Lifestyle posts

Since its inception in 1899 under the name A. Horch & Cie, Audi has dedicated themselves to producing vehicles that set the standard for luxury. And while the rest of the world is still struggling in a down economy, the manufacturer posted a record breaking month as recently as July 2012, with four Audi models (the Audi A3, A4, A5 and A6 models) recording year-over-year sales increased of 20% or more. Meanwhile, Audi pre-owned vehicles saw their second best July in history, selling 3,136 vehicles in spite of reduced inventory of available models. It can be hard to believe that a company that…

The childhood bed has been the place where many dreams of traveling through space have manifested. Since before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, children have wondered what it would be like to blast off beyond the clouds to play in the stars, laying awake at night picturing themselves in a space suit with nothing but the stars in their background. There have been many attempts to integrate space into bedding, but none have been more realistic or accurate as the ones produced by Snurk. They Dutch company used the specs from the European Space Agency to make a duvet and pillow cover that will have any…

The good news for tech companies is that America seems to like them the best. Amazon topped the list, followed by Apple at #2 and Google at #4. The bad news for all American corporations is that nearly of Americans feel that corporate America in general is “poor” or “terrible” while two-thirds of Americans think that corporate America is “fair” at best. Only 9% perceive corporate America as “excellent/very good”. What does this mean? It says that tech companies are easier to trust, to like, and to do business with, likely because most of the interactions with them are online. Once face-to-face or…

We are vane creatures. LinkedIn has been on a roll, lately. They seem to have come to grips with their status as a resume- and professional-connection-distributing social network (even though they still look too much like Facebook). They are beating The Street’s profits and revenue expectations and they haven’t had any major scandals lately. 2012 was a good year for them and they’re starting off 2013 with a bang by getting many of its most active members to promote the service by promoting themselves. In a perfectly designed email, LinkedIn informed their top members last week that they were…

There was once a time when being a geek or a nerd wasn’t cool until you bought your first Porsche. Today, thanks in part to a heightened awareness of intellectual necessities mixed with the onslaught of the internet, smart is chic and the wildly popular TED conferences and their Talks series are leading the charge to make it even more socially acceptable. Part of the revolution has been social media. In the early days, it was better to be frivolous than brainy on social. Today, the funny cat pictures are still popular, but there is a growing sentiment of more refined sensibilities and contributions…

The internet didn’t create trolls. It made them more widespread because it made being one easier. There are many publications that make a living by trolling and, despite what some would say about the practice, it really isn’t that big of a deal. You know that when you go to popular publications like Buzzfeed, Gawker, or Techcrunch, there’s a good chance that they’ve recently published something that was intended to make fun of the actions of others. They’ve even been known to troll themselves. There’s definitely a place for it on the internet and it can be both lucrative as well as informative. I…

2010 saw the launch of what are now two major social media websites – Pinterest and Instagram. These two companies, started by young entrepreneurs, quickly gained users. As of Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram in September of 2012, the photo-sharing program had 100 million users. Social networking sights such as these have had major impacts on the way that people interact and share ideas. Pinterest was founded by two failed app designers. When they came up with their unique pinboard concept and stuck to it, many investors and engineers turned away. However, that same pinboard design drew…

There are four primary ways that a malevolent entity, whether it be terrorists or a foreign state, could go about attacking the United States or any country as a whole: military attack, medical epidemic, economic attack, or a cyberattack on the infrastructure. It’s the last on the list, the one that gets the least amount of attention from the people and the media, that was potentially launched in January when the US Department of Energy fell victim to hackers. Hundreds of employees and contractors may have had their Personally Identifiable Information (PII) accessed by the hackers. Many are…

Tell your boss that you’re not trying to be lazy. You’re helping the environment. That’s the report from the Center of Economic Policy Research, a liberal think tank. In the 13-page PDF they released, fighting climate change may be as easy as taking on a more “European” style of work schedule. “For all practical purposes, some amount of climate change is inevitable. However, the amount of warming is very much under our control. In addition to reducing emissions by other means, a significant reduction in climate change is possible by choosing a more European response to productivity gains rather…

What would you say if I told you that the tools you need to accomplish everything you need professionally and practically are at your fingertips in a one-stop-shop on the Internet? It’s true. And you’ll find tons of useful help and organizational guides to accomplish everything you need in a place you may have never thought to look: Mommy blogs. I’m not a mother. But knowing my own mother and watching my sister with my niece and nephew, I’m well aware that there’s no determination comparable to a woman that needs to get something done for their family. I have much less to juggle than the majority…