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DNA You Can Play With
November 27, 2011 by Angela Shupe | Inventions, News
How do you explain DNA to people who are less than interested? Make it fun, of course. Jun Axup, a biochemistry student, has made a DNA plush toy.
The hand-sized plush dolls look more like Saturday morning cartoon characters than anything Axup might encounter under a microscope while working on new cancer drugs.
The dolls are shaped like the molecular structures they depict, with letters indicating the locations of compositional hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen atoms. Their colors — red, green, blue and black — match the fluorescent stains used to color the molecules during sequencing.
Magnets embedded at strategic locations allow the dolls to link up at the precise spots where the molecules naturally bind, and smiling faces in their centers give them an anthropomorphic quality.
“They are very soft and squishy,” said Axup, 24. “Just like stuffed animals, there’s an appeal for wanting to touch them.”
Kickstarter video after the cut.
Continue reading DNA You Can Play With
1 Comment
Tags: Education, Kids, Toys
So You Want To Start A Business?
November 27, 2011 by Angela Shupe | News
In the past, no one really considered themselves to be an entrepreneur. Sure, people stared businesses, but they didn’t have much support from outside sources. That has changed over the years, though. There are resources for almost everyone who wants to start a business, including men, women, and children. So, why does the failure rate remain so high?
First, many entrepreneurs learn to build a business the way some people learn to swim; they just jump in. They might have the basic skill, or even be very talented at the task at hand, whether it is baking or programming or candlestick making. What they lack is basic knowledge of marketing, management and accounting. Even though there are many resources available, they are too busy doing the task to learn how to do the basics. In this case, ignorance is not bliss; it is a ticking time bomb.
Second, not everyone is wired to be an entrepreneur — just as not everyone is wired to be a social worker, a lawyer, a salesman or an accountant. The success or failure of a business has less to do with the idea and more to do with personality, drive, skill set and tenacity. Businesses don’t fail, people do.
Third, entrepreneurship is about risk. Sometimes it is calculated risk; sometimes it is a shot in the dark; sometimes it is delusional. This is where the current entrepreneurial fever can get dangerous. We have been led to believe that entrepreneurship is this romantic journey of discovery and creativity and believing in your dream. We all read stories about Facebook and Starbucks and countless other successes, but the large numbers of failures just slip away in the night, along with the owner’s life savings. The people behind those failures all believed in their dreams, too. Again, starting a business is risky. Even the most experienced entrepreneurs cannot always predict what will work and what won’t.
Photo by Peter Dutton
14 Comments
Tags: Advice, Startup
Small Biz Maintaining Optimism
November 25, 2011 by Angela Shupe | News
A recent report analyzes the attitudes entrepreneurs have in six different countries: the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Spain. According to Sys-Con Media, although business hasn’t been at its best, most entrepreneurs are still optimistic.
Forty three percent reported negative or no growth in revenue last year. Despite this performance and the general economic climate, 47% of all respondents were optimistic about the year ahead for their business, against 26% who were not and 27% who were not sure. The Germans and Dutch were the most optimistic, the British and Spanish the least.
The main motive for going into business was to be one’s own boss, rather than to make money. Sixty two percent defined business success as affording a comfortable lifestyle. Average working hours were 42.5 hours per week (suggesting an increase of two hours since February 2010). The Germans worked longest (average 46.9 hours) and the British worked shortest (39.4 hours). The most frequent lunchtime choice was a working lunch or sandwich at the desk. The Germans were most likely to skip lunch altogether (20%) – the Dutch and the French were least likely (6% and 7%). Forty three percent said that the economic downturn had caused them greater stress. The Spanish (60%) were the most stressed, the Dutch (26%) were the least. Nearly three in ten (29%) reported sleep problems (led by the French). But 28% said that the crisis had made them more determined to succeed, and 29% said it had made them work more efficiently.
Photo by Kevin Dooley
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Tags: Statistics, Trends, UK, USA
Internet Business Is Like Chess
November 25, 2011 by Angela Shupe | News
When you think of chess, The need for strategy is apparent. The same can be said about running an Internet business. That is something Drew Sharma knows a lot about.
Sharma got hooked on building web-based businesses when he sold multiple businesses, including InkCartridges.com in 2009 to a large e-commerce company, beginning a winning streak of numerous other acquisitions. “This validated the model of building businesses by acquiring and developing strategic domain names, then gaining traction and reach with search engine optimization and other means,” said Sharma, whose latest venture is Cookies.com.
Sharma says the biggest challenge to developing an e-commerce site is “the waiting game.” “Even before you have revenue, you need to build and grow your website. You can go a year and a half just shoving coal into the fire without getting anything in return,” said Sharma, who said often the tipping point comes about 18 months, when the fruits of labor finally start paying off.
Via Boston.com
Photo by liz west
2 Comments
Tags: Ecommerce, Internet
Groupon Gone Wrong
November 25, 2011 by Angela Shupe | News
Some people see a mild success by offering Groupon deals. Some people lose thousands of dollars and nearly kill their business. Need a Cake in the UK falls into the second category.
Need a Cake bakery owner Rachel Brown decided to put up a 75% discount on a dozen cupcakes on the site, which dropped the price down to $10 from $40.
8,500 people signed up, and her crew of eight had to make 102,000 cupcakes to meet the orders.
Brown lost $3 per batch because she had to hire 25 extra workers to help, and she ended up losing $20,000 because of it, which is a ton for a small biz. It wiped out her profits for the year.
Image from Google Street View
3 Comments
Tags: Advertising, groupon
