Entrepreneurship

New Zealand becomes home to global tech industry

"The Google foray into New Zealand, dubbed Project Loon, is perhaps the most ambitious high-tech test carried out in the country, aiming to bring Internet to the two-thirds of the global population currently without web access. It involved sending 30 helium-filled balloons to the edge of space above the South Island last Saturday, each carrying transmitters capable of beaming wi-fi Internet access down to antennae on properties below. The first person to access the web under the scheme was dairy farmer Charles Nimmo, who said he appreciated the chance to work with one of the world’s largest companies to push the frontiers of technology." Continue reading →

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Satellites to bring cheap, multi-gigabit Internet speeds to 3 billion people

"The first four of 12 satellites in a new constellation to provide affordable, high-speed Internet to people in nearly 180 'under-connected' countries, were shot into space. The orbiters, part of a project dubbed O3b for the 'other 3 billion' people with restricted Internet access, will be lifted by a Russian Soyuz rocket from Kourou in French Guiana. The project was born from the frustrations of Internet pioneer Greg Wyler with the inadequacy of Rwanda’s telecommunications network, while travelling there in 2007. The system would cover the entire African continent, most of Latin America, the Middle East, southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands." Continue reading →

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How a total n00b mined $700 in bitcoins

"There is a whirring, whining presence in my dining room. I notice it every time I walk through. Every day, it sucks down about one full kilowatt-hour of electricity. In a year, it will consume almost $100 worth of juice—and that's on top of the $274 it costs to buy the box in the first place. Oh, and it's hot, too. If I moved it into my office and could stand the noise, I could keep a cup of coffee comfortably warm on top of the thing. Why on earth would anyone want such a disagreeable little machine in their home? The short answer: every day, that machine magically generates something like $20 in bitcoins." Continue reading →

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‘Pawn Stars’ Owner: Selling Personal Gold At A Loss For Tax Writeoff, Then Buying Back

"Harrison noted that while gold is plunging on the commodities exchanges, he's finding it difficult to build an inventory for his shop. 'I retail gold and silver and I'm having a real difficult time right now getting physical metal,' he explained. 'It's the crazy world about gold and silver: Sometimes the paper market is going down but you can't find actual physical items.' The reason, he said, was a lack of physical product, which he blamed on private and government mints not keeping up with demand. But this same phenomenon should help prices see a bottom shortly. 'I still pay right around spot — I don't think it's going to go much lower,' Harrison said." Continue reading →

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Nestlé unveils European youth jobs scheme

"Swiss-based Nestlé, the world’s biggest food company, has announced a plan to help at least 20,000 young people find work in Europe over the next three years. The company said on Thursday its initiative would offer employment and create 'thousands of apprentice positions and traineeships by 2016' for job seekers under the age of 30. Nestlé said it will also encourage its European suppliers to offer positions to young people. Nestlé said it was continuing to expand in Europe despite challenging economic conditions. It highlighted its biggest-ever investment in Germany last month, a 220 million-euro Nescafé Dolce Gusto factory in Schwerin." Continue reading →

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The Future of Building Your Own Guns

"As more ridiculous anti-gun laws continue to be passed, the future of DIY gun building and parts is looking better all the time. People should always be able to go to the gun store and purchase fully-assembled guns. But, doing this could subject you to invasive scrutiny from government, higher prices, higher taxes, or flat-out denial based on variety of fabricated reasons. On demand CNC parts and 3-D printing services will soon bring the art of building your own guns to a whole new level." Continue reading →

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Gold in them bits: Inside the world’s most mysterious Bitcoin mining company

"This is the first in a two-part series exploring Butterfly Labs and its lineup of dedicated Bitcoin-mining hardware. In part one, we look at the company and the experiences customers have had with it. In part two, to be published on June 29, we share our experiences running a Bitcoin miner for a couple weeks. Spoiler alert: we made money." Continue reading →

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Elite Body Sculpture Becomes World’s First Cosmetic Surgery Center to Accept Bitcoin

"Bitcoin, the world’s first peer-to-peer digital currency is now being accepted by cosmetic surgeon to the stars, Dr. Aaron Rollins, at his Elite Body Sculpture centers in Beverly Hills and Sacramento. Elite Body Sculpture is excited to be the very first cosmetic surgery center to accept this form of cutting edge payment. Bitcoin is the newest frontier in currency—decentralized and unbound by any country. This purely electronic system allows anyone to send a payment, anywhere in the world, for little or no cost. Secure and internationally accepted, Bitcoin is being rapidly adopted by pioneering users and businesses around the world." Continue reading →

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Innovation in legal highs leaves governments in the dust

"An explosion of hundreds of new 'legal highs' in recent years has left governments around the world in the dust as lawmakers struggle to keep prohibition laws updated as more and more never-before-seen drugs flood the black market. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said Wednesday that more than 251 new psychoactive substances were available on the black market by mid-2012, a growth of more than 50 percent over 2009. The number of new psychoactive substances available on the black market today exceeds the number of controlled psychoactive substances currently prohibited by governments around the world." Continue reading →

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The new-found desire for privacy is what’s driving all of this new business activity.

"Thankfully, there are companies, like those I’ve mentioned, providing private sector responses to these blatant affronts of our basic freedoms. And more have entered the fray, including TextSecure, a mobile app encryption service, and SpiderOak, a DropBox-like service that can’t see the content of user files. I hope that we will let our elected leaders know that spying on its citizens is not acceptable… and that it is no different than what the German government did post-World War II. I’m proud to say that we’ve been way ahead of the curve on matters of liberty, privacy and encroaching government tyranny." Continue reading →

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