about the future we should be skeptical. If the authors expect to make money out of it we should be outright incredulous. Eric Schmidt, co-author of this particular look ahead, is the executive chairman of Google and Jared Cohen is the director of Google Ideas.
What is one of the first questions to ask yourself before starting a business? “Can I make money in this industry?”
Continue reading… “What are the most profitable businesses to start?”
Every business could face 46 separate audits (from the 45 states that collect sales taxes plus the District of Columbia).
Legislation on internet sales tax could subject small online businesses to up to 46 state audits. And since sales taxes vary among thousands of tax jurisdictions across the country, the chances that auditors will find mistakes—and slap the business owners with penalties—are very good. If truth-in-advertising requirements applied to legislation, says Heritage Action’s Dan Holler, the Marketplace Fairness Act would be renamed the Tax Audits from Hell Act of 2013.
MOOCs are a powerful force for good.
Where did all of the MOOC mania come from? It came faster than Facebook and it’s here to stay. In just a year MOOCs emerged from a unique mix of entrepreneurial spirit, a few leading US Universities, supported by not-for-profits and venture capital. It’s an ecosystem that can take an idea and support it through to a sustainable business. That’s impressive.
Continue reading… “MOOC mania – more action in 1 year than the last 1,000 years”
Leading scientists employ science itself in arguments for believing in a kind of supernatural.
Science and religion has had a relationship that has always been vexed. Most scientists are nonbelievers, convinced that there is no deity, or at least that there is no convincing evidence of one. Even those who are believers, like Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, see their religion and their science as largely separate. (“If God is outside of nature, then science can neither prove nor disprove his existence,” he once wrote.)
Continue reading… “Can scientific breakthroughs lead to faith?”
Vivek Wadhwa: During the mid-1990s, cardiologist and researcher David Albert had the idea to develop a handheld device that displays an electrocardiogram. He believed that this would save lives by providing immediate information to patients wherever they were. In those days, even the most powerful handheld computers didn’t have the needed capabilities. So Albert dropped the idea because it was impossible.
Continue reading… “Twice as many entrepreneurs are over the age 50 as are under 25”
It’s important to move victims as little as possible after they have had an accident. A secondary injury could be worse than the first. Danny Lin, a student at Art Center College of Design, in California, has a new take on the classic stretcher. His Lenify design breaks into three pieces, allowing first responders to slide head, body and leg sections under the patient in turn, minimizing how much they have to adjust. (Video)
Continue reading… “Lenify – a redesigned stretcher to protect the injured”
In the Transparency Report’s latest edition, Google has revealed that the final six months of 2012 saw an increase in government requests to remove content — often YouTube videos. Google received 2,285 such requests (compared with 1,811 during the first half of 2012) that named a total of 24,179 pieces of content for removal (compared with 18,070 in the preceding period).
Continue reading… “Google sees spike in government requests to remove content”
Futurist Ray Kurzweil
Futurist Ray Kurzweil has some ambitious plans for search at Google. Kurzweil joined Google at the end of last year as director of engineering and he became famous for creating the first text-to-speech software. He’s also been called “the ultimate thinking machine.”
There were 80,000 drug and alcohol overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s WONDER database. The database, maintained by the National Center for Health Statistics, keeps a tally of all the deaths listed on certificates nationwide. They’re classified by the ICD-10 medical coding reference system.
Continue reading… “The drugs that actually kill Americans: Infographic”
Private drones have the potential to invade privacy.
Google’s Eric Schmidt went on record saying last week that cheap, miniature “everyman” drones should be banned by international treaties. Schmidt wants to keep such devices from falling into the hands of terrorists, but he also worries about their potential to invade privacy. Let’s say, for example, you were having a dispute with a neighbor. “How would you feel if your neighbor went over and bought a commercial observation drone that they can launch from their back yard. It just flies over your house all day,” Schmidt asked. “How would you feel about it?”
Continue reading… “Eric Schmidt calls for regulation of private drones”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4ufvLPWqgI[/youtube]
If you need a power source when you are camping you might want to consider the PowerPot by Power Practical, winner of the Inventor of the Year Award at the 2012 DaVinci Inventor Showcase. The PowerPot turns heat into useful electricity. It will power lights so you can see what you’re cooking, recharge a cellphone, or run a little Bach while you’re contemplating the flames (or really whatever music you’re into).