Crowdsourcing's Champions (GE, OMC, SNE, WEN) Crowdsourcing is all the rage these days, another aspect of the cloud computing proliferation that has companies doing crazy things. Even if you have never heard of it, you have probably purchased a product that was developed using crowdsourcing or have been directly involved yourself. Crowdsourcing is the outsourcing of idea generation or tasks that would normally be tackled by employed workers or contractors for a particular company. The task or idea is outsourced to the masses via the Internet or social media technology. Crowdsourcing can be more than just a task or an idea. In general, if it brings benefit by bringing together many people for a common cause, there has been some successful crowdsourcing. See, crowdsourcing is fun and it can be very profitable and cost favorable for many companies. General Electric (NYSE: GE ) General Electric's Ecomagination Challenge is using crowdsourcing to create eco-friendly business ideas.
Coroflot — Design Jobs & Portfolios Page 7 100 Brilliant Ideas 2010 A bold concept perfectly in sync with the moment: It's what great companies are built on. A bold concept perfectly in sync with the moment: It's what great companies are built on. It's what shapes the future. It's entrepreneurship at its best. Where can you find that kind of thinking now? We looked at 10 areas that are growing fast--from mobile technology and outsourcing to fitness and pets--and found 10 companies in each that bring jaw-dropping ingenuity to the table. Read on, great things lie ahead. Mobile Tech 'This thing's got legs' Foursquare races past a million users Smartphones are taking over. This is great (if unsurprising) news for Foursquare , a location-based app that debuted at the 2009 South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas. It took about two seconds for businesses to realize the potential of Foursquare, which also lets them keep track of their best customers. The app is the descendant of Dodgeball, a Crowley project bought by Google in 2005. 9 More to Watch:
Crowdsourcing specific microtasks Since the first-ever Mechanical Turk meetup a year ago, there has been an explosion in crowdsourcing services and a well-attended conference in San Francisco. I remain enthusiastic about crowdsourcing, but the number of companies has me worried about quality of work. Fortunately specialization is already occurring, so for particular tasks there are companies out there ready to provide high-quality service. One company that recently caught my eye is Helsinki (and SF) based Microtask. A few things about the Microtask platform are worth highlighting. Using call-center workers is novel but crowdsourcing seems increasingly tied to social gaming and virtual currencies. (*) It’s useful to remember that these are simple tasks (e.g., OCR) involving the validation of outputs generated using machine-learning.
Human Workers, Managed by an Algorithm Global workforce: Remote digital workers earned $0.32 each for producing these self-portraits. Stephanie Hamilton is part of something larger than herself. She’s part of a computer program. The 38-year-old resident of Kingston, Jamaica, recently began performing small tasks assigned to her by an algorithm running on a computer in Berkeley, California. That software, developed by a startup called MobileWorks, represents the latest trend in crowdsourcing: organizing foreign workers on a mass scale to do routine jobs that computers aren’t yet good at, like checking spreadsheets or reading receipts. By assigning such tasks to people in emerging economies, MobileWorks hopes to get good work for low prices. The best-known crowd marketplace is Mechanical Turk, which Amazon launched in 2005. Amazon’s marketplace was a revolutionary idea. “If you put something on Mechanical Turk, it’s easy to get cheated,” says Luis Von Ahn, a crowdsourcing expert at Carnegie Mellon University. “Ugh!”
BMO: Boomers warned housing-based retirement plans could backfire | Retirement | Personal Finance About a third of Baby Boomers plan to sell their home to fund their retirement, according to a study that questions whether buyers will dry up as that massive segment of the population downsizes. Bank of Montreal is warning Boomers not to count on that nest egg, while other observers suggest that even if prices don’t plunge, big increases in property values are a thing of the past. “They shouldn’t be relying on their homes because there are risks,” says Marlena Pospiech, a retirement strategist at the BMO Retirement Institute. The bank suggests the following risky scenario: As Canada’s population ages, more Boomers will be retiring and selling their homes, putting downward pressure on prices. [Boomers] could be in serious financial trouble if they are relying on their home, especially if they are highly leveraged BMO also says tighter lending standards and higher interest rates could reduce the number of eligible homebuyers and push people into smaller and less expensive homes.
Amazon Mechanical Turk: Best Practices Guide The Beginner’s Guide to Outsourcing Effectively My journey with outsourcing began in college. I wish I could say that I accomplished something. I wish I could say that my decision to outsource made me money, or even just saved me time. I saved up $800 for outsourcing tasks (which was also my net worth at the time). Looking back, I really didn’t have the right reasons to outsource in the first place. When I was outsourcing my tasks, I walked around campus arrogantly. In those days, I outsourced tasks like, “Determine the market size of Israel-based startups by writing a 30-page paper supporting your findings.” There’s two lessons in the story above: First, fail fast and move on. Why Outsourcing is Important The thesis of this book doesn’t center around getting organized and concentrating better. If you want to become a more focused person, the answer doesn’t arrive through doing uninteresting tasks in a half-assed manner. When should you outsource? Special thank to Nicolas Franz and Italo Oliveira (rock stars) for getting this done. 1.
What is Dollar Cost Averaging? Drip Your Way to Millions | On Target Coach If you have destroyed debt and saved up an emergency fund, then it’s time to start investing for the future. Learning how to invest money isn’t hard, yet like swimming takes practice. I advise consulting an investment professional before you delve into the world of investing. [How to Choose an Investment Professional] One basic investing technique is called dollar cost averaging. What is Dollar Cost Averaging? This is a very basic investing principal. Dollar cost averaging is basically investing a certain amount from your paycheck each month year after year. drip. drip. drip. drip. If you invest $50 a month that is $600 a year. Why Use Dollar Cost Averaging? So why use this method of dollar cost averaging (DCA)? You can’t time the market. *Note if you have a large lump sum and want to invest, dollar cost averaging may or may not not be best way to go. More Dollar Cost Averaging Articles Across the Web Have you used dollar cost averaging for your investments?
Bands | Mobile App Challenge Home Latest App News Run Your Own Contest Blog Twitter Facebook YouTube Sign Up To Our Mailing List apple iOS BlackBerry Windows Phone android Privacy Policy Sorry, Nothing Here by That Name <a href=' Toolbar by Wibiya</a> Wiwi Title Powered by Close window Minimize Toolbar Select Language ▲ Click here to learn more about this bar Original text Contribute a better translation Freelance Jobs: Freelance Jobs Directory: Freelancers Self-Employment, Consulting, Contract Work Jobs: Self-Employed Health Insurance 24 Quick Actions You Can Do Today That Can Change Your Financial Life Forever Note: This is a post from Adam Baker, founder of Man Vs. Debt. Last week, while I was talking about our new You Vs. Debt class, we touched on the “status quo” of our Upside-Down Nation. We talked about our obsession with the debt-fueled life path and how it’s keeping millions trapped. But talk is cheap. I’m much more interested in action. And this week, I want to do my part to shatter any excuses or justifications you may have. I took the time to provide 24 different options. Sure, there’s little chance all will be viable for your situation. I’m asking for one. Do it. Action #1: Pull Your Credit Report (10-20 minutes) Simple steps: Visit Annual Credit Report – Visit annualcreditreport.com. How this can change your life: When we first pulled Courtney’s credit report, we were saddened to find she was a victim of identity theft. We had better luck with my credit report, however I did discover a $200 collections account I didn’t even know existed! Action #3: Get 1 paying client (15-35 minutes)
Online Fundraising Pages | Personal Internet Fundraisers | Fund Raise Online for Charity | Crowdrise It will take anywhere from 3 seconds to 1 minute for your pic to upload, depending on how big it is. You're going to see this message every time you post a new pic. So, we're making the text really long so that it'll take you at least five picture uploads to read it all. Here's what we're thinking...While your first picture is uploading think about someone you want to kiss. When you upload your second pic think about one friend who you can beat in a race. On your third photo upload think about your favorite food that begins with the letter H.