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Two Weeks Left to Apply for Mars Crew

"The prospect of joining the first team to colonize Mars has proven to be so wildly alluring that more than 100,000 people have applied for a spot – despite the fact they’ll only get a one-way ticket. The Dutch company Mars One plans to launch to the Red Planet in 2022. It’s taking applications through August 31 and will winnow those down to a group of 40, from which the final four will be selected. Applicants must pay $38, submit a resume, a letter outlining their motivation for applying and a video. It’s not clear what, if any, amenities the crew members will get, but PayPal should have its payment system for outer space up and running by then." Continue reading →

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The Long Tail, Revisited

"In 1988, a British mountain climber named Joe Simpson wrote a book called Touching the Void, a harrowing account of near death in the Peruvian Andes. It got good reviews but, only a modest success, it was soon forgotten. Then, a decade later, Touching the Void started to sell again. Random House rushed out a new edition to keep up with demand. Booksellers began to promote it next to their Into Thin Air displays. A revised paperback edition, which came out in January [2004], spent 14 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. IFC Films released a docudrama of the story to critical acclaim. What happened? In short, Amazon.com recommendations." Continue reading →

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Chris Anderson: New Revolution “Bigger Than The Web”

"Chris Anderson is CEO of 3DRobotics and author of 'Makers: The New Industrial Revolution.' He was also a keynote speaker at our 2013 Investment Symposium in Vancouver last month. For the last several years, Anderson has played the dual role of entrepreneur and evangelist for the burgeoning 'maker’s movement.' You can watch him discuss his theories about the new industrial revolution afoot in the movement with Tom Standage of The Economist. Anderson noted the maker movement might have profound implications for human innovation—it might even be 'bigger than the web.'" Continue reading →

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These 12 technologies will drive our economic future

"Most of the writing you see about the economy speaks to narrow questions: What will growth be this year? When will the unemployment rate get back to normal? And so on. But the things that will determine standards of living a generation from now have almost nothing to do with this month’s jobs report or the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting. Those determinants, instead, depend on companies’ innovations — in particular, whether those innovations turn out to have major economic consequences. Researchers at the McKinsey Global Institute have a new study in which they have taken their best shot at predicting exactly that." Continue reading →

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Samsung workers are given 32 seconds to assemble phones

"The BBC reports that prosecutors in Brazil are seeking damages from Samsung for conditions in factories where its mobile phones and TV sets are assembled, with employees reportedly forced to work long hours without sufficient breaks. Some said they suffer from problems such as backaches because they are forced to stand for 10 hours a day. Perhaps more alarmingly, prosecutors claim that employees at Samsung's factories in the Amazon region are given just 32 seconds to assemble a mobile phone and 65 seconds to put together a Samsung television set. One worker is alleged to have packed as many as 3,000 phones in a day." Continue reading →

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Thanks, IPhone: Demise of the Desk Phone Means No End to the Workday

"Silicon Valley companies big and small are pulling the plug on desk phones in favor of mobile devices. While consumers have been cutting the cord for years, businesses are joining the trend at an accelerating rate thanks to the increasing capabilities of mobile devices, which make it easier for workers to be productive and stay connected from any location at all hours. Demand for business land lines is plunging, cutting into revenue at phone-equipment makers. It also steps up pressure on service providers such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. to get more revenue from wireless sales and lessen their reliance on operations that are dwindling." Continue reading →

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Why Are So Many College Graduates Driving Taxis?

"In 1970, only 1 in 100 taxi drivers and chauffeurs in the U.S. had a college degree, according to an analysis of labor statistics by Ohio University’s Richard Vedder, Christopher Denhart and Jonathan Robe. Today, 15 of 100 do. Similarly, in 1970, only about 2 percent of firefighters had a college degree, compared with more than 15 percent now, Vedder and his colleagues found. And, according to research by economists Paul Harrington and Andrew Sum of Northeastern University, about 1 in 4 bartenders has some sort of degree." Continue reading →

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Unemployed Spaniards rush to play slaves in Ridley Scott’s ‘Exodus’ film

"Thousands of Spaniards in the depressed southern region of Andalusia are queueing up to play the role of slaves in film-maker Ridley Scott’s Biblical epic 'Exodus', hoping for a way out of unemployment. In a region with unemployment at 35 percent, the prospect of work as an extra with a daily wage of 80 euros ($107) has sparked a rush in Almeria where casting is being held for the story of Moses and the Jewish exodus to the promised land. Some 10,000 people turned up at a casting call in the city of Almeria, and another 5,000 in the nearby town of Pechina, one of the casting organisers said." Continue reading →

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Greek teen’s death after argument with bus ticket inspector sparks anti-austerity protests

"The incident quickly touched a nerve in Greece, where the government is using increasingly tough methods to collect revenue under pressure from its international lenders to fix its finances. About 300 people, among them anti-bailout groups, marched to the cemetery where Kanaoutis’s funeral was held on Friday evening. After the service, dozens of youths pelted riot police with stones near the spot where he died. Protesters smashed the windows of a bus in the area and scrawled 'Murderers' in red paint on the windshield. 'Kanaoutis died because he didn’t have a ticket worth 1.20 euros ($1.59),' said the main opposition Syriza party in a statement." Continue reading →

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The Blow That Killed America 100 Years Ago

"'There is a lot of ruin in a nation,' wrote Adam Smith. His point was that it takes a long time for nations to fall, even when they’re dead on their feet. And he was certainly right. America took its fatal blow in 1913, one hundred years ago; it just hasn’t hit the ground yet. This is a slow process, but it’s actually fast compared to the Romans. It took them several centuries to collapse. For all the problems America had prior to 1913 (including the unnecessary and horrifying Civil War), nothing spelled the death of the nation like the horrors of 1913. Here are the key dates." Continue reading →

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