Monday, June 30, 2014

There Are More 23-Year-Olds Than Any Other Age (and They're Going to Save the World) (BusinessWeek)



By now we’re all familiar with the plight of the millennial generation, those born after 1980. They owe the bulk of America’s $1 trillion in student debt. They have little or no savings. A third still live at home with their parents. Those with jobs are often underemployed and underpaid. Not only have they delayed the typical trappings of adulthood—marriage, home, kids—they may be stuck in perpetual adolescence.

Millennials do have one big thing going for them: numbers. At 4.3 million, 23-year-olds are now the single largest age group in the U.S. According to U.S. Census data, there are more people in their twenties (44.5 million) than in their thirties (41 million), forties (41.7 million), or fifties (43.8 million). This is good news for twenty-somethings, who will benefit from their overall size through the economic growth they’ll create. It’s even better news for the economy, which will need every penny of taxes they pay and consumer demand they generate to offset the impact of 70 million baby boomers entering retirement. “The tragedy is that these young people will have to carry the enormous burden of the retiring Baby Boom for the bulk of their working lives,” says Milton Ezrati, senior economic strategist at the investment management firm Lord Abbett. Without them, though, the future would be dire. “They will mitigate what would otherwise be a much greater strain on the economy.”
If not for this bulge of young people, the U.S. would look a lot like Japan and Europe, which both lack a relatively large number of young adults to offset graying populations. While all three had Baby Booms after World War II, only the U.S. saw its birth rate increase in the 1980s and ’90s after two decades of decline. “This youth bulge is what makes the U.S. special right now,” says Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank (DB). “Though they may not be as well-off on an individual basis, their sheer size will help overcome that. The simple act of adding more workers will by itself create more wealth.”
The last time the U.S. had this many young people primed to enter the labor force was in the early 1980s. In 1983, 4.3 million 23-year-olds were about to start their careers. Their timing was perfect. The U.S. was emerging from a deep recession, and businesses needed the cheap labor of all those young workers. Over the next 20 years, as these boomers progressed through their careers, buying cars and homes and investing in the stock market, they fueled the longest peacetime expansion in modern U.S. history. From 1983 to 2000, the U.S. economy grew at an average pace of 3.7 percent a year, largely as a result of boomer-driven consumption.
While boomers rode the momentum they created, they also spent their lives competing with one another for scarce resources. In school, this meant crowded classrooms. At work, this eventually translated to lower wages, says William Emmons, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The real economic gains created by the boomers appear to have accrued to the older, smaller Silent Generation, born during and just after the Great Depression. These were the people who managed all those young workers. As a result, the Silent Generation benefited from higher wage gains.
Today’s 23-year-olds are starting their work lives in a weaker economy than the one the boomers entered. Yet they are better off than older millennials who graduated from college in the worst of the recession. While today’s economy isn’t great, it’s certainly better than it was a few years ago. “By and large they dodged the bullet,” says Emmons. “I’m actually very optimistic about the prospects of today’s 23-year-olds.”
There’s already evidence that those in their early twenties are faring better than those a little older. After three years of declines, the median household income of a 22-year-old born in 1991 jumped to $30,000 last year. That’s 5 percent more than what those a year older than them were making when they were 22. The unemployment rate for 20- to 24-year-olds is still 11 percent, but that’s down from 13 percent two years ago. They’re not crushed by debt. Says Emmons: “The data suggests that the younger millennials have been the most aggressive at avoiding and paying down debt.”
Astrid Schanz-Garbassi, 23, graduated from Middlebury College in 2012. She works at Turntable Health, a health-care startup in Las Vegas. Money doesn’t worry her. She says she’s “financially conservative: I don’t eat out, I’m not buying new things often. Money’s not my first concern when I think of what I’m going to do next.” She’s more interested in finding a career she likes. “There are billions of different jobs out there. You feel kind of obligated to find out what they are.”
Philips is an associate editor for Bloomberg Businessweek in New York. Follow him on Twitter@matthewaphilips.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

E N M I O P I N I O N: Dominio de qué o hacia qué?


Por: Ricardo Tribin Acosta

El poder es un elixir y una adicción ya que, quien en él se envuelve, a veces piensa que es , o la ultima Coca Cola  del desierto, o quizás la mamá de Tarzán, y por ello sueña con ejercerlo a perpetuidad o al menos hasta que se tenga edad y salud para poder experimentarlo en forma normal, aunque en algunos casos conocidos, como los de las monarquías o las dictaduras, equívocamente se asume la durabilidad de por vida y por tanto no conciben, ni siquiera en una mínima expresión, la perspectiva de la sucesión.

De ahí que sea importante traer a colación que el logro más importante no es el dominio que obtienes sobre otros, sino la conquista de si mismo, implicando ello que es posible quizás subyugar a los demás con el poder de las armas, del dinero, o lo laboral, por un determinado tiempo, mas no será factible que esto sea de por vida, puesto que no hay mal que dure cien años, ni cuerpo que lo resista.

De lo anterior se sacará entonces como corolario el que la gran victoria individual podrá alcanzarse cuando logremos conocernos bien y tenemos la disposición de cambiar aquello que nos atormente, todo esto enmarcado en lo que llaman pecados( o mejor defectos) capitales, constituidos en su deficiente expresión por soberbia, envidia, avaricia, ira, pereza, gula y lujuria.


Miami, Junio 21 de 2014

Friday, June 20, 2014

Is China a Scientific Powerhouse? (BusinessWeek)

Yanji University of Science and Technology lecture in Yanji, China
Yanji University of Science and Technology lecture in Yanji, China
China has vastly expanded higher education over the past three decades—in 1982, less than 1 percent of China’s twenty-somethings had attended college; by 2010, the figure had risen to 20 percent.
The number of Chinese students earning degrees in science and engineering fields has likewise grown rapidly. An increasing number of the country’s brightest future scientists choose to continue their education at American graduate schools, which generally have better facilities and more internationally respected faculty: The Chinese students enrolled in American science and engineering programs tripled from 1987 to 2010, to 43,000. And China sends more students to U.S. doctoral programs than does any other country.
Whether these trends indicate progress, shortfalls, or both in China’s domestic science education is a debatable point. Another tricky question is assessing how much weight to give to the rising volume of papers by Chinese scientists published in international journals, at the same time that China’s government spending on science is ballooning—as are the number of scandals related to science funding.
A new paper published online on June 16 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences attempts to assess “China’s rise as a major contributor to science and technology.” The authors, who are researchers at Peking University and the University of Michigan, conclude that “the quality of research by Chinese scientists has been improving steadily. However, China’s rise in science also faces serious difficulties, partly attributable to its rigid, top-down administrative system, with allegations of scientific misconduct trending upward.”
The authors also dug up some interesting stats comparing science in the U.S. and China. While scientists typically earn less than other high-prestige occupations that require advanced degrees in the U.S.—such as doctors and lawyers—in China, they earn more. (Specifically, the authors write, “In China, scientists earn 25% more than social scientists, 13% more than medical doctors, and 5% more than lawyers, whereas American scientists earn 7% less than social scientists, 50% less than medical doctors, and 34% less than lawyers.”) In both countries, women make up roughly a quarter of the total workforce of scientists and engineers.
Larson is a Bloomberg Businessweek contributor.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Amazon launches Fire smartphone: Building a device for Prime (ZDNet)

Summary: Amazon lines up its smartphone to integrate with its cloud services as well as Prime membership. The device is looking high end with its camera specs.

By  for Between the Lines |
SEATTLE--Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos launched the Fire smartphone, the company's latest foray to engage Prime customers, sell you more stuff, and recruit developers to make the e-commerce giant the No. 3 mobile platform. The smartphone launch also was positioned as a front end to the customer relationship.
What remains to be seen is whether the smartphone, which gives Amazon a small screen to integrate with your life, will be viewed as innovative or gimmicky. A key feature is dubbed Firefly, which recognizes objects around you and compiles them into a list you can act on. Think shopping, people.
The Fire device also adds 3D features to capture views and sense what vantage you are viewing the screen. "We call this dynamic perspective," said Bezos. 
One thing is clear: Amazon isn't shy about its hardware ambitions. Think of the strategy as one that revolves around delivering e-commerce and content kiosks across multiple screens — TV, tablet and now smartphone. Bezos' hurdle: Use hardware to do things that are "a little different."
bezos2
Credit: All images courtesy of James Martin, CNET
The event in Seattle was intimate with customers, a small-ish venue and a device that was outed via leaks, but largely remained a mystery in terms of actual hands-on time. Bezos' mom was in the audience too. Customers pitched themselves on video to get into the event. Naturally, Bezos walked in as soon as those customer presentations ended.

Building a phone for Prime members

To put Amazon's smartphone in the proper context, you need to know the master plan. Amazon wants to engage the customer base and have you renew Prime subscriptions.
Bezos said that the launch of Prime took off with video content, Kindle Owner's Lending Library and the Kindle Fire. "The real story underneath Prime is patience, persistence and attention to the smallest deals," said Bezos. "Prime isn't leaky. People use the service and use it a lot. And when it comes time to renew, they renew."
prime subs
"The mental model for Prime is one customer. We try and build a service for one customer. The consequence is that you can get millions," said Bezos.
Regarding hardware, Bezos said that same mental model applies. Amazon has been in the hardware business for a decade. The first Kindle met skepticism. For Bezos, Amazon's hardware adventures are all about engagement.
"The most important thing that we've done over the last 20 years is earn trust with customers," said Bezos. "We've worked hard to do that. You don't ask for it. There is a simple recipe for earning trust: Step one do hard things well. Step two repeat. You have to do this thousands of times over and over and over. If you do that customers notice."
Bezos said the plan was to build a phone for Prime members. "How would we be different?"

Tale of the tape

Amazon focused on outdoor use and one-hand usage with the Fire smartphone. The initial specs position it as a higher end device. 
Some specs:
  • 4.7 inch screen;
  • Ultra bright display;
  • 13 megapixel rear facing camera;
  • 2.2 GHz processor;
  • 2GB RAM;
  • Gorilla Glass 3 screen.
Bezos spent a lot of time on the camera and unlimited cloud storage on Amazon.
pictures on fire
Amazon's Fire phone is also built for what its customers do. Reading enhancements for the phone, customer support via a smartphone Mayday button and a feature called Firefly, which recognizes books, DVDs, QR codes, CDs, URLs, games and bar codes to name a few.
Firefly is essentially Shazam for everything. Not surprisingly, these things will be compiled into a history that can become a shopping list. There are actions for every item.
"Firefly can not only see, but listen as well," said Bezos. Third parties can also build actions into Firefly.
firefly image
firefly image 2
A few key points regarding Firefly:
  • It uses semantic boosting and machine learning.
  • It scrapes data for faster processing so it can recognize faster.
  • There's a dedicated button on the phone for Firefly. 
  • Third party developers can build on top of Firefly via an SDK. MyFitnessPal has built on top of Firefly already with image recognizers, databases and nutrition information.
firefly button
firefly sdk

3D: Gimmick or killer feature?

Bezos touted dynamic perspective for everything from mapping to lock screen images. The computer science behind the feature revolves around sensors that track the user's vantage point.
The images clearly look better than previous 3D effects on phone. Bezos walked through restaurant searches as well as every day usages where dynamic perspective comes in handy.
3D effect
Bezos also showed how tilts can enlarge images and scroll through. "As you move your head just a little the perspective changes," said Bezos.
Dynamic perspective is also used in Web surfing. "I just randomly chose a Washington Post article. I don't know why, but I like that publication," quipped Bezos, now owner of that newspaper.
3D effect1
Autoscrolling is another feature. "It's an easy one-handed gesture. It's a very robust gesture," said Bezos.
Amazon's 3D approach is applied throughout the phone including the app grid and user interface. Dynamic perspective is also key for gaming. 
How is it done? "We have to know where the user's head is all the time, in real time," said Bezos. "We started working on this four years ago." Bezos showed some early prototypes, including one that looked a bit like Google Glass. Computer vision "is super hard in the real world," said Bezos. 
Amazon spent a lot of time focusing on things like z depth, choosing what heads mattered and developing algorithms that use four cameras to recognize people. 
"We got really good at tracking faces and finding heads in real time," said Bezos.
zdepth2

 Amazon also launched a Dynamic Perspective SDK. 

Monday, June 16, 2014

Y adonde están los otros nueve? Por: Ricardo Tribin Acosta

E  N     M I     O P I N I O N

Hay gentes tan desagradecidas que a veces son peores que aquel perro que muerde la mano de su amo, luego que este le ha dado de comer. Son muy similares a un alacrán al que un caballito ayuda a cruzar al otro lado de un rio que está muy crecido y al llegar, a pesar de que su beneficiario se lo había advertido que no lo hiciera, este sin consideración alguna al llegar le clava su ponzoña venenosa.

Son seres inconscientes que no valoran lo que reciben pues creen que se lo merecen casi todo y a los que, como a los diez leprosos sanados por Jesús, habría que preguntarle al único que fue grato “Y adonde están los otros nueve?. Son pues los que rezan y rezan para que se les presente el milagrito y que, luego de su ocurrencia, olvidan por completo la bendición que del Señor o de otros han recibido.

De ahí que la frase “estoy agradecido por lo que tengo así como por lo que no  tengo”, es un verdadero talismán protector que nos lleva a pisar bases de realidad, al darnos cuenta que todo lo que tenemos es prestado pues para ello el requisito primordial radica en estar vivos y, si ello no ocurre, pues todo lo demás quedara sobrando.

Miami, Junio 14 de 2014.

Friday, June 13, 2014

7 Hidden Google Gems

By: 

Movie still of Indiana Jones with Google logo in place of priceless artifact
We all know that Google’s pretty great. From searches to email to managing your contacts for you, Google basically covers every aspect of your online life. Google does so much, in fact, that it’s easy to miss some of the lesser-known features. That’s why we’ve put together this list of the seven best “hidden” gems Google has to offer. Have a favorite little-known feature we missed? Leave it in the comments and maybe we’ll do a Part 2.

1. ENHANCE PHOTOS WITH GOOGLE+

Google+ is the most underrated social media service around. It’s so closely integrated with other Google products, as well as your computer and phone, that it’s surprising that it hasn’t taken the social media world by storm.
One great feature is the ability to enhance your photos automatically. Using what Google calls Auto Awesome, you can upload all your images to Google+ and let the magic happen. Google+ will do everything from making it snow in snowy pictures to taking the smiles from a group of the same pictures to make a single image where everyone is smiling and nobody is blinking.
This is all done automatically. The best way to set this up is to install the Google+ app on your mobile device and set Google+ to automatically upload new images. They’ll stay private until you share them.
Click these links for more information from Google on Auto Awesome andautomatic enhancement.

2. STREAM 20,000 OF YOUR SONGS FOR FREE

Google Play Music marketing panel with Katy Perry photo
Google really wants to be your go-to app for music. This is why it created Google Play Music. You can stream unlimited music for $10 a month, but for free you can upload 20,000 of your own MP3 files and stream them anywhere with the Google Play Music app.
To set this up, just head over to Google’s Music site, log in with your Google ID, and accept the agreement. To use the free service, click the “Use Standard” button.
Google Play Music free trial prompt
Next, Google will walk you through the steps to get your audio files uploaded to Google Play. There are apps for OS X, Windows, Android, and iOS. Install the apps you need, and you’re all set to get quite a bit of your music into the cloud for free.
Google Play Music informational blurbs

3. USE GOOGLE NOW TO DO JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING

Wouldn’t it be nice if your phone could just tell you what you wanted to know before you knew you needed to know it? (Follow me?)
For example, if there’s heavy traffic on your way to work, it would be hugely helpful if you could get a notification about it before you think to check. Or how about if the scores of your favorite teams would just come up on your phone automatically without you opening the sports app?
With Google Now, both of these and more are done thanks to Google’s hive mind. Google learns about you, where you go, what you like, and what you need. Based on this information, Now tailors your experience so you get what you need without having to ask.
Google Now is available for desktop computers, iOS, and Android phones. Check out this page to see how to get it for your device.

4. SYNC CALENDARS WITH FAMILY

We all live pretty busy lives, and aligning those lives into a cohesive single calendar can seem nearly impossible. With Google Calendar, the old task of sitting down and writing everyone’s weekly activities on a wall calendar can be made far simpler by using a group calendar.
Duplicate contacts killing your productivity? See how Scrubly can help in this 100-second video.
Sign in to Google Calendar using your Google ID and create a new calendar. Give the calendar a meaningful name, like “Scrubly Family Calendar,” and a brief description. Enter your location for time zone support, then scroll down to the “Share with specific people” section.
Entering details for new Google Calendar
Enter the email addresses of the family members you wish to share with (all need to be linked to Google accounts) and make sure to give everyone the ability to see and make changes to the calendar.
Then click Create Calendar. Your invitees will get a notification and can then join the calendar. Now, events added to the calendar will show up for everyone.
Here’s more information on creating shared calendars from Google.

5. VIEW AMAZING ART VIA GOOGLE

You’ve probably used Google’s image search to find pictures of just about everything and anything you could think of. But what if you wanted to view some of the world’s best art without having to know what to search for to find it?
Google Art Project landing page featuring full-screen artwork
The Google Art Project was started to archive the world’s best art so that you could look at it without leaving your house – and without having to endure the thousands of incorrect images that come up in a basic search. It’s like walking into an amazing museum, with no waiting in line!
Click here to get started with over 40,000 pieces of art and start curating your own collection today.

6. SAVE LOCATIONS IN GOOGLE MAPS

Google Maps is possibly the best way to find directions and see street-level views of where you’re going. But did you know you can save places in Google Maps so you can find them later?
Google Maps location details
All you have to do is search for a destination in Google Maps and, once it comes up, click the Save star to save the location. Now it’ll be easier to find next time you’re looking for a bite to eat or that bar you really liked on vacation.

7. SEND MASSIVE FILES WITH GMAIL

Did you know you can send some pretty huge files via Gmail without issue?
Gmail actually allows you to send files up to 10GB in size. All you have to do is send the file via Google Drive and then choose the file from your computer.
The files are stored in Google Drive and are accessible via a link in the email you send. Make sure to adjust sharing options before sending so the people that receive the email can access the file. Check out Google’s help documentation here for more information.