Today in Entrepreneurial History: May 16
On this day in 1843, the first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail with one thousand pioneers from Elm Grove, Missouri.
Since 2001, we've posted 21,167 different business opportunities and ideas, so you're sure to find something here to inspire you!
Smallest Robot Hopes To Join Indian Army
A young man in India has created a robot that’s already made its way into record books. How he hopes to enlist it in the army, reports Bangalore Mirror.
Shirur, who completed his engineering from Basaveshwara Engineering College, Bagalkot, has developed a 61mm x 54mm x 51mm robot that is so tiny that it’s bound to go unnoticed by enemies.
It is meant for surveillance and destruction of the enemy through remote control.
Shirur, who was at Sahyadri College of Engineering to participate in Srishti 2012, a state-level project exhibition and competition, told Bangalore Mirror: “Cameras fixed in the robot can send audio and video signals from a particular spot to the servers and one can operate it from remote places.
It can also function as an explosive when enemies lift it off the ground.”
Photo by Crystal
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The Man Who Created Nachos
During World War II, wives of American military officers who lived at the Eagle Pass. Texas. base would often venture over the Rio Grande River to the nearby Mexican town of Piedras Negras. On one of these excursions, a group of women stopped at the Victory Club, a popular restaurant, for a bite to eat. And while happy to receive business, the maitre d’ who greeted the women, Ignacio Anaya, found himself in a bit of a predicament:
He couldn’t locate the cook. Not wanting to turn away the patrons, he put on his chef’s hat. He looked around the kitchen and threw together what he had, which according to “The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink” consisted of neat canapes of tortilla chips, cheese, and jalapeno peppers.”
Ignacio was often called Nacho for short, and the dish was named after him. Nachos continued to gain popularity for the next 20 years, but really took off thanks to a man by the name of Frank Liberto, who began to sell them as stadium food at Arlington Stadium (home of baseball’s Texas Rangers at the time). Liberto made one major tweak to Anaya’s nachos:
…because real cheese didn’t have a great shelf life (and melting it would require an oven or broiler), Liberto devised a fast food form of Anaya’s masterpiece that was part cheese and part secret ingredients. The new sauce didn’t need to be heated and, when it came to shelf life, it could likely survive a nuclear blast.
And so the nacho was born, with a missing chef to thank for it.
Photo by Luca
Presenting Like Steve Jobs
If you need a lesson on presenting, there is no better man to emulate than Steve Jobs. Entrepreneur has pulled together a list of his qualities you should consider.
1. Know the one critical point in your presentation — then make it clear.
2. Acknowledge why people are listening to you.
3. Make an immediate, personal connection.
4. Keep the audience focused on you the speaker, not your presentation.
5. Know your story.
Photo by segagman
How They Almost Deleted Toy Story 2
Ever forgot to back something up? If so, you’ll appreciate this video from Pixar, about how they almost erased Toy Story 2.
I use Dropbox for my backups. What do you recommend?
Smarter Parking Meters
Photo by Ian Sane. The Atlantic Cities: “This week, the on-street parking meters in Santa Monica, California, have evolved to the next state of sentient existence. Now, whenever a car leaves a spot, the meter will reset itself, even if there’s still time left on the meter. The tiny, measured-in-minutes lottery prize of the urban [...]
How to Make Money Online
Author Seth Godin has listed his 21 rules for making money online. The first two are golden: The first step is to stop Googling things like, “how to make money online.” Not because you shouldn’t want to make money online, but because the stuff you’re going to find by doing that is going to help [...]
Pancake Art
Like Nathan Shields I like to make pancakes for my kids on Saturday mornings. While I can barely recreate my children’s first initials, my pancake design skills have nothing on this American math teacher in Saipan. Shields can make just about anything! Take a look at his website, Saipancakes, for more of his creations. Although [...]
Niche Biz: Raffle Tickets to Space
Wired: A new startup company’s $10 space posters come with a chance to win a ride on a suborbital space vehicle. Called “I Dream of Space,” the company is selling 25,000 posters at $10 apiece, the proceeds of which should cover a $200,000 ride on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo or a $95,000 seat on XCOR Aerospace’s [...]
Start a Video Contest to Promote Your Biz
Lisa O’Masta wanted to use Youtube to market her business Interwrite. She knew though 60 hours of video uploaded to Youtube every minute, that her marketing efforts would just get lost in the crowd. So, Ms. O’Masta and her marketing team came up with the idea of a song-parody video contest. Teachers and students were [...]
