American factories are hiring again, but they’re not hiring union members.
Factory workers had a good month in July in Anderson, Ind., where a Honda parts supplier announced plans to build a new plant and create up to 325 jobs. But in the Cleveland suburbs it was a grim month, where an industrial plastics firm told the state of Ohio it was closing a plant and laying off 150 people.
Continue reading… “Unions are being left behind as manufacturing bounces back from the recession”
U.S. tax code complex
If anybody has the right to tell people “I told you so,” it’s Nina E. Olson, the national taxpayer advocate. She recently submitted her annual report to Congress and top on her list of things that need to be fixed is the complexity of the tax code, which she called the most serious problem facing taxpayers.
Smog in Beijing
Beijing, China is frequently shrouded in dense, yellowish smog so thick that the other side of the road is obscured. But over the past weekend the deadly smog that enveloped the city was so bad that air-quality readings from a monitor on the roof of the American Embassy said simply: “Beyond Index”. (Chart)
Continue reading… “Most polluted cities of the world’s biggest economies”
82 percent of Egypt’s railway lines are less safe because they depend on mechanical signals.
In the wake of Monday’s deadly Badrashin train crash, which left 19 people dead and 117 injured, a Transportation Ministry report shows the country has experienced an average 550 train wrecks per year, including both serious and minor ones.
Continue reading… “Egypt experiences an average of 550 train crashes per year”
When it comes to making decisions, people are anything but rational.
Daniel McFadden, an economist has a new paper, “The New Science of Pleasure,” that shows the many ways economics fails to explain how we make decisions — and what it can learn from psychology, anthropology, biology, and neurology.
Continue reading… “Why economics is wrong about how we make choices”
Body-powered devices eliminate the toxic waste generated by the heavy metals used in the billions of batteries we currently use each year.
A startup in Corvallis, Oregon, has developed a small chip that can turn body heat into electric energy. The chip absorbs heat directly from the skin and then channels energy through a thermoelectric generator that converts it into electric power. In the future, the chip will enable us to power and recharge our handheld and wearable electronic devices with our own bodies.
Continue reading… “A chip that can turn body heat into electric energy”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4EeWdogyec[/youtube]
Millions of tons of waste from factories, building sites, and processing facilities are being turned into something besides landfill with a technology that has led researchers to fabricate bricks out of TVs, computers, paper waste, incinerator ash, rubble and other materials that were conventionally considered useless.
Continue reading… “New bricks fabricated out of junk we aren’t using”
There are as many as 12 million migrant laborers in Russia. Only 2 million work in the country legally.
Bek Takhirov, a 38-year-old ethnic Uzbek, knows all too well the problems that migrant workers face. In 2004, he came to Russia and worked illegally, stacking cargo in a warehouse for alcoholic beverages. Takhirov completed a lengthy application for Russian citizenship in order to step out of the shadows, two years ago. He now works legally in St. Petersburg as a translator by day and moonlights as a security guard by night.
Something transpires in social media every minute. Whether that is a new like, a new connection, a tweet, or social networks gaining unique visitors, we are spending a lot of our minutes socializing in various forms on an array of social sites. 2012 showed us that we prefer to share images and our location, and that Facebook and Twitter both still remain leaders in the social media world.
Continue reading… “What happened In 60 seconds on social networks in 2012 [Infographic]”
Is going public the beginning to the end of a startup?
A Stanford academic study has found that a firm’s IPO can put the lid on creativity and innovation. Shai Bernstein of the university’s Graduate School of Business studied thousands of startups between 1985 and 2003 to write a paper on the subject, and these are some of his findings:
Continue reading… “IPO’s stifle startups’ creativity and innovation: Study”
The inside of the BiblioTech will be influenced by Apple Retail Stores.
In Bexar County, Texas a new library will open that will provide visitors with a bank of e-Readers for borrowing e-books … but books of the traditional paper variety will be glaringly absent. he project marks the first public library to be built as an all-digital service and just to make sure library-goers are in no doubt that it’s the 21st century, the interior will feature a design influenced by Apple retail stores.
Continue reading… “First bookless library to open in San Antonio”
Coworking is not just for entrepreneurs or freelancers anymore.
Do you define your workplace as fun, friendly, inspiring, collaborative, or productive? If you don’t, then you may need to ditch your desk and head for the nearest coworking space. According to Deskmag’s annual Global Coworking Survey, you don’t need to be an entrepreneur or freelancer to gain the benefits of coworking. Seventy-one percent of participants reported a boost in creativity since joining a coworking space, while 62 percent said their standard of work had improved.
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.