My Appearance on WGST's "The Sully Show" 1/16/15 - Tech News of the Week
Friday, January 16, 2015 at 12:59PM The Tech News of the Week with Rick and Sully....
Have a listen:
1. Technology Doesn't Make Our Life More Stressful After All...
A recent study has found the opposite: Frequent Internet and social media users do not have higher stress levels than those who use technology less often. “The fear of missing out and jealousy of high-living friends with better vacations and happier kids than everybody else turned out to be not true,” says Lee Rainie.
The survey of 1,801 adults asked participants about the extent to which they felt their lives were stressful, using an established scale of stress called the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). One unexpected result of the study is that women who frequently use Twitter, email and photo-sharing apps scored 21 percent lower on the stress scale than those who did not. That could be because sharing life events enhances well-being, social scientists say, and women tend to do it more than men both online and off. Technology seems to provide “a low-demand and easily accessible coping mechanism that is not experienced or taken advantage of by men,” the report said. "Just as the telephone made it easier to maintain in-person relationships but neither replaced nor ruined them," concludes Miller, "this recent research suggests that digital technology can become a tool to augment the relationships humans already have.""
2. Super Bowl ads not yet sold out and website Wix.com decides to buy a Super Bowl ad
- NBC says Super Bowl ads are now 95% sold out
- First-time Super Bowl advertiser Wix.com will debut a 30-second ad during the game that stars five former NFL players each trying to launch their own quirky small business. As part of the “#ItsThatEasy” campaign, the web development company is also releasing online videos featuring the campaign’s athletes and has created websites dedicated to the football stars’ fictional ventures. Wix said it’s already starting to see a return on investment for some of the teaser videos it has released so far. A video of Emmitt Smith teaching line dancing released earlier this week, for example, generated 1.6 million views on Facebook in the first 24 hours after the video was posted and shared by the company and Mr. Smith, Wix said.
“We have a great 30-second narrative but an even better longer narrative to tell about each of the trials and tribulations and humorous moments they go through as small business owners,” said Eric Mason, Wix’s director of strategic marketing and communications. 
3. Solar Power Industry Now Accounts for Nearly 2% of All New Jobs in U.S.
Solar energy usage is finally growing...
"Over the past five years, the solar power industry has grown the number of jobs it offers, by 20% year over year for the past three years. According to the fifth installment of the Solar Jobs Census released today, solar power industry created 31,000 new jobs last year, bringing the total number of directly-related industry jobs to 173,000. When components the materials supply chain is added in, there are more than 705,000 jobs related to the solar power industry. The job growth has been so substantial that within a few months, the solar industry will be providing twice as many living wage jobs compared to the declining coal mining industry."
4. Radio Shack Reported To Be Ready for Bankruptcy Filing
RadioShack (RSH) shares plummeted more than 30% Thursday on a report that the company could file for bankruptcy protection reportedly as soon as next month.
The embattled consumer electronics retailer is in talks with a private-equity firm that could buy its assets out of bankruptcy, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited sources familiar with the people familiar with the matter.
Last month, the Fort Worth, Tex.-based chain reiterated that bankruptcy proceedings could result if its own revitalition plan proved unsuccessful.
On Thursday, RadioShack said that it had no comment other than to say that the company has not confirmed any of the information being reported.
The company had mentioned bankruptcy back in September.
RadioShack has faced losses over the last two years and has closed 175 underperforming stores already in its current fiscal year, which ends Jan. 31. It had announced plans to close a total of about 200 of its roughly 4,000 U.S. stores.
5. The Mainframe Computer is not Dead! IBM releases a new Mainframe..
The death of the mainframe has been predicted many times over the years but it has prevailed because it has been overhauled time and again. Now Steve Lohr reports that IBM has just released the z13, a new mainframe engineered to cope with the huge volume of data and transactions generated by people using smartphones and tablets. "This is a mainframe for the mobile digital economy," says Tom Rosamilia. "It's a computer for the bow wave of mobile transactions coming our way." IBM claims the z13 mainframe is the first system able to process 2.5 billion transactions a day and has a host of technical improvements over its predecessor, including three times the memory, faster processing and greater data-handling capability. IBM spent $1 billion to develop the z13, and that research generated 500 new patents, including some for encryption intended to improve the security of mobile computing. Much of the new technology is designed for real-time analysis in business. For example, the mainframe system can allow automated fraud prevention while a purchase is being made on a smartphone. Another example would be providing shoppers with personalized offers while they are in a store, by tracking their locations and tapping data on their preferences, mainly from their previous buying patterns at that retailer.
** Up next week... Rick will be in Orlando at the annual PGA Golf Merchandise Show.... similar to CES, but all golf...
