Posted at 02:11 PM in Business, Healthy Lifestyle, Ideas, Personal Development, Science, Travel | Permalink | Comments (1)
Sometimes it is nice to be reminded that great works are often performed by perseverance rather than strength.
via BrainyQuote
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.
5 Ways Blockchain is Changing the Face of Innovation of 2018. (Forbes)
Singularity's Top 50 Breakthrough Tech Predictions. (Diamandis)
Don't Be Fooled: Russia Attacked U.S. Troops in Syria. (Bloomberg)
Not the End of the World: The Return of Dubai's Ultimate Folly. (TheGuardian)
The Price Per Square Inch of Pizza at 8 Major US Pizza Chains. (Visual)
It's Getting Harder to Tell Banks from Tech Companies. (Bloomberg)
In Praise of Elon Musk. (NationalReview)
No End in Sight for Amazon's Wild Ride. (Wall Street Journal)
Apple Sold More Watches Than Rolex, Swatch, and the Rest of the Swiss Watch Industry Combined. (Insider)
Posted at 01:57 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Food and Drink, Healthy Lifestyle, Ideas, Market Commentary, Science, Trading, Trading Tools, Travel, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)
Last Tuesday, Musk launched his Tesla Roadster and it's passenger "Starman" into space on his Falcon Heavy rocket.
Cool? Clever Marketing? Or Both?
Space via Twitter
This feat is exciting for a number of reasons.
When I was growing up, the space race caught the public's hearts and minds. I was a kid, but I still remember watching the lunar landing. It was a big deal!
Likewise, I remember when astronauts were positioned as national heroes. Now, we're more jaded.
In the past decade, rockets, space-stations, satellites, etc. were often just an afterthought or a small filler news item. Meanwhile, A.I., Cloning, Voice Recognition, 3D Printing, Drones, and other technological advances were the sexy attention-getting topics.
Recently, that has changed. The space race is getting hot again. Resources are pouring into this area, and SpaceX's launch is proof that we are making progress (and probably altering life's history).
Take a look.
This was supposed to be captivating. Teachers can show their students a rocket launch where a man shot a car into space ... then they can watch the car float through space. It's taking what we're used to only seeing in movies ... and making it real.
Passion in the sciences is important, and successes like this can ignite passion in our future, in more than just space exploration.
We live in exciting times.
Onwards!
Posted at 06:52 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Film, Gadgets, Ideas, Market Commentary, Science, Travel, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)
I'm getting cynical, I understand planned obsolescence ... but has it occurred to you that Apple could make their phones act sluggish just before the launch of a new version?
My phone has been driving me nuts. So, (as I write this) I'm up at 2 am to place my order for the new iPhone X.
On one hand, it satisfies my desire for the new and shiny ... but, on the other hand, it makes it harder for my wife.
Buying gifts is often hard. But it gets harder when the giftee already has everything (or buys it himself).
That is where Neiman Marcus comes in.
Every year since 1959, Neiman Marcus has published a Christmas Book. Primarily comprised of normal Neiman Marcus offerings ... the book also contains pretty amazing "fantasy" gifts. For example, who doesn't want a rose-gold Cobalt Valkyrie-X private plane (worth $1.5 million) ...
I don't know about you, but it's a little feminine for me.
Or, there is a private Submarine (worth $20,000,000).
But that is only good if you don't have one already.
You can check out NM's 2017 Fantasy Gift List, here, and get a personal trip to Champagne, France or a pair of specially commissioned His and Hers Rolls Royces.
Let me know if you have any good gift ideas. I'm always looking for them.
Posted at 05:24 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Gadgets, Ideas, Just for Fun, Travel, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)
When it comes to American pastimes, many people focus on the big 3 sports: Football, Basketball, and Baseball. Nevertheless, there are a lot of different ways people spend their time. It is interesting to see what they watch - and what they actually play.
Nevertheless, there are a lot of different ways people spend their time. It is interesting to see what they watch - and what they actually play.
There is also a big difference based on income distribution. Here is an infographic.
via VisualCapitalist
Apparently, rich people like golfing, yoga and racquet sports ... while poorer people disproportionately liked relaxing, writing for personal interest, and having hobbies.
It is also kind of interesting to see when people tend to do certain activities. Here is a chart showing the peak time for various sports and activities.
via Henrik Lindberg
You could build a business around data like that.
Interesting?
Posted at 08:13 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Ideas, Movies, Music, Religion, Science, Sports, Television, Travel, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)
I've been in Indonesia during the past week. I'm surprised by how little is known about it, despite its size and population.
Here are a few strange facts. Indonesia is the world's largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands. It has an estimated population of over 260 million people and is the world's fourth most populous country, as well as the most populous Muslim-majority country.
While the official language is Indonesian (also known as Bahasa Indonesia), a variant of Malay, most Indonesians speak other languages, such as Javanese, as their first language. More than 700 regional languages are spoken in Indonesia's numerous islands.
That got me thinking about language.
There are over 7000 known languages still spoken in the world today.
23 of those languages create the native tongues of over 4 Billion people.
This chart below is a pretty helpful illustration of prevalence and location.
Alberto Lucas López via InformationIsBeautiful
While American's tend to think English is the most prevalent language, we actually come in third behind Chinese and Spanish.
While based on population density, and reproduction, it seems like Chinese (Mandarin) will only widen its lead, it's worth noting that its influence wanes greatly outside of Asia.
How long will that last?
When I was younger, English was the language of business, but it may be time for you to brush up on your Chinese.
For more, here is a link to the Washington Post's article: The world’s languages, in 7 maps and charts.
向前! (Onwards!)
Posted at 02:14 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0)
Once a year, I go to the World BBQ Championship at Memphis in May.
It's three days of friends, food, and fun.
This year was special. My friend, Andy Daniels' tent won third place in the ribs contest.
In addition, I gained some inspiration while spending time at Doug McKnight's tent with Blake Carson.
Have you ever been to a Brazilian steakhouse? On top of an endless supply of meat, they also have a unique "churrasco" cooking and presentation style.
Blake saw that style of cooking - and innovated it - creating the Carson Rodizio kit (which started as a Kickstarter project). It is a multi-rotisserie rack that converts your favorite backyard grill into an open and spinning Brazilian style Steakhouse. It's clever, functional, and cool ... and it's been used to win multiple barbecue championships.
I love to experience an entrepreneur's mind at work.
It's not always about what you add. Sometimes, it is about what you take away. Less is often more.
Here is a one-minute interview with Blake.
For more on Carson Rodizio, here is their Facebook page.
Innovation, like opportunity, is all around you.
But it's not there for you if you don't see the opportunity, and seize it.
Tasty!
Posted at 04:46 PM in Business, Food and Drink, Gadgets, Ideas, Travel | Permalink | Comments (1)
There is a place to go with deep wishes ...
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.
Posted at 06:34 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Healthy Lifestyle, Ideas, Just for Fun, Market Commentary, Personal Development, Religion, Science, Trading, Trading Tools, Travel, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)
This week, I saw a chart that ranks countries by the number of Olympic medals won in relation to their GDP and population.
Sometimes it helps to employ unconventional perspectives when thinking about the size of things.
So here's an interesting map from the American Enterprise Institute that shows how massive and productive America's $18 trillion economy is on a global scale.
The map compares the gross domestic product of U.S. states with the national GDPs of other nations.
America's largest state economy is California. In 2015, the Golden State's GDP was about $2.46 trillion. As a separate country, California would have been the 6th largest economy in the world last year (just behind the U.K. and slightly above France's GDP of $2.42 trillion). But France's population is about 66.48 million, while California's is only about 39.14 million — meaning California produces about the same as France – with about 40% fewer people.
America’s second largest state economy is Texas. In 2015, the Lone Star state's GDP was about $1.59 trillion. This would have ranked Texas as the world’s 10th largest economy last year. To compare, Canada’s GDP last year was $1.55 trillion. However, to produce about the same amount of economic output as Texas required a workforce in Canada (18 million) that was 50% larger than employment in the state of Texas (12 million). That is, it required 6 million more workers in Canada to produce the same output as Texas last year.
Check out the rest of the states in the map below:
via AEI.
Based on population, the US is the third-largest country in the world.
To put that in perspective, below is a a map that renames each state with the country that has the closest population to it.
via Business Insider.
The map, below, is interesting in a different way. I'm sure you've heard that "a picture is worth a thousand words." Here, a couple dozen words capture the world.
by Michael Tompsett via Fine Art America.
Posted at 07:31 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Ideas, Market Commentary, Trading, Travel | Permalink | Comments (0)
Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - April 1st, 2018
Happy April Fool's Day. What were your favorite pranks? Here is a list of some that made news this year.
via LegallyDrawn
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.
Lighter Links:
Trading Links:
Posted at 04:00 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Gadgets, Games, Healthy Lifestyle, Ideas, Just for Fun, Market Commentary, Personal Development, Science, Trading, Trading Tools, Travel, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)
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