A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience
It’s come to this. Perhaps it’s about time.
We live in singular times.
Technology encourages us to disappear into our own personal worlds.
Meanwhile, relationships seems to get harder and harder.
Why, in a sign of apocalyptic avenues approaching, even Facebook is launching a dating service.
It’s easy to see the appeal of freelancing. You control who you work with, and the projects you take on. You may have even gone into freelancing with the perception that you would have so much more freedom and flexibility. That’s exactly why between 20-30% of the working-age population in the United States and the EU-15, pick up some independent work.
Continue reading… “4 signs that freelancing isn’t working for you”
821,000 households opted out of the banking system from 2009 to 2011.
More Americans have limited or no interaction with banks in the aftermath of one of the worst recessions in history. Instead more people are relying on check cashers and payday lenders to manage their finances, according to a new federal report.
Continue reading… “Growing number of Americans are opting out of the banking system”
American doctors are harboring an embarrassing secret.
Doctors in America are going broke and the trend is worrying industry watchers. This quiet reality is spreading nationwide and is claiming a wide range of casualties, including family physicians, cardiologists and oncologists.
“Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go. ” –Mother Teresa
When Reed Sandridge, 36, was first laid off from his job at a D.C. nonprofit in Sept. 2009, he spent about a month sleeping in and doing all the things he didn’t have time to do when he was working full time. It wasn’t until his second month of unemployment rolled around that the stark reality of joblessness began to sink in.
Continue reading… “Man Spends Year of Unemployment Giving Away $10 a Day to Strangers”
Harrisburg, Pa. has sought refuge in the haven that states provide as alternatives to bankruptcy court.
Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, dodged financial disaster last month by getting money from the state to make a payment to its bondholders. It did so even though the state warned that the money had to be used for city workers’ pensions.
The old mechanism for funding the commercialization of new technologies is in trouble.
In the summer of 1996, Silicon Valley venture capitalists put a few million dollars into a telecom-equipment startup called Juniper Networks. Three years later, after a few more rounds of funding and the release of its first product, Juniper enjoyed an initial public offering of shares, or IPO. At the end of its first day of trading, it was worth nearly $5 billion, and within nine months, it was worth almost 10 times that. The original venture investors, meanwhile, were able to walk away with profits of better than 10,000 percent.
Around the same time Juniper went public, Silicon Valley venture capitalists were putting money into a new networking startup, Procket Networks. This time, the initial investments were bigger, and over successive rounds of financing, Procket collected almost $300 million in venture money. Three years after it started, though, the company had still not launched a product, and in 2004 its assets were acquired by Cisco in a fire-sale deal. This time the VCs walked away with just a fraction of their original investments…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piVe0G_1XPs&eurl=http://inventorspot.com/articles/time_banking_can_help_during_recession_25133&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
In today’s recessionary world its become exceedingly difficult to make time for ourselves and the others we care for. With job lay-offs, the decline of 401Ks and wage decreases, we are spending more time worrying about our finances than taking care of things that still need to be accomplished. Cutting the lawn, walking the dog, tutoring your child are tasks that still need to be tended to, but sometimes overlooked. With our spirits dampened, we fore-go even the basic necessities of our everyday lives.
Attitudes change and importance of parents grows after the age of 22, according to a new study.
Continue reading… “Kids Realize Importance Of Parents At Age 22”
So, hey, let’s talk finances. I know, I know, it’s Christmas Eve and you’d rather not look at your pocket book right now. With a gadget like the Supervision, however, you’d really never have to think too hard about personal finance again. It can scan and process your receipts, keep tabs on your bank accounts, and help you tabulate just how much you have to work with each month.
The wealthy don’t generally speak publicly about their finances, in good times or bad. It’s in poor taste, for one, and their employers could fire them for talking even a little. But people who provide services to the wealthy – lawyers, art advisers, personal trainers and hairstylists – say they are getting an earful about their clients’ financial anxieties.