Here’s Where to Find the Fastest Public Wi-Fi in the U.S. - TIME

http://time.com/money/3089593/best-fast-public-wi-fi/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• Brad Tuttle @bradrtuttle
• Brad Tuttle @bradrtuttle
 
Aug. 7, 2014
    
One large fries, a shake, and 4 megabits per second.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images

Many national restaurant chains and stores have free wi-fi. But where should you turn for the fastest service of all?

MORE

McDonald’s Guarantees One-Minute Drive-Thru Service or You Get Free Food

Why People Care So Much About McDonald’s One-Minute Drive-Thru Guarantee

If you demand fast wi-fi, then you might want to be a frequent visitor at McDonald’s, Best Buy, and Hilton hotels. That’s according to OpenSignal, a UK-based app that helps users find wireless networks and recently published a study about where American consumers can find the fastest wi-fi.
High-end hotels get grief because the room rate oftendoesn’t include free wi-fi. But at least hotels that charge above-average rates tend to have faster wi-fi service. “There is a strong correlation between the speed of hotel wi-fi and the cost of [a] room,” the OpenSignal study explains. Hilton, which began charging extra for faster wi-fi at some hotels earlier this year, was found to have the fastest download speeds—roughly double the speed of the service at a Days Inn.
As for totally free public wi-fi, McDonald’s is the best of the bunch, according to data collected from OpenSignal users. The download speed at McDonald’s was 4.187 megabits per second, more than twice as fast as three other chain restaurants featured in the study: Dunkin Donuts, Tim Horton’s, and Panera Bread (further evidence that McDonald’s is all about speed these days). Overall, Best Buy had the second-fastest public wi-fi among retailers, with an average download speed of 3.879 mbps.
The big takeaway: “If you need to download a big file for work, popping into a McDonalds will get the job done faster than stopping off at your nearest BestBuy.”

These Are the 7 Deadly Sins of Googling - TIME

http://time.com/3084394/googling-sins/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• Fortune
 

Aug. 6, 2014

    

By Shalene Gupta and Jake Turtel

Google is a godsend for all of us, from those who stutter and stumble through life to even the most knowledgeable of folks looking to confirm their facts and figures.

A well-placed nugget of information courtesy of Google (or Yahoo, sure, or Bing, but come on—you use Google) can prepare you for a challenging conversation or nervy meeting, and it can display for you, stripped bare, any person’s minor errors and major accomplishments.

But with great power comes great responsibility, and sometimes Google leads us astray. Just this week, New Yorkmagazine wrote that resisting from Googling a potential date is “the new abstinence.” Here are the seven deadly sins that come along with relying too heavily on the G-force.

Greed: When your thirst for knowledge leads to errors

They say fortune favors the well prepared, but when Fortunemanaging editor Andy Serwer sat down to dinner with Chevron CEO John Watson, preparation backfired. Serwer asked Watson about his position on the board of the San Diego Padres, a factoid he’d picked up doing pre-dinner research on Wikipedia, a page he had been directed to through The Big G. Turns out that’s another John Watson. Oops.

Watson’s team at Chevron has hunted down the original source and the Wiki entry has since been changed, but here atFortune, a vague feeling of betrayal lingers in the air. After all, where would reporters be without Google? But Google gives preference to Wikipedia, and Wiki now hath poisoned our trust. Or at least Serwer’s.

With great power comes great responsibility, and sometimes Google leads us astray.

Google is a godsend for all of us, from those who stutter and stumble through life to even the most knowledgeable of folks looking to confirm their facts and figures.

A well-placed nugget of information courtesy of Google  GOOG 0.23%  (or Yahoo, sure, or Bing, but come on—you use Google) can prepare you for a challenging conversation or nervy meeting, and it can display for you, stripped bare, any person’s minor errors and major accomplishments.

But with great power comes great responsibility, and sometimes Google leads us astray. Just this week, New Yorkmagazine wrote that resisting from Googling a potential date is “the new abstinence.” Here are the seven deadly sins that come along with relying too heavily on the G-force.

Greed: When your thirst for knowledge leads to errors

They say fortune favors the well prepared, but when Fortunemanaging editor Andy Serwer sat down to dinner with Chevron  CVX 0.62%  CEO John Watson, preparation backfired. Serwer asked Watson about his position on the board of the San Diego Padres, a factoid he’d picked up doing pre-dinner research on Wikipedia, a page he had been directed to through The Big G. Turns out that’s another John Watson. Oops.

Watson’s team at Chevron has hunted down the original source and the Wiki entry has since been changed, but here atFortune, a vague feeling of betrayal lingers in the air. After all, where would reporters be without Google? But Google gives preference to Wikipedia, and Wiki now hath poisoned our trust. Or at least Serwer’s.

Gluttony: When you gather too much information

Sometimes, you might go on a rampage and Google everything. Your friends. Your boss. Your boss’s significant other. Their boss. Your friend’s boss’s significant other’s boss’s dog (not that we’ve ever done such a thing). Sometimes you learn things you really didn’t need to know—things you, perhaps, shouldn’t know, but can never quite forget. It’s TMI. It’s a little like the time a Fortune summer intern started to dump names into the Googlesphere only to find out that a college friend’s father was a registered sex offender.

Lust: When researching a romantic interest gets creepy

If you’re single, many of your Google hunts may be fueled by… non-platonic interest. It can include Facebook photo binges, clicking through 10 pages’ worth of search results, and sneaking a peek at someone’s Instagram account (if public). But then when you actually run into, or go out with, the object of your search affections, you face a real dilemma: feign surprise at the personal things they tell you, or acknowledge you already know? Thanks to Google, you already know their college alma mater; their favorite color; their street address; and the exact pattern of their cobbled driveway (thanks, Streetview)… we’ll stop there.

Sloth: When you lazily rely on the opinions of others

Sometimes Google impressions trump first impressions. In a piece on Match.com, author Steve Friedman writes that he once went out with a sex-columnist who decided to cancel their second date after her post-date Google search turned up some of his articles, even though she thought he was sweet and funny in person.

Worse yet, sometimes there is no chance for a first impression. People are relying more and more on online reviews, and as a result, companies or products with low reviews or simply not a large total of reviews don’t get business. Michael Luca, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School, released a 2011 working paper that found that a one-star increase on Yelp leads to a 5-9% increase in revenue for restaurants. But what happens to new restaurants that haven’t been reviewed much yet, or restaurants that hire a new chef and up their game? Sometimes, there’s more to reality than what Google can tell you.

Wrath: When you tamper with Google results

Wikipedia is notorious for allowing users to change the text—and, what do you know?—sometimes they do it to suit their own purposes. After Chile beat Spain two-nil in this year’s World Cup, the Wikipedia entry for the Chile National Soccer Team’s page was changed to say, “Dear Spain, LOL. Say bye to the World Cup…… From Chile.” Or take the change from mid-May, when the New York Rangers came back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. A few days later, the Pens’ Wiki page listed the Rangers as the owner of the team. Malicious, yet creative.

Envy: When you’re jealous of someone else’s Google results

Social media can lead to envy. It can lead, possibly, to depression. In a 2013 study, University of Michigan researchers Ethan Kross and Philippe Verduyn texted people while they were using Facebook, and found that as time on Facebook increased, a person’s mood and overall satisfaction with their lives declined. In other words, Facebook can make you jealous. It can make you feel more alone than connected. Kross and Verduyn didn’t look at other social media networks, but it’s fair to say that looking through lists of other people’s accolades, impressive resumes, and social media clout can just as easily turn you green around the ears.

Pride: When you expect other people to have Googled you

Sure, we live in a world where Googling someone has become more than common courtesy—it’s practically basic hygiene. Business meetings, dinner dates, job interviews: Google, Google, Google them. But when you sit down with someone and find out that they haven’t Googled you, and they have no idea who you are, what you’ve done? Painful. But it shouldn’t be.

Fortune (and Fortune!) favors the bold. Mind your sins. Go forth and Google, sparingly.

Over 27,000 Russian Tourists Are Stranded as E.U. Sanctions Take Effect - TIM

http://time.com/3081227/russia-tourists-stranded-sanctions-ukraine/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• Per Liljas
 

Aug. 5, 2014

    

A group of 30 Russian tourists wait at Antalya Airport in Turkey on Aug. 4, 2014, after their Russian tour company went bankruptAnadolu Agency/Getty Images

Oligarchs are having to ditch their private jets, too

Over 27,000 Russian tourists have been left stranded abroad after the collapse of Russian tour operator Labirint. The firm cited a “negative political and economic situation” as a reason for its failure, Sky News reports.

Labirint is the fourth Russian tour company to tank in three weeks. “We worry that this is only the beginning and that there will be a domino effect,” a spokeswoman for the country’s Federal Agency for Tourism told radio station and news site Echo of Moscow.

The marooned tourists, in countries such as Egypt and Bulgaria, are a visible sign that the E.U.’s sanctions on Russia, imposed over Moscow’s role in the ongoing Ukraine conflict, are having some effect. Tougher punishments were imposed last week, following the downing of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner in eastern Ukraine on July 17, purportedly by a missile fired by pro-Russian separatists.

Besides affecting tour operators, sanctions have also led to agrounding of Russian budget airline Dobrolet, a subsidiary of state-controlled Aeroflot. The carrier ended up on the sanctions list because it provides direct flights from Moscow to Crimea, the Ukrainian region annexed by Russia earlier this year.

The targeting of Russian banks, meanwhile, has caused Russia’s second oil producer Lukoil to scale back investment plans because it cannot access funds, while Reuters reports that leading Russian banks have been forced to reassure clients that they are able to meet their commitments despite being on the E.U. list.

Prominent Russians are also being inconvenienced. Gennady Timchenko, a billionaire businessman close to President Vladimir Putin, has had his private jet grounded after Gulfstream stopped servicing the aircraft and its pilots were prevented from using its navigation equipment. However, he told Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency that he’d found an alternative to his Visa and MasterCard credit cards.

“As soon as the sanctions came in I got myself [a Chinese Union] card … and it works brilliantly!”

The sanctions could also hurt European businesses, however. Adidas has scrapped its revenue and profit target for next year because of its exposure to the Russian market, U.S. aviation giant Boeing could lose its contracts with Dobrolet, and the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations has said that more than 25,000 German jobs are in danger. There is an expectation among European investors that future growth may be hampered, with the euro zone’s Sentix investment index in August dropping to its lowest level in a year.

“As this slump derives from an event which is subject to politics and power play, the central banks, particularly the European Central Bank, will have difficulty in trying to counter this,” Reuters reported Sentix as saying.

Moscow has begun to hit back at sanctions by imposing bans of its own, mostly on food products. It has already banned Polish apples (it says for health reasons, but Polish farmers think the move is retaliatory) and Australian beef. Now, Reuters reports, Moscow is mulling a ban on U.S. poultry — it currently buys around 8% of U.S. broiler-meat exports each year.

10 Small Things You Can Do Every Day to Get Smarter - TIME

http://time.com/3032117/get-smarter-every-day/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• Inc.
 

July 25, 2014

    

Intelligence is a work in progress. Maximize yours with these simple habits

You might be under the impression that intelligence is a fixed quantity set when you are young and unchanging thereafter. But research shows that you’re wrong. How we approach situations and the things we do to feed our brains can significantly improve our mental horsepower.

That could mean going back to school or fillingng your bookshelves (or e-reader) with thick tomes on deep subjects, but getting smarter doesn’t necessarily mean a huge commitment of time and energy, according to a recent thread on question-and-answer site Quora.

When a questioner keen on self-improvement asked the community, “What would you do to be a little smarter every single day?” lots of readers–including dedicated meditators, techies, and entrepreneurs–weighed in with useful suggestions. Which of these 10 ideas can you fit into your daily routine?

1. Be smarter about your online time.

Every online break doesn’t have to be about checking social networks and fulfilling your daily ration of cute animal pics. The Web is also full of great learning resources, such as online courses, intriguing TED talks, and vocabulary-building tools. Replace a few minutes of skateboarding dogs with something more mentally nourishing, suggest several responders.

2. Write down what you learn.

It doesn’t have to be pretty or long, but taking a few minutes each day to reflect in writingabout what you learned is sure to boost your brainpower. “Write 400 words a day on things that you learned,” suggests yoga teacher Claudia Azula Altucher. Mike Xie, a research associate at Bayside Biosciences, agrees: “Write about what you’ve learned.”

3. Make a ‘did’ list.

A big part of intelligence is confidence and happiness, so boost both by pausing to list not the things you have yet to do, but rather all the things you’ve already accomplished. The idea of a “done list” is recommended by famed VC Marc Andreessen as well as Azula Altucher. “Make an I DID list to show all the things you, in fact, accomplished,” she suggests.

4. Get out the Scrabble board.

Board games and puzzles aren’t just fun but also a great way to work out your brain. “Play games (Scrabble, bridge, chess, Go, Battleship, Connect 4, doesn’t matter),” suggests Xie (for a ninja-level brain boost, exercise your working memory by trying to play without looking at the board). “Play Scrabble with no help from hints or books,” concurs Azula Altucher.

5. Have smart friends.

It can be rough on your self-esteem, but hanging out with folks who are more clever than you is one of the fastest ways to learn. “Keep a smart company. Remember your IQ is the average of five closest people you hang out with,” Saurabh Shah, an account manager at Symphony Teleca, writes.

“Surround yourself with smarter people,” agrees developer Manas J. Saloi. “I try to spend as much time as I can with my tech leads. I have never had a problem accepting that I am an average coder at best and there are many things I am yet to learn…Always be humble and be willing to learn.”

6. Read a lot.

OK, this is not a shocker, but it was the most common response: Reading definitely seems essential. Opinions vary on what’s the best brain-boosting reading material, with suggestions ranging from developing a daily newspaper habit to picking up a variety offictionand nonfiction, but everyone seems to agree that quantity is important. Read a lot.

7. Explain it to others.

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough,” Albert Einstein said. The Quora posters agree. Make sure you’ve really learned what you think you have learned and that the information is truly stuck in your memory by trying to teach it to others. “Make sure you can explain it to someone else,” Xie says simply.

Student Jon Packles elaborates on this idea: “For everything you learn–big or small–stick with it for at least as long as it takes you to be able to explain it to a friend. It’s fairly easy to learn new information. Being able to retain that information and teach others is far more valuable.”

8. Do random new things.

Shane Parrish, keeper of the consistently fascinating Farnam Street blog, tells the story of Steve Jobs’ youthful calligraphy class in his response on Quora. After dropping out of school, the future Apple founder had a lot of time on his hands and wandered into a calligraphy course. It seemed irrelevant at the time, but the design skills he learned were later baked into the first Macs. The takeaway: You never know what will be useful ahead of time. You just need to try new things and wait to see how they connect with the rest of your experiences later on.

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future,” Parrish quotes Jobs as saying. In order to have dots to connect, you need to be willing to try new things–even if they don’t seem immediately useful or productive.

9. Learn a new language.

No, you don’t need to become quickly fluent or trot off to a foreign country to master the language of your choosing. You can work away steadily from the comfort of your desk and still reap the mental rewards. “Learn a new language. There are a lot of free sites for that. UseLivemocha or Busuu,” says Saloi (personally, I’m a big fan ofMemrise once you have the basic mechanics of a new language down).

10. Take some downtime.

It’s no surprise that dedicated meditator Azula Altucher recommends giving yourself space for your brain to process what it’s learned–“sit in silence daily,” she writes–but she’s not the only responder who stresses the need to take some downtime from mental stimulation. Spend some time just thinking, suggests retired cop Rick Bruno. He pauses the interior chatter while exercising. “I think about things while I run (almost every day),” he reports.

7 Brilliant Qualities You May Not Know You Have - TIME

http://time.com/3074012/7-brilliant-qualities-you-may-not-know-you-have/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• Inc.
 

Aug. 2, 2014

    

Build on these personal traits to become more effective

By Larry Kim

What does it take to be a great leader?

Once upon a time, birth order and socioeconomic status were considered powerful determinants in who would successfully climb the ladder.

Lately, though, the focus has shifted to personal qualities.

Guiding vision, passion, and integrity are well known leadership traits. But there are lesser known leadership traits, as well–in fact, some historically have been perceived as weaknesses.

These hidden traits can be developed and nurtured to help further your career and your role as a leader, at work, in your community, or in life in general.

See if you just might have some or all of these personal qualities that lend well to leadership:

1. Empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This is incredibly important in any workplace environment and helps you to manage conflict and relationships. However, it’s become even more important as businesses compete to better understand the needs of their customers. People don’t want to be analyzed and marketed to–they want brands to understand what they want and need. Empathetic leaders function better within the company, but can also use this trait to power the business, as well.

2. Optimism

You might think of optimism as the quality of one being hopeful, but it also indicates confidence in successful outcomes. Of course, blind optimism isn’t a good thing, but optimistic leaders can inspire and motivate teams.

3. Forgiveness

No one enjoys the boss who lords every mistake they’ve ever made over their head. There is real power in allowing employees to take calculated risks, but they have to know it’s not going to be held against them later. Doing so kills creativity and motivation–it causes people to think twice before bringing a new idea to the table, or experimenting with a new process or product. Learn how to forgive mistakes to nurture creativity and inspiration and your team will pay you back ten-fold.

4. Altruism

Altruism means you care about the welfare of others. In business, this means you want the people around you to do better, feel better, and perform better. You are not an island. You don’t need to take all of the credit for yourself. You understand that building up the people around you makes you all look better. This is an incredible leadership quality, but not one you might traditionally associate with power or strength.

5. Eloquence

The ability to speak and write persuasively has gained importance in the age of digital communications. People expect leaders to communicate and they want to be “wowed.” An eloquent speech can close a deal. An eloquent memo to staff can quell fears, dampen dissent, or inspire people to reach new heights. Practice your writing and speaking to become a more effective, persuasive leader.

6. Discernment

Discernment is the ability to judge well, whether in relation to people, situations, or business decisions. If you are discerning, you take the time to understand a problem and walk your way around various solutions to find just the right one. You don’t jump head first into every opportunity, but think critically and find the best option.

7. Modesty

No one likes to hear how awesome someone else is all the time–especially when it comes from that person. Let your work speak for itself; don’t fall into the trap of being the one who blows your horn the loudest. Confidence is a great trait, but must be tempered with modesty.

These qualities can be powerful tools for entrepreneurs and aspiring leaders who are willing to put the time and effort into developing them.

600 Retailers Ensnared in Major New Malware Attack, Cybersecurity Firm Says - TIME

• Sam Frizell @Sam_Frizell
 

Aug. 1, 2014

    

The Department of Homeland Security is investigating the widespread use of "Backoff" malicious software, which steals data through remote access applications

The number of businesses ensnared in a new malware attack revealed in a Department of Homeland Security report this week may run to six hundred, according to a cybersecurity firm that helped DHS prepare the report.

Hackers are using point-of-sale (PoS) malware to steal consumer payment data, including credit and debit card information, from businesses that use remote desktop applications, according to the DHS report out Thursday. The department is now investigating the breaches.

But cybersecurity company Trustwave says at least six hundred businesses across the country have had themalicious software, dubbed “Backoff,” installed on their networks since Oct. 2013, allowing hackers to steal data. The DHS declined to comment to TIME on the scope of the attack.

Many of the 600 are small independent brick-and-mortar shops, said Karl Sigler, threat intelligence manager at Trustwave, but large national chains have been caught up as well. A DHS official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that large chains were specifically vulnerable when acquiring a smaller business that could have weaker security protections.

The hackers target businesses that use remote desktop applications, according to the DHS, of the same kind used by technical support to access a computer from an off-site location. Once they find businesses with basic I.T. security or weak passwords, they can gain the same remote access to systems that technical assistance might have and easily install the malware.

“Backoff” then scrapes memory from the victims’ machines, searches for track data and logs keystrokes to reap sensitive data such as credit card information. “Once the malware sees a credit card system in memory, or typed in, it grabs that credit card information, then encrypts it and ships it out to another system under criminals’ control,” Sigler explained.

The DHS first outlined how the hackers gained access to point-of-sale systems to install “Backoff” in its Thursday report. “Recent investigations revealed that malicious actors are using publicly available tools to locate businesses that use remote desktop applications,” it said, citing Microsoft’s Remote Desktop, Apple Remote Desktop, Chrome Remote Desktop, Splashtop 2, Pulseway, and LogMEin Join.Me as commonly used remote desktop solutions.

Many more victims are likely to be discovered in the coming months, Sigler added. “A lot of smaller businesses were affected but there were very large chains that were affected as well. But they’re names anyone in the states would recognize,” Sigler said. “This is just the tip of the iceberg, but only time will tell how far this reaches.”

All the businesses that have so far been identified as targets of the breach are aware of the attack, Trustwave said.

The Secret Service is investigating the hackers behind the attacks on retailers and Sigler said the Department of Justice would likely prosecute the hackers responsible. The Department of Justice did not return requests for comment, while the Secret Service said it could not comment on how many businesses were affected.

The release of the report will likely spur anti-virus vendors to code defenses against existing variants of “Backoff,” the DHS said in its report. Businesses should create complex passwords for their remote desktop access in order to make their systems harder to break into.

Beats Now Part of the Apple ‘Family’ - TIME

http://time.com/3070136/beats-now-part-of-the-apple-family/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• Denver Nicks @DenverNicks
 

Aug. 1, 2014

    

Tech giant confirms close of deal to buy headphone maker amid reports of possible layoffs

Apple has officially closed a deal to acquire headphone maker and music-streaming service Beats, the company announced Friday.

“Today we are excited to officially welcome Beats Music and Beats Electronics to the Apple family,” Apple said in a statement. “Music has always held a special place in our hearts, and we’re thrilled to join forces with a group of people who love it as much as we do.”

News emerged in May that Apple had struck a $3 billion deal to acquire Beats, a company co-founded in 2008 by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. Friday’s announcement makes Apple’s biggest-ever acquisition official.

Beats’ core business is production of high-end audio equipment but it also has a music-streaming service that Apple may leverage as it continues to edge in on the evolving music industry.

News of the sealed deal comes on the heels of reports that Apple plans to cut from Beats’ payroll around 200 positions that overlap with roles already filled at Apple, 9to5mac reports. Beats currently has about 700 employees.

Apple told the site it had offered jobs to all Beats employees, but conceded that some of them were for a “limited period” only. “We’ll work hard during this time to find as many of these Beats employees as we can another permanent job within Apple,” the company said.

7 Cover Letter Mistakes That Will Sink You - TIME

http://time.com/3043580/cover-letter/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• The Muse
 

July 28, 2014

    

By Lily Zhang

Cover letters don’t get a lot of love. And considering how tough it is to write a good one, it’s kind of understandable that people tend to throw them together at the last minute (or update one they wrote last month), attach it to their resume, and call it good.

But this, my friends, is the biggest cover letter mistake you could make. In fact, this document is the best chance you have to give the hiring manager a glimpse of who you are, what you bring to the table, and why you—above all those other candidates—are the one for the job.

Don’t give up your chance to share your best qualifications in a fresh, unique way. And while you’re at it, don’t make these seven other common cover letter mistakes I see all the time.

1. Starting With Your Name

How do you start a cover letter? Let me set the record straight now and say it’s not with, “My name is John Smith.” Unless you’re already famous, your name just isn’t the most relevant piece of information to start with. Not to mention that your name should be listed on your resume, the sign-off in your cover letter, and in other parts of your application.

Instead

Start with a relevant qualification as a way to introduce yourself. If you’re a recent grad with a passion for environmental activism, go with that. Or, maybe you’re a marketing professional with 10+ years of healthcare industry experience—introduce yourself as such, and connect it to the position you are applying to. (Here’s a bit moreabout kicking off your cover letter with an awesome opener.)

2. Rehashing Your Resume

If your cover letter is basically your resume in paragraph form, you’re probably going to need to start over. Your resume likely the first thing a recruiter looks at, so you’re wasting your time (and the recruiter’s) if your cover letter is a harder-to-read version of something he or she has already seen.

Instead

Focus on one or two (OK three, max) examples of your work that highlight what you can bring to the position, and try to help your reader picture you doing the work by really diving deep and detailing your impact. You want the hiring manger to be able to imagine plucking you out of the work you’re describing on the page and placing you into his or her team seamlessly.

3. Not Being Flexible With the Format

Remember those three paragraph essays you wrote in middle school? Your cover letter is not the place for you to be recalling those skills. Rather than fitting your message into a particular format, your format should be molded to your message.

Instead

Consider what message you’re trying to get across. If you’re going to be spending the majority of the letter describing one particular relevant experience—maybe that three-paragraph format makes sense. However, if you’re thinking about transferable skills or want to explain how your career has taken you from teaching to business development, a more creative approach could be appropriate. I’ve seen cover letters use bullet points, tell stories, or showcase videos to (successfully) get their point across.

4. Going Over a Page

There are always exceptions to the rule, but in general, for resumes and cover letters alike, don’t go over a page. Unless you’re applying for a managerial or executive position, it’s unlikely a recruiter would look beyond your first page of materials anyway.

Instead

Keep it concise and, ideally, wrap up around three quarters of the way down the page. Remember that you’re not trying to get everything on one page—you’re trying to entice the hiring manager enough to bring you in for an interview. Think of your cover letter as the highlights reel of your career.

5. Over Explaining

Are you a career changer or doing a long distance job search? No matter how complicated your reasons for applying to a job are, it would be a mistake to spend an entire paragraph explaining why you’re moving to San Francisco from New York.

Instead

If your reasons for applying to a position would be made clearer with some added explanation, add them in, but keep them short. Limit yourself to a sentence either in the first paragraph or the last paragraph for a location change, and no more than a paragraph to describe a career change.

6. Focusing Too Much on Training

Maybe you just finished your master’s degree or finally got the hang of coding. Great! But even if your most relevant qualification is related to your education or training, you don’t want to spend the majority of your time on coursework. At the end of the day, what hiring managers care about most is your work experience—what you can walk through the door and deliver on Day 1.

Instead

Certainly mention your educational qualifications if they are relevant, but focus the bulk of your cover letter on experiences. Even if your most relevant experience is education, present it more in the form of projects you worked on and job-related skills you gained, rather than actually explaining course content.

7. Sharing Irrelevant Information

Cultural fit is one of those big buzzwords in the recruiting world now, and there’s no question that it’s important to tailor your cover letter to each company to show your compatibility. But it starts getting a little weird when you start writing about your bowling league or active social life. (And don’t try to tell me this doesn’t happen—I’ve seen it.)

Instead

A better way to show that you’re a good cultural fit for the job is to focus on values—not activities. Mine company websites for the way they describe their company culture, then use that intel to show how your own values align. (Here’s some moreon how to show you get the company culture in a cover letter.)

For the companies that have moved away from a cover letter requirement, an additional opportunity to show off what you have to offer is lost. But, for those that require cover letters or at least make them optional, you should absolutely make the most of them—and, of course, avoid these all-too-common mistakes.

4 Ways the TSA Could Really Speed Up Airport Security Lines - TIME

http://time.com/3056046/airport-security-lines-tea-contest/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• Bill Saporito @bilsap
 

July 29, 2014

    

We've all been thereAndrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images

There's actually a science to these things

The Transportation Security Administration needs your help. The organization that scans your bags and invariably yanks your spouse out of line for the hairy-eyeball treatment when you are late for a flight desires to do something about wait times. I’m presuming that the TSA wants to make the lines shorter. Maybe I should double check.

This doesn’t seem like a particularly difficult goal in some respects. Here’s the way the TSA worked at the Delta terminal at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport on a busy afternoon the last time I was flew: There were two positions open to check IDs and three screening lines for bags and people. The line was nearly out the door. I’m no math expert, but I’m thinking that increasing the number of screening lanes by one increases throughput by 33%. Just a guess.

POPULAR AMONG SUBSCRIBERS

Increasing capacity—that is, adding ID checkpoints and scanning lanes—or at least manning all available lanes, seems like the most obvious way to shorten the lines. But that would involve spending more money, and Congress has proven again and again that it cares little for the flying public, which helps explain the current state of flying.

So instead, TSA is trying to crowdsource a solution. It is looking for someone or some group that can create the Next Generation Checkpoint Queue Design Model. Your model will have to incorporate the TSA’s (very successful) Pre Check program, along with plans to accommodate coach, business/first, crew and special needs passengers. Do that successfully and the TSA will reward you. The agency is handing out $15,000 in prize money for the best ideas, including a $5,000 top prize.

Glad to help:

Ban mobile phone calls in the queue. People who talk on the phone while simultaneously trying to get out their laptops and take off their shoes ought to be shot, but I’m willing to merely silence them to speed things up.

Start a Spirit Airlines line. Passengers on ultra-low cost carriers like Spirit and Allegiant are, let’s say, inexperienced at air travel; okay, hopeless. Even with their own line, they’ll still take forever.

Make every airline charge more for using the overhead bins than for checked baggage. Higher fees=fewer bags=shorter waits. Stop hating me. In an ideal world, all baggage would go underneath—for free—and show up 10 minutes after landing.

Fine the TSA for delays. Airlines get fined, so why not the TSA? If it takes me more than 20 minutes get through, the TSA is not doing its job right.

Have a giant, discount health and beauty store at every airport. No need to bring all that product in 3-oz. bottles. Just order in advance and buy’em at the airport, cheap.

There is indeed a science to lines, whether it’s applied to supermarkets, tollbooths, amusement parks, fast food joints, or in the bakery chain Le Pain Quotidien in my office building, where the front end system was designed by people who think dentistry isn’t painful enough. The science is known as queuing theory, and it was invented in 1909 by Danish physicist and mathematician A.K. Erlang to try figure out the optimal size of a central telephone switch to accommodate the most customers most of the time. One of queuing theory’s later advances is something called Little’s Law, expressed as L = λW , where L is the expected number of users in a queuing system, W is expected time in queuing system per user, and λ is the arrival rate. Seems easy, right?

Nope. The TSA’s problem is far more complex because it’s not a steady state system—it ebbs and flows based on the time of day and number of flights, among other factors. “The math gets really hairy, really fast,” says Dick Larson — “Dr. Q” — who teaches queuing theory at MIT. “No human knows how to derive the actual equations.”

Companies like Disney use simulations even before they create rides to try to predict the lines, says Larson, but the math attached to security lines is surely beyond the TSA. “I wish them luck,” he says.

Larson believes that half of the problem in queuing is psychological. People are stressed out about making their flights, about their cranky kids, about setting off an alarm and being groped by TSA agents. Larson’s suggestion for improving matters isn’t mathematical, it’s behavioral. “The key idea is stress reduction versus duration reduction,” he says. “If you can reduce the stress, the complaints would plummet.”

That could be done by guaranteeing that people who arrive at the security line within the airline’s minimum will make their flights, for instance. Diversion may help too. In post World War II New York, office workers in skyscrapers often faced long waits for elevators. The solution wasn’t more elevators, which was not possible. Instead, landlords mirrored the walls at the elevator banks; complaints dropped as worker bees had something to take their minds off the wait.

You can’t do that in airports, but maybe there’s a similar approach. Comedians? A brass band? Magicians? Or how about security-line mimes? Then passengers would have something to hate more than the TSA and the airlines.

These 5 Facts About Apple Will Blow Your Mind - TIME

http://time.com/3043545/5-apple-facts/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• Philip Elmer-DeWitt
 

July 28, 2014

    

Even in a slow quarter the iPhone by itself generates more revenue than all of Amazon

This post is in partnership with Fortune, which offers the latest business and finance news. Read the article below originally published atFortune.com.

After Apple reported its quarterly earnings Tuesday, Slate’s Jordan Weissmann offered several eye-opening comparisons. Among them:

• If the iPhone were a company in its own right, it would be bigger than McDonald’s and Coca Cola combined.
• The iPad generated more revenue last quarter than Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Groupon, and Tesla combined.
• Apple’s sales from hardware accessories is larger than Chipotle’s revenue.
• Apple’s iTunes, software, and services businesses are bigger than eBay.
• While sales of the old iPod line may be shrinking, it’s still 77% larger than Twitter.

LINK: If Apple Products Were Their Own Companies, They’d Be as Big as …

10 Things Americans Have Suddenly Stopped Buying - TIME

http://time.com/money/3030959/guns-gum-soda-cereal-gluten-sales-drop/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29

• Brad Tuttle @bradrtuttle
 

July 26, 2014

    

Ross Culshaw—Getty Images

America is just not the clean-shaven, gun-buying, soda-drinking, Chef Boyardee-eating place it used to be

For a variety of reasons—including but not limited to increased health consciousness, the harried pace of modern-day life, and plain old shifting consumer preferences,—Americans have scaled back on purchases of many items, sometimes drastically so. Here’s a top 10 list of things we’re not buying anymore, at least not anywhere near as frequently as we used to.

MORE

'Incredibly Contagious': Two Americans Stricken With Ebola in Liberia NBC NewsShut Out: Low-Income Student Athletes Get Sidelined NBC NewsLightning Kills California Beachgoer, Hospitalizes 7 NBC NewsBridgette White: Exposed by My Children for What I Really Look LikeHuffington PostDog Passes Out From Overwhelming Joy When This Girl Comes Home After Two Years Huffington Post

Cereal
In one recent four-week period, cereal sales were down 7%, and cereal giant Kellogg’s sales decreased 10%. The reasons for cereal’s declining dominance at the breakfast table are many. As theWall Street Journal reported, consumers are more apt nowadays to turn to yogurt or fast food in the morning, and they’re less likely to have time to eat breakfast at home at all—not even if it’s a simple bowl of cereal.

Consumers also want their breakfast to pack more punch, protein-wise. “We are competing with quick-serve restaurants more, but the bigger driver is that people want more protein,” Kellogg CEO John Bryant told the Journal. It’s no coincidence that milk sales have been falling alongside cereal, with cow’s milk struggling especially due to the rise of alternatives like soy and almond milk. (Sales of yet another breakfast-at-home staple, orange juice, have plummeted 40% since the late 1990s.)

To try to put cereal back on the spoon of more breakfast eaters, food makers have been resorting to all manner of gimmicks, including the promoting of new higher-protein cereals, as well as the idea thatcereal is a great late-night snack rather than just a breakfast-time basic.

Soda
The crash of soda—diet soda in particular—has been years in the making, with consumers increasingly turning to energy drinks, flavored water, and other beverages instead of the old carbonated caffeine drink of choice. The latest Wall Street report from Coca-Colashowed that the soda giant missed estimates, partly because sales of Diet Coke in North America fell in the “mid-single digits.”

While a lot of soda’s slump can be attributed to shifting consumer preferences—more organic, less sugar—the broader war on sodainvolving taxes and big-beverage bans must factor in too. And if First Lady Michelle Obama has any say in things, the decline of soda is a trend that’ll continue: Her ongoing “Drink Up” campaign encourages kids to consume more water—and, consequently, less soda.

Gum
Likely due to heightened competition from mints and candies, chewing gum sales have dipped 11% over the past four years, theAssociated Press reported. The editorial board of the News Tribuneof Washington state, for one, weighed in that it is wonderful that gum sales are down in the gutter, sniffing, “Gum-chewing doesn’t do us any favors, making us look like cows chewing our cud. For humans, that’s not a good look.”

Guns
Gun sales have been booming in recent years, with sales periodically juiced when perceived anti-gun politicians enter office or a high-profile mass shooting takes place, prompting consumers to seek guns for protection—or just out of fear they won’t be able to buy them in the future because tougher gun regulations might be passed.

Lately, however, gun sales have fallen, sometimes sharply. The big reasons why this is so seem to be that there’s little in the way of likely gun control for gun enthusiasts to motivate new purchases, and also that everyone who has wanted to buy a gun in the past couple of years has already bought one (or seven). In the first quarter of 2014, the guns-and-ammo-focused Sportsman’s Warehouse retail chain saw comparable stores sales drop 18%, while gun sales at Cabela’s fell 22%.

But a little perspective is necessary. While guns sales and background checks are down compared to the past couple of years, they remain far above the levels of the early ’00s. As gun industry experts have put it, the decline probably just represents a “returning to normal” for gun sales—which aren’t as strong as they once were, but are still very strong nonetheless.

Cupcakes
Well, it looks like many of us at least have stopped buying the pricey “gourmet” variety of cupcakes. That’s the conclusion to be drawn with the collapse of Crumbs, the 65-store chain that shut down abruptly in early July. The news was widely interpreted as a sign that the gourmet cupcake trend is officially dead.

Chef Boyardee
ConAgra recently issued a warning to Wall Street that its consumer food volume experienced a 7% decline, and that it faced “continued profit challenges” due to some of its flagging, tired products—in particular, Chef Boyardee, the 86-year-old canned pasta brand.

Golf Gear
It’s not surprising that going hand in hand with fewer people playing golf, there are also fewer golf purchases being rung up at sporting goods store registers. The most notable eye-opener occurred this past spring, when Dick’s Sporting Goods announced that its golf equipment sales were down around 10%, at the same time the average driver was selling at a price of 16% less.

Razors
Beard-loving hipsters were blamed for the decline in razor sales last summer, and in 2014, razor giants like Procter and Gamble (owner of Gillette) has continued to blame poor sales on the trendiness of beards. Everything from the shaggy beards worn by the World Series champion Boston Red Sox, to month-long no-shave “challenges” likeMovember and Decembeard have been cited as reasons why guys have scaled back on razor purchases. In response, marketers have introduced even more varieties of new high-tech razors, while also pushing the concept of “manscaping,” with special razors designed just for the task. The hope is that even if men aren’t shaving their faces, they might still shave one or several other parts of their bodies.

Bread
According to one survey, 56% of American shoppers said they are cutting back on white bread. White bread was surpassed in sales by wheat bread sometime around 2006, but in recent years the gluten-free trend has hurt sales of all breads. Sales are even down in European countries like baguette-loving France, where consumption is down 10%. In American restaurants, meanwhile, there’s anepidemic of free bread disappearing from tables, as fewer owners want to bear the expense of putting out free rolls and other breads that no one is going to eat.

Convertibles
The fun-loving, wind-in-your-hair thrill of driving in a convertible just hasn’t been enough to keep consumers buying the classic ragtop in strong numbers. Businessweek noted that convertible sales have fallen 44% since 2004, and automakers have been significantly scaling back the number of models that are even offered in convertible form. Apparently, too many consumers see convertibles as impractical, and/or not worth the $5,000 or so premium one must pay compared to the regular model.

Data recently released from Experian Automotive indicates that the convertible is largely now a toy purchased by the rich. Nearly 1 in 5 convertible buyers have household incomes of at least $175,000 (compared to 11% of buyers of all cars), and 12% of convertible buyers own homes valued over $1 million (compared to 4% of buyers of other cars). For what it’s worth, convertible drivers are also better educated than the average car owner (50% of convertible buyers have at least a bachelor’s degree, versus 38% overall), and nearly one-quarter of all convertibles are now purchased in three sunny states with ample coastlines: California, Florida, and Texas.